Ok as promised here's the review of my new mobile. The HTC S310 this one will be a bit shorter than my TyTN review. By the way I named this device: Bean_S310
--
I was at V-Mall yesterday and I happened by the shop where I bought my TyTN from, I saw that they didn't have the TyTN on display anymore [they only had 2 units the last time]. They had a Qtek 9100 [HTC Wizard], a dopod 838 pro [HTC Hermes], and a HTC S310 [HTC Oxygen]. Now I went in asked how much the S310 was since I was in need of a mobile for my Globe SIM. I didn't want to get a normal phone since I hate it when my devices are not in sync. So I went ahead and bought the S310. I couldn't wait for the dopod c720w [HTC Excalibur] anymore since I need my Globe line mostly for work.
--
So let's get on with the review:
--
Specifications:
Form factor: Candybar type
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Mobile 5.0 [AKU 2.3]
Processor: TI OMAP 850 201Mhz
Memory: 64Mb RAM + 64Mb ROM
Input: Keypad [with T9]
Screen: 2in TFT LCD 176 x 220 resolution @ 65K Colours
Expansion: miniSD slot
Dimensions (L x W x T): 108mm x 47mm 18.5mm
Weight: 105g [with Battery]
Cellular Radio: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE [850, 900, 1800, 1900mhz]
Bluetooth: Yes
Connector: ExtUSB
Camera: 1.3MP CMOS no flash
Battery: Li-ion 1,150mAh [3.5 to 8 hrs talktime; 145 to 220 hrs standby]
[these specs are from the box]
[System Info]
[OS Version]
[Basic info]
--
Packaging and Contents:
[Here's the Box it's really simple with no over the top branding]
[The usual fare: Manuals, CDs, miniUSB to USB sync/charge cable, ExtUSB wired headset, AC adapter]
--
Again the accessories are HTC standard although I'm surprised there is no included case.
Around the S310:
--
[The Front: Shows the Screen Keypad/Dpad]
[The Rear: Shows the 1.3MP Camera and the mono speaker]
[The Left Side: Volume Keys]
[Right Side: Power button and Dedicated Camera button]
[The Bottom: Shows the ExtUSB port and a lanyard loop]
[The Top: is bare except for the battery cover lock]
[A closer look at the DPAD/KEYPAD]
[The Earpiece has 1 LED for notifications]
[Here's a shot of what's under the battery cover]
[1.3MP Camera no flash and no self-portrait mirror]
--
Impressions/Performance:
It's a decent looking phone with a good size and weight. It feels really solid in hand Call quality is also ok. Bluetooth performance is surprisingly good I listened to a whole album using my Moto HT820 and had little to no skips [I received messages so there were some skips]... of course I wasn't running anything else ATM. I'm impressed. The built-in speaker on the other hand is a bit on the quiet side... good thing there's vibrate. Noticed a few shortcuts as well on the keypad. Pressing the power button once shows you the profiles/power [like Nokias and SE's] pressing and holding the Home key sends you to the Comm Manager, pressing and holding the End key activates keypad lock. I swore I'd never go back to a TI OMAP 850 powered PocketPC but I guess the OMAP is adequate for this entry level Smartphone. I do see some noticeable slowdown when opening the inbox for the first time after a soft reset. I tried to run Omapclock [a popular OMAP overclocking soft] on it but I get an I/O error. Hopefully future releases will support this unit. For calls and SMS it's ok so far. I haven't tried gaming on it though although I've installed a few.
--
The keys on the device are very big and responsive and you won't have difficulty in using it. The dpad is large and responsive as well. I also like the T9 system [usually it's either you love it or hate it]. The screen is bright and crisp as well however looking at the specs this seems like an entry level smartphone. Just right for a 2ndary mobile I suppose but power users might not be so happy about the specs. Most smartphones are coming out with qVGA screens and some even have higher speed UMTS modules instead of GPRS/EDGE [case in point the HTC Breeze]. It's good to know though that this mobile is Quadband so at least frequent travelers are covered. I'm not too worried though since I have a TyTN and that should take care of my faster data needs. The included camera is 1.3MP adequate for MMS and the occasional snap or video it performs quite poorly in darker areas as with most in-built cameras.
