phone 14 – nokia x2 dual sim

image - gsmarena

trying to see how a low-tiered forked android works, i bout the nokia x2 dual sim in 2015, that was released in 2014. this was the first attempt of nokia under microsoft, back then, to use android system on their phones. it was also my attempt to use another nokia as my main phone. sony xperia miro was my main phone since i bought it in 2013, so i thought of replacing it with my first favorite brand. will it replace my phone of two years?

since i have phones bigger than nokia x2 dual sim, in terms of footprint and display, i was able to handle it seamlessly. it may be larger than my main phone that time, but not that much to be of concern. the body is plastic, quite fingerprint magnet, but it was nicely built. the 4.3 inches ips display has a decent resolution of 480p. i like how nokia placed the clearblack display into the phone, along with the glance screen. it was not as black as the oleds nor other ips displays. but at that time, it was decent.

like i said, nokia x2 dual sim is the first attempt of microsoft to make an android phone. this is not to be confused with the nokia x series feature phones. the forked android system is based on jelly bean, being run by a low-tier snapdragon 200, coupled with 1gb/4gb of memory configuration. that is how basic it goes, apart from the fact that it has few apps installable due to some apps needing google services.

5mp/vga rear/front camera configuration is also basic. decent; has some camera modes. but no interesting stuff about it, really.

enjoy music via fm radio or through your music library. loudspeaker is good. 3.5mm audio and wireless audio are good.

sadly, it failed to replaced my main phone that time, sony xperia miro. yes, it has larger display and better blacks. the interface is straightforward which is ideal if i want to access my apps as quickly as possible. but it is quite limited. it is nowhere near my main phone that consolidates my social media accounts and local data in a natural manner. i also prefer the sound quality of my main phone. despite the nokia x2 dual sim having better soc, there are more noticeable lags on it than on sony xperia miro.

so, like the previous phones that i lose interest of keeping, it became a household phone until i can no longer trace where it was. as i really do not have the willingness to trace it.

since i remember how difficult this phone was as a phone without google services, i eventually linked it to what has happened to huawei, and still happening. i cannot blame those people avoiding huawei phones for the lack of google services, which means some apps will not work or will have limited use. it is true that there are some workarounds, like sideloading the google services, not just the apps. however, when it has to be updated, you have to do the same thing over again. huawei is also doing its part by enticing app developers. it is also interesting how the harmony os will be used on more huawei devices and provide their own mobile services. but such interest, lead me to think if android open source project be brought back at its prime again. it would be nice if it will be back on its root – ideally secure and each app are only working on their own sandbox, no peeking of other apps’ data. but that means, less revenue for app developers. and as you know it, most people will go where the money is.

phone 13 – nokia n9

bought on 2015, released on 2011, i bought this phone merely for collection. there are unique characteristics of this phone up to this day. sadly, i can no longer boot. so, no battery testing on this one, just remembering the experience when it was working.

the design on nokia n9 is one of the best until now, in my opinion. the curve of the glass protecting the, actually, flat display is complementing the curves of the plastic body. such curve does not distort the images on the display because of enough bezels, which is not the case on newer phones. it feels compact and sturdy, no flimsy part of the phone. good on hand, on pocket or on the table.

the 3.9 inches amoled display is not that sharp, but images look great on the device. there is an option to toned down the saturation and i like it better than the default setting. i am not sure how bright it is under the sun, but i never had any problem using it outdoors. i think that is the purpose of the anti-glare polarizer. i do not know if any other phone has that. i think, outdoor use does not only need brighter display, but also anti-reflective filter.

meego os makes nokia n9 a unique smartphone, too, since no other smartphone has it. i heard, meego can be installed on personal computers. but, that version is still different to this phone. what is impressive, is the snappy and seemingly lag-free experience i had with the phone despite the chipset being weak on paper. and indeed, meego os is the one responsible for the snappy experience. i watched some videos, where an android version was installed into the device and it was laggy. perhaps, if nokia continued this project, we will be able to experience lag-free experience early on. user interface is so simple. it only has 3 panes – notification, all apps, opened apps. likewise, gestures were impressive on this phone. on the lock screen, you can easily show essential apps just by swiping up, from the bottom to the halfway of the display. closing an app and switching can also be triggered by swipe. even volume adjustment, a swipe on the upper part of the display triggers it.

