The Droid X2 design is marvelous, coming in at a slightly different shade of the original Droid X, with brushed metal chassis and all the working of a phone that is exquisite.  The back holds the custom logo of the Droid X2 in red, and boasts a smaller version of the phone with a maximum 4.3 inch qHD screen. At 155 grams with a size of 65.5 x 127.5 x 9.9 mm the Droid X2 is putting the Candy Bar form factor to a great spin. Typical of the Droid X series, the second series follows with the Corning Gorilla grade Glass, used by military production for increased screen durability. Adding a cover to the Droid X2 using the standard Verizon Wireless offerings is more vivid and celebrating of the features of the package as a whole.

The Droid X2 comes with the relatively translucent changes in its infrastructure including power and performance increases. With 1GHz dual core processors, the Droid X2 follows closely to the Samsung Galaxy S II processor series of smartphones, a released phone currently in Europe with 1.2GHz dual cores compared to the 1 GHz. While more GHz does not necessarily mean more stability, it does indicate increased processing power in terms of ALU and FLOPs. One of the most important things about phone media is media connectivity itself, and the Droid X2 supports AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, AAC+ Enhanced, WMA v10, MIDI, AAC+ codecs to truly create a phone that tests out well in each encoded file. WAV files were a bit on the rough side, but everything worked brilliantly. The 1540 mAh Li Ion battery is standard but also considered a high-end battery, providing a level of extensity to the phones usage. Camera quality is HD 720P, and the video quality is smooth and consistent with the usual HTC software preset effects. Google Mobile Services are all included: Gmail, Google Maps, Latitude, Navigation, Google Talk, and of course YouTube. Everything is available through the Froyo ROM customization including haptic feedback and dedicated keys for the essential functions, which are common to all smartphones rather than their oppositely and ironically named dumb-phones (our personal office joke). In terms of capacity, the Droid X2 has the 8GB microSD card and 8 GB on-board memory for a total of 16 GB, compared to the HTC Thunderbolt which is also a premiere phone that comes with 8 GB memory along with 32 GB microSD.  The Droid X2 performed perfectly on Quadrant, scoring a 2385, coming slightly under some phone models but not too casual of a speed either.

The only downside to the Droid X2 is the non-capability of the radio to support 4G. While Verizon’s 4G LTE network is up and running, this powerhouse phone does not utilize 4G, which some might undoubtedly see as a hindrance, but actual ideal speeds of attaining 4G through the air and getting them at given positions is slim, which is a fact many people hardly understand. 4G capability does not guarantee 4G regional quality.

The Motorola Droid X2 is one of many smartphones that offers something unique and completely extraordinary in its own way. It has the strength of military fortification, and the processing power of any other smartphone, rivaled by other HTC creations such as the EVO 3D, Thunderbolt, and also Samsung Galaxy S series. The Droid X2 is unsparingly a phone that is worth its value in price and is without caution one of the best smartphones in the world today.

The HTC Thunderbolt 4G gives one of the best performances of any smartphone currently available in 2011 and it seems as if the Thunderbolt has stricken the ground with an impacting force that will last well into 2012. The HTC developed Thunderbolt 4G premieres exclusively with the Verizon Wireless network, and is truly a premiere enthusiast phone that provides a lot of power and efficiency, despite being on the Android 2.2.1 base software. A 1GHz Snapdragon processor benchmarked with custom software for this phone above all others, especially the new Samsung Google Nexus S coming in close behind the Droid X2 of the same carrier through exclusive rights. The HTC Thunderbolt 4G has quality parts for a price that may be expensive for some, but parts which make the entire smartphone a shining example of true fidelity and marksmanship in the intracellular universe.

The HTC Thunderbolt 4G provides a design that is contour, with a lovely Google silver lining belt that holsters the back speaker and conference-style persona. The screen is 4.3” WVGA TFT capacitive touch screen, giving the sense of touch a non-smudging protection that is common to some of the best smartphones on the market today. The only negative thing to be said about this design is truly the lack of any good covers on the phone available with Verizon Wireless. The screen protectors barely fit the full viewable area (leaving out a bit of measurement when done from the edges) and the actual most expensive protector unit they sell as a proprietary partnership does not cover those silver lining edges people easily get scuff marks on, which is very apparent to any hardcore consumer that uses their phone, keeps it clean, but notices those tiny flawed details.