--
Now most my apps for smartphone are pretty old, so I had to buy some again [although most are discounted since I just had to upgrade them], again no big deal I just put the basics on there. Speaking of apps we have to discuss memory... and man does this need it! I mean out of the 64Mb ROM for Storage I get only around 7~8 Mb [not to sure cause I installed apps at once although only a few to the Phone memory]. It would have been nice to have more ROM [user accessible that is] still with miniSD card prices going down I guess it's ok. I have a spare 128Mb miniSD card lying around the house and that would be ok for some apps and possibly some snaps or videos! [sarcasm]Yay I have all the SD formats!!![/sarcasm] anyway that would do for now... I guess I'll have to return the 2Gb Kingston miniSD card I borrowed from one of the shops at V-Mall hehehe. Don't need a big capacity card for a 2ndary mobile. As you may have seen in the pics above the miniSD slot is located under the battery... this means hot swapping cards is not possible.
--
Speaking of apps, there are some nice apps included though apart from the usual WM stuff, the S310 has Westtek's Clearvue Viewers for Word/Excel/PowerPoint/PDF [the whole suite I think], I've used Westtek before on my PDA. It's good to know that HTC provided these viewers. Also included is a TaskManager from HTC.
--
I haven't spent more than 24 hrs with this mobile yet. I will add some more if I find anything else so far I'm liking it.
--
Pros and Cons:
+ Small/Light
+ Cheap for a WM Smartphone
+ Quadband
+ BT with A2DP
- miniSD not hot swapable
- ExtUSB
- very low user accessible memory
--
S310 in Hand:
--
[It's quite small isn't it]
[In hand]
--
Comparison Shots:
[On top of HTC TyTN]
[From the side]
[HTC S310 over HTC TyTN]
[vs Cigarette carton]
[vs Cigarette carton part 2]
[Side by Side with TyTN_BeAN]
--
Photos on Flickr
--
I was at V-Mall yesterday and I happened by the shop where I bought my TyTN from, I saw that they didn't have the TyTN on display anymore [they only had 2 units the last time]. They had a Qtek 9100 [HTC Wizard], a dopod 838 pro [HTC Hermes], and a HTC S310 [HTC Oxygen]. Now I went in asked how much the S310 was since I was in need of a mobile for my Globe SIM. I didn't want to get a normal phone since I hate it when my devices are not in sync. So I went ahead and bought the S310. I couldn't wait for the dopod c720w [HTC Excalibur] anymore since I need my Globe line mostly for work.
--
So let's get on with the review:
--
Specifications:
Form factor: Candybar type
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Mobile 5.0 [AKU 2.3]
Processor: TI OMAP 850 201Mhz
Memory: 64Mb RAM + 64Mb ROM
Input: Keypad [with T9]
Screen: 2in TFT LCD 176 x 220 resolution @ 65K Colours
Expansion: miniSD slot
Dimensions (L x W x T): 108mm x 47mm 18.5mm
Weight: 105g [with Battery]
Cellular Radio: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE [850, 900, 1800, 1900mhz]
Bluetooth: Yes
Connector: ExtUSB
Camera: 1.3MP CMOS no flash
Battery: Li-ion 1,150mAh [3.5 to 8 hrs talktime; 145 to 220 hrs standby]
[these specs are from the box]
[System Info]
[OS Version]
[Basic info]
--
Packaging and Contents:
[Here's the Box it's really simple with no over the top branding]
[The usual fare: Manuals, CDs, miniUSB to USB sync/charge cable, ExtUSB wired headset, AC adapter]
--
Again the accessories are HTC standard although I'm surprised there is no included case.
