New year, new Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The paradise for mobile related media – the place, where almost all major companies gather to introduce the devices and services that will make the news months ahead. We are covering the event live for the fifth consecutive year now, so expect to see our first-hand impressions of the hot phones that make an appearance here. Do not forget to update this page so that you can keep track with the latest stuff from MWC 2010.
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We've already arrived in Barcelona. As soon as we got off the plane, we met the new Samsung Wave in a huge billboard. A picture is worth a thousand words, so we wouldn't talk much. Wave is the first Bada OS phone and is expected to be officially announced tomorrow. Expect our hands-on with this pretty smartphone with AMOLED screen and 1GHz processor. We cross our fingers it will not be the only Bada phone, don't you? There are rumors that Windows Mobile 7 will be announced during the show. The ads we saw are not as descriptive as these of Wave, but we expect to see some news on Monday. Stay tuned!
And here's the schedule of the interesting events that will take place, so that you know when to check back with us.
iPhone, Android, webOS – the market showed that there is place for new operating systems and that people do not always seek what is familiar, but prefer what is better and more contemporary. So is there a place for another player? Samsung thinks so, and this is the reason why the bada OS appeared. The easiest way to describe the look of the new operating system is to say that it is what we’ve seen in Samsung’s feature phones, but smart. Yes, the user experience is just the same, and so is a big part of the interface. Everything is done in the Samsung way, of course slightly better than before. Will bada be a success? It depends on the phones that will be using it, and on the amount of applications the developers will write.
The first wave of bada phones starts with the Samsung Wave (this was supposed to be a joke). Just look at it and you know it is a Samsung. Strangely, it doesn’t resemble the latest models (think of Omnia II and Jet) as much as it does the older Ultra series. Still, it has that Samsung look and it is not bad at all. It is well sized for a phone with 3.3” screen, neither the smallest, nor the thinnest, but your average modern candybar smartphone. The screen is one of its key features. Samsung calls it “Super AMOLED” and this time, we may agree with the bold name. They have managed to put the digitizier (the touch sensor) directly on the screen itself, instead of as a separate layer. This (theoretically) allows for better brightness, colors and visibility during the day. What we saw was really great and we are eager to get a final unit for a review in real life situations. We wouldn’t bother to tell you that on the front it has send, end and a menu key; the latter doubles as a back button and holding it brings the multitasking menu, so you can switch the running app or stop it. Samsung claims that the used 1GHz processor (that’s not Snapdragon) is very fast and it should be, but we wouldn’t judge it by what we saw in the prototypes – some of them were great, others not. What's important is it will allow you to play HD video clips on the device. The 5-megapixel camera will support recording in 720p HD video format.
You want to know more about bada? As we said earlier, it is very similar to what we’ve already seen. Samsung Wave has the TouchWiz 3.0 UI with up to 10 pages for the homescreen, to store lots of widgets. The main menu is again a 3x4 grid of icons that can be rearranged easily. Go deeper in the menus, and it will still be very similar to what Samsung already offers. For example, the camera interface is almost the same as before, as black and white as in the first Omnia. The phonebook is one of the improvements, featuring social functionality. Similar to HTC, in a contact you can find most of the info for the person you are interested in. In a tab there is all your history, including phone calls, messages, emails, etc. Want to follow a friend? Add their Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and you will see their updates at one place, a tab in the contact itself. Good feature, not groundbraking or innovative though.
The great thing of a smartphone is the way one can expand itsfunctionality through new apps. Here comes the Samsung Apps store, whichwill be available in 50 countries this year. During a presentation,Samsung showed games from EA (Need for Speed) and other interestingtitles but there is no information how many and what apps there will beat launch. The more the better for bada OS and its fans. Are you one ofthem? Tell us in the comments!
The second and last cool new phone from Samsung is the Beam I8520, an Android-powered smartphone with built-in DLP Projector on the top. We’ve seen similar models before, but they were either prototypes or Asian-only phones (we do not count the LG eXpo here as its projector is an additional accessory). The Beam however, is expected to launch on the European market in the summer. If it is successful, we guess we will see it later in the States.
