Nokia 500 at a glance:

The Nokia 500 is not a phone Nokia desperately needs to succeed. They've got bigger things on their mind and we don't mean Windows Phone 7. With Symbian Belle just launched on two brand new handsets, the Anna-running Nokia 500 is beyond hope of getting in the spotlight.

It's exactly phones like the Nokia 500 though that do well, giving good return of the minimum investment. They thrive in anonymity and get the job done without fanfare. Think Nokia C5-03 but duly upgraded: a 1 GHz processor and double the RAM, a capacitive touchscreen and Symbian Anna - and it will only get better with Belle.

   
The Nokia 500

The Nokia 500 is an entry-level smartphone and that's what Nokia are good at. It won't deliver super multimedia but it will open those internet pages for you and do it the way a true modern smartphone should - with multi-touch support. It's the complete smartphone experience with the speed of a 1GHz CPU, solid connectivity, free SatNav and multi-tasking, all in a much friendlier Symbian Anna fashion.

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 111.3 x 53.8 x 14.1 mm, 73 cc; 93 g
• Display: 3.2-inch 16M-color nHD (360 x 640 pixels) TFT capacitive touchscreen
• Memory: 2 GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• OS: Symbian Anna OS
• CPU: ARM 11 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM
• Camera: 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera with geotagging, VGA video recording @15fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, stereo Bluetooth v2.1, microUSB port, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Misc: Accelerometer, Stereo FM radio with RDS, Flash lite 4.0, changeable colored back-panels, proximity sensor
• Battery: 1110 mAh Li-Ion battery, quoted for up to 7h/5h talk time in GSM/HSDPA mode and 500h/455h standby.

Nokia 700 at a glance:

Just don’t let the size fool you. The slim Nokia 700 is no lesser smartphone than the Nokia 701 that we recently enjoyed in a preview. With a 1GHz processor and Symbian Belle, it’s got both its media and communication bases covered.

    
Nokia 700

You need to hold the Nokia 700 in your hand to appreciate how small it really is. It looks like a toy compared to, say, the Galaxy S II all the while packing some of the best Nokia has to offer. The revamped Symbian Belle shows its friendlier side on a 3.2” ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen. NFC pairing is the icing on the cake in the connectivity department featuring quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G support.

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 110 x 50.7 x 9.7 mm, 50 cc; 96 g
• Display: 3.2-inch 16M-color nHD (360 x 640 pixels; ~229 ppi pixel density) AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Nokia ClearBlack technology
• Memory: 2 GB storage memory, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• OS: Symbian Belle OS
• CPU: 1GHz processor
• Camera: 5 megapixel fixed focus camera with 720p@30fps video recording, geotagging
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, stereo Bluetooth v3.0, microUSB port, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS, NFC
• Misc: Accelerometer, proximity sensor, Stereo FM radio with RDS, Flash lite 4.0
• Battery: 1080 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Tablets are basking in well-deserved attention and manufacturers know they need to try hard and make their devices distinct and memorable. Truly unique gadgets are hard to come by these days - especially in Honeycomb land. Which is perhaps part of the reason why iPad is still the one to beat. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G is in for a challenge, and up for it.

   
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 official photos

Shortly after launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was blessed with a custom user experience, called Touch Wiz UX, which literally puts more color into Honeycomb, offers a good selection of customizable widgets and most importantly tries to ease your way into Android for tablets.

Yet this tablet’s main advantage remains that it’s the most portable 10” slate to hit the market. It's thinner even than iPad 2 and good 42 grams lighter than Apple's frontrunner, while still promising to match its battery performance. And that's no mean feat since tablets are going hard after netbooks, so they need to back their portability with battery longevity.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, a bright 10.1" PLS TFT display of WXGA resolution, a premium set of connectivity options and plenty of storage space. Check out the full list of things going for (and against) the Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G below.

