Now that the horrendous name is out of the way, let's move on, shall we?
If you're looking for a budget smartphone, the San Francisco is pretty good choice spec wise; a 3.5 inch capactive TFT touchscreen, 600MHz CPU, 3.2MP camera, SD card (up to 32GB) along with an accelerometre, MP3 and FM Radio, as well as video playback, and it comes toting Android 2.1
Connectivity is generous, providing WiFi, Bluetooth and Sat Nav.
In all honesty, this really is a really good spec sheet for such a cheap handset.
How Does It Perform?
The San Francisco's (which, for the duration of the review, will be called S.F) touchscreen is pretty responsive, which is surprising for such a budget handset, but the S.F is capactive, so it's not 'that' surprising.
It's not the fastest of workers, the 600MHz CPU does slow when you've got multiple apps running, but it'll handle the daily tasks of your Facebook and Twitter with ease, as well as some gaming, so your Angry Birds can get down to wasting plenty of time.
Typing is a smooth affair, with the S.F sporting a generously sized QWERTY keyboard, which is made even more spacious when turned to landscape mode. Just as well, then, that websites load rather promptly and look nice enough, although we'd recommend downloading a better browser from the Android Market.
How Does It Look?
And here lies the phones major fault. It looks pretty good, a tad plasticy/rubbery in places, but it's a slim litttle number. The 3.5- inch touchscreen takes up most of the front, with the exception of the 3 Android buttons at the bottom (Home, Menu and Back) and the phones name up top.
The sides are home to a chrome trim, which, to be fair, doesn't do a great deal in terms of looks, or even as an antenna, it's just there, along with Volume and Camera buttons.
Doesn't sound so bad, right? You see, the problem is the internal look. Orange have plastered the device with the own skin, and it looks awful. Orange and black tinted god awfullness, along with bloatware apps you'd be best uninstalling before you start your little Android journey. There is a way out of this though, Orange has included a little God send; open the menu> tap homescreen selector> and switch 'Orange' to 'Launcher', and hey presto, everything is all better! Well, to a degree. But we were more than happy to see the Default Android home screen!
One little issue, though, is that unlike the Orange homescreen, the Android one doesn't support Landscape mode for the homescreen. Not a big issue, and I'd still recommend switching!
So, What's The Verdict?
If you're paying £99 for a smartphone, you'd be right to assume you'd be getting a featureless device. You'd also be wrong in assuming that of the S.F. Orange really have been very generous with the S.F, and it outdoes some of it's more expensive competitors in terms of value for money.
It's by no means an iPhone 4 replacement, but if you're new to the smartphone world, or even an Android virgin, the S.F is a fine choice.
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Not on Orange?
Here is Tech Beever's Alternative:
- Sony Ericcson X8
- Best Price: £99.95- Phones4U
- Android 2.1
- 3.0- inch Capactive TFT Touchscreen
- 3.2MP Camera
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