Fujitsu Arrows Ultra prototype Hands-on Review

The Fujitsu quad-core phone rumored to be shown at MWC, turned out to be part of the Arrows model family of the company, just like its anorexic 0.26" Arrows F-07D brother, which appeared at the FCC not long ago. 

We handled a prototype of the Tegra 3-laden superphone at MWC, and the specs that will accompany its silicon are mouthwatering. How do 4.6" HD display, LTE connectivity and 13.1MP camera with high 25600 ISO sensitivity for better low-light snaps sound to you? Pretty good, right? Not to mention that it will be water- and dustproof like we are used to from Japanese handsets.

The Fujitsu Arrows quad-core phone will also offer DLNA and HDMI-out capabilities for your wireless and wired media streaming needs. The HDMI part is apparently done via an MHL port, so the phone can be running a game or pumping movies out to an HDTV.

Adding to the excitement is the fact that Android 4.0 ICS will be on the Tegra 3 smartphone out of the box, and by the time we hit MWC time next month, the Fujitsu Arrows superphone should be demoed in its full glory. 

What we handled was actually pretty rough around the edges, both in terms of chassis and software, showing that this is a very early prototype of the handset. It was built entirely of black plastic, a bit bulky and with no distinguishing design features. 

Android ICS on it was also a very early and buggy build, but since it was stock, it made the phone look like we are handling a Galaxy Nexus. The 4.6" display with 720x1280 pixels was a beauty, though, showing bright and well-defined images. And a big selling point of the Fujitsu Arrows Ultra will be that 13.1MP camera on the back with very high ISO settings.

Fujitsu is currently shopping the quad-core monster of a handset to carriers in the US and Europe, hoping that it will stick there for a launch in the fall. The phone will appear with its final design and Android build on Japanese shelves in the summer, while US and the EU will eventually follow, depending on how skilled the Fujitsu negotiating team is. We cross fingers, as it looks a really promising handset.