Key features

• 10.1" 16M-color PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) resolution
• Very lightweight at just 565 g
• Thinnest slate to date at just 8.6 mm
• Gorilla Glass display
• Tegra 2 chipset: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor; 1GB of RAM; ULP GeForce GPU
• Android 3.1 Honeycomb with TouchWiz UX UI
• Optional quad-band GPRS/EDGE and tri-band 3G with HSDPA 21 Mbps connectivity
• 16/32/64 GBGB of built-in memory
• 3.2 MP autofocus camera, 2048x1536 pixels, LED flash, geotagging
• 2.0 MP front-facing camera; video calls
• 720p HD video recording @ 30 fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Proprietary 30-pin connector port for charging
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Flash 10.3 support
• GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
• DivX/XviD support (fullHD), MP4 support up to HD
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor; three-axis Gyroscope sensor
• Polaris office document editor comes preinstalled
• 7000 mAh Li-Po rechargeable battery

Main disadvantages

• Non-replaceable battery
• No microSD card support
• No standard USB port
• No Android Honeycomb 3.2 yet
• No GSM voice capabilities despite the available SIM slot

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at ours

Nokia 701 at a glance:

The Nokia 701 is the torch bearer in a generation shift for Symbian. Belle is a bold stylistic step forward and the Nokia 701 is the first in a trio of phones that will introduce it to the world. The Nokia R&D team left nothing to chance with this one - proven design, a brilliant screen and a 1GHz processor.

   
Nokia 701 official photos

The 701 is based on the C7. The styling must be a Nokia favorite as they reused it in the gold-plated Oro too. As long as it's the same solid and fairly slim, alloy body we're not complaining.

The Nokia 701 enjoys solid hardware upgrade too. A 1GHz CPU coupled with 512MB RAM is much more than what the lightweight Symbian OS is used to and the 1,000 nit display outshines competing screens.

Not everything has changed though, here's the overview.

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 115.5 x 59 x 10.5 mm, 87 cc; 133 g
• Display: 3.5" 16M-color nHD ClearBlack TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen; 1,000 nits of brightness
• Memory: 8GB of storage, 1GB ROM, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• OS: Symbian Belle OS
• CPU: 1GHz processor; 512 MB RAM
• Camera: 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash, geotagging
• Video recording: 720p video recording @ 30fps (stereo sound)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, microUSB port with USB on-the-go, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Misc: NFC support, accelerometer, Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM radio transmitter, proximity sensor, TV-Out (SD)
• Battery: 1300 mAh Li-Ion battery; up to 17 hours talk time (!!) and up to 3 days of music playback

The next generation ClearBlack display is based on the IPS LCD technology and promises amazing brightness and 160-degree viewing angles. It's also protected by the popular Gorilla Glass, so you don't have to worry about scratches ruining your viewing experience.

NFC will be a major part of the Nokia experience (they have plans to start enabling it on all their devices) and that, of course, includes the 701. It's a great addition to the connectivity set, which is brimming with features already.

Samsung S5690 Galaxy Xcover at a glance:

The Samsung S5690 Galaxy Xcover brings a touch of class and authority to a lineup of durable dumb phones for the outdoor enthusiasts. It’s arguable whether it can take as much bashing as its less sophisticated siblings, but this rugged smartphone is trying to combine the best of both worlds.

The Galaxy Xcover is Samsung’s response to Motorola, who are building their own squad of tough droids, with a 1GHz Gingerbread-powered update of their Defy due for imminent release. The Defy+ could be too strong a rival, but the rugged credentials will certainly help the Galaxy Xcover stand out in the crowded smartphone midrange.

Samsung Galaxy Xcover official photos

It's an IP67 certified droid, meaning it can be immersed in one meter of water and last there for half an hour, on top of being dust-proof and shock-resistant. Ruggedness aside, it offers a 3.65" HVGA display with tempered Gorilla Glass for maximum protection and durability. It does well to meet, and exceed, the minimum smartphone requirements with solid connectivity, the latest flavor of Android and reasonably fast processing.

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 122 x 66 x 12 mm, 116 g
• Display: 3.65" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, Gorilla Glass scratch-resistant display, 320 x 480 pixels resolution
• CPU: Marvell MG2 800 MHz processor, 512MB RAM
• Memory: 150MB storage, microSD card slot
• OS: Android OS, v2.3.4 Gingerbread
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel camera with geotagging; VGA video recording
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Misc: TouchWiz 3.0 UI, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype input, IP67 certified: dust and water resistant

The Samsung S5690 Galaxy Xcover runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, with the home-baked TouchWiz skin on top. It looks the part too with rugged, ribbed sides and a grippy rear panel with a massive lock screw to keep the battery cover in place.