there are some downside on spec sheets, though. the 16gb may be good back then, but the lack of micro sd card slot forces users to transfer photos and videos from time to time.

back to good stuff, nokia n9 has excellent camera system. the 8mp rear camera may be inadequate, but the quality is excellent due to carl zeiss optics and image processing. it also has front facing camera which is below the display, but can only be used for video calling as the camera interface does not show the option to use the front camera for selfie.

music? dolby takes care of that on this phone. i enjoy music session with its own bottom-firing loudspeaker, 3.5mm audio and even wireless audio. it also has fm tuner.

the 1450mah battery needs about 3 hours to charge back then. it will last for almost a week since i only used it for some music and some photo shoots back then. my main phone was still sony xperia miro since it is heavily integrated with my social media accounts.

i just wished this phone still works as it is a joy to use. sometimes, i am considering buying again – even the refurbished ones. but i think, i should move forward and look for other collectibles. besides, the refurbished ones and the original one are not equally made. i do not want to ruin my experience with this excellent yet compact phone. and android is slowly incorporating some swipe gestures anyway. it may not be as good as the gestures on nokia n9, but it is a matter of time we can see more ways of operating our smartphones as easy and enjoyable as the nokia n9.

phone 12 – asus fonepad note fhd6

due to the initial impression on asus zenfone 5, i traced back what asus has to offer and found this asus fonepad note fhd6 worthy to be part of my collection. bought it almost a year after i bought asus zenfone 5, that is 2015. but this phone was released on 2013.

the footprint is too large to be a phone with 6 inches display, 16:9 aspect ratio, and sharp enough at full hd. display is excellent, images look like they are printed on the surface of the glass. bezels were huge, but it does not bother me much, even on 2021. the stylus is also a good addition. hover operation is quite neat, but not how samsung galaxy note phones have. it is good enough for taking notes, scribbling, drafting ideas. it is also capable of having variable pressures – meaning, slightly pressing it on the screen leaves thinner lines, and pushing it a bit harder gives thicker lines, depending on the pen tool used.

it is powered by an intel atom, better than asus zenfone 5 despite of being released first. though it has the same gpu. i was okay with its 2gb/16gb memory configuration. it also supports up to 64gb microsd card. that is more than enough to save photos and videos taken with 8mp rear camera and about 1mp of front camera. the photos and videos are decent enough, though unusable on lowlight, since it does not have a flash and the camera software cannot adjust it enough, unlike the lowlight photography on asus zenfone 5.

on the audio side, the 3.5mm audio and wireless audio are good. but, one of the best things that this phone offers, is the front stereo loudspeaker. it was really intended to blast loud sounds. when set on its lowest level, it is still obviously louder than my previous phones. i do not need an external speaker to enjoy and share music. however, on the same level, there are some audible noises on both channels. the quality is just decent. loudness is great, quality is not that much.

with such display and speaker, it shines as a multimedia phone. great for some movie sessions with at most 4 people, in my experience. also as a tool for video chat. it is normal, then, to expect a higher battery capacity.

the 3200 mah battery was charged for more than 7 hours and a half. which is too slow even on 2015. regular top up and overnight charging is my solution for such long hours of charging. battery usage is impressive, though, even on 2021 as it managed to last for almost 2 days. more than 8 hours of active use is impressive. but what is more impressive is the battery management when it is inactive, -2% is the maximum consumption, even for 16 hours of inactive use. if only asus improved on this, then they might also get the reputation of having good battery life. and battery longevity, too. i guess it was not an issue when phones charged slower since it generates less heat. i wonder if most phones in 2021 will last like this phone does. as a recall, my 1 hour usage involves 20 minutes of music play, 10 minutes of web browsing, 10 minutes of playing games (like the subway surf), 5 minutes of taking photos, 5 minutes of recording videos, and the last 10 minutes, for watching videos.

it is still a good phone even on 2021, as i can still use it as it is, except that some apps are not compatible to it – since i let it stay on jellybean and intel atom also has compatibility issues on some apps. it can be updated to kitkat, but i did not. i was disappointed with the updates on my asus zenfone 5, so i would not dare to update this fonepad. still snappy, though the touch response is not as good as asus zenfone 5. i still watch movies on it, though there are signs of aging on the display – there are some sort of liquid marks on the sides. but still looks good, overall. good viewing angles, colors, enough contrast and brightness are still appreciated.

