Orange San Francisco Review

The Orange San Francisco is a great device for those people who want a smart phone on a budget.  You're not going to get the highest processing power, the camera's not  the very best and, yes if you want to be able to play all of the latest games then this is not going to be the one for you.  However, if you want a stylish, robust and smooth smart phone then you need not look any further.

The Feel

When it comes to smart phones, one of the most important things about them is the feel.  They're so much more than just a device to make phone calls with.  You have to think about things like, how do they feel in your hand?  How responsive is the screen to your touch?  If this is wrong then it really doesn't matter how much processing power there is or how pretty it looks, you're not going to be able to get much out of the phone.

In this aspect the Orange San Francisco excels because although the price is low it really doesn't feel like it when you hold it in your hand.  It feels nice and hefty, although not heavy - it might have some weight to it but it's nice and slim and will slip nicely in to your pocket.

The screen is another great feature of this phone.  At 3.5 inches it's a nice and large screen and has a good resolution, at 480x800 pixels.  It's nice and crisp and clear. You can slide back and forth between the different pages with just a flick of the finger, the way it was designed.  It's not overly sensitive but neither does it require a heavy hand.  It is truly the goldilocks of budget android phones, it's just right.

Orange Apps

That having been said though, there are a few things that are a bit irritating about the phone.  One of these are the Orange apps which are pre-installed.  The problem is that you can't remove them and they take up quite a bit of memory so after you've had some time to accumulate some apps you may well wish that there was some way to get rid of these Orange apps if you're not using them.  And you never know, you might find them useful, but to be honest there are usually better versions of the same sort of thing that you can get for free at the android app store.

Also, the Orange home screen is not to everyone's taste, but that can easily be replaced with the standard android display so really nothing to worry about the.  The most annoying part of it is probably the game demos they've put on there which you can't remove and which you have to pay for if you want the full version.

So yeah, Orange might be concerned about not spoiling movies but it seems that they're not beyond shoe horning in a few unnecessary extras on their phones.  But we really shouldn't complain too much, it's really only a minor irritation and should not detract from the fact that for budged android phones, the Orange San Francisco is still one of the best that you can get.

Orange San Francisco Hardware

Most of the software on an android can be replaced of course (other than what we've already mentioned) so we won't spend too much more time on that.  The keyboard's okay, as are the text messaging and email facilities.  Nothing special.  But if you prefer something else you're going to have plenty of choice at the Android app store, mostly for free.  Or you might have to pay a few extra pounds for the very best but a lot of that is down to personal preference and how you want to use the phone.

When it comes to the hardware, it's hard to complain too much considering the price.  It's really not fair to compare it to the iPhone or some high-end Android like the Samsung Galaxy S.  Most importantly, as we've already mentioned, the screen is large and it's responsive so that's a major plus.

As for everything else, it works well enough.  The camera, for instance, takes pictures of perfectly reasonable quality.  Although there doesn't seem to be a flash.  We've looked pretty hard for it and we can't find it, but we may be wrong about that.  Anyone finding the flash, please send us a message of how to get to it. 

Also, the wi-fi has an a somewhat annoying habit of cutting out every time the phone goes in to standby mode.  Although that is not necessarily a feature across the range, we might have just been unlucky with this particular phone.

The battery lasts a good long while though.  As well as wi-fi it has 3G capablilities as well as GPS and there's a connection for a 3.5mm jack for headphones.

Check out the full specs on the Orange website.

Overall

This phone might be cheap but it's also serious and it's not going to fall apart any time soon.  The screen is superb and with the Android 2.1 system, although a little old, it will still play most games.  There are of course better android phones on the market, there were when it came out and there certainly are now.  Indeed, it now has a younger brother in the San Francisco II.  However if you're looking for a solid smart phone on the cheap, this is still a contender.

So check out Orange San Francisco deals if you think this might be the phone for you.