Neo is the One

Most people are looking at Android as the ultimate contender for iOS. Samsung got real close with Galaxy S but it just isn't good looking enough while its successor S2 is too big for many people's liking. I keep looking at Sony Ericsson Neo. It is not a flagship but consider this. It's about the same size as the iPhone 4 but with a slightly bigger screen. That's a Bravia powered 3.7" screen to match iPhone 3.5" Retina display. On top of that , it's a really good looking phone too.
Android Gingerbread, and looking good

Sony Ericsson's current range of Xperia is built on two selling points. The aforementioned Bravia and also the Exmor R backlit camera. Both of these features are imported from Sony's range of LCD TV and digital camera. The latter promises better low light photography and with the Neo, we got it in a pleasing 8MP resolution. An upcoming update will also enable the camera to shoot in 3D panorama which is brilliant when you think of the mechanism to make that possible.

As with high-end Android, the Neo again better the iPhone with Flash support and a wider range of connectivity. With its graphic assisted 1GHz processor, everything runs smoothly on the Neo with fluidity comparable to the iPhone 4. In fact, the isn't any one major aspect I can think of that the iPhone 4 can claim to be significantly better than the Neo. Hardware wise, it pretty much do everything an iPhone can, plus the Android advantage of things the iPhone can't.

This would be my choice of the iPhone alternate but for one problem - it's not officially available in Malaysia. Production of this phone was disrupted by the double disaster in Japan and Malaysia is one of the country that won't get it. That is pretty much confirmed with the already availability of the much newer Ray in the local market (Why, Sony?). But all is not lost and this post is not a waste of time after all as Sony already planned to release the Xperia Neo V which is basically the same phone but with a lower 5MP camera (and hopefully lower price). That sounded like a downgrade until you see how gorgeous it looks in white, which isn't available for the original Neo.
Gorgeous in white

The Neo is desirable, something many other high performance smart phone is not able to achieve. If you really must have it and don't mind the risk of purchasing an AP unit, you can get it at around RM1100. Otherwise, just wait for the Neo V.

Wave of Excellence

As if the battle between Apple's iOS and Google's Android is not intense enough, there is also the Bada platform. Developed by Samsung and based largely on Android, it's really still in its infancy and fussier users often don't even consider it to be a smart platform. I chose to write about it however because this software usually comes in great hardware.

Eager to promote their very own platform, Samsung gave the best they've got in their first Bada device. Samsung Wave S8500 has the best screen with the Super AMOLED and the best audio with speaker reportedly from audio specialist Harman Kardon all housed in a premium metal body. To complement these outstanding A/V prowess, the Wave is given a capable video player that plays practically all type of available video format. It's 5MP camera with HD recording is well tweaked and widely lauded to be among the best in the market.

Look may be subjective but for people who likes it, it's way better than the generically safe design most other touchscreen phones uses. It's an acquired taste and I do find the widescreen in an elongated body to be sexier although I got to admit a regular ratio will let you type more comfortably in portrait mode as well as easier to view a map or website. It's great for watching video though, especially on that marvelous SuperAMOLED screen. Despite all this activities, the Wave ensure you remained connected for a long time as its power usage is very efficient with its battery quoted to last up to 600 hours in standby.

More than a year after its release, the Wave is a phone that is still hard to beat but can we say the same about the underlying Bada platform? As a software, Bada is largely based on Android and has nothing unique to offer to the market. Fortunately, it also means it's familiar and pleasant to use. What is unfortunate is that many apps common to iOS and Android, especially the communication apps is not available to Bada. I reckon I can have whatever apps I want in an accompanying Android tablet but I would prefer to have my Whatappps inside my phone.

It's a shame. I love the Wave for its premium good look, superb multimedia capabilities, exceptional imaging and the 'just right' size to fit in my pocket without compromising much on screen size. But I just gotta have my whatapps. Otherwise the original is available for about RM1000, if you can find it. There was a shortage of the SuperAMOLED screen forcing Samsung to released Wave 2, a similar device with a bigger albeit inferior display screen. The next genaration is also coming with the Wave 3 already been announced. The original Wave, the current Wave 2 and the upcoming Wave 3

Oh, the SuperAMOLED shortage is nothing to worry about as Samsung already has new plant manufacturing these screen that is increasingly common in Samsung devices. Of course, they also got the new SuperAMOLED Plus which is even greater.

