Reviews

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.

20 Jun 2012

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OverallAs a first entrant to the smartphone market, the San Diego is respectable. Intel has managed to produce a presentable and punchy handset with battery life which compares to its rivals. Praiseworthy features include the large, sharp screen, snappy web browsing, good battery life and swift all round performance thanks to the scaled down x86 architecture.

For business users on a budget, the San Diego is tempting when compared to other devices such as the iPhone 4S and BlackBerry devices offered on the Orange business plan. The San Diego is free from 25 per month on a 24 month contract with 450 minutes, unlimited landline calls, 250 texts and mobile browsing.

Based on the same 25 per month contract, users would also have to fork over an upfront fee of 125 for a BlackBerry Bold 9900 or 141.66 for an iPhone 4S. Considering the San Diego is able to perform most if not all the functions offered by the competing RIM and Apple devices, it is excellent value.

IT Pro Verdict

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.

OS: Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread Processor: Intel Atom Z2460 Storage: 16GB non-expandable Screen: 4in (600 x 1024) Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, NFC, micro-USB, mini-HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack. Other: Accelerometer, GPS, A-GPS Bands: GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900. HSDPA 900, 2100 Camera: 8MP rear with LED flash and autofocus, 1.3MP front Battery: 1460mAh Size: 123 x 63 x 9.9mm Weight: 117g