So you’ve seen the unboxing of the Nokia N900. It’s a fascinating device. The looks are distinctive and it certainly is not a phone cum PC, rather PC cum phone. I thought of bringing you a picture gallery of the Nokia N900 so you can have a look at it and everything that’s inside the box.
N900 in retail packaging
In this last part of the review of the 5233, let’s look at the Internet, Camera, Ovi Store and Accessories.
Internet:
As we all know that the 5233 has only connectivity up to EDGE there is no other way of connecting to the internet except for using the GPRS/EDGE connection by the operator. So you are dependent on the operator for internet. The browser on the 5233 is the same ‘Webkit’ based browser which is quite robust.
Surfing the net on the 5233 is not a problem as the moment you type in the link and hit ‘Go’ the browser starts loading the page and you get a full screen view by default. With the ability to view Flash objects in the webpage itself, the internet experience is further enhanced.
The ability of blocking pop ups is an added advantage for the device. Although this is a feature common to the browser, having it in a 7K phone makes it a big plus.
I’d rate the internet experience at 8/10. A full-fledged internet browser on a budget phone. The absence of tabbed browsing still continues to be a major drawback for the browser.
Camera:
The 5233 comes with a 2MP fixed focus camera. This means that you cannot focus on a particular object, but you can click incredibly quickly. The 2MP sensor is as good as or perhaps even better than what the N70 had. This is a pretty tall order for this device since the picture quality on the N70 was one of the best. The 5233 also does not disappoint. In low light, however it is a letdown. One cannot use the 5233 for any picture taking in low light. The 5233 does not have any LED flash so the camera is rendered useless.
The 5233 has various modes & colour options along with brightness, contrast and ISO settings as well. These settings cannot be found in some of the other device in this segment, which gives it an edge over its competition. The absence of auto focus is a little bit of a drawback for this device and could have been included in my opinion.
Geo-tagging is also not available as there is not GPS chip in this device.
Overall, for the price, the 5233 offers an excellent camera easily getting a 8.5/10. A big view finder due to the 3.2 inch screen, lots of modes and settings and a dedicated camera button on the side allow for some fast camera action.
Ovi Store:
The Ovi Store on the phone is accessible only through the data connection on the 5233 and that makes it a bit of a pain, and it is not because of the store, but because of the connection. The other way to access the store is through a PC and then installing the apps using the Ovi Suite. Ovi Store, has over a period of time, really grown and has quite a few apps, and there are quite a few things you can get for free.
It is definitely a must to check it out pretty often just to see if there are any new additions. From downright silly apps to some very smart ones, they are all available. I’ll give the Ovi Store app and experience a 7/10. Why have i not ranked it up there. The reason for that is quite simple. The app and store has room for a lot of improvement and there are a lot of apps that can come on the S60 5th edition platform.
Accessories:
The Nokia 5233 comes with the following accessories in the box –
The battery of course has been covered in the last part of the review so I won’t go into the details of that. The charger is a regualr 2mm charger and not the Micro USB type, the 5233 does not support Micro USB charging so even if you have your own charger, you won’t be able to charge it. The stereo headset is the same that comes with the E63. It’s good, but if you are looking for a music experience, you will need to buy an even better set of headphones/earphones. These ones are good for taking calls and some occasional listening. The plectrum stylus is a good touch and it’s a nice thing to use. But, I did not use it that much, it’s all about personal choice really. The stylus in the phone was good enough for me.
I’d give the 5233 in terms of accessories a good 7/10. A better set of earphones could have done the trick.
Over the past few days I have been very excited about something that was coming from the good people at WOM World! I was waiting to lay hands on the N900 and also trial the HF310.
So without wasting any of your time telling you about the N900 and the HF310, I thought it best to put up a unboxing while I tinker with the N900 some more. Stay tuned as we bring you more about the two.
The N900 unboxing:
The HF-310 unboxing:
In the last part of our review of the E72, we looked at the software, music and battery life of the E72. This time we give the camera and the accessories that came with it a thorough look.
So without wasting any time let’s look at the camera of the E72.
