By Leo Stiles
Smartphones may be a lot of things, but something they’re often not is affordable, with the average handset on the cheapest tariff usually costing well in excess of €200 and going all the way up to €500 if you venture into pay-as-you-go territory. Add in our ever worsening economic woes and a splurge on a decent phone is harder and harder to justify, forcing many of us to stick with our ‘dumbphones’ for a little while longer.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei might have the solution to this particular problem with their new Android based phone called the IDEOS, a phone that they are calling the ‘world’s first affordable smartphone’.
On the surface it has to be said that the IDEOS looks a little bit cheap with an overall design that is similar to many of the entry level models from Samsung and LG. The camera on the rear won’t win any awards either with a 3.2 megapixel resolution making the phone just about adequate for photos on a night out but not much more. The lack of an LED flash compounds this and makes low light shots a non-starter which is mildly disappointing, but it’s worth pointing out that up until the iPhone 4, this same flaw was an accepted shortcoming of the Apple smartphone.
Thankfully, this is where the hardware compromises end, and the responsive screen, while only having a 240×320 resolution, is fully capacitative and supports multi-touch gestures. Add in 802.11n Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth and the IDEOS is a case of beauty being far more than skin deep.
If you turn the phone over, you will immediately notice the prominent Google logo. This badge is not just for show but rather a testament to Huawei’s partnership with Google in producing the IDEOS. Right at the heart of the phone is the Android operating system, with the latest version (2.2) giving you the latest features Android has to offer and access to the Android app store where you can download thousands of free and paid apps. The Android app store may be a little rough around the edges, but it’s coming on in leaps and bounds with some excellent apps already available. You can get our top picks here.
The most important feature of Android 2.2 as far as the IDEOS is concerned is the ability to store applications on memory cards, which should come in handy as the phone does not have any meaningful internal memory but instead supports memory cards of up to 32GB. The only downer here is that you will probably have to buy your memory card separately as Huawei are unlikely to include one.
The other major feature of the phone is Internet tethering which allows you to use the phone as a portable modem. If it was just a case of connecting the phone to your computer to connect to the internet, the feature would be pretty useful, but the IDEOS takes thing a step further and uses tethering to transform the handset into a fully fledged Wi-Fi hotspot and allows up to eight devices to connect to the web wirelessly.
Huawei’s partnership with Google has also been extended to the next versions of Android and the manufacturer has said that future updates of the operating system will be available for the phone almost immediately after the Google releases them.
The IDEOS is expected to be released in Ireland on December 2 and although no carriers have been announced so far, electronics retail specialists Expansys have listed a SIM free version of the phone for a very affordable €209. Once the IDEOS turns up on a network, we wouldn’t be surprised if the phone turns up on a pay-as- you -go deal for around €99.
All in all, the IDEOS is an impressively cheap way to get in on the smartphone fun and with the promise that the phone will keep up with Android developments through prompt updates, the phone is looking like a smart bet for anyone who wants to get the smartphone experience without the smartphone expense.
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