The first thing you notice about it is the 3.7” Super AMOLED screen that looks gorgeous, just as with the Wave. The Android OS is personalized with TouchWiz 3.0 in order to provide the typical Samsung experience. Unfortunately, the units here are rather early prototypes and we were able to see only a few details about it: the homescreen, menu and gallery - all are what you’d expect from a Samsung. The Samsung Beam I8520 supports HD recording and playback of any video file (including DivX and Xvid) which is not a surprise, having in mind what the Omnia phones can do. There is no info if it will be 720p capable only, but this is what we are guessing. It will also come with document previewing and editing software, for the business presentations that you’ll be able to project.
Of course the key feature is the projector. Samsung demonstrated it in a black box and the results were not really impressing – we were able to watch the clip playing, but were disappointed by the quality. Still, we guess it would be better in a completely dark room. We’d prefer to judge it once we get one for a review. For now, we like it, because it is one of a few, and although bulky, it is definitely slimmer than the LG eXpo with its “additional projector accessory”.
By analogy with the Monte Bar, the Samsung Monte Slider E2550 is the version of the Monte that uses the slider form factor. Design cues from the original Monte can be easily found on the front, accompanied with a d-pad here, as this is a non-touch phone. This one is the simples of all Montes, being equipped with a low res 120x160 pixels display, not that long-lasting 800mAh battery and a 1.3MP camera. We guess it would be quite successful if it’s offered for free, but we wouldn’t rely on that.
The Samsung Monte Bar C3200 presents Samsung’s idea of how the Monte would look like in a candybar form factor. It is your typical Samsung bar phone, with no touchscreen and no smart operating system… just phone. It’s slim and we can even see some design ideas from the Shark series being applied here. Key features: good battery and 3.5mm jack (with microSD slot).
Texting has been a profitable market segment for cell phone manufacturers and the countless phones with QWERTY keyboards kind of confirm that statement. One such phone is the Samsung Ch@t, a side-slider with full QWERTY keyboard and a small 2.6” touch-sensitive screen. This messaging device however, takes the typical experience similar phones handsets deliver on step forward, as it also features Wi-Fi connectivity and SNS application for social networking. Basically, it is a Wi-Fi version of the B3410 that’s been out on some markets.
In contrast to the really hi-tech phones the manufacturer introduced here at Barcelona, the E2370 is just a simple candybar with basic features only. Well, it does have some special skills of its own and this includes surviving in not that friendly environment. Still, have in mind that being IP54 certified, the Samsung E2370 is not resistant to water, but to water splash. Other than that, it has a great 2000mAh battery that should keep the handset alive for days of use.
We previewed the Vivaz just a few days ago and really liked it. The Vivaz pro is exactly the same device with just a full QWERTY keyboard added and a slightly watered down 5MP camera (HD recording is still here). The good news is that the increase in size and weight is minimal. Here again, our main gripe is because of the “Z” key is exactly below the “A”, which will bring some discomfort to those used to a computer keyboard. In order to have the slimmest profile possible, the keys do not travel a lot when pressed, but still the overall experience was more than decent.
For those not visiting our site on a daily basis, the Vivaz is a high-end smartphone utilizing Symbian S60 5th Edition OS (also known as the Symbian^1) that comes with the same personalized interface the software-updated Sony Ericsson Satio delivers. Alongside of the latter, however, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is much more compact, features 3.2-inch display, has lesser weight and relies on its multimedia functionality as well, not just its camera. Similarly to most cell phones of the same class, the Vivaz features Wi-Fi with DLNA, GPS, accelerometer and HSDPA, but also comes with 720MHz processor and OpenGL ES 2.0 support to sweeten the deal.
To sum things up – we liked the Vivaz and we definitely dig the Vivaz pro too.
Sony Ericsson also announced two “compact” versions of the X10. The X10 mini is without a keyboard and X10 mini pro has a slide out full QWERTY one.
The X10 mini is a really small version of the X10 … well not really. The new device could be just easily called X11 or something like this, as the differences are many and pretty much the two devices have not a lot in common if you do not count the Android OS. Naming it X10 mini is pretty much a marketing trick as the X10 became very popular and got a lot of media coverage before even its official launch which is expected to be sometime in March. Being different does not mean we did not like the mini a lot. Some of you following the mobile phone industry closely probably still remember a company called Neonode and their N2. The company no longer exist, but the X10 mini brought the N2 image in our heads the first time we saw the mini. The X10 mini is not really that small, but tiny enough to be one of the smallest smartphones.
