HUAWEI IDEOS X3 specs

Yesterday at MWC we got our hands on the Huawei IDEOS X3, an Android 2.3 phone slotted right between the IDEOS / Comet we reviewed recently and the X5 we saw at CES. While the original IDEOS took Android significantly downmarket, and the X5 is looking to bring high-end features to the mid-end, the X3 is aimed squarely at bread-and-butter devices like the LG Optimus T. Spec-wise, you'll find a 3.2-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen, Qualcomm MSM7227 CPU (likely 600 MHz), 256MB of RAM, 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, front-facing camera, WiFi b / g / n, and dualband HSPA plus quadband EDGE radios, all powered by a 1200mAh battery. Contrary to its siblings, the X3 is not a Google Experience device, and runs a custom skin on top of Gingerbread. See our pictures in the gallery below and jump the break for our first impressions and hands-on video.

We were rather impressed with the X3. It's light, thin, small, and looks surprisingly attractive. Build quality was top notch on the pre-production unit we handled, despite the materials not being completely final. The back is made of a pleasant black soft-touch plastic, and the display glass curves seamlessly into the silver-accented sides of the phone. Huawei chose to adorn Android 2.3 with a custom skin that blatantly copies LG's S-Class UI and Samsung's TouchWiz application tray. The X3 feels quite snappy considering it's powered by a humble MSM7227. Likewise, loading Engadget was drama free, complete with Flash support. We presume this stems from optimizations in Gingerbread. The X3 will be launching in Japan in March for $200 unsubsidized, with other markets to follow. No word yet on a North American variant with the appropriate 3G bands.


The Huawei IDEOS X3 runs the 2.3 'Gingerbread' version of Google's Android platform, and it offers most of the features and functions of far more expensive Android smartphones. The IDEOS X3 has GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a 3.2-megapixel camera that doubles as a VGA video recorder and provides full access to the Android Market for third-party apps. The IDEOS X3's limited processor means it won't support Flash, but it does offer enough grunt to provide pinch-to-zoom capability.

Huawei has slightly tweaked the standard Android interface on the IDEOS X3 without going over the top. The X3 has five home screens for live widgets and uses an attractive cube animation when swiping between screens. You can also touch the home screen overview button to see all home screens at a glance and dive straight into any of them with a single touch. We like some of the extra widgets that Huawei has added, like a clean calendar widget and a combined clock and weather widget. Unfortunately, the main menu uses ugly looking icons that can't be sorted automatically.

The Huawei IDEOS X3 has a modest, single-core 600MHz processor and just 256MB RAM so don't expect super performance. These low specifications combined with a relatively small screen means the Web browsing experience is vastly inferior compared to Android smartphones with larger screens. Although the IDEOS X3 isn't as snappy as faster, more expensive Android phones, it does perform reasonably well considering its price.

The Huawei IDEOS X3 has a microSD card slot for extra storage, located behind the rear battery cover. Vodafone includes a 2GB card in the sales package.

Battery life is very reasonable for an Android phone: the Huawei IDEOS X3 will easily get through a full day of use. This may stretch up to a day and a half depending on your usage patterns.

The Huawei IDEOS X3 is available through Vodafone stores for $99. It is also sold through Allphones, Australia Post, Big W, Coles, Crazy John's, Dick Smith, Mo's Mobiles and Woolworths retail stores in Australia.

SPECIFICATION

 

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100
	Announced	2011, February
	Status	Available. Released 2011, July

Size	Dimensions	110 x 56.5 x 11.2 mm
	Weight	104 g

Display	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	320 x 480 pixels, 3.2 inches (~180 ppi pixel density)
		- Touch-sensitive controls

Sound	Alert types	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

Memory	Card slot	microSD (TransFlash) up to 32GB, buy memory
	Internal	512 MB ROM, 256 MB RAM

Data	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, HSUPA
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

Camera	Primary	3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus
	Video	Yes
	Secondary	Yes

Features	OS	Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM7227
	CPU	600 MHz
	Sensors	Accelerometer
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
	Browser	HTML, Adobe Flash
	Radio	FM radio
	GPS	Yes
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, Silver, Red
		- SNS integration - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, Talk - MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player - MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 player - Organizer - Document viewer - Photo viewer/editor - Voice memo - Predictive text input

Battery		Standard battery, Li-Po 1200 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 250 h (2G) / Up to 300 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 4 h (2G) / Up to 4 h 10 min (3G)