Samsung has broadened its horizons, extending its hugely successful Galaxy line of handsets into the mid-range smartphone market. The Samsung Galaxy Pro joins the Galaxy Ace in the cheaper and cheerier category but offers an alternative form factor to its siblings with a full QWERTY keyboard.

The Galaxy Pro’s striking resemblance to BlackBerry devices could possibly signify Samsung’s attempt to sway QWERTY fans to the Android side, but would will it prove a successful ploy?

Design

These days, most smartphones take on a smart black appearance but the Samsung Galaxy Pro bucks the trend with a chrome casing. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it has a slightly old-school charm thanks to its the rear panel which takes after the takes after the Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Pro in that it has a textured back. The casing makes the handset really light too at just 103.4 grams, and it doesn’t attract fingerprint marks either!

While the Galaxy Pro’s wide 66.7mm frame may take up more pocket space than some might like, it does provide loads of room for the QWERTY keyboard to reside. The buttons are nicely spaced out and slightly ridged so as to point fingers in the right direction and the keys are responsive too.

Above the QWERTY sits the 2.8 inch touchscreen, although we weren’t too impressed with its 320 x 240 pixel resolution. While the screen was responsive to the touch, the images weren’t particularly vivid when compared to what we’ve seen on other mid-range smartphones such as the Galaxy Ace. This was a real disappointment, especially since Galaxy devices are renowned for their fantastic displays, however, it’s an understandable sacrifice for Samsung to make in order to keep the price down.

Power and Operating System

The Samsung Galaxy Pro packs an 800MHz processor which powers along the Android 2.2. Yes, it may not be the fastest processor or indeed the latest version of Android but together, they make a pretty good team. The Galaxy Pro opened apps, played videos and loaded web pages with little lag and we didn’t really notice too much difference in responsiveness between this and some of their higher end handsets. The Samsung TouchWiz UI doesn’t make an appearance, although Samsung’s Social Hub comes pre-loaded on the main menu as well as Samsung Apps.

The usual Google services are on board too, including three customisable homescreens, access to the Android Market, Gmail, Maps and YouTube. Despite going for the business look, the Galaxy Pro only comes with ThinkFree Office rather than a host of enterprise-orientated features. It’s not like you have to go far to find apps though with two app stores at your fingertips.

Internet: Browsing on the Galaxy Pro was a fairly basic experience due to the lack of Flash support and pinch-to-zoom functionality. It’s fine for anyone who hasn’t used the internet on a smartphone before as there isn’t a lot to contend with, but the small touchscreen means it’s nigh on impossible to read text without using the manual zoom keys first. Providing you have a little patience, you’ll be able to get around though.

Camera: The Galaxy Pro has a 3 megapixel camera which will give you reasonable quality photos to upload to your social networks, however, if you’re looking for better quality images, you’ll be looking for a long time. There are a couple of scene modes to enhance your pictures, although the lack of a flash means the camera won’t be much use if you’re taking pictures in low-light conditions. You’ll need to insert a microSD card into the Pro before you take any photos too. A 2GB card is included in the box but you can up your storage space to 32GB via the microSD card slot.

The camera can also capture video (not in HD though) at 30fps.

Other tech specs:

• Music player – Supports MP3, WAV and eAAC+ files
• Video player – Supports DivX, Xvid, MP4, WMV and H.264 files
• 512MB RAM
• MicroSD card slot that supports cards up to 32GB
• A-GPS
• MicroUSB port
• Bluetooth
• 6 hours 10 minutes talk time (3G)

Any downsides?

It’s a shame Samsung stuck such a low-resolution screen on the Galaxy Pro especially when it supports such a vast range of video files. We just expected a little better considering Samsung’s past record for using fantastic displays on its Galaxy smartphones. The touchscreen, though responsive, was a letdown when it came to browsing as we had to zoom into every web page to read any text or click links. We feel an optical trackpad would have been a better navigation choice for a 2.8 inch display rather than a touchscreen.

Conclusion

Compared to its Galaxy counterparts, the Samsung Galaxy Pro wears its mid-range features on its sleeve. The low-resolution display and small touchscreen cost it some brownie points but despite its downsides, the Pro still puts on a good show. Although it doesn’t rock the greatest specs, it all comes together very well to make this device both functional and great value. If you’re not quite ready to take the leap to a full touchscreen handset, the Samsung Galaxy Pro is a great alternative.

The Sony Ericsson Arc has a lot on its shoulders. Arriving with much fanfare at CES 2011, it signalled a new start for Sony Ericsson who has openly admitted that its previous range of Xperia smartphones wasn’t up to scratch.

So what’s new? Pretty much everything and judging by the Arc’s spec list, SE seems to have learnt a hard lesson and is eager to put the past behind them. With the latest version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, an innovative design and some brand spanking new mobile technology, the Arc is fully equipped to set sail for the dizzy heights of success. But does it sink or swim?

