Huawei Launches Android Smartphone Ideos In India

[Genius 817]

^^^^^ what quality u expect in 5 k so don't call it experience, experience is for epic and fascinate users for now.

[Karthik R 246]

ok. I will reframe it as android experience "masses" then

[raccoon 53]

Micromax Andro is priced Rs 7000 comes with Android 2.1 and resistive touch screen - and also note it is rebranded ZTE penguin.

While Huawei IDEOS is a google experience device, tested in Google Labs, has Android v2.2 and capacitative touch screen. When Huawei officially launch it in India it may be priced in the same league of Micromax Andro A60. I do not think Huawei IDEOS is not that bad as you are thinking guys. Remember DELL intros 2 smartphones in India which are actually made by ZTE also.

I expect Huawei to be better than other Chinese stuff. But besides being Chinense, the specs too are quite low. With those kind of specs, it still needs to be priced  lower than SG 5.

[inception 75]

ZTE products are not that good, Huawei is better anytime than ZTE. ZTE has good portfolio on CDMA segment.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

I guess they wanted to sell for Rs5.5k initially and later on predicting the expectations/demand it may get later, they decided to increase the price.. Further the rebranded ZTE penguin with Android2.1 and resistive touch is selling > 6K may also be the reason for them to increase the price...

But if they released it @6k mark, then it will sell like hotcakes (and force micromax and others to sell theirs at 5K level) and will bring Android to masses too... But quite unlikely now..

As Raccoon bhai suggested, Anroid + DualSIM will also be a killer combo, especially if one SIM allows 3G for the 8k price tag..

[Genius 817]

Hi guys got this device for 9.5

no one is selling @ 5 or 7 - or they have just hyped the rate don-kno

EDIT: i just went back and re-negotiated the rate - its for 8.5 now final

read it n see images here

Edited December 12, 2010 by Genius

[Karthik R 246]

Genius, that is HUGE difference from expected price, in fact it is the double

anyone can account for it?? You sure you were not ripped?

Edit : Got the name wrong, thanks to Aalok for pointing out

Edited December 12, 2010 by Karthik R

[aalok 442]

the buyer is Genius aka Dr. Vinay not Greatest aka Kunal.. Pl. edit your post..

[mukund 0]

where this phone is available in india ?

whether this is dual sim phone accomodating cdma as well as gsm sim ?

what is the battery life ?

is spice MI 300 is also of cdma and gsm dual sim ?

[rajanmehta 4,056]

@mukund

This phone is just launched in India. It may take some time to reach your Retail Stores. Though it may be available Online soon. Wait for few days.

This is not a Dual SIM Phone. It is single SIM GSM phone.

Battery is 1200 mAh. Stand By 288 Hours, Talk Time Upto 9 Hours (This is internet info. May not be 100% true)

Spice MI-300 is single SIM GSM Phone.

[mpva 9]

for 8.5K its certainly a good deal!!! capacitive screen is a major factor pulling me towards it! Plus Huwaei has very nice built quality IMO becoz i had used 2-3 phone of them in past n they r very well built in terms of quality. I m looking forward to gift this for my cousin...

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Huawei Ideos launched in India with Aircel at Rs 8,499

Almost a month late of what was being expected, Huawei finally launched Ideos in India. Company has partnered with Aircel for the launch.

Aircel is selling Ideos for an introductory price of Rs 8499 with free data download up to 2 GB per month if purchased with a postpaid connection. Smartphone is available instantly at Aircel and Mobile Store outlets.

To remind you, Huawei Ideos features Android 2.2 FroYo, 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, 528MHz processor, 3.2MP camera, proximity and accelerometer sensors built in, MicroSD storage, Android UI, HSDPA, Bluetooth and Wi-FI connectivity.

Source:Androidos

Edited January 24, 2011 by rajanmehta

[raccoon 53]

2 GB per month for how long? Could differ in different areas, but have heard that Aircel EDGE speeds can be pretty low here. Price is high, considering that one can buy Galaxy 5 for around the same price.

[inception 75]

galaxy 5 has android 2.1 and no update !

[raccoon 53]

Oh ya... forgot about that. But has Samsung confirmed that there will be no update??

