Philips is not as active in the mobile device market as the giants Samsung, Lenovo or, say, LG. Despite this, she manages to produce high-quality smartphones that are in demand by a large number of people.
We will talk about one of these devices in this article. Meet before you - Philips Xenium W8500. About what this gadget is and what features it has, read in this article.
General characteristics
We should start, perhaps, with the fact that before us is a real smartphone with a degree of protection of IP67. This means that the device is able to withstand the ingress of dust, moisture and at the same time maintain its performance. Without any additional extra thought, the device can be used for active sports, taken with you for hunting, fishing, hiking, and so on. The second feature all the more contributes to this - we are talking about a long service life of the device.
According to the manufacturer in the technical parameters for its model, the device can last at least 3-4 days on a single charge. Users note 2-3 days,which is already a good enough indicator for a device operating on the basis of the Android operating system. And this is due to the balanced consumption of a battery with a capacity of 2400 mAh.
The capabilities of a mobile phone, provided by its processor, camera and other modules, we will reveal later in the article. However, even without this, we can safely say that the device is positioned as a smartphone suitable for use in extreme conditions - this, obviously, is what the manufacturer relies on. In addition, the device has an attractive stylish design, which in normal conditions will appeal to any user.
Appearance
With how the phone looks, we will begin our more detailed description. So, Philips Xenium W8500 is presented in the form of a typical "brick". In its image, you will not find elements common among other secure phones, such as large bright-colored rubber plugs and incredibly thick glass. No, from the side the device looks very neat, although there is not much elegance in it. Along the perimeter of the case there is a frame, the thickness of which reaches 8.5 millimeters. It looks like it has straight edges, but if you pick up the smartphone, you will notice a smooth transition to the back of the device.
As for materials, it should be noted that aluminum, which manufacturers of such devices love so much, did not find a place in the Philips Xenium W8500 - the body consists of durable plastic with a relief texture on the back cover. Therebypicking up a phone and working with it is very pleasant. This plastic has a structure due to which scratches are almost imperceptible on it. Under the top layer of dark coating hides a light gray structure.
On the case you can see only three physical navigation buttons - one (screen lock) is located on the top edge of the device, the other two (volume keys) found their place on the right edge. The headphone and charger connectors are closed with rubber plugs, which harmoniously fit into the overall concept of the phone in color.
Smartphone display
As stated by the manufacturers, the screen installed on the Philips Xenium W8500 phone has a diagonal of 4.3 inches. To ensure its protection from bumps and scratches, the display is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass. A similar coating is used on many models, and there is debate about how well it protects the smartphone screen from scratches. It is believed that glass only reduces the likelihood of damage, but does not provide complete protection.
Picture resolution on Philips Xenium W8500 leaves much to be desired - we are talking about the size of 960 by 540 pixels. In general, the screen functions on the basis of TFT technology, so the smartphone is capable of transmitting only 16 million colors. But the image density can please - it is 256 pixels per inch.
Processor
As for the “stuffing”, the results of its work cannot be boasted of. As the reviews describing the Philips Xenium W8500 testify, the device is oftenstarts to “freeze” and work slower than expected by the user. The reviews that we were able to find on this model confirm this. Regardless of whether you have a new smartphone or not, it will fail, get ready for it.
The reason is not some wrong assembly of the phone, no. It all depends on which processor is used here. This is the Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8625, which has two cores with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. Due to this, the device works extremely slowly, besides, it “freezes” when working with some applications. Many reviewers emphasize this.
Device battery
As mentioned above, manufacturers position the phone as a hardy, unpretentious (in terms of energy consumption) device. Contributes to this battery, whose capacity is 2400 mAh. As we noted above, practice shows that the device can withstand 2-3 days of active use before charging. And this is simply an indispensable quality when it comes to various hikes, nature trips, extreme sports and more.
Even if we assume that the owner of the device will not do such things, the very possibility of not charging the phone for a long time is already a nice bonus, including in everyday life. However, some reviews note that the device is not hardy enough even compared to other Philips models.
The battery is built-in here, so you can change it only at the service center.
Camera
The Xenium W8500 has two cameras located on the front and back of the case. The first traditionally has a lower matrix resolution, since it is intended for creating elementary photos (“selfies”), as well as for video calls via Skype. The second has more serious parameters (has an 8-megapixel sensor), thanks to which it can take pictures with a resolution of 3265 by 2448 pixels.
Of course, you can also create videos on the W8500. In particular, we are talking about clips in MPEG4 format (shooting speed is 30 frames per second).
Multimedia
Thanks to the operating system and the hardware on which the smartphone is built, the device is able to play almost all the most common multimedia formats. In particular, it can be movies in HD quality, and work with all audio files, and even play radio stations. In order to listen to the radio, by the way, you will have to connect a headset to the phone - it will just use the role of an antenna to receive the signal.
Communication
The Philips Xenium W8500 smartphone has all the necessary communication capabilities that are inherent in other models of devices from other manufacturers. This is primarily work in GSM networks of different networks, as well as the option of 3G access to mobile Internet. You can also note the presence of a Wi-Fi module: with its help, the device has the ability to work with a high-speed wireless Internet connection. In addition, as indicated related to Philips XeniumW8500 specifications, the phone has a Bluetooth module for sending and receiving files.
Finally, the function of determining the location of the device on the ground, as well as orientation in space, is performed by the A-GPS module. This feature is especially useful when using the model to travel to unfamiliar areas or travel where there is a chance of getting lost.
Reviews
In order to learn more about the operation of the device, we analyzed the reviews left about it by customers. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say that most of them are positive. Most of all, people rate the average performance of the phone at the level of “3” on a five-point scale. And the reasons for this, as it turned out, are quite weighty.
Firstly, many buyers talk about numerous failures in the operation of one or another module of the device. For example, Bluetooth does not work for someone, and someone complains that the Philips Xenium W8500 does not turn on at all. They struggle with this in different ways: re-flashing, resetting to factory settings, replacing device parts with others. Secondly, many reviews indicate a deterioration in the work of a particular function, or even in general - its complete failure. For example, for some, when unlocking the display, Philips Xenium W8500 issues: “Wrong pattern password”. Such an inscription indicates that the operation of the graphic protection recognition mechanism is disrupted. To solve it, you need to return tofactory settings to reset the previously set access password. In fact, the Philips Xenium W8500 model has quite a lot of problems (unlocking is far from the only one). Therefore, be prepared for possible failures.
Otherwise, the reviews are good - it is told about how hard it is to damage this model, about its protective properties. About the battery and endurance, buyers write that the phone does not have the ability to be active for a very long time - in fact, it lasts a little more than 2 days (whereas a regular Android will only work for a day in normal mode). There is an advantage, but it is not as significant as stated by the developers.
Instead of a conclusion
What is a model? This is an inexpensive smartphone (its price, according to reviews, at the time of release in 2013 was about 10.5 thousand rubles), which has a lot of functions that are inherent in a standard device. In terms of performance, it is clearly behind not only the “flagships” - Samsung, Asus, HTC and Lenovo, but even some Chinese phones, the cost of which is much lower. Plus, the current work of the model, to be honest, cannot be called ideal. Numerous failures, failure of some functions, minor errors that pop up during operation - all this draws a maximum of a “C grade”, but not a top-end device worthy of attention.
If you are interested in Philips products, then of course you can buy a smartphone. But even compared to other models of this brand, the W8500 is a little behind.