Design

The Sony Ericsson Arc is a front runner in the looks department and flaunts a beautifully crafted curved back that is just 8.7mm at its thinnest part and 9mm at its thickest. Despite its wafer-thin body, the Arc doesn’t feel fragile although the plastic casing may suffer from wear and tear over the course of a lengthy contract.

That said, most of the Arc’s design features go in its favour. It’s on the taller end of the smartphone scale at 125 x 63 x 8.7mm but this long tall Sally has managed to keep the weight off and feels incredibly light in hand, tipping the scales at 117 grams. Of course, there are lighter handsets out there but when you consider that its predecessor, the X10, weighed in at 135 grams this is a definite improvement.

The Arc has also been given a screen size boost and now rocks a 4.2 inch TFT LCD job. It might not match up to the iPhone 4’s Retina display, but this isn’t your bog standard LCD screen. The Arc is the first Sony Ericsson smartphone to come fitted with Sony’s Reality Display technology which has been teamed up with the company’s Mobile Bravia Engine to produce more accurate colour management. The results are incredibly pleasing to the eye with pin sharp pictures and deep colours creating a rich platform for viewing your media on.

Power and Operating System

Like the X10, the Xperia Arc gets its power from a 1GHz Qualcomm offering. However, this processor is more efficient than before as it uses up less battery power and handles graphics and video content with ease.

Sony Ericsson assured the tech world that it has learned from its past mistakes and its a case of  so far, so good on the operating system front as the Arc ships with the latest version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The manufacturer has put a slimmed down version of its own Xperia user interface over Google’s OS but has separated the two so new Android updates can be rolled out quicker than they have been previously. Word has it that a Honeycomb update (which could be in the form of Android 2.4) is heading for the Arc at some point in the near future, but all should become clear soon.

As for the ‘slimmed down’ Xperia UI, it gives Android more of a chance to shine than before. Timescape, which lists your latest texts, calls, Facebook and Twitter updates in a single stream, reappears in the form of a widget as does Sony Ericsson’s Mediascape app. The best thing of all is that Gingerbread and the hardware have been finely tuned to with each other so general day to day usage will go without a hitch.

Internet: As you would expect from an Android-sporting handset, the Sony Ericsson Arc has a WebKit browser and naturally comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity on board. Added extras like pinch to zoom technology and Adobe Flash 10.1 support, neither of which hinder the Arc’s operation, bring it up to scratch with its fellow Android rivals.

Camera: The Arc comes with an 8.1 megapixel camera which is joined by an LED flash and HD video recording at 720p. It also comes with a hint of Cybershot goodness as this snap happy handset is kitted out with an Exmor R sensor which sets out to enhance the quality of your pictures and videos even in low light conditions.

The Arc comes fitted with a mini-HDMI port and Sony Ericsson tells us a cable will come in the box. As always, you’ll be able to play media from the handset onto your television but this clever little feature also mirrors your entire user interface and displays it on your TV —  so if you want to show off your gaming skills to everyone in the room, go for it!

Other tech specs:

• Music player — supports MP3, eAAC, WMA and WAV files
• Video player- supports MP4, H.263, H.264, WMV files
• DLNA
• Up to 512MB phone memory
• MircoSD card slot that supports cards up to 32GB
• A-GPS
• Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation
• Google Maps
• Bluetooth
• MicroUSB port
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Android Market
• 7 hours talk time

Any downsides?

The fact that we have zero gripes with the Arc is probably music to Sony Ericsson’s ears. If we had to pick out something, we would have preferred it to have a metal case rather than a plastic one. The Arc looks so good and we would hate to see it age before its time.

Conclusion

The Sony Ericsson Arc has completely changed our opinion on the Xperia range and puts everything that was wrong before, right. The picture quality produced by the Reality Display is outstanding and its multimedia capabilities are top notch. Even in every day usage, it works perfectly with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but still comes with a hint of Sony Ericsson’s personality. If this was a love story, we’d be happily sailing off into the sunset.

The Sony Ericsson Arc will be released in the UK in Q1 2011.

A full video review of this handset will follow on Monday 14th Feb on this page.

If you love mobile phones and are looking to enter the new and exciting world of Windows Phone 7, then we’re almost certain that one glance at the simply stunning screen found on the HD7 will make you say ‘I want that one!’  The HTC HD7 is the spiritual successor to the HTC HD2, and the Euro WinPho7 brother to the USA’s Android-running HTC EVO.  The one thing they’ve all got in common?  That 4.3″ touchscreen.

Put next to the Trophy and the Mozart, HTC’s other two Windows Phone 7 offerings for the UK, its sheer size makes it easy to see why it’s considered the range topping device, but don’t forget, the 3.7″ and 3.8″ screens on the other two can hardly be considered small!

