Huawei IDEOS X3

Huawei IDEOS X3 is 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. Hit read more for details.
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.


[Technorati Tags: Gingerbread, Huawei, IDEOS, X3]