The name is Ace.

Tempting as it is to write about all the new Androids that could run circles around the iPhone, not everyone is willing to splurge on an S2, arguably the best phone available now. When budget is part of the consideration, it is the Samsung Galaxy Ace that comes to mind.

Many iPhone fanatics have put down the Ace, claiming the iPhone is waaay better. But of course! Ace was built as a midrange and frankly, for it to be compared to the iPhone is actually quite a compliment. It does have some of the iPhone good look though. OK, I'll admit it. Even as a Samsung fan, the Ace looked like it was deliberately modeled after the iPhone but for the record, I most certainly think the S2 is not. That has its own distinctive design and Apple is suing simply because they can't take the competition (IMHO).

Designed to reign in the midrange, Samsung's answer to the Optimus One already beats the LG handset by the size of its screen. The 3.5" screen is also protected by Gorilla Glass, making it highly resistant to scratches. Take a search in youtube and you will find plenty of video trying to prove that. Users jabbed freely at the screen with knife and key without leaving a scratch. But it's also funny how in some of these video the users tried to prove the screen is scratch resistant but barely touch the screen because they are too afraid to actually scratch it. Ignore them please.

While the size and Gorilla glass is impressive for a mid-range, its resolution is an average HVGA. It looks OK really but there may be some high end games it is unable to support. For games it does support, its graphic accelerator assists its 800MHz processor to run the game smoothly. That 800MHz sounded like it beats the Optimus One's 600MHz but it doesn't have the 512MB of RAM that Optimus has. Both handsets reportedly have the same chipset except that Samsung overclocked the Ace to achieve greater speed, which may affect the stability of the processor. There are some, though not many complaints of the phone switching off on its own.

Imaging is definitely one of Ace's strength with its 5MP camera producing above expectation photos which is possibly the best in its class. As usual with Android, camera offers plenty of options, including a close-up in which the Ace really shines. Too bad this excellence is not carried through to the low res video recording. Connectivity has the essentials covered like 3G and Wifi with even DLNA thrown in to allow streaming of contents to compatible HDTV.

With its good look and capable camera, the Ace is a great entry for Android. Anything lower than that, in my opinion, is too much of a compromise. Try a Galaxy Mini or Gio you will enjoy the experience and soon be itching for more. With the Ace, at least you will be contented for much longer.

The Ace launched at RM999 but can now be obtained for about RM800.

Nokia N8 - The Best Camera Phone and then some.

Nokia looked like they may have a winner when they announced the N8. Not only does it sports a spectacular 12MP camera but it was also quite a looker. While there may be many phones in the market to match or even better iPhone's spec, the N8 truly stands out as one to also beats it in the look department. Built out of anodized aluminum, it got that premium look that Samsung Galaxy S was not able to achieve while its unique design gave it a dash of ruggedness. The question of which is better looking - the iPhone or the N8 is less clear cut and really comes down to personal preference.

Both phone actually comes with a 3.5" screen although the screen in the N8 is longer so it appeared smaller. While the longer screen has an advantage in watching a movie in landscape mode, I have to admit that it will be easier to type and browse on the iPhone when held in a portrait position.

The obvious attention grabber here however, is the 12MP Carl Zeiss autofocus camera. For those who really must know, it uses a large sensor of 1/1.183" in size with a F2.8 aperture and 28mm lens. It also has the more powerful Xenon flash (as a proper camera does) instead of the common LED light in most phones. So how good is the picture? Most reviews found in the internet compared it favorably with dedicated digital camera although realistically, nobody expect it to be better than a DSLR. Image quality has plenty of details and very natural colour.