Camera:
The E72 employs a 5MP sensor with autofocus. Low light photography is somewhat possible with a single LED flash. The 5MP camera on the E72 is an upgrade to 3.2MP sensor on the E71. Therefore one might think it’s just an ok camera and really not a performer. I was of the same opinion and thought of it as just a gimmicky feature. That’s where I was wrong. The E72’s camera is anything but just another camera. It seems that when E72 designers were going through the feedback for the E71, they decided to really make the E72 a good camera-phone.
I found the E72’s camera to be a capable performer, easily giving me some great shots and some rather surprisingly good low light photos. Now, I like the N82’s camera and I swear by it. The E72 did not match it, but it definitely showed the current crop Nseries how a camera should work. I must admit the E72 was able to click better photos than the N97 and N97mini. The alogrithms on the E72 are clearly a step ahead of the ones found in the more expensive Nseries.
Where the Nseries go ahead is in the macro settings. Otherwise this E72 is clearly a Nseries camera phone in the garb of an Eseries. If you are looking at a good 5MP camera, the E72 makes a strong claim to be the right one for you. Given it’s dimensions and it’s good looks, I’m sure even a Nseries buyer might be swayed into buying the E72.
Some samples at the bottom of the post should give you a better picture of what I am saying.
Video is an area where the E72 takes a bit of a beating. VGA quality video at 15fps is really a downer. I would have really liked it if the resolutions would have remained VGA and the 15fps would read 30fps. This has been deliberately done it seems to keep the Nseries as media centric devices. Pity, since the Eseries has gone way ahead than the Nseries and it’s the Nseries which need to sit with the Eseries designers and learn how to make solid phones again.
The single LED flash might seem like a downer too, but in low light it manages to give a decent output. In fact, I was able to get much better quality with the E72 than the N97mini in low light. Clearly the single LED was much better than the dual LED flash of the mini. I don’t see the E72’s single LED flash coming in the way of clicking pictures in low light conditions.
One look at the setting and it’s a familiar look, all the setting that the camera centric Nokia smartphones have are there in the E72. There is however GEO tagging, a feature which is a boon, that is missing on this device. I hope that it comes in subsequent firmwares. I wonder why it was left out on the E72?
Overall, the E72 ia capable performer. Easily going ahead a couple of steps than the E71 and the E75 in terms of picture quality. I’ll rate this at 8/10. A couple of important features missing deny it from a score of 9.
Accessories:
The E72 has an almost similar set of accessories the E71 came with. A leather pouch, data cable, handsfree headset, Micro SD card, and of course the charger.
The pouch has definitely undergone a change, and is now open from both ends instead of only one end on the E71. This seems like a very carefully thought out innovation once you realize how easy it is to remove or put the phone inside. Accessing the 3.5mm jack and the 2mm power jack, memory card slot and the USB slot without having to remove the phone is also possible. Clearly, the designers have been listening. Kudos to them for actually implementing a small but very carefully thought change in the design of the pouch.
The data cable in the box, is a mini data cable and is definitely a cost cutting decision on the part of Nokia. It is really too small to be practical enough. Clearly Nokia does not want you to be syncing it with a desktop. Connecting to a laptop is probably the only option and if you are short on space the cable is the last thing that will allow you to be flexible. I did not use the short micro USB cable that came along with it, the CA-101 being a more useful and sensible option over the CA-101D that came along with our review device.
The handsfree headset, WH-601 is a very well designed headset, the thin flat wires give it a sleek and unique look. The sound output is pretty good, and will not disappoint. Probably the only things that holds it behind is the fact the the rubber rings that come with it are not enough to hold it in one’s ears. One needs to put on a pair of cushions and then they’re good to go.
The Charger is a regular AC-8E charger. I miss having the small chargers the N85 came with. Though there is nothing wrong with this either.
The review unit I received had a cleaning cloth too. This may or may not come with your device. But if you do get it, I suggest you keep it properly as it is very useful.
I’d give the E72 a 8/10 for the accessories it packs in the box.
Here’s the gallery of images for you to see.