Providing a level of user interface with capable software, this phone easily establishes itself as a connoisseur of its kind.  Instead of focusing on the Froyo software, it becomes extremely pertinent to place focus on the CPU, the video ram, and simply these hardcore parts. In order to do this, we ran benchmarks using phone connectivity which locked the phone into place and ran applications of 3D bench-tools on the phone / Android market by the open source XDA community. Android has always been open source for the mere reason of sharing knowledge, programming, and finally furthering these Android phones leagues above iOS, the famed operating system infamous for its lack of user-front support with Apple and Apple SDK iPhone developer forums. The benchmarks revealed that the phone currently ranks to be one of the highest in the world, with Droid X2 following behind. We also ran a torture test on this phone, and the battery efficiency is easily 92%, meaning that confusing battery label of usage per kWh is actually accurate, which was a surprising reveal on its own unlike some other lines of phones we see from HTC itself. HTC truly put a lot of effort into the processing throughput of the HTC Thunderbolt 4G, truly making this phone revered by many others.

The HTC Thunderbolt 4G provides the base Android Froyo software, exceptional design albeit a few flaws, but easily and outstandingly delivers a phone where the processing power is in the numbers and moreover is taken to a level of torture for which it performs 92% of the time as a consequential unit. The HTC Thunderbolt is that phone for 2011 that is simply what any hardware technology enthusiast assays to attain.

Interesting Fact: A capacitive panel consists of an insulator such as glass (which responds to heat, usually of the finger), coated with a transparent conductor (for the potential difference in the touch basis of our fingers) like indium tin oxide to provide a level of sensing on the glass.

The Droid X is a delicious Verizon Wireless phone that makes a remarkable introduction into what smart phones are really capable of. With a fast CPU core, a great amount of memory, the flexibilities of Android, combined with the power of Google Applications, the Droid X is one of the best smartphones that money can get you on a 2-year contract term for an extremely affordable price. With a 8 Megapixel camera function, combined with an internal memory that can hold as much as 8 GB, the Droid X brings a level of power and portability that would make the ITU-T proud.

The Motorola Droid X comes with a Texas Instruments CPU processor line equivalent to their OMAP series, providing up to 1.0 GHz of clock rate on the CPU (which is quite extensive given this is a phone after all). Thin film transistor liquid crystal display screen is immensely better than most phones using the LCD screens in the mainstream market phones today (Samsung, Sony), giving a level of contrast which is refreshingly accurate.

The screen interface itself is admirable and mapped according to the Droid X locking mechanism animations. The idle screen presents a great slide-by similar to the iPhone but less prone to lag. Accessing the main menu, there are 4 easy buttons to be greeted to: Text Messages, Browser, Market, and Voicemail (Verizon Visual Voicemail is optional).  The menu situates itself into a terrific level of combination with the outside interface of the design and the actual application selection icons extremely smoothly, giving users a carefree approach in navigating throughout a crafted menu design.

The Droid X primarily works on the CDMA technology. For those not familiar, Code Division Multiple Access is a channel access method used in band air frequencies. This essentially allows the phone to function with cellular towers of the similar sort, across different networks, and roaming capabilities that equally support CDMA in United States and Canada. Unfortunately, the Droid X is a phone that when taken out of the U.S., is rendered useless. This is definitely quite the negative, considering the world still runs on primarily GSM (or a GPRS 2.5). For callers that travel a lot, the Droid X might not be the most preferred method of cellular interaction across every country.

The Droid X is certainly one of the better phones on the market that is exclusive to the Verizon carrier. At a decent introduction unlocked price of $799.99 and a MSRP of $599.99, the Droid X is a terrific offering by Verizon Wireless that can be affordable for even anyone with barely any budget to afford on a 2 year or 3 year contract. This is the phone you want to get if you get phones very rarely.

Smartphones have seen an incredible rise since 2007 and HTC is not stopping anytime soon with the HTC Touch Pro2. Like the Sprint version, the Verizon Wireless HTC Touch Pro2 features a brilliant touch screen and one of the best QWERTY keyboards on the market. With incredible performance, and a lot of features to supplement the need for savvy tech lovers beyond design, the HTC Touch Pro2 is a simple investment well worth the price.

