Sony Xperia S specs:
4.3-inch Reality Display @ 720p (1280×720 pixels)
Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 2.1
NFC support
HGPS w/ aGPS support
12MP Exmor R rear camera
1080p video recording
1.3MP front facing camera
Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Samsung Galaxy Nexus specs:
4.65? HD Super AMOLED screen @ 1280×720 (315 ppi)
TI OMAP 4460 1.2GHz dual-core processor
PowerVR SGX540
1GB RAM
16GB and 32GB internal storage
HSPA+ 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
NFC
5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
1.3MP front-facing camera
1080p video recording at 30fps
1750mAh Li-Ion battery
Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Release date in the Philippines: Sometime in late November 2011.

Price in the Philippines: About Php30,000 ($680)

Samsung Galaxy Note i9220 specs:
5.3-inch Super AMOLED display @ 1280×800 resolution
Gorilla Glass display
1.4GHz dual-core processor Exynos chip
Mali-400MP GPU
1GB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD (2GB included)
HSPA+ 21Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
8MP rear camera
1080p full HD video recording
2MP front-facing camera
GPS w/ aGPS support
FM radio tuner
Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread
Samsung TouchWiz UI 4.0

We looked at two aspects in this review as they are practically married to each other — the hardware (Netphone 701) and the ecosystem (SmartNet).

The Hardware

The choice of OEM, ZTE, for the Netphone 701 is interesting. The ZTE Blade is a successful handset in China and also enjoyed some relative popularity in Europe as the Orange San Francisco.

With a 3.5″ display, the Netphone 701 places itself somewhere in the mid-range category of Android smartphones. Its two-tone black and dark-brown color with silver accent reminds us of a long lost HTC device.

It’s got some heft to it despite the plastic construction and the matte finish all around the body helps prevent the unit from being slippery and prone to fingerprints. The power button and 3.5mm port is on top, volume rocker and speakers are on the right side, microUSB port on the left and mic at the bottom.

The front panel is all glass with a single, thin strip of button at the bottom for the usual Android controls (Home, Menu and Back). The LCD display is bright, crisp and sports a high pixel density of 270dpi at 480×800 resolution. There’s some noticeable LED light leaking out of the side when the screen is set to a dark background — nothing biggie to worry about.

Smart Netphone 701 specs:
3.5″ LCD display @ 480×800 pixels
600 MHz ARM 11 processor
Adreno 200 GPU
512MB RAM
Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
HSDPA 7.2Mbps; HSUPA 5.76Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
3MP autofocus camera
FM radio tuner
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion battery 1250mAh
Android 2.2 Froyo

The 3.2-megapixel camera at the back is said to be autofocus but the focusing is terrible and the images are very blurry and pixelated you can’t even get single a decent photo out of it. There’s no camera flash or dedicated shutter button here too.

Despite the low processor speed, the handset performs well, thanks to that ample internal memory (430MB to be exact). Playing Angry Birds is smooth and flawless, movie playback is good but don’t expect any HD movies here. We got a score of 422 on Quadrant (which is close to the Xperia X10i). You may sometimes encounter some lags or slowness but that’s pretty common to most Android phones.

Capacitive touch screen is responsive and scrolling is smooth. It’s the hardware buttons up in the front that’s a little small and hard to press that’s quite frustrating at times. The virtual keyboard is also a bit cramped in portrait mode but it’s nice that they added some haptic feedback when you type on the keys.

Over-all performance is decent, not very impressive, but is expected in most handsets in this category and price-point.

The Netphone 701 runs on stock Android 2.2 Froyo with no additional custom UI on top, except for the widgets added by Smart.

Contrary to my interview with Smart representatives regarding upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread, it looks like the Netphone 701 will not get any future updates (based on their FAQ).

Will my Netphone support future releases of Android OS?

The Netphone does not support future Android OS releases.

I think it will really depend on ZTE if they’re going to push Gingerbread on this device.

There’s a Netphone/ZTE PC Suite stored in the microSD card which you can install and use to sync data and contacts with the device but it requires that USB Debugging is switched on (an odd thing which indicates the software might not be ready for commercial use).

Smart promises more handsets in the future — probably cheaper ones since they’re really targeting the masses here. The naming system follows the way Nokia does to their handsets (number indicates category, class and iteration), only that with Smart, it will be manufactured by several OEMs.