it is worthy as a collection.

phone 11 – asus zenfone 5

image - gsmarena

as if buying 5 phones in 2013 is not enough, i bought one of the best, bang for the buck phones on 2014, released on the same year. asus zenfone 5 belongs to the 1st generation of the zenfone series, not to be confused to the zenfone 5 of the 5th generation. this was released along with zenfone 6 and zenfone 4, again, not to be confused to the 6th generation and the 4th generation, respectively. asus has been making android smartphones before the zenfones. but this one, especially the first generation, was marketed as “bang for the buck” and “for the masses” type of phone. there were so many good things about this phone (when the os was not updated yet, more on this later).

asus zenfone 5 has the biggest foot print and display than all my previous phones. it is more immersive at 5 inches but not as sharp as my htc windows phone 8x. an intel atom powers up the phone and i cannot see the difference with other phones equipped with snapdragon in 2014. and coupled with relatively clean version of android jellybean (on its release). speaking of snappy, this is also the first phone where i heard about fast touch response (in 2020, many phones boast about faster touch sampling which is synonymous to this one). really fluid. but i can put it to the test playing subway surfer.

however, i started to unlike the user experience when it was updated. there were a lot of bloatwares and worse, it cannot be uninstalled. it lags. it is incomparable to the snappy experience i had out of the box.

the phone has a dedicated microsd slot to handle up to 64gb of storage. save music files, documents, photos and videos there. and cram your apps on 8gb internal storage which is already decent in 2014. 8mp rear camera and 2mp front camera cannot fill that up so easily for ordinary users, anyway.

as for the quality and capability. the idea is actually ahead of its time, making the result half-baked. i am talking about the lowlight photography of the phone. it was marketed to “see what you cannot see” by overexposing the lowlight shots. the quality is acceptable back then. you just get a noisy photo and the software cannot just resolve some details. but, i never knew any other phone that can do that in 2014. if only asus improved their camera software from there, they might have the attention the pixel phones got.

music play is also decent, like most phones, prior to its release, the loudspeaker is on the back. no problem when placed on flat surface since it is quite curved on its back. play through speaker, through 3.5mm audio, or wireless audio. you also have fm tuner, which is already absent on most phones in 2021.

as for the battery, i was not able to test it since the device is not on my hands anymore. because of my disappointments on the updated software, it became an extra phone for the family. anyone can use it. until it was gone. untraceable.

phone 10 – htc windows phone 8x

last phone i bought on 2013, but was released on 2012. this is my first windows phone ever. among those windows phone 8 released on or before 2013, this phone had my attention on looks. the floating design looks good and i assumed that it feels good on hand.

fairly enough, the curved back feels good on hand. the plastic matte finish even made it feel better. the curved back does not get all the way to the back center, so it lays still on the table. no camera bump. so operation on hand or on table never gave an issue.

the display looks good. excellent. images are sharp and colors look good. it is an lcd display, so it has low contrast. but there is an option to make the interface have a bit contrast. the glass is also curved a bit on the sides where the bezel is, so it does not distort the display even when viewed at an angle.

htc windows phone 8x does not have sdcard slot. you have to fit all your music files, photos and videos on the, now small, 16gb storage. speaking of photos and videos, the phone has 8mp rear and 2mp front to capture those. the front camera was made for the purpose of group shots or having a selfie with a large background since it is a wide angle camera.

as for the sounds, the phone is equipped with beats audio which is aggressive compared to moderate adjustments on htc desire 200. the music with fade in and fade out effect does not sound so good on this phone. rhythm and blues sounds better though. so i do not set the beats audio on all the time. headphone jack is still a common feature at those times. but wireless audio is also good on this phone. beats audio just would not work on wireless audio.

the phone has 1800mah battery and is charged for more than 11 hours! this is, for sure, not normal. i used to charge this phone for only 2 to 3 hours. this might be a part of battery deterioration or on the charging brick’s. it looks like the latter is true since the phone managed to lasts for a little more than a day of usage. more than 5 hours of active use is not bad even on 2021. for continuous use, a top up around 50% is good. or i just drained it before going to sleep and charge it overnight (only to find out that it is not fully charged).

