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Smartphones with Dual Core


Test Bench: Dual-core smartphones
The latest Android mobiles run faster than the iPhone, but what else do they offer? David Phelan fires up five
Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Atrix, HTC Sensation, HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D (STO)
Samsung Galaxy S II
Like all phones on test except the Motorola, the Galaxy S II has a 4.3in screen, but it is the lightest handset here by far. The use of lightweight materials means it feels a little plasticky, though. Samsung’s Android overlay is adequate if unexciting, with four hubs — music, games, ebooks and social networking. The phone ties with the HTC Sensation as the fastest we tested, quickly launching apps and displaying web pages — even ones with Flash video on them. Like the Sensation, it has an 8Mp camera that takes effective still shots and good-quality HD video. The screen gleams, thanks to a vivid, colour-rich display. Battery life also deserves a mention — even with heavy use, the phone managed a full day between recharges.
Price: £475
Best for: Speed
Verdict: Slim, light, fast; plenty of stamina.
samsung.com/uk 



Motorola Atrix
Putting the Atrix into Motorola’s “lapdock” turns it into an 11.6in laptop, using the phone’s wi-fi or 3G connection to get online. It’s a clever and versatile accessory, but expensive at £300. The phone on its own is no slouch. The MotoBlur overlay is good for social networkers, collecting many accounts into a single app, but overall HTC’s software has the edge. The 4in screen has the same pixel count as the bigger displays on test, giving it the highest resolution. It shines at video playback, and has a mini-HDMI port for connection to a TV. Web browsing was a little slower than on the other phones. The power button doubles as a fingerprint reader, so nobody can get at your data if you lose the phone.
Price: £500
Best for: Versatility
Verdict: Great screen, but outgunned in most other respects.
motorola.com/uk 



HTC Sensation — InGear Best Buy
These new Android smartphones contain a dual-core processor running at 1GHz-1.2GHz — faster than the iPhone 4’s single-core chip. It’s a speed increase that the Sensation uses to good effect: only the Samsung Galaxy S II could match it for loading web pages fast. But processor power is just part of the smartphone package. All the phones on test have software added by the manufacturers, with HTC providing far and away the most handsome Android overlay. It’s called HTC Sense and it’s a suite of great-looking apps, including navigation software able to store maps on the phone, rather than constantly download them over 3G, saving you costly data charges if used abroad. There’s also HTC Watch, a useful video download service. Other functions include an advanced lock screen that lets you wake the phone out of standby and directly launch any four chosen functions — the camera, the dialler and messaging and mail apps are all offered as standard, but you can select your own. Thanks to Sense and version 2.3 of the operating system, this is the easiest-to-use Android phone yet released. It also looks great, and is light and slim considering it has a 4.3in screen.
Price: £420
Best for: All-round skills
Verdict: Powerful hardware and sensible software — a winning combo.
htc.com 



HTC Evo 3D
The Evo 3D, on pre-order now and due to hit the shops late next month, may be the heaviest phone on test but it’s just a fraction fatter than its 3-D rival, the LG Optimus, and looks smarter. It too has twin 5Mp cameras for 3-D stills and video, with results on a par with the LG phone’s. It does not come with any games, although the HTC Watch app has 3-D movies available. A sample trailer of The Green Hornet looks pin sharp and spectacular on its glasses-free 3-D screen, although, as with the Optimus, you’ll need to keep the screen still to enjoy the 3-D effect fully. The Evo comes with HTC’s excellent Sense overlay, and HTC’s version of the Android touchscreen keyboard is particularly enjoyable to use.
Price: £500
Best for: Design
Verdict: Big, fast and snazzy-looking — with 3-D too.
htc.com 



LG Optimus 3D
This is the first smartphone on sale with a glasses-free 3-D display. It comes with three free 3-D games and a link to a 3-D YouTube channel. Its twin-lens, 5Mp camera can take 3-D photos and video. The effect is not an unqualified success — you need to hold the handset quite still and at just the right distance (not always easy in the excitement of playing games) or the effect is lost. Still, there’s a mini-HDMI-out socket, so you can also send the picture through to a compatible 3-D TV. The Optimus’s 1GHz processor didn’t quite match the speed of the Samsung and HTC Sensation. Battery life was greatly affected whenever the display was switched from 2-D to 3-D. The phone was the largest and second-heaviest on test.
Price: £500
Best for: Games
Verdict: The gimmicky 3-D effect results in a big, power-hungry phone.
lg.com/uk 



Android 2.2 v 2.3
Each version of Android is named after a treat. Version 2.2, on the LG and Motorola, is Froyo (frozen yoghurt); the others run 2.3, Gingerbread. Here are the main differences between the two.
NFC
Gingerbread adds support for near-field communication (NFC), which could enable the phone to make contactless payments. But only the Samsung contains hardware to make NFC work, and no Android apps can exploit the technology yet.
Power management
Gingerbread won’t drain the battery quite as fast as Froyo, but there’s little real difference. More useful is a new suite of tools to show you what’s going on with the phone — so you can turn off non-essential apps should battery life become critical.
Typing
Gingerbread’s keyboard improves on earlier versions with a tweaked layout and more multi-touch capabilities. The copy and paste feature has also been reworked to good effect. A tip: downloading the £2.48 SwiftKey from Android Market will improve your typing on any of the phones on test. Its word prediction function is uncannily accurate.

Our “Best Buy” seal of approval goes to a product that combines innovative features, quality and affordability. Prices are the best found online as we go to press
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