The X10 mini felt very well in our hands. Its back is similarly curved like the X10 for a better in hand feel. There is a slight difference in the buttons and where the charging port is situated between the mini and pro. More important, the keyboard only adds 1mm. Despite the small keys, the keyboard felt well and was quite usable. Our only gripe is about the “Z” which is exactly below the “A” which requires some more time getting used to it.
Shrinking the display size required complete redesign of the personalized used interface. The home screen has four shortcuts situated in each corner of the screen. They of course can be personalized to start whatever you want. Different widgets can be enabled as well.
Just like the X10, the mini and pro feature Timescape which allows you to view Twitter, Facebook, SMS messages and other activities from your contacts in one place. Both new phones lack Mediascape though which is like a centralized media hub.
Overall, we are very pleased with both the X10 mini and X10 mini pro. We are happy to report that despite the small size (2.55"), the screen resolution is 320x240, allowing them to run all Android apps. In a nutshell, if you want a small, but still full featured smartphone, the new SE offerings are something to consider.
The Sony Ericsson Aspen is the company’s first GreenHeart smartphone, meaning it’s into the eco-friendly idea. It runs Windows Mobile 6.5.3, but has a rather small 2.4-inch resistive screen, which as you may guess, is too small these days. Sony Ericsson has decided to personalize the interface with SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 – a good move by our standards.
Meet the Motorola CLIQ XT …. or the Motorola QUENCH. Moto again has used two different names for its new model, the first one is for the US market (where it will launch with T-Mobile USA) and the other is for Europe. Both should become available as soon as next month.
The key feature of the CLIQ XT is that it does NOT have a QWERTY keyboard. It is very similar to the CLIQ and BACKFLIP (same Android OS version, same MOTOBLUR interface) but is a slimmer candybar phone. In order to offer a better typing experience, it incorporates Swype – instead of pressing each letter, you press the first and then swipe your finger through the others. We’ve seen this solution before and whether it is better than a standard keyboard or not is depending on the person using it.
Other software updates are similarly basic. The CLIQ XT (QUENCH) supports Flash Lite, pinch zooming and an improved multimedia player. In addition to music playback one can find similar songs, lyrics, get info for the music playing or check out the hot songs in the US or the World. In a nutshell, the CLIQ XT is a keyboard-less slimmer version of the previous MOTOBLUR models that has almost no improvements.
Garmin has been trying to enter the phone market for quite some time now. At MWC 2009 we saw their first phones, the G60 and the M20, children of the collaboration with the PC maker ASUS. Today, we have met the second generation nuvifones, the A50 and the M10 – the first runs on Android and the second on Windows Mobile.
We were surprised when we saw the A50; the Android OS is so personalized that one can hardly notice it. The whole user experience is very similar to what the Linux-based G60 offered, but the Android OS makes it a smart phone that one can personalize by their taste. We like it.
The homescreen offers you three huge icons – for calls, search and map view, and a carousel with small shortcuts to other features. Almost everything in personalized to match the Garmin look – the phonebook, calendar, email, you name it. Multimedia apps are available, but as basic as before –this is not what the nuvifones are aiming for. Their target is to be the best phones for navigation, but can they do this? We were not impressed by the G60, and would like to see improvements with the new generation phones.
The M10 is a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 model; it is targeted to the users who want the Garmin navigation, but cannot abandon Windows Mobile. We are sure that Garmin loves the A50 more than the M10, although they wouldn’t tell it. The M10 looks just like a Windows phone with a “Garmin patch to include the navigation features. It also has big shortcuts to the navigation features, but everything else is a standard Windows phone experience.
Last year, Toshiba showcased the TG01 and now, here comes its successor – the TG02 – and its “QWERTY version”, the K01. Not much has changed though, Toshiba still targets its Windows Mobile phones to the professionals, who want a huge screen (4.1” to be precise) and powerful hardware (1GHz Snapdragon).
Compare the specs, and you will see that the TG02 is very similar to the TG01. It is slightly shorter and narrower though, and so is slightly more pocket friendly. Features are almost the same, but its screen is capacitive instead of resistive and it runs on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with SPB Shell. This is a nice interface personalization and it is a great improvement when compared to the interface we found on the TG01.
The K01 is very similar to the TG01. The difference is that it packs a 4-row horizontally sliding QWERTY keyboard and its interface will be slightly different. We were not able to check it out, but Toshiba told us that it will be based on the SPB Shell but personalized, in order to reflect what the manufacturer thinks is more user friendly.
