HTC One SV, Need For Speed

The HTC One SV is the Taiwanese company's response to the ever increasing development of the LTE networks, the next generation when it comes to data transfers.

 This time, we are talking about a mid range droid, until the HTC One SV, LTE capability was reserved for high end devices. Now, you can enjoy lighting speeds in a fairly affordable package.

As the name suggests, the HTC One V is a mixture of the One S and One V, when it comes to hardware platform, old and new put together. Mainly, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset with a dual core CPU, clocked at 1.2 GHz and a 4.3 inches wide screen with WVGA resolution,long story short it goes like this:

Main Specs:

• LTE network support
• Quad-band GSM/tri-band HSDPA support
• 4.3" 16M-color Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen of WVGA resolution (800 x 480 pixels); Corning Gorilla Glass 2
• Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC Sense 4.1
• 1.2 GHz dual-core Krait CPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 chipset; Adreno 305 GPU
• 1 GB of RAM and 8GB of built-in storage
• microSD card slot
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face detection and geotagging
• 1080p and 720p video recording @ 30fps with stereo sound
• 1.6 MP 720p front-facing camera for video-chat
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• NFC connectivity
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor, built-in compass
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• FM radio
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• Beats Audio sound enhancement
• Superb build quality and ergonomics

Full specs here.

http://www.mobilephonedeals.com/htc-one-sv-black-deals/

Even if the display doesn't have an impressing resolution , this comes very handy when playing with the smartphone, it's very quick and responsive, as its video card has to deal with a relatively moderate number of pixels, hence you have benefits from the WVGA resolution in this case.

In the box, you will find a charger, the USB cable and a 4 GB micro SD card, in some cases you will also benefit from a pair of headphones in the retail package, it's up to the operator.

As per design, the HTC One SV looks pretty, mainly in the red color scheme, it has curvy edges and a metal ring all around the body, this makes it look classy. The overall impression is of a product well built and of high quality.

The build quality is flawless, the back panel is made of soft touch plastic and the front is covered entirely on Corning Gorilla Glass 2, the smartphone looks and feels as premium as it gets.

The smartphone has a perfect size, from my point of view, it measures  128 x 66.9 x 9.2 mm and fits easily in any pocket, it weighs 122 grams, which is also perfect.

 The 4.3 inches wide WVGA display is a Super LCD2 unit with great color reproduction, viewing angles and contrast, sporting 217ppi pixel density. Due to the relatively low resolution, you will enjoy great chipset performance and battery life.

Above the display you will find the earpiece grille, the secondary camera and two sensor, the usual ambient light and proximity ones, below the 3 capacitive keys, glowing in the dark.

On the top, you will see the power/lock key, the 3.5 mm audio jack  and a secondary microphone, on the bottom the USB port and the mouthpiece.

The back  houses the 5 megapixels camera lens, a LED flash and a huge HTC logo, along with the Beats Audio one, under the back cover a user replaceable battery of 1800 mAh and the micro SIM/micro SD cards.

In real life, the battery will last for a day and a half, on moderate to heavy use, not bad at all. When it comes to handling, the HTC One SV is a joy, due to its size, design and excellent build quality, along with the materials used which provide good grip.

The smartphone comes with Android 4.0.4 ICS operating system and Sense 4.1 flavor, HTC's in house user interface.The Sense User Interface is very nice and fully customized, with all types of Skins and Scenes interfaces.

The hardware platform consists of a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset with two 1.2 GHz Krait cores and Adreno 305 GPU, a cool 1 GB of RAM on board, all together they offer quite a punch. The One SV is a pretty good performer, in any task, it is very fast and works seamlessly.

The phonebook is very elaborate, featuring deep SNS integration, the People app is tabbed, it juggles with everything, from SMS to photos from Facebook.

Telephony is good, as it should be, there are no problems with signal reception/voice quality, the messaging department is handled brilliantly, social networking is covered by apps and widgets, including Google Messanger. All messages are displayed in threads, text input via the custom made HTC virtual QWERTY keyboard  presents no challenge.

For emails, you have the tradional Android Gmail app, capable of managing multiple accounts and the generic HTC mail app.

 The gallery is the Android one, customized by HTC, A tap on the Albums dropdown lets you view local or online albums. On the cloud side, you get Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, Picasa or SkyDrive..