The SmartNet

The SmartNet is Smart’s own version of a mobile social network and is the heart of the Netphone ecosystem. It is complemented with a suite of Android Apps and widgets developed by Smart to work with the handset and the OS — the Smart Inbox, IM, Social Stream and Smart Center.

I especially liked the widget that displays a running balance of your prepaid account. It’s not really shown in real-time (there’s a timestamp when the balance was last updated) but a nice feature altogether (I think Smart should just release this app/widget to all Smart Android devices soon).

The Global Directory is an interesting feature which lists all Netphone users. There you can search for friends and contact and add them as a friend. The biggest shortcoming though is that the directory is not moderated so anyone can just assume any name (imagine a hundred Sam Pinto in the directory) so it’s pretty hard to verify the identity. This could also be an opportunity for abuse later on (spam and scam, anyone?).

Those who are Twitter and Facebook addicts will love the Social Stream. I just wish they included FourSquare into the package as well.

The Netphone Plans

For postpaid accounts, the Netphone 701 is free at Plan 1200 which closely competes with the HTC Chacha, Samsung Galaxy Mini and HTC Wildfire S which are all free at Smart Unlimited Data Plan 1500.

For prepaid kits, the Netphone 701 retails for Php9,900. The price point competes directly with the LG Optimus One, Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro and Samsung Galaxy Fit.

Access to SmartNet is free for now (Smart says until end of December) so after that you will be paying Php999 per month to get 1GB of web surfing, 3 hours 20 minutes of free calls, 3,500 free SMS, unlimited access to your Social Stream and IM.

In essence, expect to spend a maximum of Php999 per month to fully appreciate the Netphone — how else can you use a Netphone if you don’t pay for net access, right?

The Verdict

While Android is the platform that the Netphone rides on, it is important to note that the SmartNet ecosystem is what makes this whole package a Netphone. They complement each other and the Netphone experience is crippled without SmartNet.

It’s like getting a BlackBerry handset without applying for a BIS account. In essence, you can look at it say Smart wants a piece of that BlackBerry pie.

The handset is decent, capable and sits between the low mid-range to entry-level category of Android smartphones. While the processor is typically slow (most entry-level Android phones starts at 600MHz), the amount of RAM (420MB to be exact) is actually generous it’s more than what the old HTC Desire, Xperia X10 or Galaxy S have. Too bad Gingerbread update is not supported according to Smart so you’re stuck with Froyo on this device.

The biggest opportunity for Smart here is to deliver the complete suite regardless of the handset and allow any subscriber using an Android device to just download the suite of apps, subscribe to a plan and become part of the whole Netphone ecosystem.

Disclosure: The unit used in the photos above was among the 10 raffle prizes Smart gave away during the media event last week.

LG Optimus 3D P920 specs:
Dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP4 processor
4.3″ display @ 480 x 800 pixels
8GB internal storage
512MB RAM
HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP, EDR
Dual 5MP autofocus camera
1080p @ 24fps (2D), 720p @ 30fps (3D)
FM Radio Tuner
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery
Android 2.2 (Froyo)

At 7.9mm on the side, this is now the thinnest tablet ever.

Samsung Galaxy Tab P6800 7.7 specs:
7.7″ Super AMOLED Plus display @ 800 x 1280 pixels
1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core processor
Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
1GB RAM
16GB, 32GB, 64GB internal storage
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
HSDPA 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP
3.15MP camera with 720p video recording
2MP front-facing camera
micro-USB port
GPS
5100mAh Li-Po battery
Android 3.2 Honeycomb

There’s a TV-out port which could be a micro-HDMI and a micro-SD slot as well. Support for HSPA+ network is also present.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 was just announced at IFA in Germany today and makes it the very first tablet with a Super AMOLED Plus display.

HTC Chacha
2.6″ @ 480×320 pixels
800MHz CPU
HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 384Kbps
512MB ROM, 512MB RAM
microSD up to 32GB
GPS w/ aGPS support
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
1250mAh battery
Android OS 2.3 Gingerbread

HTC Chacha Price in the Philippines: Php15,500 for a prepaid kit with Smart.

The HTC Flyer is a pretty solid tablet — think HTC Legend, Desire S or iPad1 build quality. It’s got a bit of heft to it due to the construction material which is mostly aluminum.

The 7-inch form factor seems like a good fit for a tablet that you want to always bring along with you outside — not too bulky nor too heavy to carry around the whole day.