[inception 75]

samsung is so reluctant to these entry level androids, my Galaxy 3 still does not get official update of 2.2 froyo! G5 can not be updated to 2.2 as it was said on gsmarena, thats offically u cant but check out XDA forum, there people are offering 2.2 update for G3 and probably G5 is also possble!

[raccoon 53]

Yes, seems Samsung customers are an angry lot, due to this tardiness.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Even SAMSUNG is very unwillingly updating the higher end handsets (network locked atleast)...

[KumaarShah 143]

Galaxy 5 can be updated to Android 2.2 at Samsung service centers free of cost according to Univercell here....

[raccoon 53]

Even SAMSUNG is very unwillingly updating the higher end handsets (network locked atleast)...

It seems the blame for these network locked handsets should be placed on the operator and not directly on Samsung, as the customers are not direct Samsung customers. But if Samsung is doing this to direct customers, then it is of course something you can hold against them.

Galaxy 5 can be updated to Android 2.2 at Samsung service centers free of cost according to Univercell here....

I'd not believe that unless it comes from a more reliable source than Univercell. Online, I have seen only comments from frustrated Samsung owners.

[Karthik R 246]

The low-end Android handset segment is beginning to get a little crowded recently – we got the Micromax Andro A60, Intex’s previously announced Rs.5,500 Android handset which was supposed to release this month and a few others. The Huawei U8150 IDEOS is a strange one, however. It’s not as cheap as the aforementioned handsets, instead looking to offer a more value-for-money option.

The big question is whether the IDEOS manages to bridge the gap between the Micromaxes and Intexes, and the Galaxy 3s and Optimus Ones. Let’s take a closer look to find out.

Form Factor and Design

The candybar IDEOS, with its funkily coloured back panels, is like a middle-aged man trying to dress youthfully. The piece we got sent had the Aqua Blue back panel, which is not a colour I particularly hate, so it’s one I’m rather sympathetic to even if I wouldn’t recommend dressing like that. Apart from the Blue, the IDEOS also comes with Purple and Yellow back panels. Uhh… yeah. Anyway, what’s interesting is that the phone carries no Huawei branding at all, instead boasting a Google logo on the back panel, right below the camera.

There’s a circular navpad below the 2.8-inch QVGA (240 x 320) capacitive touchscreen and the touch-sensitive keys and on its sides are the call take and end keys. All of these light up when the phone is active, so you don’t have to spend much time memorizing their positions before you get used to them. There’s a micro-USB port at the bottom, volume keys are on the left, and the 3.5mm headset jack is on the top-right of the device.

The phone feels quite well-built and doesn’t feel cheap at all, apart from the bundled handsfree, that is. It just feels cheap, poorly designed and even looks like a horrible performer. More on that later, and onto the few problems the device has. While the circular navpad in itself isn’t a bad idea, it would’ve been nice if it was an optical trackpad instead – like the HTC Wildfire’s. As it is, the inner circle serves as nothing but a clicker, and that just seems like a bit of a waste to me. The microSD card slot is under the back panel, which isn’t much of a problem, but it’s also under the battery – which means no hotswap. The power button on the top-left of the phone is way too small, which is a real headscrather. Locating the button when you’ve gotten used to it is not an issue and the button itself functions well, but there’s a bunch of wasted space around there that could’ve been used to provide a bigger button and more convenience for the user.

And of course, the screen resolution is a downer. While I understand the need to keep the costs as low as possible, in my humble opinion 240x320 is too low. The screen just looks extremely blurry, which brings the overall experience down a notch.

Interface

The IDEOS is powered by a Qualcomm MSM7225 chipset that originally runs at 528MHz clock speed. Huawei have overclocked it to 600MHz though, in an effort to make the phone a smoother device for the operating system it’s running – Android 2.2 Froyo, and it’s a stock version, too. It lacks multi-touch capabilities though, just like the Andro A60. Apart from this, the phone is boosted by an Adreno 200 GPU.

The UI is a bit sluggish in spurts, though. While it’s smooth enough in parts, you’ll notice those small little frame drops when scrolling through your menu, which will put you off. It certainly put me off, as did the load times when multi-tasking. It’s clear FroYo is slightly too much for the processor to handle – only slightly though, and the improvements 2.2 itself brings to the table makes Huawei’s decision a wise one.