HTC’s Touch Pro2 model comes bundled with immense features such as the HTC’s Straight Talk Technology for conference call management, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. All of these features offer a lot of the same core functionality of the Sprint model, including HTC’s Straight Talk Technology, Wi-Fi with GPS, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition. Applications come bundled with Messaging which supports all E-mail Protocols (SSL, POP3) while G-Sensor makes touch-screen effective and easy.

Powered by a 528MHz processor by Qualcomm in the MSM7200A model, makers of the earliest W-CDMA standard for the ITU and IMT-2000 family standard packet interface, the HTC Touch Pro2 performed fairly well. There is some lag, however, with general applications not to mention the amount of loading time it takes for WM 6.1 Professional to load up. The HTC Touch Pro2 features a 1500mAh lithium ion battery with a talk time of 4 hours with 14 days of standby. We performed several benchmarks as part of our routine battery drain tests which revealed the smartphone to deliver near 6 hours of continuous talk time.  In our battery drain tests, the smartphone delivered 5.65 hours of continuous talk time.

The HTC Touch Pro2 is well worth every penny for someone looking to keep up with multimedia with HSPA and HSPA+ data connections while maintaining the 3G telephony link. Unfortunately, a lot of lag due to the minimal memory capacity presents a problem but it is not a big issue when it comes to the amount of processes this smartphone performs for 2008-2009 generation of phones.

The BlackJack II has been out for a while, and it seems like the Samsung Epix is revolving around the same design and features. Is this one actually any different?

Sure. While the two smartphones look largely similar on the surface, the Epix steps it up with a touch screen and optical mouse. It also ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition and adds integrated Wi-Fi. We wouldn’t call it a major overhaul, but the new design features add great value and provide a good user experience; plus, the smartphone offers solid performance. It is a great messaging-centric smartphone for mobile professionals, but current BlackJack II owners could probably wait till they’re due for an upgrade (no need to pay full retail price) to switch to the Epix, especially since you can download a Windows Mobile 6.1 software update for your device. The Samsung Epix is available now from AT&T for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts.

Design

At first glance, the Samsung Epix simply looks like an evolution of the Samsung BlackJack II but there is more than meets the eye. First, the smartphone measures 4.6 inches high by 2.4 inches wide by 0.5 deep and weighs 4.4 ounces. It is slightly thicker than the BlackJack II but the Epix houses a larger battery, so there is good reason for the extra thickness and weight.

Features

The Samsung Epix is not a major overhaul of the BlackJack II, but there are a couple of additions in the features department. First, the smartphone now ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, bringing the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for editing native Word and Excel documents, and viewing PowerPoint presentations; better Calendar management; better page navigation in Internet Explorer Mobile; and more. Other PIM tools include Picsel Viewer, a notepad, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a calculator, a conversion calculator, a voice recorder, and a task list. A Task Manager is also available to help optimize CPU and memory usage; the Epix comes with 256MB internal ROM and about 150MB or internal RAM. The microSD expansion slot can accept up to 32GB cards.

Overall, the Samsung Epix is a great phone, but not really worthy of a $210.00 MSRP price tag. Does it work? Sure. Is it worth $200? Not close.

Apple released its first version of iPhone with a great amount of features to keep phone lovers on the edge. Now, with access to a faster 3G wireless network, Microsoft Exchange server e-mail, and support for a staggering array of third-party software from the iPhone App Store, the new handset is the iPhone everyone should upgrade to ASAP. It still lacks some basic features but when compared with what the original model was year ago, this device sets a new benchmark.

With the iPhone 3G, Apple appears to have fixed some call-quality performance issues we had with the previous model–in our initial tests, the volume is louder with less background buzz than before. The 3G reception could be improved, however. Music and video quality were largely unchanged, but we didn’t have many complaints in that department to begin with.

Price may well remain our largest concern. New AT&T customers and most current AT&T customers can buy the iPhone 3G for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. If you do not qualify for that price–check your AT&T account to find out–you will pay $399 and $499 respectively. Either way, you will pay $15 more per month ($74.99 total) for a plan comparable with the original iPhone ($59 per month). So, while you will pay less outright to buy the handset, you will make it up over the course of a standard two-year AT&T contract.