and since this is my first windows phone, which is already unsupported on 2021, there are few apps i can actually use. my bad, i reset it after the app store is down. making its use comparable to feature phones. but i still like the simple user interface. at times, tiles look better than widgets. it made me consider buying another windows phone to include on my collection.

phone 9 – htc desire 200

i bought most of my phones almost a year after it was released on the market. but i bought this phone on the year when it was released, 2013. and if you have been reading this series of phone reviews, then you know that this is the 4th phone i bought within the year. i described 2013 as “trying times”. ha ha. not because life is hard to deal with, but i was trying things and phone is one of them. that is aside from, i want to diversify my phone collection.

what made me consider htc desire 200 is the hearsay that beats audio is good, and that entry level phones of htc are snappy. sadly, i was not able to check the battery life this year, 2021. no battery score card for this phone.

the connection is good. size of the body and display are comparable to sony xperia miro. but the build quality is not that good. cheap plastic is obviously seen and felt. the patterned back case did not change such perception. likewise, the display is worse than the sony xperia miro in my opinion. images just look better on the miro.

one thing i liked though, is the snappy experience. it is expected since the user interface is a bare minimum. lags only happen when opening some game apps. browsing through the interface, phonebook, messaging apps are snappy.

the 5mp camera is worse than that of sony xperia miro, despite of having the same resolution.

music play is good. beats audio on the phone is not as aggressive as the pricier htc phones. bass is emphasized a bit, the parts of some songs where the volume is quite low is also better, in my opinion. aggressive beats audio, sometimes turn off the sound of those parts completely which feels like unnatural. the loudspeaker is just right. it has a small speaker on the rear. bluetooth speaker can also be used aside from wired 3.5mm audio port.

overall, the phone is good as a music player and a backup phone. but i prefer the sony xperia miro for such purpose.

phone 8 – nokia n8 (a)

bought on 2013, released on 2010, this phone qualifies as a collector’s item – or at least i bought it for such reason. but, i can say that it has more capability than some of my previous phones.

however, i was not able to test the battery since the display is unusable.

the design is unique and the build quality is obviously sturdy. good on hand, for most of its use cases.

the amoled display is quite sharp on paper, but the perceived sharpness is on par with my sony xperia miro. but being an amoled display of yesteryears, the display deteriorates faster than lcd displays. the problem will start as a blackhole until the entire panel will be covered in pitch black. this was one of the problems of amoled displays aside from the slight burns and pink lines. and that, exactly, is what happened to this phone. but the quality of the display when it was still usable is good. good contrasts and good readability outdoors.

the processor and software are nice pair since the user experience is snappy. looking for an app, starting them up and actually using them is not disappointing.

one of the reasons of buying this, is the camera experience. 12mp carl zeiss optics produces good quality photos and looks better when transferred on pc. xenon flash also made good shots on dim situations or when the backlight is quite strong. it gives proper illumination on the subject that i never saw on any smartphones up to this day (modern smartphones settle with hdr), even the pulse led cannot produced images on par with a photo shot with nokia n8 with its xenon flash. the dedicated shutter button is also helpful. some smartphones allow you to use volume rocker as a shutter button. but since the shutter button is two-staged (half-press to focus and do necessary exposure adjustments, then press all the way down to take the shot), it provides better experience and output, generally. the camera ui is also good as it allows you to adjust some settings based on what you wanted to shoot or how you want to shoot the subject – macro, portrait, landscape, etc.

music play is also good, though it only has a tiny grill embedded on the camera bump. insert an earphone or speaker, then you can appreciate the music more. bluetooth connectivity is also present.

you also get fm radio – tuner and transmitter. the first one is common those days, but the latter is only on few phones. and i did some countless pranks with this fm transmitter. i practice at home, playing my own tracks and some funny voice overs. then tried it on my friend’s car. funniest one, was when i used it on a public transit, skipping every song on my playlist. if only you were there when i skipped a tract, the moment some random people are already “into” that song. apart from that “childish” use, i also used such feature during family gatherings. speaking of that, since the phone has built-in hdmi port, i can immediately show everyone during those gatherings, the pictures i took with the phone.