But a good camera alone is not enough to beat the iPhone as its 680Mhz barely beats the 3GS and doesnt stand a chance against iPhone 4's mighty 1GHz processor. This may sound slow but it has just as much RAM and a capable multitasker to runs several apps at once without a problem. It does takes longer to load a game but once loaded, the games runs smoothly thanks to its excellent graphic accelerator. That is not so bad until the difference starts to shows in internet browsing with the iPhone giving a superior experience. The slower core may have slow down the rendering of the webpage even though technically, the N8 is capable of a faster download.

The N8 runs on Symbian which many feels is left far behind in term of intuitiveness and ease of use. While it offer many functionality, it's interface is usually considered rigid and unattractive. On the other hand, I do like the structured orderliness of it and noticed newer Androids starting to employ grid to keep the homescreens neater. The good news is a recent software update nicknamed Anna brought many changes that increases both its usability and its aesthetic.

Fortunately, the camera is not the only thing in favor of the N8. While its browser is perceived as less user friendly, it does have Flash Lite support. Its fuller video format support means you can watch anything up to HD resolution on the N8 while with the iPhone, you will have to convert most file into only a handful of format it is willing to support. Its options of connectivity even included HDMI so you can stream anything on your phone into your home HDTV. Imagine playing games or sharing photos you took with the 12MP camera on that big TV screen. USB-on-the-go means you can also access file directly from any regular USB thumbdrive. How is that for easy file transfer?

The N8 is as good as Nokia gets and could have been the iPhone killer if Nokia had given it a 1GHz processor right from the start together with the current Anna. The inclusion of NFC would also help to future-proof it a little but alas, it's too late now as the mobile industry has gotten even further ahead. Even so, The N8 has alot going for it. Handsome good look, unrivaled camera unit, complete connectivity, a beautiful AMOLED display, a lifetime of free voice navigation GPS among its top attractions. While its processor is not as fast, it's good enough to get the job done fluidly when you consider the efficiency of Symbian. The recent Anna update greatly boosted the usability of Symbian with the next major update nicknamed Belle already announced. Not quite the iPhone beater yet but good enough for most people who don't want an iPhone. I still want to stress one more time how good it looks, not to mention that every other people already have an iPhone anyway.

The original Galaxy S

Obviously the Galaxy S2 is too big for the iPhone but even before its release, Samsung already has a phone very capable of matching the iPhone spec for spec. The original Galaxy S is equal to the iPhone in every way but for a few differences.

Beginning with the body of the phone, the iPhone 4 owns a slightly slimmer profile and is made of more premium looking material. The Galaxy S is only slightly bigger with its all plastic body (also making it lighter) despite sporting a larger 4" screen. Though the Super Amoled is brilliantly vivid, the iPhone 3.5" Retina display has a larger resolution, making everything appear crisper. They have an almost equal set of connectivity except that iPhone's bluetooth does not allow file sharing with other phones. The Galaxy also has DLNA which enable it to transmit wirelessly its contents to a HDTV. The iPhone has a bigger built-in memory but does not support additional memory from a SD card like the Galaxy.

Both have great camera but the iPhone comes with LED light while the Galaxy was able to offer more options in using the camera. It also supported video call to any other phones through 3G while an iPhone 4 is only able to do Facetime with another iPhone 4. The next advantage belongs to the Galaxy again as it is able to play HD movies of any video format. Furthermore, with the aforementioned DLNA aboard, it can play those movie in a DLNA supported HDTV. We shouldn't forget Android's advantage in its flexible homescreen which allow users to dictate how it looks and what it can do. There is also easier file management, especially where uploading of contents to phone is concerned. And of course, many Android, including an upgraded Galaxy S, has full Flash support too.

For fans of the Samsung's Super AMOLED screen, it is unfortunate that they have discontinue production of the phone with this screen due to shortage. However, it's available with a Super-LCD screen. This display is less vivid and added a little to the thickness of the phone but they are otherwise the same phone. Recently, Samsung also released the Galaxy S Plus which bring back the Super AMOLED together with a speed boost with a 1.4Ghz processor.