So you’ve decided that size is everything, and that the HD7 is the phone for you.  Lets take a look at what you’ll be getting:

Style.

Although we love a big screen, we’re not sure the monolithic look of the HTC HD7 could be called attractive, but it certainly is striking.  It’s unsurprising that the front panel is all about the glass screen, with only a sliver of a speaker above it and the three Windows Phone 7 buttons beneath it for company.  Around the back though, things are slightly more interesting.

The curvy rear panel has a removable battery cover plus some Windows Phone and HTC branding, but your eye is drawn to the metallic camera lens surround.  This is more than visual garnish though, as a flip of the finger sees it spring back to become a kickstand, propping the phone up at an agreeable angle for watching video.

Obviously, a phone of this size isn’t going to be light, so the 162 gram weight is only to be expected.  You may be surprised to learn however, that the HD7 is only 11.2mm thick — an amazing achievement and along with the beautifully molded rear panel, part of the reason the HD7 never feels too big for your hand.

Power.

On a phone like this, you’d expect the power to be as monstrous as the screen size, right?  Well, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 576MB RAM and 512MB ROM isn’t to be sneezed at, but it’s also the same as you’ll find in the majority of Windows Phone 7 handsets available at this point.  It also has only 8GB of internal memory and no microSD card slot to increase this, which is a shame considering its video and audio potential.

The HD7 is a 3G phone with HSDPA and HSUPA, plus Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP.

As you know, the operating system is Windows Phone 7, the latest from Microsoft and their big hope for putting them back in the smarphone game.  It has a tile-driven menu where the tiles are ‘live’, displaying everything from up-to-date information from social networks to the amount of unread messages you have in your mailbox.  New tiles can be added to correspond to applications and Hubs on the phone, plus HTC have their own Hub, where you’ll find weather, stocks and other handy widgets.  You can get more information on Windows Phone 7 here, where we go into its capabilities in more detail.

What Else Can it Do?

• A 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and a dual-LED flash sit on the rear panel.  It can also shoot 720p video.
• Assisted GPS with a digital compass and Bing Maps.
• A 3.5mm headphone socket.
• With a screen as big as this, videos will look great and thanks to Dolby Mobile and SRS Surround Sound audio enhancements, they should sound great too.  For best results, use a pair of good headphones — you’ll be amazed at how good a phone can sound!
• The capacitive, multi-touch Super-LCD screen measures 4.3″ and has a 480 x 800 pixel resolution.
• Windows Phone 7 comes with access to the Windows Marketplace for a range of applications, plus Zune Store for music downloads or an unlimited streaming subscription too.

Any Downsides?

Like all Windows Phone 7 handsets, the lack of a microSD card slot is unfortunate, but especially here due to the large screen making it ideal for enjoying a video on the move.  Other than that, if you’ve got small hands, this is a very big phone and you may want to try it out before buying it!

Summary.

Just like HTC’s other big-screen phones, the HTC HD7 is hugely desirable.  While not everyone will want a phone that’s going to worry the lining in more than a few trouser pockets, there is no denying that the new OS looks its absolute best on a screen this size, and we suspect that the HD7 will be the Windows Phone 7 people will aspire to own.

In an effort to help people differentiate between their new Windows Phone 7 devices, HTC are promoting each one slightly differently.  It’s Microsoft’s fault really, as the specifications aren’t all that different, especially between the Mozart and this, the HTC Trophy.  While the Mozart’s name sums up what that phone is all about nicely, it’s not so clear with the Trophy.  However, think about it for a moment, where are you likely to win such a thing?  That’s right, HTC are branding this as the gamers choice!

Before the Trophy was made official it had been spotted under the codename of Spark, but that obviously doesn’t fit with the whole gaming thing, leaving HTC to grab one of its unused names out of the bag.  In fact, a Windows Mobile 6.5-running Trophy appeared on an HTC roadmap back in 2009!  So what does the Trophy bring to the Windows Phone table, and is it the right device for you?  Lets take a closer look.

Style.

Like the Mozart and the HD7, the HTC Trophy is a regular candybar phone with a large touchscreen and to be honest, there is little to separate it from the Mozart at first glance.  For that, you need to get it in your hands.  The most obvious difference once you’ve done this is that the Trophy has a soft-touch plastic body rather than the uni-body aluminium one on the Mozart.  Flip the Trophy over and it has a more conventional look to it too, with a central removable battery cover and a dead-centre camera lens.

Around the front, the Trophy has a Super-LCD, 3.8″ capacitive touchscreen with the usual 480 x 800 pixel resolution, plus the search, back and Windows buttons underneath it.  At 12mm thick and 140 grams, the Trophy isn’t quite the slimmest and lightest Windows Phone 7 device you can buy, but the differences are small enough not to cause concern, especially as it boasts a slightly larger screen over the Mozart.

