Neonode N2 Review

Connectivity:

As the Neonode N2 is a quad-band GSM phone, it can work in анъ GSM network all around the world. Sadly, it supports GPRS only (even not EDGE) which is one of the reasons why its browser is almost useless. It is variant of Internet Explorer (thanks to the Windows CE OS) but the slow data and small screen resolution will be obstacles.

Locally it connects to other devices through Bluetooth, and wireless headset on that technology can be used with it. Lacking A2DP profile though, it cannot transmit stereo music to compatible devices, so forget about listening to music without wires.

The USB cable in the box will be used for synchronization with computer. As it is Windows CE-based phone, like any Windows Mobile phone here is an option for synchronization of the contacts and the calendar with Outlook. In order to do this, ActiveSync applications must be installed on your computer. If the phone is turned off, and then connected to the USB cable, it will be recognized as mass storage device and you’ll be able to transmit files to and from its memory card.

Camera interface and options

Camera:

The camera interface is as simple as it could be: it is a big viewfinder on which you must tap to capture the image. In the settings there are a few resolution options as well as settings for the White balance, Brightness and Color Saturations. Considering the usage of the N2’s camera, those settings won’t be used often.

The images quality will not surprise you but will do the job, for a memory-photo. It is OK when compared to other 2-megapixel camera and the only thing we would want from such camera is more-accurate color representation.



Multimedia:

Our review unit cаme preloaded with music and video samples as well as the TCPMP video player, which upgrades on the original one. A shortcut to playlist with music was embedded directly in the main menu, demonstrating the options to personalize it. Playing the music is done through the loudspeaker on the back (the one used also during a call) and delivers very good sound but with very low volume.

Music player

It’s impossible to listen to it in noisy environment but for personal enjoyment come the stereo headphones. They are made of two pieces – the one attaches to the phone universal jack and ends with 3.5mm stereo jack and volume scroll while the other are the noise-isolating earpieces. Compared to other similar headphones, like the phone-Walkman headsets for example, these are just OK. They have strong and clear bass but muffled mid-range and treble. Happily, the 3.5mm jack allows you to easy exchange them with other standard ones.

A few videos demonstrated the smooth playback that N2 can offer, with enough frames per second and big enough resolution for the screen. As this resolution is a few times smaller than the now common QVGA, we tried to play such videos (encoded in H.263 and H.264) as they are the most easy to find. The good news is that the H263 video played smoothly without any problems and we were even more impressed that the H.264 played both video and sound, which is rare. Unfortunately, the latter is too heavy for the phone and the sound played smoothly but the video showed a single frame for a few seconds, which means the phone is unsuitable for such files.



Software:

Preloaded the N2 came with a Tetris game, which was also available in the N1. Based on Windows CE 5 it can be considered as a smartphone, but there aren’t much applications for this system. Still, such can be developed and evidence for this is the TCPMP multimedia player preinstalled on our review unit. The manual also points that in the future there may be some applications at the manufacturer's site, but currently there aren't any.