I consider the Samsung Galaxy S to be top contender for the iPhone 4 because it's truly capable but I must admit that the look is not exciting enough. However, if performance is your main priority here, it's definitely the phone to go for. Remember, I am not here to bash iPhone but to instead, shows that there are many other good iPhone alternative. The Galaxy S is still available in its SL variant at about RM1200 while the Plus version goes for RM1500. A steal, considering that it is still very relevant and capable even up to today.

A Galaxy ahead

I've wrote about 2 budget phones so far but they would only make an iPhone user laugh because the two phones are so far behind, they can't touch the iPhone. they can't even touch iPhone's shadow. So before these iPhone users start to get cocky, it's best to remind everyone of a phone that's already move far ahead of it. Of course I am talking about the Samsung Galaxy S2.

The S2 runs on a 1.2Ghz dual core processor. All benchmark testing have put dual core machine well ahead of their single cored counterparts and S2 is the fastest of them all. It also improved on the Super Amoled screen from last year model that many critics touted to be the best screen in a mobile phone to the new Super Amoled Plus screen. And at the size of 4.3", it's almost big enough for some people to render a tablet unnecessary. After all, the S2 is already very capable with its high speed internet, GPS and a great reading hub to store all your e-books and magazine. It's also interesting to note that Samsung already announce a 5.3" screen Galaxy Note that would function as a phone cum tablet but that would be story for another day.

Android has always provide a better Social Networking Service (SNS) integration than the iOS in iPhone so users are about to sync all their contacts information more effortlessly. Its camera is just as good as those in an iPhone but with more shooting options plus higher resolution of 8MP, not to mention it records video in full HD compared to iPhone's HD recording. As if it hasn't beaten the iPhone enough, it even comes with full connectivity to anything, including the new NFC technology. That is not all because this phone also has a player capable of playing any videos in any formats that you throw at it. I could go on and on but this blog is supposed to be simple so I'll just add one more - full Flash support for your browsing pleasure, something that the iPhone will never ever have.

It gets a bit crazy when you compare the S2 to the iPhone 4 because you just want to go into detail about how everything is superior in the Android machine. To be fair to Apple though, theirs is a model from last year being compared to the best from this year. But then again, it's noone's fault that Apple hasn't been able to release a new model that can beat the S2 yet.

Still I have to admit that as much as the Super Amoled Plus screen is mind blowing with its vivid colour, I am a bigger fan of iPhone's high res and more natural coloured Retina display. There also some people may find the S2 a little too big for their liking but that's it. These are the only two points that favour the iPhone for me.

Who wants an iPhone for RM199?

For those who still wants an iPhone (what are you doing here then?), Maxis just launched a promotion for iPhone for RM199!

Of course this is the previous generation iPhone 3GS and not the current iPhone4. A very important piece of detail as iPhone 4 is a major upgrade that address many complains from users of the 3GS and at which Android users mock at. Still, I have friend who still prefer the 3GS simply because of the curved back so you never know.

What is really interesting to consider is if this is any indication that the next generation of iPhone is indeed coming and carriers are looking to clear their stocks of 3GS. Hmmm....

LG Optimus One: A good entry Android phone

The iPhone fiercest competition is doubtlessly the Android phone. Not only are these phones capable of performing more tasks than an iPhone but they also comes in a variety of designs to cater to different needs and budget. Among the major manufacturers, LG was the first to release a budget Android in Optimus One. Their direction is no surprise considering that they had previous success in bringing affordable basic touchscreen to the masses. Unfortunately, they tried too hard too hard to replicate that success by churning out version after version of LG Cookies and got left behind in the smartphone race. When their Android range fail to excite the consumers, the easy solution is to make them affordable and thus the LG Optimus One is born. (Possibly that is why these two phone share the same model number too, KP500 for Cookies and P500 for Optimus One)The buttons design is unique but do you like them?

The Optimus One looks bigger than its mere 3.2" screen but it appear slim. The faux-metal frame around the side of the phone lends a nice accent to the design. In a market filled with generic touchscreen design, the Optimus One stands out with its unique button arrangement that makes it immediately recognizable. Its aesthetic is subjective though as I personally don't agree with the design. Still, the phone feels solid to hold since it's heavier than it looks.

