The first generation of Intel-powered Android phones has arrived, and
while the chip maker doesn't appear to be claiming that its initial
efforts are world-beaters, we've been promised a chipset that
prioritizes what people want most: capable web browsing, strong camera
performance and robust battery life. Although we've sampled plenty of incremental versions of this Medfield tech, Orange UK's San Diego
is the first finished device to land for review. Priced at £200 ($308)
it joins a large spread of wallet-friendly, entry-level smartphones in
Orange's lineup. With a (1024 x 600) 4-inch LCD, 8-megapixel camera with
flash, micro-HDMI port and 1GB of RAM, it looks to be a respectable, if
middle-of-the-road, Android device. But the focus here lays with the
1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 CPU and whether it delivers on those performance
and battery life promises. Does Intel have a handle on mobile
processors? Is the San Diego, near-identical to Intel's own reference
model, going to be attractive enough for buyers? You'll find our verdict
after the break.
Since Mobile World Congress earlier this year, the Orange San Diego (previously known as the Santa Clara),
has benefited from some slight revisions. The whole frame is now much
more solid, and there's no longer any hint of a creak. The soft-touch
backing, while a magnet for scratches and dings, helps to separate it
from an army of glossy sub-$300 Android devices, but it's certainly not
the most imaginatively designed phone. The shape lies somewhere between
the Galaxy S II
and iPhone 3GS, although the substantial bezel below the screen stops
the phone from being quite as hand-friendly as the latter. It's simply
not a pretty phone, and we lay the blame on the ho-hum build materials.
The black body is ringed with a silver border, and while it didn't chip
during our use, it's not a particularly fancy finish. The 10mm edge
houses the volume rocker, micro-SIM slot and two-stage camera button on
the right, micro-USB port at the bottom, and mini-HMDI output along the
left side. A fiddly power switch resides along the top edge, but once
you gain purchase on them, all of the physical buttons are responsive --
including the camera button, which will also quick-launch into the
camera.
The San Diego is home to an 8-megapixel / 1.3-megapixel camera duo,
both of which can be controlled using either the physical key or
touchscreen. The primary, rear-facing shooter is also capable of
recording 1080p video. The four capacitive buttons are clearly
signposted in daylight, but will also light up if the environment
dictates. Thankfully, despite the lightweight tinkering from Orange,
both Android Gingerbread shortcuts remain intact, with a multitasking
screen accessible by holding the home button. Storage space comes in at
just under 11GB -- with no option for expansion. In fact, the whole
phone is sealed up -- so there's no easy option to change the
battery either. (It is possible to wrench off the back cover, but the
battery still isn't the in-and-out kind.)
Display
The San Diego's 4-inch screen was a pleasant surprise. While there's no
Super AMOLED Plus or Super LCD 2 fanfare, it's sharp and rich, although
wider viewing angles introduce some gentle discoloration. But for a
low-to-middle-ranger, the 1024 x 600 screen was plenty serviceable, and
at full brightness was justabout manageable in full daylight.
Camera
While Intel seemed to pride itself on the camera skills of its
reference design, we can't agree. If ever there was a phone to
demonstrate that a camera's performance can't be measured by megapixels
alone, then the San Diego is it. While some effort was made on the
software side to ensure the phone is capable of burst capture, we were
left underwhelmed by the blurry results. Perhaps we've been spoiled
recently, but the image quality certainly doesn't measure up to the
standards of other earnestly-priced
phones. Colors were often washed out with subjects appearing dull,
while less-than-favorable lighting resulted in hefty doses of noise.
This time, we won't blame it on the often cloudier climes of the UK as
color reproduction indoors was also meager, and a good deal of detail
often got lost in translation. Having said that, there were flashes of
decent imaging, but these moments were rarer than we'd liked.
Performance in macro mode was generally better than other settings.
Intel has added a raft of control options for the camera, and while
there isn't an HDR mode, per se, you do have the option of capturing a
selection of photos at differing exposures to craft your own HDR images
on separate hardware. The camera app doesn't cut corners at all on
options, with several auto exposure modes (including aperture and
shutter priority), shutter-speed adjustment, anti-banding options, RAW
mode, ISO settings (800 maximum) and a burst-mode capable of 15 frames
per second for up to 10 shots. Unfortunately, the results from the
get-go didn't really warrant extensive use of all those options. Video
performance matched what we found with stills, with results often noisy
and a little rough around the edges. White balance largely did the
trick, but it did end up washing out the swan you'll see in our sample.
Autofocus kept up with us, although it's not the speediest.