Power.

Hidden inside the HTC 7 Trophy is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 576MB RAM, 512MB ROM and 8GB of internal memory — which most will recognise as the standard spec required for a Windows Phone 7 handset.  Of course, the Trophy is a 3G phone with HSDPA and HSUPA, plus it has Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP.

This is a great specification for a smartphone, but it probably won’t be the reason you choose this phone; as the real draw here is Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system.  It’s implemented in exactly the same way on the Trophy as it is on all other Windows Phone 7 devices, so buying decisions will ultimately come down to screen size and design preferences.

What Else Can it Do?

• It has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash.  You can also record 720p video.
• Assisted GPS with a digital compass and Bing Maps.  Geo-tagging is also supported by the camera.
• 3.5mm headphone jack.
• A G-sensor, proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.
• Like the Mozart, Dolby Mobile and SRS Surround Sound audio enhancements improve the quality of your music and movies.
• As with other Windows Phone 7 devices, you’re given access to the Zune store for all your music needs, the Windows Phone Marketplace for applications and Xbox Live to keep up with your achievements and gaming friends.  We went into a lot more detail of all the cool stuff Windows Phone 7 offers here.
• HTC have their own Hub too, which comes across like a version of HTC Sense, complete with familiar widgets including the weather, a clock and stock information.

Any Downsides?

You can’t really fault the specification nor the design, but its status as the starter Windows Phone 7 handset from HTC means that it doesn’t really standout from the crowd.

Summary.

The HTC Trophy has an excellent smartphone specification, a typically understated HTC design and the latest Microsoft operating system.  We think it’s perfect for those wanting Windows Phone 7 without all the garnish.

The Galaxy Apollo had a bit of a strange start to life as it made its first appearance next to the Samsung Wave and Galaxy S on Samsung’s smartphone website, accompanied by the words ‘coming soon’ and nothing else — no announcement, nothing. Two days later, Samsung make the Apollo official by way of a simple press release, naming the Apollo as the I5801.

While it may not be quite as jaw-droppingly powerful as the Galaxy S or the bada-powered Wave, the Apollo is a good example of the type of mobile phone Samsung excel at — the mid-range, attractive and surprisingly high-spec device for everyone. Just to avoid any confusion, the I5801 Apollo is the same phone as the I5800 Galaxy 3, however the I5801 is exclusive to Orange.

Style.

The Apollo isn’t what you’d call a design departure for Samsung, as it closely resembles a lot of their other recent touchscreen efforts. While it’s pretty enough, and they’ve lost that ugly diamond button, the candybar shape probably won’t make you standout from the crowd.

It does have a curvy, ergonomic rear panel though, making the phone feel good in your palm, and its light 113 gram weight is far less than many of its more expensive competitors. Taking centre stage on the front panel is the 3.2″ capacitive touchscreen with a 240×400 pixel resolution, although it’s a standard TFT item rather than one of Samsung’s delicious Super AMOLEDs. On the top of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone port, the on/off button and the slot for a microSD card, while on the side is a volume rocker.

Power and Connectivity.

As with other Galaxy phones, the Apollo runs Google Android, seen here in version 2.1, so expect all the upgrades Google added to the already excellent OS recently to be on hand.  Naturally, you’ll also have access to the Google suite of applications including Maps, Gmail and Search, plus the Layar browser and the Android Market for a massive range of apps to download. Powering the phone is a 667Mhz processor.

The Galaxy Apollo is a 3G mobile phone with GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA data connectivity, plus Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP. Assisted GPS is onboard along with a digital compass too.

What Else Can it Do?

Camera. It’s a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus but no flash, however it will record video in QVGA at 15fps.

Multimedia. The music player handles all the usual file formats including MP3, AAC and WMA, while the video player will happily display DivX, MP4, WMV and H.264 files. There is also an FM RDS radio too.

Sensors. The screen supports multi-touch and there is an accelerometer for automatic screen adjustment, plus a proximity sensor too.

Social Hub. A Samsung feature that integrates your social networking contacts into your phonebook, making it easier to connect with the people close to you.

TouchWiz 3.0. The latest user interface from Samsung sits over the top of Android to provide a great user experience.  It’s especially helpful if you’re upgrading from an older Samsung device, as it’s so easy to learn!

Battery. A huge 1500mAh cell sits in the back of the phone, offering an impressive 480 hours standby and 7 hours continuous talktime while on 3G.

Any Downsides?

The Apollo is very competitively priced, but the processor is slower than one may need to run graphically intense games. But that was what the Galaxy S was made for!

Summary.

The social networking integration, curvy design and excellent price point show Samsung are pushing the Apollo towards the tech-savvy younger market who can’t quite stretch to their upper range devices just yet. They’ve done a good job too, as the Apollo has all the features you want on a smartphone, a great OS and access to an ever-growing application store.