Orange San Diego review

The Orange San Diego (previously know as the Orange Santa Clara) is the first Intel-powered smartphone to be released in the UK, and is being sold exclusively by the network operator. It’s based on a reference design by Intel, using the Medfield chipset, and so is identical to the handsets we saw at CES and MWC earlier in the year – where it impressed us on both occasions – see Intel Medfield smartphone – Benchmarked and Hands on and Orange Santa Clara – First Intel-powered UK Android phone – Hands on

Finally it’s a reality, the Intel-powered smartphone

It may be a sign of the times that we finally have an Intel-powered smartphone, but it’s even more telling that it’s running the Android operating system. This comes in the same year that we are finally seeing Windows running on ARM architecture, traditionally the home of mobile devices – with Microsoft Surface being a key example. It’s a topsy-turvy world we live in today, then, and one a long way from the Wintel computing dominance of old.

INTEL INSIDE

Back to the Orange San Diego, it more specifically uses an Intel Atom Z2460 chipset with a 1.6GHz single core processor, supported by 1GB of RAM. It may only have a single core, but in our usual SunSpider JavaScript benchmark it still performed incredibly, scoring 1,326ms. Rendering the BBC page was equally impressive, as the whole page loaded in just over a second. Previously we’d seen it whip through 3D games and play 1080p video without breaking a sweat, and its no different in this final model.

A demo of a 3D shooter running smoothly on the handset back at CES in January

In general use it’s pretty smooth, but not as slick as flagship handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X. However, it’s hard to make direct comparisons as the San Diego is hamstrung by an older version of the Android operating system, namely 2.3.7. This isn’t a surprise, as the processor’s x86 instruction set differs from the usual ARM one, and so the operating system has to be reworked to run on it.

A knock-on effect of this is that not all apps run on the San Diego, the vast majority of the ones we found were games, and they were clearly marked in Google Play so there’s no will it or won’t it work frustration. That said, if you’re a keen gamer, then the San Diego isn’t the best choice. Everything else we use regularly worked fine, with the exception of Android 4 only apps such as Chrome.

No Android 4 yet on the San Diego, and no date for its release

Speaking of Android 4, an update to the operating system has been promised, though with no date we know better than to get too excited. We’re still awaiting updates for some phones, even though they were announced soon after the OS’s launch late last year.

Of course, we all know that Intel can make fast and powerful processors; it has been doing that for decades. The real question is whether it could make an x86 mobile processor that was suitably power-efficient, and the answer appears to be yes. The Orange San Diego scored a very respectable five hours and 45 minutes in our video playback test. Given that Intel has used a very typical 1,600mAh battery in this handset, that’s a respectable score. It can’t compete with the Samsung Galaxy S3, with its almost 10 hours of playback, but that handset has a much bigger battery (2,100mAh) a lower-power OLED display, and is much more expensive as a result.

INTEL ASIDE

Moving away from the processor, the Orange San Diego has pretty impressive specifications given its quite reasonable pricing. The 4.0in display has an unusual 600×1,024 resolution. That’s quite a bit higher than the 480×800 displays seen on the more basic new smartphones, and a touch above the common 540×960 resolution of more expensive OLED models (such as the Motorola RAZR and HTC One S). Top-end models now use 720×1,280 displays, but then the San Diego is a lot cheaper than any of those handsets.

Pictures look sharp thanks to a pixels-per-inch score of 297, that’s only just shy of the HTC One X at 312 and the Apple iPhone 4S at 326. In more practical terms the resolution means you can browse the BBC News desktop homepage in landscape mode and still read the headlines and snippets. Resolution aside, the screen itself is nothing special, with average brightness, contrast and colour accuracy.

The handset has two cameras built in. The front one is a basic example for video chat, but the rear has an impressive eight-megapixel sensor and a super-fast burst mode. The latter is capable of taking up to 10 pictures at up to 15fps – though you can set the speed to suit your needs as at this rate just get multiple images where your subject has blinked. It’s an impressive feat, and outdoes even its more expensive rivals in raw speed.

A resized pixel-to-pixel shot from the San Diego’s camera, with poor detail and focus issues – click to enlarge

The resized shot shows the slight diorama effect – though snaps of people looked fine – click to enlarge

Image quality overall isn’t as good though. Zooming into our test shots showed very heavy sharpening and noise reduction at play, resulting in unnatural-looking, low-detail results. There were also some focus problems, leaving some of pictures looking like dioramas, with varying focus across the frame even in wide landscape shots. It’s not a terrible smartphone camera, but it’s a step behind the best.

The handset is compact for its screen size, at 123x63x10mm and lightweight as well at just 117g. Other features include the now standard micro HDMI port for video output, the camera will also shoot video at 1080p, and NFC for cardless transactions, though there’s no obvious use for this as of yet.

HAND DIEGO

The handset itself can largely be described as slightly dull. It’s very neat, partly thanks to the fact that there’s no access to the battery and no slot for a memory card – though with 16GB of built-in storage there’s little cause for complaint either. A small tray pops out of one side to hold the microSIM, but given the phone comes locked to Orange we can’t see many people making further use of this. Then there’s the usual micro USB and headphone sockets.

The rest of the design is suitably minimal, without ever quite feeling classy. The rubberised back panel helps you keep hold of the phone, but the buttons are simply too slender and have too little feedback for our liking. The power button in particular was infuriating, as you have to press it to get the San Diego to show the unlock screen. The dedicated camera shutter button is the same design, but still appreciated. Finally we don’t like the icons for the touch sensitive buttons below the screen, at first we found them confusing and even when we became used to them we disliked their look.

ORANGE PEEL

Looking in a bit more depth at the software, we can see that Orange has heavily customised the operating system in appearance at least. We’re not terribly keen on this kind of thing, as you have to re-learn all the icons to find simple things like the browser and dialler. Speaking of the latter, we replaced it, the calendar and the text message app with superior, free versions from Google Play. None of this would have been necessary had the San Diego come with Android 4 and its superior basic range of features.

We’re not very keen on Orange’s re-skin of Android, which changes the look but little else

There’s little in the way of useful new apps preinstalled. Although you do get perennial favourite Orange Wednesdays, for easy access to the buy-one-get-one-free cinema offer.

CONCLUSION

If you’re an existing Orange customer, with moderate monthly needs in terms of minutes and data, and you’re looking for a hassle-free upgrade to a capable smartphone, then the Orange San Diego is a good choice. It’s cheaper on contract than any phone with a similar screen resolution or processor speed. At £185

However, if you’re a heavier user of your phone, and are happy to shop about and get a new number, maybe porting your current one over later, then better handsets are available for similar money on other networks. Namely the HTC One S, which can be had currently for £21-per-month with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data. The One S isn’t an obviously superior handset on paper, but the superior feel of its exterior, easier to use buttons, an OLED screen, a better camera, full app compatibility and Android 4, all make it a better choice.

The first Intel-powered smartphone is far from a failure then. It’s just not quite ready to take over the world yet.