Hands-on with Windows Phone 7 Series
Undeniably, the prize for the most interesting event today goes to Microsoft. CEO Steve Ballmer came on stage, skipped the usual boring talk about the company's "great success" and got right to the point, which was to introduce a brand new operating system to the world. We knew this will be a milestone for the platform and we knew it will be completely different from any previous versions, but what Microsoft unveiled went even beyond our expectations. We can now safely state, that Windows Phone 7 Series is indeed, a brand new OS that has absolutely nothing to do with WM 6.x.x, WM 5, Pocket PC or whatever. Well, it was about time.
In its core, Windows Phone 7 Series does not feature any code from previews versions, and that's why no current apps will be able to run on it. So this is kind of a new beginning for content developers as well. This time around though, we can see a much better future for the app support of the OS, with Microsoft's plans to provide a more consistent experience, meaning there won't be countless screen resolutions and critical differences in hardware power. And of course, having to develop an app for just one device is way easier than having to get it working on a wide range of handsets, each with its own specifics. One area where this concept takes place is the hardware keys. All Windows Phone 7 Series devices will have three keys: Start, Back and Search. That said, Steve Ballmer did say that they want to enable manufacturers to create a great variety handsets with different form-factors. So we hope they will manage to find the right balance between diversity and standardization. What we can say for sure about the hardware is that all phones will have capacitive screens (with multitouch) and will also use a lot of horsepower, somewhere around 1GHz. (The prototype unit used in the presentation had a Qualcomm chipset, Snapdragon maybe?) Microsoft's hardware partners include Qualcomm, HTC, LG, Garmin-Asus, Toshiba, Sony Ericsson, Dell, HP and Samsung, all being said to manufacture Windows Phone 7 Series handsets at some point.
If you are wondering which carriers will be selling the devices, the initial list includes all four major U.S. carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint. Orange will be among the first carriers to launch a Windows Phone 7 Series device in the UK. As for when the first handsets will come out, it looks like this will happen sometime in late Q4 2010... though we do hope to witness some early launches.
So let's say a few words about the look and feel of the new software. Right from the "Start" screen (this is the new "Today" screen), the user is greeted to a very simplistic interface. Only a few colors and some basic shapes are making up what Microsoft calls the "live tiles". As Joe Belfiore, VP Windows Phone, said, think of these live tiles as of super icons. They not only lead you to the desired app, but also show you information that's updated real-time over the air. This means that a live tile of a person for example, can provide you with information about their latest status updates, posts, image and so on. And you can make tiles out of many things, for instance of an internet page so that you can use it as a bookmark.
Then come the hubs. There are six hubs that take care of different areas of the whole experience: People, Pictures, Games, Office, Music + Video and Marketplace. These, as a whole, can be looked upon as the main system applications that integrate information from the device, the PC and various web services. A pretty neat concept that's presented in a truly innovative visual manner (you will find some design ideas from the Zune HD interface here).
But we won't go into great detail describing the interface now. Check out the video demonstration for more details on that.
We do not really know how to start this story… Once upon a time, there was a Linux-based OS called Moblin. LG GW990 was announced to be the first “phone” using it, but we are not sure this will happen. Yesterday, Intel and Nokia announced that they will merge Moblin and Maemo into MeeGo, so will the GW990 really be a Moblin gadget, or a MeeGo device? It may be both, launching with Moblin and then be upgradable to MeeGo, we are said by a LG representative.
The LG GW990 is an interesting device – it sports a 4.8” 1024x480 pixel touchscreen and runs on Intel’s Moorestown platform, utilizing an Atom processor. This makes it pretty powerful for its size and allows it to run applications that are designed for computers based on the same Moblin OS. LG demonstrated how the applications in the “app stores” on both the LG GW990 and an ultra portable laptop are identical. Sweet. The interface is LG’s S-Class 3D that is used in many of their contemporary touch models and delivers the same experience.
The GW990 tries to be the “missing link” somewhere between smart phones and netbooks. The idea that you can install exactly the same software as on a computer is great, but as with every other OS, the question is “how many apps will there be for this OS?”. Having in mind that Moblin is already “dead”, transformed into MeeGo, we would like to see how the new OS will perform. For us, LG GW990 should launch directly with it or not launch at all. We definitely want to review it though, so LG, please send one as fast as possible!
