Orange San Diego review

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.