When it comes to mobile phones, Huawei is not yet a trusted brand. However, the Android-toting Huawei Ideos is making lots of waves in the UK due to its cheap price yet being a feature-rich smartphone. In the US, the Ideos is known as T-mobile Comet.
Here in the Philippines, the Huawei Ideos is expected to arrive on January of 2011 and it will come with a price tag of around Php9,500 which will make it the cheapest Android phone around. Right now, the cheapest is still the Samsung Galaxy 5 at Php10,500.
The Huawei Ideos has almost the same features as that of the Samsung Galaxy 5. It has a 2.8″ QVGA capacitive touchscreen (240 x 320). It doesn’t have the same crisp display as the Cherry Mobile Nova, Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 or the LG Optimus One P500 which has a 3.2″ HVGA screen.
Under the hood, the Ideos runs on a bare Android 2.2 UI supported by a 528MHz processor. No bells and whistles just like the CM Nova. This can be good at times since once an Android update becomes available, you can easily upgrade your phone.
For multimedia, you have a 3.15mp fixed focus camera that can capture stills and videos that you can easily upload to Facebook or YouTube. It can also double as a very portable MP3 and MP4 player.
Don’t expect a lot from the build of the Huawei Ideos. It has thin, weird-looking buttons for the call and cancel and a big circular directional button. The back panel has a rubbery texture which makes it easy to grip but the included extra colored panels are made of glossy plastic.
I don’t know if I’m ready to recommend this yet. I still have to find out how the 528MHz processor performs on Android 2.2. It’s interesting to note that the T-mobile Comet has the Swype keyboard integrated into it while the Ideos does not. It would really help when using the small on-screen keyboard.
Huawei Ideos Specs:
- Qualcomm MSM 7225 528 MHz processor
- 2.8″ TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors (240 x 320)
- Android 2.2 OS (Froyo)
- up to 32GB microSD external storage
- 3.15 mp fixed-focus camera without flash
- GPS with A-GPS support
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- FM Radio
- Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
- Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery
- Available by January 2011 for around Php9,500 (tentative price)