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Reviews of the three handsets from 3
March 24, 2003
The three handsets are tiny compared with the 1980s brick phones
but by today's standards they're all pretty big. But attractive
services like streamed video, video calls and GPS functions make
them the fashion accessories to have.
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The NEC e606 is what you expect of a typical 3G mobile phone,
video conferencing, video and photo messaging, video download
and Bluetooth enabled. Unfortunately, the battery and weight
figures are also typical of 3G phones. The phone weighs 150g
and despite being the lightest of the 3 handsets available,
it is very noticeable when you place it inside of the jacket
pocket.
The talk time for voice calls is around 2 hours and about
an hour for video calls. Picture quality on video calling
is of reasonable quality but suffers from slight jerkiness
once in a while but is not something that will put users off.
The handset has two cameras, on the front and on the inside,
and users can choose which camera to use when they are using
video calling. Again the user can decide which camera to use
when they are shooting video clips.
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One slightly off putting problem is the inconsistent brightness
and contrast of the screen. Some of the clips downloaded were sometimes
too bright or too dark. It could be that the content itself was
inconsistent rather than the handset itself but this problem never
occurred on the other phones when downloading the same set of clips.
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The Motorola A830 on the other hand is more heavier (210g
with the camera add-on), bulkier than the NEC e606 and lacks
the video calling function. With video calling being the main
selling point of 3G handsets, many consumers will be put off
from buying this handset.
But this is a phone that is still worth getting. The screen
is larger than the NEC e606 and also has a higher screen resolution,
making it ideal for watching video clips and pictures. Even
though the A830 only supports 4096 colours (e606 has more
than 65,000 colours) it does not make watching video less
attractive or enjoyable. Clips ran smooth on the handset,
making it the better choice compared with the e606 and it
has a 32MB removable SD card where as the e606 has an internal
32MB memory.
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The bulkier size makes it better to hold but the typing on the
keypad does not feel like you actually pressed the buttons. It is
also very easy to scratch the phone and so should never be placed
with sharp objects such as keys when carrying it.
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The NEC e808 is very much an unconventional design that may
appeal to only a smaller proportion of consumers. Its main
selling point is the Qwerty keyboard design, large screen
and PDA like functions. The Qwerty keyboard is ideal for users
who want to type faster messages and emails but the tightly
packed keys may result in users with fatter fingers to accidentally
press other keys.
It weighs less than the A830 and has the best talk time (100
minutes for video calls and 200 minutes for voice calls) of
all 3 handsets. The screen is relatively large, has the same
screen resolution (132x162) as the e606 and again it has more
than 65,000 colours. The e808 increases the memory over the
other two to 64 MB internal memory.
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Some consumers may find it difficult to fit it inside their jacket
or trouser pockets as the size is bigger than the two other handsets.
Users can only talk on the phone using the hands free set and cannot
talk on the phone by holding it next to the ear like conventional
mobile phones. Two hands are often needed to operate this phone,
adding to the inconvenience.
Despite new functions on the handsets, the menu system and key
configuration is generally easy to use but may need sometime getting
used to it. All three handsets are Bluetooth enabled and can transfer
data from itself to the PC and vice versa using USB connection but
it takes quite long to transfer data. Data that can be transferred
include images, audio and video files, ringtones and contact list.
The download time via the air for all 3 handsets is roughly the
same. A 1 minute video clip takes 30 seconds to download. The A830
sometimes crashed when sending video clips, the screen just froze,
but it did not happen often.
Currently users can only access selected web content provided through
the 3 portal, meaning that other WAP sites could not be accessed.
The battery for voice calls is already quite short but once you
start using the video calling function, the battery just drains
away so fast, therefore carrying an extra battery is advised.
The verdict:
NEC
e606 - (£399)
You get a Bluetooth enabled phone with two built-in cameras and
32MB of internal memory.
+ Small and lightweight
- Slight jerkiness in video clips
The best handset 3 can offer to us at the moment.
Motorola
A830 - (£399)
This is the only 3G phone with a detachable camera, which rotates
180 degrees from front to rear. It is also Bluetooth enabled.
+ Large screen
+ Great for holding
- Heavy in weight and bulky
- No video calling
Unless you want to carry a brick forget about this.
NEC
e808 - (£449)
The most expensive and has a built-in qwerty keyboard and large
screen. It allows you to send e-mails from Pop3 account and comes
with 64MB of built in memory.
+ Large screen
+ Qwerty keyboard for faster typing
- Slightly wide in size
- Handset design may not be to everybody's liking
PDA phones never look cool, give this a miss.
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3G Motorola A920