One of the phones at LG’s booth that really impressed us was the LG Mini GD880. Hearing its name will probably make you say “Ha, another little phone like the LG Pop”, but actually there isn’t anything miniature in the Mini. Yes, the manufacturer presents it as the smallest phone with 3.2” display, but we don’t really find it that small to be called the Mini (in contrast to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini). However, we fell in love with its build quality – it gives you the impression the phone is solid and will hold up for a long time.
The specs of the LG Mini GD880 are not that humble either. It has a 3.2-inch capacitive screen with a notable resolution of 480x854 pixels. The prototype managed to deliver nice image quality and sensitivity. The camera on the Mini is a 5MP one (unfortunately, there’s no flash), while GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G modules are hiding somewhere inside the metal body.
Here in the LG Mini GD880 we see an updated version of the S-Class interface. The home screen has been left with “only” three pages now (as opposed to four on the previous version), on which you can deploy a number of things like widgets, shortcuts and bookmarks. The main menu is again divided into categories, while new features include LG Air Sync and SNS. The former lets you sync information from your phone with a special LG server, while the latter offers access to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
After the success of the LG Cookie KP500, which recently reached the 10 millionth sold unit mark, it was natural for LG to introduce its successor – the LG Cookie Plus GS500. The appearance of the GS500 has undergone some changes, but as a whole is still reminiscent of the original Cookie. In terms of specs however, the new model is almost identical to the KP500 – a 3-inch resistive screen with a resolution of 240x400 pixels, 3-megapixel camera and an FM radio. What’s new is that the LG Cookie Plus GS500 has 3G and an updated interface, which we have already seen in the LG Pop GD510. It still remains to be seen though if this will be enough for it to repeat the success of its predecessor.
Google announced its first and only phone so far just a few weeks ago. The Google Nexus One was designed and manufactured by, of course – HTC. Today, during the MWC, HTC announced the Desire which is very similar to the Nexus One, but with HTC’s Sense personalization on top of Android.
Design-wise, both devices are almost the same in terms of dimensions and weight. The Desire has several hardware buttons on the front, as well as an optical trackball. The in-hand feel is slightly different compared to the Nexus, as its back is rubberized.
The display is 3.7” AMOLED – the same one used in the Nexus One. As you can imagine, the picture quality is superb. The rest of the specs are the same – 1 GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera, same battery…
Just like the Legend, the Desire will also come with the “new” updated Sense UI. The improvements can be seen in our hands-on video. Our overall impressions are very positive. The hardware is excellent and greatly complimented by HTC’s Sense UI. The HTC Desire will be available across Europe and Asia in early Q2.
After a Hero, here comes the Legend. The new Android smartphone has similar “chin” as the GSM HTC Hero but replaces the plastic housing with a solid aluminum one . The build quality is fantastic! Another hardware change is that the trackball is replaced by an optical pad; it looks and sounds really cool, but is an idea that’s actually less comfortable to use. One of the biggest hardware improvements is the screen – it is now an AMOLED one and looks georgeous – we hope it will be usable in direct sunlight as well. The Hero was sometimes laggy and the Legend is supposed to fix this, with improved processor speed and increased memory. It should also offer better user experience, sporting the improved Sense interface; check out our Sense video demonstration for more details on this one.
In a nutshell: the HTC Legend looks cool, feels cool and we think it is cool. It isn’t really a huge improvement when compared to the Hero, but nowadays we are rarely surprised by something new.
The HTC HD mini in our opinion should have been called the HTC mini; its key feature is that it is one of the smaller Windows Mobile smart phones out there. Honestly, we do not see what that "HD" label really stands for (except for marketing purposes, of course), as neither the screen resolution (HVGA), nor the camera are anywhere close to HD. This actually raises the question why HTC's Touch HD and HD2 phones bear that name, but at least they are really big you know, and that is simply not the case with the HD mini. Anyway, this small WM 6.5.3 device of course uses the HTC Sense interface, which is basically an updated TouchFLO in this model. It is one of the best WM personalizations, offering multiple homescreen pages with rich functionality and lots of custom menus.
A nice feature we are pleased to see in the HTC HD mini is that it can turn into a wireless router for your notebook and other devices. It gets the internet through 3G and then spreads it over Wi-Fi, so you wouldn’t need a 3G modem. We would have been impressed if we haven’t already seen this in the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, but yes, it is a great feature.
