Android might be making significant inroads in the smartphone market, but multimedia is supposed to be one of its weak points – after all, how many Android phones have you heard of with great cameras and sound? Sony Ericsson did try to fix matters with the Xperia X10 and its 8 MP shooter but was tripped up by an older version of Android (which has now been updated). Motorola has now tried to give Android its first multimedia heavyweight – the XT720, which packs in a 8MP camera (capable of HD video), xenon flash and an HDMI port (and even a HDMI cable!). The XT720 in fact is supposed to be many things – Motorola refers to it as a tablet and has thrown a lighter version of its Blur interface on it to make it easier to use. It is also Moto’s first all-touchscreen Android device in the higher price segment. All of it makes it a very formidable proposition. At least on paper. And it needs to be – given competition from the likes of the Nokia N8 in the touchscreen cameraphone segment, not to mention the still-selling Samsung Pixonn and Sony Ericsson Satio and Vivaz!
In fact, Motorola has had the XT720 out in the markets for a while and its only today that we have managed to get our hands on one (yes we bought one ). The XT720 appears to be a shiny Milestone / Droid without a physical QWERTY. But there are more differences here. The XT720 features a 720 MHz processor along with a 512MB RAM (compared to 600MHz and 256MB on the original Milestone) and a 8MP camera with a powerful Xenon Flash, compared to the 5MP (with Dual LED) shooter on the original Milestone. Interestingly the XT720 features a 1390mAh battery compared to 1400mAh on the Milestone, not a difference worth noticing and the XT720 certainly sheds some weight with no physical QWERTY attached to it. However, the XT 720 feels as big as the original Milestone in hand.
Design:
The first thing you notice about the XT720, it the weird bulge on the backside which can only be justified by the heavy Xenon Flash and 8MP lens on the back. Some may like it, some may not, I personally like the grip (and given the fact that I don’t have to manually place my fingers anymore to avoid covering the lens, it only adds to the usability). There is a bold grill on the back (just below the battery cover) which are the speakers. And if you are one of the puzzled ones wondering how to open the back cover of the XT720, its simple – just push the cover downwards, it slides over the black grill and opens up.
Jump to the front side and you would notice the 3 ugly dots which would be the proximity and light sensors, do little to impress us. The chrome finish on the XT720 is an attempt to differentiate from the original Milestone that had a dark black body and golden keys. If we are to vote, the original Milestone wins!
Just below the display are four touch keys (Options, Home, Back and Search) and on the right side you have the camera button and an options key next to the same. The options key lets you toggle between Play, Stills and Video mode of the camera and there is a light indicator on the front side that gives you a quick view of what mode the camera is in – a very neat touch as it saves you the problem of opening the menu.
On the left side we have the charger port and the top houses a HDMI port, 3.5 mm audio jack and the power / sleep button. The only noteworthy thing here is the fact that Motorola has rubber covers to the charging and HDMI port which we believe is a poor strategy in today’s era. If you notice the handset we handled (which is incidentally a little used) has already lost the cover to the charging port. Doesn’t particularly look ugly without the cover, but its hard for me to live with the fact that a piece of plastic form my phone is missing. Behind the back cover (near the MicroSD area) there is another annoying plastic / rubber that appears to be of no value. Again, avoidable!
iPhone 3G vs the XT720
Features:
The XT720 features a 3.7? LCD with a resolution of 854 x 480, which is the same as the Droid and the Droid X (guess thats the maximum Android officially supports as of now). Like the original Milestone / Droid, the XT720 also features a noise cancellation mic. We google sync’d our data and were able to get started with the handset within minutes. XT720 has the standard 3 home screens that you would expect to see and a loaded menu with everything from Camera, Camcorder to YouTube and Market having a dedicated app icon. The dedicated search key works like a charm and functions inside apps like YouTube and Email aswell. Once used to it, it can be a real time saver. Pressing down the home button brings up a quick access menu for apps and also links to the task manager.
The 3D effects in the gallery look neat, though we didn’t have the opportunity to put it to test under heavy load. It managed to do well with the 10-15 media files that we had in there. The XT720 does well on the media side with a powerful speaker, a 3.5mm audio jack thrown in (btw isn’t that standard now?), an 8MP shooter with HD video capabilities (720p) and a HDMI port for direct TV out (HDMI out cable is bundled in the box).
We hope to try out some more apps from the Android Market (apart from the addictive Angry Birds) and get back with a detailed review soon.
Camera Samples:
Here, are a few shots taken in day light from the XT720 camera. The Xenon flash worked awesomely indoors, but it doesn’t allow video light and that can be disappointing.
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… and a sample video taken from the Milestone XT720 uploaded to YouTube.
Final Words:
We have spent very little time with this handset
and coming from an iPhone experience, playing Angry Birds or just surfing the web on an Android isn’t a 100% experience for some reason. Yes the XT720 does play along well, does pinch to zoom as-well, but blame it on the software or hardware, is simply not that smooth to work on. Placing the iPhone 3G (yes the good old 2nd gen, 2008 3G), the pinch to zoom worked much better on the iPhone than the XT720. If you are an iPhone addict, you might well have a feeling that life has slowed down.
If you believe its more of an iOS vs Android debate, keeping that aside – the XT 720 to its credit does well with a non GHz processor, does good camera work, scores in music output and gives amazing network connectivity, something my unlocked iPhone never delivers. The only thing that kills a XT720 buyer is the fact that the original Milestone costs lesser and still does a pretty good job (adds a physical QWERTY aswell!). But seen purely as a cameraphone or a multimedia phone, the XT720 is definitely a heavyweight.
Until we spend more time with this and come back with a detailed review, do tell us in comments below what you feel about the XT720.
PS: For the ones wondering, the XT720 runs Androdi 2.1. And we care little for Froyo not being here, unless you are crazy about hotspots.
With Inputs from Nimish Dubey
THIS IS ONE OF DA BETTER PHONES IVE COME ACCROSS RECENTLY.
ANGRY BIRS LOOKS MUCH BETTER ON THIS THAN MY I-TOUCH.
MORE U USE THE PHONE MORE U’LL LIKE IT.