Software
The San Diego runs on Android Gingerbread. We've been told that Ice
Cream Sandwich can already run on this hardware, but it still won't be
seen on these devices until Q4. It's difficult to describe what's been
done to stock Android. For every change Orange made, some parts were
left completely unaffected -- like an increasingly rare stock version of
the app drawer. We were able to scrape back most of what Orange had
wrought -- aside from the dated orange app icons. The carrier did add
gesture features, which are largely unobtrusive and occasionally useful.
By slowly tracing across the screen (on any app or the home screen) you
can draw out a symbol that acts as a shortcut, catapulting you to
whatever's assigned to it. We give it a run in the video review -- check
that out if you'd like to see how it all works. Up to 27 shortcuts can
be assigned to apps, contacts, playlists and even FourSquare places.
Popular carrier apps, like Orange Wednesday, are pre-installed and are
unfortunately flanked by less useful additions like the Orange Assistant
helper app, an additional user guide and an NFC tags app that
went largely untouched. While the phone is NFC-capable, there's no
"taggable" cards packaged with the phone and the San Diego doesn't hook
up to Orange's existing contactless payment service.
The stock Android keyboard felt very, very responsive -- more so than
on various other Android devices we've reviewed this year, and Swype is
offered as well if that's more your style. As we'll cover more closely
in the performance section, the web browser copes well with denser sites
-- there's a little stutter but it's on par with existing dual-core
Android phones, if not quite on the same level as a flagship. App
compatibility on the new chipset was a concern that we almost completely
forgot about during our review. We came across only two apps that
didn't work during our review and we use a lot of apps -- it simply wasn't a problem.
Performance and battery life
Orange San Diego
Samsung Galaxy S III
Motorola Droid RAZR
Quadrant
3,648
4,454
2,357
Vellamo
1,279
1,751
1,021
AnTuTu
5,712
11,960
6,027
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)
1,387
1,460
2,140
GLBenchmark Egypt Offscreen (fps)
28
99
28
CF-Bench
2,437
13,110
6,191
For Intel, a lot boils down to this section. Our benchmark figures have
barely moved since we tested the device at its launch event, and the
numbers paint an interesting, largely positive picture. In short, the
single-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 is capable of sparring with the
dual-core masses. Sure, it's not a leader -- it's not even close to the
quad-cores and Snapdragon S4s of 2012, but look at that
SunSpider score. We've run several rounds just to check, but yes, it
slides in just underneath the Galaxy S III -- and less is better here.
It demonstrates that Intel was serious when it promised to focus on web
browsing. And while the phone was clearly unable to scale 3D
environments on the likes of GTA 3 as well as pricier handsets, it still manages to juggle this and other low-intensity tasks without a problem.
Alas, real-world battery life didn't hold up to those heady promises of
14 days' standby. Many people might want a smartphone that can simply
exist in their bag for a few days -- but we've reviewed enough devices
and tested enough batteries to tell you it's the screen that will burn
through your charged-up phone. On our video rundown test, which involves
looping a video with the screen fixed at 50 percent brightness, the
phone managed to wind down in around seven hours and 20 minutes. That
time is no better than current Android devices, but it's still pretty
good for a 4-inch smartphone. In day-to-day use, we found the battery
fared better, managing closer to two or three days between charges --
substantially better than many other smartphones we've used this year.
Unsurprisingly, its runtime is directly related to how much you use it,
but if you're not going to use those smartphone features, it will
doggedly hold onto its initial charge very well -- close to that posited
two-week mark. Call quality was strong -- Orange offers HD voice
calling between the San Diego and other compatible devices. It also has
the same earSmart
voice-cancellation processing found in the likes of the Galaxy S III
and, er, Dell Streak, keeping our test calls sharp and clear.
Wrap-up
Intel's first Android smartphone proves that the company is more than
happy to bring the fight to existing processors. Despite the low price,
the admirable performance of the San Diego's Medfield processor is the
take-home message here -- which is great news for a manufacturer looking
to dip its toes into mobile devices. What we're interested in seeing
now is what Intel can make if it really pushes the envelope. How would
an Intel-powered, 1080p, flagship smartphone with a more capable camera
compare to Samsung's and HTC's best and brightest? In comparison, the
San Diego looks plain cheap, lacks Ice Cream Sandwich and has often
disappointing camera. If we think globally, the Galaxy Nexus is just
$100 more expensive, and represents competition that the San Diego (and
its duplicates) would lose out to. However, for this price -- and as
Intel's entry-level smartphone gambit -- we were left impressed by both
the display and battery. The first Medfield phones may not register on
the radar for those looking for the best Android has to offer, but it
remains a strong start for Intel to build upon.