Around the S310:
--
[The Front: Shows the Screen Keypad/Dpad]
[The Rear: Shows the 1.3MP Camera and the mono speaker]
[The Left Side: Volume Keys]
[Right Side: Power button and Dedicated Camera button]
[The Bottom: Shows the ExtUSB port and a lanyard loop]
[The Top: is bare except for the battery cover lock]
[A closer look at the DPAD/KEYPAD]
[The Earpiece has 1 LED for notifications]
[Here's a shot of what's under the battery cover]
[1.3MP Camera no flash and no self-portrait mirror]
--
Impressions/Performance:
It's a decent looking phone with a good size and weight. It feels really solid in hand Call quality is also ok. Bluetooth performance is surprisingly good I listened to a whole album using my Moto HT820 and had little to no skips [I received messages so there were some skips]... of course I wasn't running anything else ATM. I'm impressed. The built-in speaker on the other hand is a bit on the quiet side... good thing there's vibrate. Noticed a few shortcuts as well on the keypad. Pressing the power button once shows you the profiles/power [like Nokias and SE's] pressing and holding the Home key sends you to the Comm Manager, pressing and holding the End key activates keypad lock. I swore I'd never go back to a TI OMAP 850 powered PocketPC but I guess the OMAP is adequate for this entry level Smartphone. I do see some noticeable slowdown when opening the inbox for the first time after a soft reset. I tried to run Omapclock [a popular OMAP overclocking soft] on it but I get an I/O error. Hopefully future releases will support this unit. For calls and SMS it's ok so far. I haven't tried gaming on it though although I've installed a few.
--
The keys on the device are very big and responsive and you won't have difficulty in using it. The dpad is large and responsive as well. I also like the T9 system [usually it's either you love it or hate it]. The screen is bright and crisp as well however looking at the specs this seems like an entry level smartphone. Just right for a 2ndary mobile I suppose but power users might not be so happy about the specs. Most smartphones are coming out with qVGA screens and some even have higher speed UMTS modules instead of GPRS/EDGE [case in point the HTC Breeze]. It's good to know though that this mobile is Quadband so at least frequent travelers are covered. I'm not too worried though since I have a TyTN and that should take care of my faster data needs. The included camera is 1.3MP adequate for MMS and the occasional snap or video it performs quite poorly in darker areas as with most in-built cameras.
--
Now most my apps for smartphone are pretty old, so I had to buy some again [although most are discounted since I just had to upgrade them], again no big deal I just put the basics on there. Speaking of apps we have to discuss memory... and man does this need it! I mean out of the 64Mb ROM for Storage I get only around 7~8 Mb [not to sure cause I installed apps at once although only a few to the Phone memory]. It would have been nice to have more ROM [user accessible that is] still with miniSD card prices going down I guess it's ok. I have a spare 128Mb miniSD card lying around the house and that would be ok for some apps and possibly some snaps or videos! [sarcasm]Yay I have all the SD formats!!![/sarcasm] anyway that would do for now... I guess I'll have to return the 2Gb Kingston miniSD card I borrowed from one of the shops at V-Mall hehehe. Don't need a big capacity card for a 2ndary mobile. As you may have seen in the pics above the miniSD slot is located under the battery... this means hot swapping cards is not possible.
--
Speaking of apps, there are some nice apps included though apart from the usual WM stuff, the S310 has Westtek's Clearvue Viewers for Word/Excel/PowerPoint/PDF [the whole suite I think], I've used Westtek before on my PDA. It's good to know that HTC provided these viewers. Also included is a TaskManager from HTC.
--
I haven't spent more than 24 hrs with this mobile yet. I will add some more if I find anything else so far I'm liking it.
--
Pros and Cons:
+ Small/Light
+ Cheap for a WM Smartphone
+ Quadband
+ BT with A2DP
- miniSD not hot swapable
- ExtUSB
- very low user accessible memory
--
S310 in Hand:
--
[It's quite small isn't it]
[In hand]
--
Comparison Shots:
[On top of HTC TyTN]
[From the side]
[HTC S310 over HTC TyTN]
[vs Cigarette carton]
[vs Cigarette carton part 2]
[Side by Side with TyTN_BeAN]
--
Photos on Flickr
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