The video player is quite capable, it can play most formats like AVI, MP4, MKV, and up to a resolution of 720p.

When comes to audio output, you can choose between Beats Audio, HTC enhancer or No effects. The music player also offers SoundHound track recognition, TuneIn Radio or 7digital., the user interface is a Cover Flow like visualisation, you also get an FM radio with RDS built in.

As for the quality of audio output, is pretty good, the HTC One SV offers excellent frequency response  and a good dynamic range.

The shooter is a 5 megapixels one with autofocus, capable of taking stills at 2592 x 1944 pixels resolution and it can record Full HD video at 1080p at 30 frames per second. The user interface is the same for both the still camera and video camera, you have all kinds of cool effects and settings, the quality of photos and videos is decent for such a device.

In terms of connectivity, you're in for a treat, HTC One SV offers quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band 3G, as well as LTE connectivity. Local wireless connectivity features Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC, Disk Drive, HTC Sync, USB tethering and Internet pass-through, not to mention HTC Portable Hotspot.

The Ice Cream Sandwich browser is great for surfing the internet, you also get Google Chrome preinstalled. The interface is minimalistic and works like a charm.

 The organizer is top notch, the business users will surely appreciate the Polaris app, which supports Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, including the Office 2007 versions and it can create Office 2003 Word, Excel documents and presentations. There is also a PDF viewer to handle PDF files, it also integrates Dropbox and SkyDrive, making syncing documents between your computer and your phone a non issue.

The Google Play Store will get you any app you can think of, for navigation you have Google Maps with Street View, Cell ID and Wi Fi network location, thanks to the GPS receiver on board.

As final words, what can I say? The HTC One SV is a very interesting package, combining excellent design and build quality with a rich set of features and great functionality. Performance is also good, even for a power user, you can do almost anything on this baby.

And the best part is that you can a HTC One SV for free, just pay a visit here and take a look.

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Sony Xperia V, Wild and Wet

The time of 4 inches wide flagships has come to past, now the new truth is full-HD five-inchers stealing the show. Even in these terms, the Xperia generation still has something to say, enters Sony Xperia V, a dual-core Krait powered smartphone, featuring next gen  LTE connectivity, kicking ass in the upper mid range.

 It has a few things to brag about, like a 1080p full HD display and an uber cool 13 megapixels still camera,capable of shooting videos in Full High Def, which is also kind of cool.

The cherry on top, besides the pretty impressive specs, is the water and dust resistance, and without sacrificing the good looks of the Xperia range.  Let's take a look at the main specs, shall we?


Main Features:

• Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with 42.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• LTE Cat3 DL 100 Mbps UL 50 Mbps
• 4.3" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit Reality LCD touchscreen of 720p resolution (720 x 1280 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine 2; Scratch-resistant glass
• Android OS v4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean coming up
• IP57 certified for dust and water resistance, up to 1 meter immersion for 30 minutes
• Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU, 1 GB RAM, Adreno 225 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 chipset
• 13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging, Superior Auto mode
• 1080p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound
• VGA front-facing camera
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• 8GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot
• microUSB port with MHL and USB-host support
• Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Voice dialing
• Deep Facebook integration
• PlayStation Certified, access to the PS Store
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• NFC connectivity

Full specs here.

http://www.mobilephonedeals.com

 Sounds pretty impressive, isn't it folks? And it is, by all means. Moving along, the phone comes in a pretty standard box, containing the usual A/C adapter, a micro USB cable and a headset.

The Sony Xperia V measures 129 x 65 x 10.7 mm and weighs 120 g, even if it looks ample, it feels very light and comfortable in your hand. You must keep in mind that this baby is  IP57-certified for dust and water-resistance, this weighs hard on my scale.

The phone has a curved shape, it's a minor redesign of the Xperia T, the overall finish quality is excellent, the phone is a pleasure to look at and to handle.

 The back panel has a rubbery finish, for extra grip and the body is all plastic made, with no glossy parts. The  screen is a 4.3 inches wide Reality display, above it you will find the earpiece, a VGA camera, the ambient light/proximity sensors and a notification LED.

