viewphone
Latest
ViewSonic's ViewPhone 4e hands-on (video)
The ViewSonic ViewPhone 4e -- the downmarket sibling of the ViewPhone 4s -- launched at MWC today and unlike the 4s, the 4e was essentially feature complete. This dual SIM set will ship with Android 2.3.x Gingerbread, a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, a 3-megapixel camera, and an FM radio. We had a chance to see it in both yellow and a truly garish pink hue and the housings are impressively solid and while they may not come in our favorite colors, they're at least fun. While not as tack sharp as the ViewPhone 4s' IPS display, the 4e looked just fine and the quick UI tour didn't show any obvious slowdowns or stuttering from its 650Mhz CPU. We're expecting this to launch in Europe before June for about $350.Zach Honig contributed to this report.
ViewSonic goes dual-SIM with ViewPhone 4s, 4e and 5e, all packing Android Ice Cream Sandwich
When you're ready, here's yet another load of pre-MWC goodness. This year ViewSonic decided that merely slapping Ice Cream Sandwich on its new ViewPhones isn't good enough, so instead, the company's just-announced 4s, 4e and 5e also come with an extra SIM slot. Starting from the left we have the ViewPhone 4s featuring an impressive 3.5-inch 960 x 640 Super Clear IPS LCD (which, should be very similar to Apple's Retina Display from LG -- rather ironic given the phone's name), along with a five-megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing imager and a 1GHz chip. Pictured in the middle is a similar-looking ViewPhone 4e but packing a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 LCD, a slower processor at 650MHz only, a three-megapixel camera and one extra touch button than its sibling; all of this made with budget in mind, obviously, though somehow ViewSonic's very proud of its 10.3mm thickness.If 3.5-inch displays aren't your cup of tea then you'll have to jump straight to the 5-inch ViewPhone 5e, but so far all we've been told is its 800 × 480 screen resolution. Could there be more in this dual-SIM beast? Stay tuned to our MWC coverage and you'll know as soon as we do.
ViewSonic ViewPhone 3 hands-on (video)
No trip to CES 2012 would be complete without spending some up close and personal time with ViewSonic's new phone for the Americas, the ViewPhone 3. Known internationally as the V350 -- which we scored a hands-on with at last year's MWC -- this model retains its dual-SIM heritage and brings a few upgrades such as an 800MHz CPU and Android 2.3. Along with a 3.5-inch HVGA, TFT-LCD display and a 5 megapixel camera (sans LED flash), the phone features 802.11b/g/n, quadband GSM and 7.2Mbps HSDPA with unknown bands (save for 850MHz, anyway). The handset has a plasticky feel, but is also well-proportioned and fits comfortably in the hand. We were less impressed with the quality of the LCD screen, which is rather low-res and distorts easily when viewed from angles. While the hardware is rather passable as a budget phone, the software is cluttered with superfluous features and effects that detract from the user experience -- both in terms of performance and navigation. Given the dual-SIM nature of this phone and its availability as an unlocked device for $279, it's actually somewhat of a rare breed. Loaded with a proper ROM, it could certainly appeal to the right crowd. For some further insight into the ViewPhone 3, be sure to check the video after the break.
