At a market price of about Rs. 13,500, the XT5 does position itself as a steady alternative to the likes of the HTC Wildfire and the LG Optimus One P500. The phone looks and feels much more expensive than it actually is. The fact that it is still stuck on the Android 2.1 version puts it at a disadvantage against the rivals. However, the superb overall performance and a distinctly better screen makes the XT5 a better deal than the Wildfire. However, the LG Optimus One may just have stolen the march, thanks to the lower price and Android 2.2 running in its veins!
The QUENCH XT5 is their latest Android smartphone, aimed at the Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 price bracket. And the competition in this segment is really tough. HTC’s Wildfire, LG Optimus One and even the Samsung Galaxy 3 are already there. Dell has the XCD series of Android smartphones which retail around the price bracket as well. In the wake of some tough competition, the XT5 will have to do a solid job.
The First Impression
Straight out of the box, the XT5 does look classy, and feels more expensive than it actually is. The 3.2-inch display is bordered with black color on all sides. There are three physical buttons- call receive, call disconnect and the trackball. The 4 touch response keys – Options, Home, Search and Return, are placed just under the screen.
The sides have a silver strip running all the war around the phone. The USB port on the side panel also has a silver cover to it. The back panel has a nice rubbery feel to it, with a pattern design. The silver Motorola logo will inevitably get scratched very quickly. The 5MP camera at the back is not protected, and will get scratched is you are not very careful.
The 3.5mm jack is on the top of the phone, with the volume keys on the size panel. The volume keys are pretty well integrated on the silver strip, and I thought they are too close to each other. Press one, and you may accidentally press the other. Towards the bottom of the same side panel is the camera button. On the opposite side panel is the USB port/charging port, which has a cover for it as well.
The 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display is quite good, better than expected. And undoubtedly, it is far superior to the display on the HTC Wildfire. The Gorilla Glass display, also seen on the Nokia N8 and the Dell Streak, does a good job of keeping the screen scratch proof. The display is clearly visible from even pretty wide angles. However, take the XT5 into bright sunlight and you won’t be very happy about the display.
Performance
The XT5 is powered by the Qualcomm MSM7227 processor which clocks at 600MHz and is paired with 256MB of RAM. The phone is fine in most scenarios, but only feels a bit sluggish when it comes to opening a lot of apps simultaneously. This is where the 1GHz processor phones have an advantage, but then again, at this price point, all phones have the 600MHz processors. However, most users may not face this problem since the phone works perfectly fine in most cases. The 100MB phone storage memory may be enough for quite a few apps, but till the time this phone gets the Froyo (Android 2.2) update, shifting apps to the memory card will not be possible. Hence, if you like downloading apps, you will get the inevitable ‘running out of storage space’ error.
The minimalist MotoBlur UI looks much better and slicker than the bulky (at least in comparison) HTC Sense UI. A lean skin will not affect the performance of the OS and the phone as much as a fatter User Interface skin.
The touchscreen response is assured and consistent. The pinch and zoom functions work perfectly fine, and that is the best indicator to a phone’s touchscreen quality. With the Gorilla Glass, the screen is actually very much scratch proof, but it still retains the fingerprint magnet capabilities. The touch sensitive buttons just below the screen do work without any shenanigans, and will respond well to the touch. However, we would have liked to see an optical trackpad, instead of the trackball. If you are familiar with the Blackberry users’ woes, the trackball will inevitably gather dust and stop working as well as it should.
The call quality is excellent. Even in a noise environment, the in-ear speaker managed quite well, and we did not miss out on what the other person was saying. The person at the other end also won’t miss any part of the conversation. The hands-free speaker on the XT5 is placed towards the bottom of the rear panel. And I am glad to say that the quality and loudness are well paired here.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]The 3.2 inch touchscreen, with the Gorilla Glass prevents a scratched phone screen. Also, the display is great. The vivid display will be good for video viewing, if you use a phone for that. The touch response is assured and works well. Only once did I have to give it a bit of a push to make the menu scroll down. Apart from that one off incident, the touch response was perfect. Typing out SMSes will be a delight. There are three types of keyboards- CoolTex T , QWERTY and the traditional 12 key layout. Switching between the keyboards is very simple. Just swipe on the keyboard open at that time, in any direction, to switch to the next one. This not only convenient, but also something we don’t see often on phones. QWERTY layout seems a little congested, particularly for someone who does not have thin fingers. The traditional 12 key layout and the CoolTek T (which looks like a modified QWERTY!) are well spaced out, reducing the risk of the user pressing the wrong key.
The 5MP camera on the XT5 does a good job outdoors and in good light conditions. However, the images taken in low light situations will be grainy. However, cannot hold that against the phone since most 5MP phone cameras have that problem. Videos are just passable, with a bit of jerkiness visible in fast panning shots. But then again, we have always believed, a camera phone will not replace a digital camera just yet.
Battery life has never been the strong point of Android smartphones. This one lasts a day, with the wireless data networks switched on. Syncing of content via apps like Facebook, Twitter and Gmail takes up most battery life. If these updates are not very important to you, or you can manage with manually downloading them, switch off auto sync from the Android settings menu. Alternatively, download a Task Manager app which can kill unwanted, yet open, applications. This will prevent RAM and processor power wastage.
Read on to know more about our verdict of the Motorola XT5 smartphone…
Verdict
The XT5 effectively retails for about Rs. 13,500. At this price, this makes it a better deal than the HTC Wildfire. Not only does the XT5 have a faster processor (600MHz- XT5 and 528MHz- Wildfire), but a better screen as well. The XT5 has a 3.2 inch screen with a resolution of 320×480, while the Wildfire has a 3.2 inch screen with a resolution of 240×320. And the Wildfire does not have any price advantage as well, since it retails for about Rs 14000. The only advantage the Wildfire has is that it now has the Android 2.2 version, while the XT5 is still stuck on 2.1, for the moment.
However, if you are in the mood to buy the XT5, hold on for just a second. There is an alternative for you – the LG Optimus One P500. This one retails for about Rs. 12,500, and matches the XT5 in all specifications. However, for a lesser price, the LG Optimus One offers the Android 2.2 (Froyo) experience, which the XT5 doesn’t.
Price: Rs. 15,990
Specifications
- [RELATED_ARTICLE]Quad Band GSM network capable
- Android 2.1 OS
- 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen
- Gorilla Glass type
- 320×480 screen resolution
- Qualcomm MSM7227 processor (600MHz)
- 100MB internal storage
- 256MB RAM
- MicroSD card slot
- 5MP camera
- 1270 mAh battery
Contact: Motorola
Phone No.: 180030004343
Website: Motorola India