 There are no physical buttons under the display, just the capacitive keys Home, Back and Task switcher ones. The power/lock button and volume are placed on the top right side, the bottom houses only the microphone, the micro USB port is on the left side and it's protected by a plastic lid, on the top you will find the 3.5 mm audio jack, also sealed with a piece of plastic against water and dust.

 The back panel is made of plastic with a rubber finish, the 13 MP camera lens is on the top, next to the secondary microphone, used for noise reduction.

 If you remove the back panel, you will see an insulating trim of rubber which protects the phone from getting wet and also the 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery, capable of up to 400 hours of standby time  and 7 hours of talk time, in real life, under medium use including calling, web browsing and video, the phone lasts about 30 hours on a single charge.

 As mentioned before, the display is a 4.3 inches wide Reality variety, the quality is above average, with 342 ppi pixel density and powered by the Bravia engine, the screen is sharp and bright, a pleasure to use, honestly.

In terms of handling, the smartphone is light and feels great in hand, it's not too big, nor too heavy, the finish quality is great and many buyers will appreciate the dust and water resistance of the device.

The Sony Xperia V comes with Android OS version 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich on board, the User Interface is familiar for Sony aficionados, it features the usual five-pane homescreen setup and you can change the color theme of the launcher whenever you feel like it.

The hardware platform consists of a  Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset with two Krait cores, clocked at 1.5 GHz, graphics are handled by an Adreno 225 GPU and there's 1 GB of RAM on board, needless to say that with this setup everything runs smooth, you can watch 1080p videos without issues, the phone does an amazing job overall.

Tested against superior phones, the Xperia V performs better on some tasks.

The phonebook is the standard Android, you can sync multiple accounts, like Facebook with your phone contacts, you also have custom ringtones.

In terms of telephony, the Xperia V performed with flying colors, it holds well to signal, you get active noice cancellation and smart dial. The messaging is well taken care of, messages are displayed in threads,  Gmail handles the email business, the app supports multiple accounts. For instant messaging, you have Google Talk, compatible with a variety of popular clients like Pidgin, Kopete, iChat and Ovi Contacts, also you can use the integrated Timescape app for Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Typing on the virtual keyboard is pleasant and comfortable, especially with the Gesture function, which works like Swype.

The video player has a new interface and a new name, it's called Movies, also is connected to Gracenote, an app which helps you find additional information about the movies you have on board, just like an automated IMDB. You can also edit video, via an editing app called Movie Studio.

 The music player on board is a Walkman variety,  SensMe is included,with this featyre you can filter your songs by mood - upbeat, energetic, mellow, dance, also you may create playlists  and share your music on Facebook for your friends to see.

 Another new option added to the Walkman is ClearAudio+, which enhances sounds, also a Surround mode, ClearPhase for speakers and xLOUD for a more powerful sound. You also get an FM radio built in, with RDS. Audio output quality is pretty good, in Sony tradition.

 When it comes to pictures, you're in for a rare treat, the Xperia V comes with a 13 megapixel camera with a backside-illuminated Exmor R sensor and a single LED flash, the pictures are taken in  4128 x 3096px resolution and you also have quite a few options, like the Superior auto mode, Sweep Panorama etc.

The camera is a very good one, pictures look great, sharp and with nice levels of detail. The phone is capable of recording full HD videos, 1080p at 30fps, in mp4 format, in stereo sound.

For the multi media users, the phone shines in terms of connectivity, you have  quad-band 2G, tri-band 3G connectivity and penta-band LTE. Mobile data speeds are an impressive 42 Mbps of HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA.Local connectivity is covered by Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct, so you can easily share content from your phone on a DLNA TV or music player. There's also Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP.

For web browsing, the Android works flawlessly, as usual, with a minimalistic interface and quite a few options, it handles HTML 5 videos, it works very fast and smooth.

For business users, they will be delighted by the solid organizer and mainly the OfficeSuite 6, which allows you to view any type of document,

 The phone comes with a GPS receiver with GLONASS support, Google Maps handles navigation and you can also use the always cool StreetView option. For any app imaginable, you have the Play Store, with over 700 000 apps.

As a final word, this baby is the water proof version of the latest flagship, the Xperia T, well, not quite identical but almost, Sony cut down the secondary camera performance and the internal storage capacity, but these are hardly things I would complain about.

 For the best mobile phone deals on a Sony smartphone, take a look here.

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