So should you buy an iPhone 3G? If you haven’t bought an iPhone yet, and have been holding out for a new model, now is the time. If you’re a current iPhone owner and you’re yearning for a faster cellular network, then you should take the plunge. But if you’re an iPhone owner who will not use 3G (or can’t; check your coverage at AT&T), then you should stick with your current model. The iPhone 2.0 software update provides Exchange server support, third-party apps support, and many new features without the added cost.

Design

You’d be hard-pressed to notice any design differences on the front of the iPhone 3G. The minor changes–the silver rim is thinner and the silver mesh behind the speaker–are so minimal we didn’t notice them for a few hours after picking up the device. Turn the phone on its side, however, and you will see more changes. Apple has replaced the aluminum silver back with a plastic face in either white or black.

Features

The iPhone 3G hangs on to all the original iPhone features and throws in a few more, so we will concentrate on what’s new. Lucky for first-gen iPhone owners, most of the impressive array of additions–save 3G support and enhanced GPS–come along with the free 2.0 software update.

App Store

When you select the iTunes Store, you’re taken to the App Store main menu, which somewhat resembles the mobile iTunes store in design. You search applications by name and category and you can browse through the lists of Featured applications or the Top 25. There also is a feature for seeing if your purchased applications have any updates.

We have mentioned already that Apple has left out multimedia messaging, stereo Bluetooth, and video recording. But we also wish we’d gotten a landscape keyboard for messaging, cut and paste, voice dialing, Flash support for the Web browser, tactile feedback for the touch screen and a memory card (or at least a 32GB model). Hopefully, Apple will add these features in time —hopefully

The N78 has a heavy focus on multimedia, boasting a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, the ability to record video at VGA quality, an MP3 player, and an FM transmitter that allows you to stream tunes to an FM radio. The N78 is also outfitted with GPS, and what’s really cool is that the smartphone’s GPS and imaging capabilities work together so you can geotag your photos. It is also well connected, as the quad-band phone offers Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), and HSDPA support. Can this phone beat the curve?

Clearly, it is well-stocked in the features department, but how does it perform? Overall, we’d say fairly good. The GPS and geotagging capabilities were definitely the highlight; the tracking abilities were impressive and being able to geotag your photos was a feature we came to love. That said, we were disappointed that the picture quality wasn’t the greatest and call quality could have been better. Still, we imagine many gadget hounds will clamor to get their hands on this high-end multimedia phone. The Nokia N78 is expected to be available online and at Nokia flagship stores starting next week for around $550 unlocked. Also, be sure to get the Nokia N78-3 model as this version supports U.S. 3G bands.

Features
As an N series device, multimedia is, of course, at the top of the highlight reel but one of the other main attractions is integrated GPS, which you can use navigation purposes or to geotag photos. The assisted GPS allows you to get real-time position tracking and the N78 comes preloaded with the Nokia Maps application. The navigation software offers plenty of tools, including satellite and hybrid maps, pedestrian and bicycle modes, and the ability to send your location to others via multimedia message or Bluetooth. Now typically, for turn-by-turn directions, you would have to pay $125.77 for a one-year license or $13.96 a month right off the bat, but with the purchase of the N78, you get a three-month complimentary subscription.

The Nokia N78 is a phone. Yes, behind all the flash of the entertainment features, the N78 is a competent phone, offering quad-band world roaming, a speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling, voice-command support, a vibrate mode, and text and multimedia messaging.

Nokia has unveiled three new additions to its E series of business-centric smart phones at the 3GSM World Congress a while back. As with all of Nokia’s cell phones and smart phones, the U.S. availability of the models was up in the air, but we just got our hands on one today. It is an upgrade to the Nokia E61/Nokia E62, but do not expect any revolutionary changes. Instead, you get some minor design improvements and the addition of a camera as well as Nokia’s Team Office business application. Disappointingly, support for our 3G networks was not added and unlike the E62, the Nokia E61i does not have the backing of a U.S. carrier so you will pay around $400 for an unlocked version of the phone. That said, business users will be well served by the solid performance of the E61i’s messaging and productivity capabilities.