   
The Samsung Galaxy S5690 Xcover at ours

It's the perfect fit if you want to buy a smartphone with a distinct outdoorsy feel. It's no Galaxy S II and it shows. The display isn't as crisp and the hardware just knows it should keep out of the fast lane with dual-cores in the rear-view mirror. At least it’s a phone that doesn’t mind a bumpy ride down the dirt road.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3 at a glance

Samsung's top Bada phone has reached the third iteration - the S8600 Wave 3 maintains the slim, metal body tradition of its predecessors and goes back to SuperAMOLED (four whole inches of it). Bada OS itself has made the jump to a new major version and now offers an interface that holds its own even against high-end Androids.

  
Samsung Wave 3 official photos

The screen felt instantly familiar when we picked up the Samsung Wave 3 - no surprise, since it's the 4" WVGA SuperAMOLED of the I9000 Galaxy S, one of our all-time favorites. It beats the smaller SAMOLED of the first one and the SC-LCD screen of the second one too - score one for Wave 3.

Tapping on the metal back of the Wave 3 also made us realize what the Galaxy S and S II missed out on - it's possible to be both thin and all-metal.

The Samsung Wave 3 borrows more than the screen from the Galaxy S, here's the spec overview:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, EDGE, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 125.9 x 64.2 x 9.9mm, 122g
• Display: 4" 16M-color SuperAMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels resolution, scratch-resistant glass surface
• Platform: Bada OS 2.0
• CPU: 1.4 GHz processor
• Memory: 2GB user accessible internal memory, microSD card slot
• Camera: 5-megapixels auto-focus camera with LED flash, 720p video recording @30fps; VGA video-call camera
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with WPS support and Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, Glonass (region specific), 3.5mm audio jack
• Misc: NFC support, accelerometer for screen auto rotate and motion controls, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, FM radio with RDS, DivX/XviD support, multi-touch input and pinch-zooming gestures
• Battery: 1500 mAh battery

The S8600 Wave 3 bets on proven specs and stylish looks - not a bad strategy, we think. As good as the I9000 Galaxy S was, it did lose points on being all-plastic.

The Wave 3 has solid multitasking chops and the Bada app store has been building up content. The 1.4GHz CPU will deliver top-notch performance if the Galaxy S Plus is any indication.

   

Sony Ericsson Xperia mini 

It comes in a small package but has power to spare. Lovely little phone, assuming you can keep up with it. The Sony Ericsson Xperia mini is a full-fledged smartphone and you’ll need to be at ease with its multiple identities. But it’s not moping around wondering “Who will I be today?” With a friendly face like this, all the horsepower seems so much easier to handle.

  
Sony Ericsson Xeria mini

Many contemporary phones choose not to get obsessed with size. The Sony Ericsson Xperia mini is – but it works the other way around. Let’s just say it doesn’t want to get into the Freudian end of things. Big phones don’t seem to have the ambiguous symbolism of big cars. Maybe they never will. But the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini likes to be on the safe side obviously.

Whatever. The Sony Ericsson Xperia mini doesn’t need a shrink. Not beyond this point anyway. And we’d better stop analyzing and get busy reviewing it. Let's take a look at the specs first.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 3" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of HVGA resolution (320 x 480), Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
• Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread
• 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
• 512 MB RAM
• 5 MP autofocus camera, LED flash, geotagging
• 720p video @ 30fps, continuous autofocus
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot (32GB supported, 2GB card included)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Voice dialing
• Adobe Flash 10.3 support
• User-accessible battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh

Main disadvantages

• No smart dialing
• No front-facing camera
• Loudspeaker performance is a mixed-bag
• No DivX/XviD support
• Typing a bit tricky on the smallish screen
• Doubtful video recording quality

Basically, the Xperia mini is a miniature version of the Neo or the Arc, and all the high-end ingredients that make up the new Xperia lineup are there. The mini has the same, albeit smaller, Reality display, the same processing power and even the same Android version as its elders.

  
Sony Ericsson Xperia mini live pictures

There’s something about the Xperia mini though that makes it even more inviting. Small is simple and beautiful. But small is affordable too. The mini Xperia costs around 200 euro at launch. And mind you, it’s not just a cheaper, smaller clone of the Xperia Arc. It’s a cool little gadget with loads of attitude.

