Orange San Diego Review: In Depth

The Orange San Diego is the first Android Phone with an Intel chipset. It’s packing a pin sharp display, powerful processor and 8-megapixel camera and at just £200, it’s fiercely priced given the spec-sheet. It sounds great, but does the reality live up to the hype? 

Design wise the San Diego has a matte soft-touch back as well as silver trimmings around the side. Aesthetically it’s a pretty nondescript phone, however it’s inoffensive, so while it sits in the hand and is comfortable to type on, the uninspiring design isn’t a high point.

That said the 4-inch screen is pretty great, in fact it’s one of the best £200 displays out there. It’s sharp and responsive with average to good-viewing angles and clearly separated from budget phones on the market.

When it comes to the interface Android Gingerbread – the older version to the one currently available – feels clunky in 2012. Orange has customized it with gestures & apps, however that doesn’t save it from feeling a little bit dated.

That said, it is smooth, there’s no lag and the 1.6GHz Intel processor does a good job. You have access to all the Android apps out there giving you tons of functionality.

The camera has an 8-megapixel sensor and packs a flash and impressively includes a 15fps burst mode. However in reality, while the camera delivers decent detail levels in good light, it can deliver the odd washed out shot. Noise isn’t handled that well either, though the flash does help. Still at this price-point it’s very competitive.

In terms of connectivity the Orange San Dieso has all the Android staples, such as WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth, but it also includes NFC.  There’s 16GB internal memory, which is non expandable and while it might not be enough for hardcore users, it will be fine for most people.

Thank to the Intel processor, everything runs smoothly on the San Diego. Not only does it play back HD video, but it outputs it to a TV via HDMI, which is fantastic to see on a phone that’s just £200.  Battery life is one to two days and left us impressed.

Overall the Orange San Diego is a strong phone let down by and its out of date OS and uninspired design. But for £200 it’s great value, with a lot of power in your pocket.

Specification

OS	Android