The phone was released with a 600Mhz processor in a time when 1Ghz is not uncommon. But then again, there was a time when 600Mhz was the trademark and frankly, it reportedly runs just fine. The camera takes decent 3MP photo but video recording is poor. However, its video player is able to play more format than the regular MP4 in most handphone, as long as the file size isn't too large. GPS and Google Map is quite standard in an Android while basic connectivity is quite complete with both 3G and Wifi.

This is a good entry level Android phone. Design wise, you either like it or can live with it. No complain really. Despite relatively lower spec, it's reliable and almost capable of delivering the full Android experience. It was introduced to the local market at about RM 899 but is easily available for less than RM700 now.

Is the Sony Ericsson txt pro smart enough for you?

I want to dedicate the first phone to the budget-minded, the type who is looking for a new phone simply because their old one has broken down. The text pro from Sony Ericsson is not even a smart phone but it is not to be underestimated. The question one should ask is do you even need/want a smartphone?

SE (Sony Ericsson) had always designed some beautiful looking handset and because their designs are able to invoke some degree of desire in the users, SE dares to commanded a higher price for their products. They haven't quite catch up on the smartphone race however though, and perhaps because of that, continue to produce non-smart feature phones while they develop their next flagship. The txt pro is not only only beautiful and features rich but it also comes at a very affordable price of RM400 or so.

How are you liking the aesthetic?

It's even cuter in white or pink

And for this price, you actually got a phone in a very premium form factor - a full touch touch screen with slide out QWERTY keyboard (something the iPhone doesn't have eh?). The touch screen is capacitive so it's got excellent sensitivity while the keyboards makes text input all the easier.

Along with the basic telephony and SMS function, you also get some form of SNS (Social Network Service) integration which enable you to see the updates from 5 of your chosen friends in both Facebook and Twitter. If 5 is too limiting, then the good news is Facebook already released a FB app for feature phone that is reportedly as good as those found in smartphone. Of course you also have the option to go to the actual site as you have access to internet via Wifi. No 3G here but since Wifi is usually faster and it's free, which would you rather have anyway? Music player is available with Track Recognition while a basic video player is also onboard. Camera captures average 3MP photos and QVGA video, all of which you can store in a micro SD card.

With all that, do you think you still need a smartphone? Modern feature phone offers many functions and could be more capable than a smart phone of yesteryear. What users will lose out though is choice of apps as smartphone usually has a market of hundred thousands of apps and they are of higher quality than what is available for a feature phone. Another thing that will be missing is the GPS and voice navigation, if you need this kind of thing. Finally, smartphone usually comes with more powerful processor so it has greater and faster performance.

Is this phone better than the iPhone? Of course not, they are leagues apart. But it is good for people who just want basic function in a beautiful shell, or someone who prefer to have all the functions of a smart phone in a tablet. After all, all those apps always look better in bigger screen.

iPhone or not?

These days everyone wants an iPhone. Or do they?

There is Tiffany who thought it’s ridiculous to pay so much for a phone. Peggy who feels physical qwerty buttons are the best thing to have on her Blackberry. Shann’s idea of the perfect phone is the Samsung Galaxy S2 while Ruth simply doesn’t like the iPhone.

And then there is the hordes of those who use, love and rave about their iPhone at every opportunity. Among these friends of iPhone users, I always maintain that it is a great phone and I would be happy to use it if I got one for free but I won't pay for one. And so begun my research to find the best iPhone alternative. And then I thought it would be fun to share what I've discovered so here it is.

It's easy to buy an iPhone (that's a compliment btw). The hard part is when you don't want one. But hopefully, some of the suggestions you can find here could help you decide. This blog is not highly technical in its details like many of the established websites in the internet. What you find here is some good phones and what I think about them. Yes, what I think in MY humble opinion. Oh, and budget is always part of the consideration.

So if you are one to reject owning an iPhone, join me here and take a look.
At the other phone.