Input options are a bit limited out of the box, with only the QWERTY virtual keyboard as an option. Installing Swype is an option, but the vanilla release doesn’t support QVGA screens, so you’ll have to get your hands on a modified release.

Media

As a multimedia phone, the IDEOS is a bust. The bundled handsfree lived up to expectations admirably by performing extremely poorly. It just sounds terrible overall, even more so when listening to FM Radio, and replacing it with my trusted NuForce NE7-Ms did improve audio quality a bit, but not by a lot, which is ample evidence for a DAC that’s not up to the mark as well. It does, however, scrape through as barely acceptable when paired with some decent earphones. The speakers are on the back of the device as well, which results in some rather muffled audio.

Video format support includes H263, H264 and MPEG4 in the MP4 containers. But the phone just isn’t a good one to watch videos on, what with the tiny 2.8-inch screen and the QVGA resolution to top it off. It does support 16:9 resolutions of upto 640x360, and the quality is alright even if the video ends up getting vertically letterboxed thanks to the native 4:3 aspect ratio. Still, being able to play 640x480 4:3 videos in full-screen is not bad, but it’s not much good either.

Connectivity

This is where the IDEOS really shines. A myriad of connectivity options are included, which is everything you could expect from a phone in this range and much, much more. There’s Wi-Fi, 3G, HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support and GPS with A-GPS. EDGE and GPRS are also included, and work without a hassle.

Misc. Features

The Social Networking sphere is well covered, too. Gtalk, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter apps are pre-loaded, as are other standard Android apps like YouTube, Google Maps, Latitude etc.

There aren’t any extras that Huawei have thrown onto the device. But being a stock OS, the IDEOS has access to virtually every app on the Android Market, which is all you need really.

I wouldn’t call it a disappoint per se because I saw it coming, but Adobe Flash is conspicuous in its absence. The IDEOS’ hardware just isn’t powerful enough to handle Flash, so if you’re one that relies on it for a lot of what you do, prepare for some difficulties.

Camera

Where do I even begin with this one? It’s a 3.2 megapixel camera, and the cost-cutting measures are clear as day when you look at this aspect of the phone. The camera app includes Zoom and White Balance options, but all that is for naught because the image produced by the camera is tosh.

The colours look all washed out and even worse is the fact that the images look like they’ve been watercoloured. Yeah sure, I’ll admit to having some fun on Photoshop with the so-called Artistic brushes every once in a while, but I really don’t want the actual images to look like that.

Even as a 3 megapixel camera in this low a price range, this one ranks below adequate.

Battery

The Huawei IDEOS’ battery is, again, below average. On a full charge with low to medium usage, the 1200mAh battery limps to a day and a half, and if you’re a heavy user with your social networking and what not, expect the requirement to charge your phone every day pop up.

Ze Line at ze Bottom

As a phone, the Huawei IDEOS is well below average. But if you factor in the price, which is an excellent Rs.8,499, the device transforms into one that’s packed to the brim with value for money. The tradeoff Huawei has made in terms of media, screen and camera for Stock Froyo and excellent connectivity options in order to keep costs low is one that plenty of people would make, even if not everyone would.

The IDEOS is a rather decent entry-level Android phone, and one that is capable of enticing those who didn’t really want to take the plunge with the Andro A60 or the others. Alternatively check out Samsung Galaxy Pop.

Via : Tech2.in - Sriram Gurunathan

[Genius 817]

^^ Used this phone for 2 months - leaving it today for Xpexia X10 mini -

Its a average phone and got for 8000/- and its now available for 7600/- for my place, i would also advice to got for samsung POp to any one who is thinking of buying a phone.

[mobilephone 0]

Hi guys. Just came to know that Huawei has come out with 3 new handsets - Ideos Chat, X2 and X5 yesterday. They run on android 2.1 & 2.2. priced somewhere between 8k to 15k rupees. also i got to know that these handsets will be available in the market from June 13th or 14th. overall good quality handsets that Huawei has come up with. I guess its better than micromax or spice mobiles any given day.

[amitnsonu 72]

at this point of time HTC wildfire S will be good choice for entry level, all other phone below this are not up to the mark on performance

available @ 12699 from letsbuy

[shrik 9]

http://www.technologyreview.in/communications/37877/

In Kenya, price of IDEOS is $80 = Rs 3,600. Why not India?