Design

The biggest changes between the Nokia E61i and the Nokia E62 are in design, and the changes are not mind blowing. The first thing you may notice is the E61i has less stuffy silver-and-mocha brown color scheme. There are some controls and components of the phone, such as the power button and volume rocker, that are made out of a grayish-white plastic that seem out of place and detracts from the overall attractiveness of the E61i. As far as size, the smart phone carries the same large footprint as its predecessor at 4.6 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep, but it is a tad heavier at 5.3 ounces (vs. 5 ounces). The aluminum chassis gives the handset a solid construction, but it is a bit awkward to hold and use as a phone since it has a wider body, like that of a PDA.

Features

Packed with powerful productivity apps and wireless options, the Nokia E61i is sure to be a corporate crowd pleaser. The E61i runs Symbian OS 9.1, Series 60 third edition, and comes with full support for viewing and editing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents with the Quickoffice suite. We used the included USB cable to transfer all three types of files to the E61i and had no problems opening them; we were pleased that little, if any, formatting was lost. In particular, we were pleased to find we could edit the documents, including the PowerPoint presentations, which is a feature you will not find on too many devices. If that’s not enough, there is a Screen Export function that allows you to display the E61i’s screen via a compatible projector.

The Nokia E61i has a lot of support, but also lacks when it comes to applications on 3GSM networks. It is just not supported and there is such a level of negativity there that is a little upsetting. Despite this, the phone is still a great phone that does many things that a lot of consumers want. It might not be worth shelling out the big bucks for, but it does has advantages that come with the price tag as can be seen.

The Nokia N95 is quite possibly thee most robust and well-deserved phone we have ever come across in our reviews of cell phones. The N95 contains an integrated GPS receiver which is located below the 0 key on the keypad and comes with Nokia Maps, a free software that is designed for over the air data packet network use. The voice quality in the N95 is simply superb, and the web features and QWERTY are spaced just right enough to consider this a high quality phone.

Functions

The N95 is not an iPod but it is a great music player. It supports MP3, WMA, RealAudio, SP-MIDI, AAC+, eAAC+, MIDI, AMR and M4A. Its two-way slider, when slid towards the keypad, allows access to its media playback buttons. A standard 3.5 mm jack is located on the left side of the phone and allows the user to connect any standard headphones to the unit; a user can also use Bluetooth for audio output using A2DP. The device features built-in stereo speakers. The N95 is also capable of playing videos through the included RealPlayer application. Videos can also be played through the TV-out feature. TV-out is a special graphics chip and companion utility that allows users to connect the smartphone using the supplied composite cable to any TV or audiovisual device, a great addition to mobile telecommunications and audio/visual data.

Design

The overall design is simple. It feels very comfortable and solid in the hand, and it cradles the head well. Nothing more to say on that.

The N95 has a 5 MP camera that just works wonders. With a great design, 3G support on the UMTS and HSDPA and many more: this phone is a must buy.

Sony is the largest entertainment industry leader in the world, and has been the only leader in the cell phone market without a true carrier for a long while. But does that stop them from producing quality products in comparison to more sleek styles? Nope.

Design & Influence
Sony has always hunned the industry’s major trend–skinny phones–in favor of high-featured, well-performing models. Both the Sony Ericsson W800i and W600i fit this bill, and the company now introduces America to its third Walkman phone, the W810i. Encased in an eye-catching black, the W810i offers all its predecessors’ high-end, powerful features, such as a high-resolution camera, Bluetooth, and a media player, while making a number of design changes. Overall, it is a quality phone despite some minor performance issues, but it is not a huge upgrade over the W800i. Both of Sony’s W800i and W600i Walkman phones came in orange skins, as did the Walkman music player interface. For the Sony Ericsson W810i, however, the company took a slightly different track and dressed the phone in basic black. Sure, the Walkman interface is still the color of the Florida-grown citrus fruit, but the black exterior provides a nice contrast. At 3.9 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches and 3.5 ounces, it is exactly the same size as the W800i, and it retains the solid, comfortable feel in the hand. Surpassing many other cell phones in quality, the rich, vibrant display supports 262,144 colors and measures 1.8 inches diagonally (176×220 pixels). It is fantastic for scrolling through the menus, viewing pictures and videos, and playing games, but it is harder to see in direct light, and it goes completely dark when the backlighting is off.

More to know

The Sony Ericsson W810i has a rated talk time of eight hours and a promised standby time of 14.6 days. In our tests, however, we got a little more than six hours of talk-time battery life and 12 days of standby time. According to the FCC, the W810i has a digital SAR rating of 1.04 watts per kilogram.