You may wonder what these four screws on the back are for. Are they to make it extra durable or water resistant? Or is there any secret stuff underneath them? No. We believe they really are only for decoration purposes. HTC announced that they expect to see many third party replacement covers, including transparent ones.
Acer
Acer introduced phones for both Windows Mobile and Android fans at the MWC. On the whole, the WM 6.5.3-powered P300 and P400 are really nothing to write home about. They have no personalization at all (in this case this might actually be a good thing), and have a somewhat unpretending design. They are not bad, but not something to get excited about. As for the Android-based beTouch E400 (we should note here that the E400 is like the Android variant of the P400), beTouch E110 and Liquid e, the manufacturer has included its slight personalization, which features new widgets and some small graphical alterations. While the Liquid e is just an Android 2.1 version of the Liquid A1, the beTouch E110 does have some new personalized interface elements. This compact smartphone does look nice, but unfortunately its small display has a low QVGA resolution, which will limit the application support to an extent.
Huawei
No one expected it, but Huawei really turned out to be the star of the whole MWC event! Haha, that was a good one, right? Oh, come on, can’t you just pretend for a while?! Anyways, Huawei showcases several phones, all running Android. One of the more interesting smartphones is the Huawei U8230, equipped with a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel camera. There are also some compact products like the U8110 and the U8100, which are also shorter on specs.
Alcatel
Dell Mini 5
The Dell Mini 5 is a tablet device with a 5-inch screen and 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It is powered by Android, but the manufacturer has featured its own interface in order to personalize the experience a little bit. Dell claims that the screen is designed to withstand some beating, which is a very good thing to know when playing with such a big display. Other cool features include full Flash support and full compatibility with existing Android apps.
We were happy to see the previously rumored third Android phone for Verizon Wireless, the Saygus Vphone, here at the MWC. You may remember that this smartphone succeeded in getting through the FCC some months ago, but after that it was nowhere to be seen. Now, we have managed to spend some time with it, but unfortunately the device is still more on the unofficial side, so whether or not it will launch at some point remains a mystery.
We didn’t expect some groundbreaking stuff by the manufacturer (the device is designed by YUHUA TEL and originally called the Landmark), and we weren’t left disappointed by what we saw at the end. The Saygus Vphone is an Android 1.6-running side-slider with a four-row QWERTY keyboard, 5MP camera and powerful hardware, including an 800MHz Marvell processor and 256MB RAM. The screen is a capacitive one, measuring at 3.5” with WVGA resolution.
The device itself feels fine, it’s made of plastic so nothing to write home about. It’s also significantly thicker than its Android opponents, but sports a very nice sliding mechanism. We are being told it might launch in May, if it launches at all.
We’ve seen collaboration between Adidas and Samsung, so we were not surprised when we saw PUMA’s logo in Barcelona. The company, the products of which are used by Usаin Bolt, is partnering with Sagem in order to introduce the PUMA Phone. With it, you will be able to break all records!
The PUMA Phone has a touch-sensitive screen and a solar panel, which will allow you to recharge the battery while on the move. The device looks nice and feels okay in the hand. The interface is entirely in red and white, which suits the overall appearance. It’s based on Java and allows for installation of third party Java applications. The PUMA Phone will be preloaded with some interesting apps that should help you in your training sessions (we saw ones for cycling and sprinting). The music player features a DJ sub-app, which isn’t something you see in every phone.
As a while, the PUMA Phone is a decent product, but is expected to cost around $ 575 (EUR 420), which sounds like too much for what is offered.
emporia
Emporia showcases several phones here, namely the emporia ELEGANCE, LIFE plus, SOLID and TALK premium. They are all oriented towards elder people, and designed with simplicity in mind. We like their idea and especially the implementation of this idea. All of these phones are nicely built, and with really enormous keys. They also have comfy keys and sliders on the sides that carry out important functions. The rugged emporia SOLID has a special SOS button, and we’re hearing the emporia ELEGANCE will also get a version with it. Once again – these are some nice and simple offerings. Expected to go on sale sometime this spring.
hagenuk fono E100
Similarly to Emporia’s offerings, Hagenuk’s fono e100 is also designed to serve the needs of elder people. It uses a similar design language, but isn’t as well made as what Emporia showcased. However, it also sports sliders on the sides and an SOS key.
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