HTC EVO 3D

As 3D is taking over theaters and living rooms around the world, the craze is hitting handheld too. The next thing to shake up the business or on the way to irrelevance: geeks will geek about it either way. Now that the HTC EVO 3D has grown a GSM radio, they get ready to enjoy a real 3D clash of the flagships. It doesn’t get any better than two heavyweight fighters battling it out, and someone’s got the 3D video to prove it.

 
HTC EVO 3D official photos

The best part is the HTC EVO 3D, like the LG Optimus 3D, is not placing all its chips on the stereoscopic screen and pair of cameras. No sir, each of those smartphones claims to have the best there is for power and speed. We are talking mighty dual-core CPUs, loads of RAM and superb connectivity. The EVO 3D can be your kind of smartphone even if you don’t care about 3D stills and videos.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual/tri-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color stereoscopic capacitive LCD touchscreen of qHD resolution (540 x 960); Gorilla glass
• Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense 3.0
• 1.2 GHz dual Scorpion CPUs, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 1 GB of storage for apps
• Dual 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash, massively comfortable shutter key; face detection and geotagging
• 720p video recording @ 30fps in both 2D and 3D mode
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor
• Front facing camera with video calls
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• HTC Locations app
• HTCSense.com integration
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)
• Office document editor

Main disadvantages

• Less than impressive screen performance outdoors
• Speed and productivity not on par with other dual-cores
• Rather heavy
• Low resolution 3D stills
• The two cameras are too far apart for good stereoscopic close-ups

Things are certainly looking promising here, but smartphones are past the my-spec-sheet-is-longer-than-yours stage as of a few years. It’s all about the user experience now and, while powerful hardware is the first step towards providing it, you need equally good software if you are to challenge the best on the market.

  
The HTC EVO 3D in the comfort of our office

A massive high-res screen certainly looks good on paper, but it takes inspiration and clever design to beat those Super AMOLEDs and those Retinas. A new Adreno GPU with a major speed boost might seem more than anyone will ever need, but competitors have not been sitting around either so it’s always going to be close. And you cannot say whether the EVO 3D has the spark by just looking at the specs.

Nokia C2-02

As Nokia smartphones struggle to hold the line against the storming droids, more and more pressure falls on their feature-phone squad. It will be up to those foot soldiers to buy enough time for the heavily armed Windows Phone 7 reinforcements to arrive.

 
Nokia C2-02 official photos

The Nokia C2-02 is the first of a trio of handsets to try and make the most of what's probably Nokia's last remaining stronghold - simple to use phones with good looks and an attractive price tag. The Touch and Type series has been doing well for Nokia and even though they scrapped the name, the spirit will live on.

To get us started, here's what the C2-02 is all about:

Key features

• Dual-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• 2.6" 65K-color resistive TFT QVGA touchscreen
• S40 6th edition
• 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera
• QCIF video recording at 15fps
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, Visual radio
• Bluetooth v2.1 (with A2DP)
• Standard microUSB port
• microSD card slot (32 GB supported, 2GB included)
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Extra smooth and precise haptic feedback
• Attractive price

Main disadvantages

• No Wi-Fi
• Doesn’t charge off USB
• No screen brightness control
• No document viewer
• No smart dialing
• No video-call camera
• No accelerometer sensor means no cool features like tap-for-time and turn-to mute
• No multitasking

If you’ve been keeping track, you’d surely find the flaw list familiar. S40 made the leap to touchscreen but Nokia still didn't bother packing it with smart dialing and multitasking – features already available on competing feature phones for years. The screen itself is nothing to shout about: a small, low-res, resistive display. But the slider form factor makes quite a bit of sense - especially if you had doubts about the first Touch and Type candybars. Sliders make better use of space: the C2-02 gives you a reasonably comfortable dial pad and a bigger screen.

   
Nokia C2-02 studio shots

The C2-02 is supposed to make traditional Nokia users less anxious about giving touchscreen a try. It should be a small and tentative first step - a proper keypad is still a must. What’s more, texting is a relevant feature to both the budget range and the demographic profile.

Ultimately, it's the familiarity and ease of use that will help the likes of Nokia C2-02 reach their intended audience. It's a huge pool to draw from given Nokia's strong grip on the low end of the market.