Okay Geek Farm
Top 5 Android Phones we saw at CES 2011
Jason Tsay
CES this year was a barrage everything, flying into our faces all at once. While we survived the attack, we weren’t able to cover each and every one of the newest Andrio handsets during the event. But we make sure our readers are up to date with the latest smartphone trends, so we decided to go through and pick out the 5 most interesting phones from CES 2011.
1. Motorola Atrix 4G
The Atrix 4G — it needs no introduction. As a sign for the future of computing, this phone is definitely one of the highlights of the show. The Atrix 4G, running on AT&T’s 4G network, sports a 2 GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. When a phone has beefier specs than most laptops on the market, you know you’re dealing with a serious device. Throw in a qHD 4” 960 x 540 display and you’ve also got a Retina Display competitor. A front camera and rear one capable of HD video recording are present as expected. Storage is not an issue as you can get up to 48 GB of flash memory with this phone, with 16 GB already built in. To power all this, Motorola has dropped a monstrous 1,930 mAh battery in the device.
But that’s not the most exciting part; say you’re loading a webpage on your phone and then plop it right into the laptop dock. Not only will the webpage be done loading but you also will get a full desktop OS. Lo and behold, finally achieved is the fantasy that we’ve been having of carrying around a “larger than iPhone” device which would contain all our data, be very powerful, and stay connected all the time. At the same time, we want to keep the advantages of a full sized computer (mainly the screen and keyboard). With the Atrix 4G, you get blazing “4G speeds,” quite ample storage, and the screen size of 4”.
2. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
In a world of bland slate styled Android handsets, the Arc really sets itself apart. We’ve seen the Anzu/Xperia X12/Arc leaked previously and knew we were going to be amazed by this set. The ridiculously thin Xperia Arc features what Sony calls the Reality Display with the Bravia engine (from the Bravia HDTV’s) on a 4.2” display. Of course, this is a Sony device so the 8.3 megapixel camera features Sony Exmor R. The 1 Ghz Snapdragon isn’t shabby either. Unlike the X10, which SE abandoned at Android 2.1, the Arc will run 2.3 with the same skin on top at launch. One of our favorites from CES for sure but we hope the company actually updates this phone when it hits the market, presumably in April.
3. Samsung Infuse 4G
What makes this simple slate device so special? For starters, you’ll notice that it has a 4.5” display, sliding itself in right between the 5” Dell Streak and 4.3” EVO 4G. The display features the Super AMOLED Plus technology, which boosts clarity, contrast, and pixel density. The 1.2 GHz Hummingbird excels past the Snapdragon in quite a few ways. The rear camera clock in at 8 megapixels and the from at 1.3, which means you’ll have a pretty great video chatting experience.
As for the 4G network, it runs on AT&T HSPA+, which means we should be seeing similar performance to the current T-Mobile standard. The device still keeps a slim profile of 9 mm even with all that raw power pulsing inside. The only thing we’d have to complain about this phone is that it runs TouchWiz on top of Android 2.2. A definite turn off with all the new top of the line devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
4. Vizio Phone (below)
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “What? Isn’t Vizio the company that makes HDTV’s?” Well, you’d be right but they’ve also brought a tablet and phone along with them to CES. Running a heavily skinned version of Android 2.2 (or above), the phone sports some decent specs - 1 Ghz “plus” processor, 854 x 480 4” display, 4 GB of onboard storage, as well as a VGA front/5 megapixel rear camera combo. The phone is particularly interesting to us because of its reworked skin (with a new notifications system) and the built in IR blaster which allows it to be used as a universal remote. For a full hands on post (with video), check out Engadget’s article!
5. HTC Verizon Thunderbolt/ AT&T Inspire 4G
We categorize both of these phones under the same device just simply due the fact that both are Americanized versions of the Desire HD. We adored the unibody aluminum construction and overall build quality on the Desire HD and just hoped that HTC would bring them to the States. Looks like our wish came true. As a refresher, both feature the new version of HTC Sense on Android 2.2 along with similar specs - 4.3” 800 x 480 Super LCD, 1 GHz Qualcomm MDM9600 processor, and an 8 megapixel rear camera, among other specs you would expect to find among the highest end smartphone on the market today.
