Málaga - 3G/UMTS: An Impatient Reality

I've now owned this phone for 10 days and am incredibly happy with it.The first thing to ducsiss is the size; frankly, the 5.3 screen makes this a love-it-or-hate-it device. For some people it's too big and clumsy to use as a phone and too small to replace a tablet; for others (including me) it's the perfect compromise for someone who wants an all-in-one pocketable device which really lets you enjoy internet and video on the go. If you're even considering buying it, you're likely in the second camp, in which case I can tell you that the bulkiness is less of an issue than you'd think. It's easily pocketable; I wear normal not-particularly-baggy jeans and it's really fine. If you put it in the inside pocket of a jacket you'll even forget it's there.Other than the size, pros include: - Beautiful screen. Just wow. The colours are fantastic and the resolution terrific. - Perfectly decent 8MP camera with 1080p recording (though certainly not top of market, and the lens is a little exposed to scratches) - Good battery life by smartphone standards (2 days for me with moderate use) - Fantastically snappy with a good basic UI layout the taskbar has sensible shortcuts on it (you can turn on and off wifi, bluetooth, gps, silent mode and screen autorotation without delving into settings menus). The drag-down taskbar and good processing power mean you can, for example, recieve an email or text alert, open it up and see who it is from, and close it and return to what you were doing (e.g. listening to music) within two seconds flat without experiencing any lags or feeling like anything's been interrupted; it multitasks with style and ease. - Touchscreen is nicely responsive; misclicks, even on small links on fully zoomed out webpages, are uncommon. Of course, the screen's size gives you a lot more leeway to zoom, and to type very accurately on the touchscreen keyboard, even if you're not particularly dexterous.Cons: - on/off and volume buttons opposite each other, meaning trying to press one can result in pressing the other too - micro USB port is pretty tight (I have two chargers; one is a slight squeeze, and one I really have to use a lot of force to insert and remove it) - Stylus a little hard to remove (which I quite like, since it makes it very hard to lose, but this will bother some people) - The width of the phone does mean you worry a little more about dropping it; it has narrow, smooth edges and it's hard to get a comfortable, secure grip on it with one hand. At first, you'll find yourself holding it extra carefully, rather than just holding it intuitively. - Let's be honest: apps and security. The Android marketplace leaves you more vulnerable to malware than Apple's app store, so you have to be a little more careful when downloading unknown apps. Plus, you'll have a slightly narrower range of quality apps to choose from. For me this is the one significant downside of owning an Android device vs an iPhone, but it's not nearly enough to overcome all the upsides.I bought mine off Amazon.de (at a cost of about a3460 all inc with 3-day shipping). In the box, there was a charger (micro-USB to USB cable, coupled with a USB-to-German-two-pin-plug adapter) so if you buy from abroad, remember to buy another charger or travel adapter unless you want to exclusively charge from USB. There was also a basic handsfree kit (set of in-ear noise blocking headphones with an inline mic) which is perfectly functional, but lacks good sound quality for music and doesn't do a great job of blocking ambient noise either, so I don't use it. There wasn't any sort of case, although I've seen reviews elsewhere suggesting that it does sometimes ship with a flip cover case.I love this phone/mini tablet hybrid despite a few flaws. If you want an all-in-one powerful device which you can truly enjoy using for media consumption while on the go, and fit in your pocket, get it. The screen, UI and tech specs won't disappoint, and you'll find it more portable than expected. If you just want a phone which does everything else pretty damn competently, you might well be better off with one of the many <4 screen smartphones on the market.