Last year, the lovely people at WOM World had sent me a package. This package contained what many people believe to be a superior bluetooth headphone. I was very upbeat about receiving it and putting it through the grind. I had to know whether it was as good as others have stated.
Presenting the much awaited BH-905 bluetooth headphone review.
Packaging:
The BH-905 came in some of the most unanticipated packaging. The box was much bigger than the boxes of the N97 and N97mini. In fact one could easily slip in a N97mini box inside the BH-905’s retail packaging.
The BH-905 itself was in a very smart leather pouch, the kind that one gets with expensive high end stereo headphones. Inside everything was arranged to perfection. There was a slot for everything. All the pins were arranged properly, the extra cable properly bound, the charger carefully tucked on the other side and the BH-905 there in all its glory.
I must say that this is by far the best packaging for any bluetooth device I have seen.
A full 10/10. Amazing packaging!
Design:
The BH-905 seemed like a really big pair of headphones at start in the pictures. The packaging seemed to add to this belief. Upon opening I was taken aback. I guess when they say pictures are deceptive; they were referring to the BH-905. These headphones were not massive, but rather quite small. Though enough to cover my ears.
The earpieces were properly cushioned on the inside and so was the headband. Adequate cushioning meant that one could put them on the ears and enjoy hours of music without being disturbed.
The glossy brushed metallic inserts added to the overall look of the headphone being an expensive device. The buttons to control the music and audio quality were all within the ear-cups. One could switch on the Active Noise Cancellation from the left ear-cup, control the music, receive calls and control the volume from the right side. It’s truly amazing to see so much being fit inside those ear-cups. The batteries were also in the ear-cups. That’s how much is in those headphones.
The LED light for the ANC and the bluetooth were also well placed and, I especially liked the size of the bluetooth status LED.
I’d give them an 8/10. I wish the ear-cups could have been larger and cover my entire ear. Everything else was okay.
Battery:
The Bluetooth headphones have the following times against it in various modes.
Now I could tell you that I was able to get X amount from it. But, I’ll be honest here and say that I never quite tested the headphone for the above. It was charged twice and I just continued to use it whenever I wanted to. With a 600 hours standby, this baby can stay on for you for a long time. The 600mAh battery however does take time to charge and in 2 hours it can go from being absolutely dry to full charge.
Contents:
The BH-905 comes with the following ‘accessories’.
As you can see, that’s long list out there. No bluetooth device I know has such a long list of ‘in box’ accessories.
10/10 for it.
Audio:
How can a review for a bluetooth device end without a thorough look into this aspect? I’ve had a chance to try these headphones in various places to check the efficacy of the headphones much touted Active Noise Cancellation. From an office environment, at home after coming tired from work, the outdoors, in the airplane sitting just beside the wing, that’s where the engines are.
I found them to be capable performers. They are not loud and do not provide ear splitting sound. What they do provide is really clear audio. The headphones really allow one to hear every note without any unnecessary external noise filtering in. I found the Active Noise Cancellation working like a charm. No problems whatsoever. All the hums, honking, buzzing, everything is just cutout and there is a sense of tranquility that grips you. It’s truly amazing!
As I mentioned earlier to you, I tried them even inside a plane even, and to my luck I was seated bang next to wing where the engine is located. This means that I was going to be subjected to irritating whirrs and other motor engine noises for the course of my flight journey. Out came the BH-905, this was going to be their true test. If they could do what Nokia claimed, it would be spectacular.
Well they did not disappoint and only exceeded my expectations. Firstly the noise of the engine was cut down so much; it was like having the engine whisper in an extremely hushed voice. The noise cancellation worked exactly as Nokia said it would. The point where it exceeded my expectations was when the flight attendant made an announcement and without having to lower the volume or make any adjustments, I was able to hear what she was saying. Never has a voice sounded so clear!
I enjoyed the music on the flight and the movie too, all thanks to the Nokia BH-905. What a headphone! I’m giving it a 10/10. Absolutely worth it!
Now this device is not available in India, so if you are looking for it here. You won’t find it. One can get them on Amazon for US $274.36. If you ask me, that’s a good price for a pair of awesome headphones and bluetooth device rolled into one.
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