The HTC Flyer does not come with Android 3.0 Honeycomb but the usual Gingerbread flavor for smartphones along with a custom Sense UI. It works nice and you get the impression you’re actually just using a big-assed phone but those who have tried Honeycomb will notice the difference in usability. I’m hoping HTC would release a Honeycomb update for this unit soon.

Despite its capacitive screen, HTC took the plunge and included a stylus. It’s not use for navigation but for taking notes and sketching on the screen (you can actually just make sketches on the screen whichever window or home screen you’re at, then save the screenshot for later). There’s even a dedicated touch panel for a paint palette that pops up form the side to allow you more paintbrush or sketching options. It’s an old but still intuitive approach that could attract a small segment of the market.

One biggest issue with the Flyer is its suggested retail price. At Php36,990, it would have been a great alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Tab if they released it in 2010 but at today’s Android tablet pricing, anything beyond Php30k it’s already bit much over budget of most people. It’s still comparable to the 32GB iPad 2 WiFi + 3G at Php35,990 though.

HTC Flyer
7-inch display @ 600×1024 pixels
1.5GHz Qualcomm processor
32GB of internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
3G, HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
1GB RAM
5MP camera w/ 720p video
1.3MP secondary front-facing camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP
Dolby Mobile and SRS sound
HDMI out
GPS w/ aGPS support
Android 2.3 w/ Sense UI

Some stores are is selling them for only Php30,000.

The LG Optimus 2X got points for design and construction, gaming and price-point. It’s the most affordable among all the dual-core Android phones we reviewed (though not by much but still, thanks in part to LG, Samsung and HTC priced their handset competitively). The Tegra 2 chipset did very well with games, especially the ones that maximized the NVidia platform (have to say it’s close to console quality graphics). The Android Froyo instead of Gingerbreadis also a downer. See full review here.

The HTC Sensation got points for design and construction, huge screen and display resolution, UI, sound quality and video quality (1080p). With a suggested retail price pf Php31,990, it’s also the most expensive of the 3 handsets. See full review here.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 got points for form factor (thinnest and lightest), huge screen and display quality, photo and video quality as well as specs and performance. The plastic construction is somewhat of a shortcoming (though it was a factor in making the device very light) and the TouchWiz 4.0 UI, though improved, still needs some work. See full review here.

Benchmarks is not a be-all end-all in a handset but it is a factor. Unless you’re crunching numbers, encoding video and doing really heavy CPU-intensive work on your Android phone, there’s not much real-world difference with day-to-day experience. I’d compare it to playing WinAmp on a Intel Core i5 vs. Core i7 rig — they perform well enough not to have any noticeable difference.

What we’re looking for the top smartphone is a combination of great design (both hardware and UI) and construction, good performance and reasonable price-point.

Of the three, the Sensation has more flair, the Galaxy S2 has more muscle and the Optimus 2X is more pocket-friendly (especially when you got it for 50% off with their special promo).

For the most part (if we count the points), it’s a toss-up between the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the HTC Sensation. The Sensation has a really good fighting chance as it is but if it matched the Php29,990 price of the Galaxy S2, that would have made it harder to compare (the Php2k difference isn’t much but it’s definitely a factor). The ones who will pick the Galaxy S2 are those who favor over-all performance while the ones who will pick the Sensation are those who prefer design and elegance.

The Galaxy Z is basically like the SLCD equivalent of the Galaxy S2 and sporting a different chipset, the NVidia Tegra 2. At 9.5mm thin and 135g in weight, it’s not as sexy as the S2 though.

Samsung I9103 Galaxy Z specs:
4.2″ SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen @ 480 x 800 pixels
Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor
GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset
1GB RAM, 2GB ROM
8GB storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash
1.3MP front-facing camera
720p video recording
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
GPS with aGPS support
FM radio
Li-Ion 1650mAh battery
Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread

The Galaxy Z was outed a little early than Samsung wanted because its telecom partner in Sweden (three) posted it on their website offering the handset for pre-order.

The specs are nothing to scoff at either — it’s still powerful and basically matched the specs of the Optimus 2X in some areas.

The Galaxy S2 is still very popular so I reckon we won’t see the Galaxy Z in the Philippines anytime soon. We’re estimating a retail price of under 25k but it should be lower than that by the time it reaches the Philippines.