Orange San Diego smartphone review

The first European smartphone with “Intel Inside”, the Orange San Diego runs on Android Gingerbread and features a 4in screen, 1.6GHz Medfield chip and 16GB of internal memory, for a SIM-free price of £199.

IT Pro Verdict

Intel has delivered a solid product in conjunction with Orange. The high performance is offered at a mid-range price and the battery life is up there with other Android. Even the lack of business apps can be fixed with a quick trip to the Android Market.

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Build and FeaturesThe San Diego was based on Intel's reference design, and Orange has done little to alter this blueprint. The silver band wrapped around the chassis gives the handset a similar look to the iPhone 4S. The Intel-based device comes with a crisp 4.03in LCD display, which is made from Gorilla Glass so it will be able to withstand drops. It also packs an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, and supports HD voice calls. All of this is appealing, especially for the pay-as-you-go price of 199.

Although the San Diego isn't as eye-catching as the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S3, it's still an attractive handset. The 117g weight makes the device easy to hold for long periods of time, so you can use it for long browsing sessions, for example.

Orange San Francisco - back

The lack of a removable back cover means you cannot swap out the battery or add extra storage

The chassis' ports and buttons are placed logically: the phone lock button is on the top side alongside the phone's 3.5mm jack. The volume rocker resides on the top of the right edge, with the camera button the near the bottom. Between the two sits the SIM-card slot.

It's not possible to take off the non-slip rubber cover on the rear so you cannot switch the battery to prolong life. The lack of removable storage is another limitation, but 16GB should cater to the needs of most users. The lower side of the device sports a micro-USB port, and a mini-HDMI out can be found on the left side, which allows users to utilise the handset's smart 1080p video capture capability.

For function keys, Intel has opted for a quartet of Back, Menu, Home and Search. The rear of the device is home to an 8-megapixel camera, while a 1.3-megapixel camera is available for video calls. Both perform well enough and snaps taken with the 8-megapixel are sharp and well-focused, if lacking a little contrast.

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