Jolla launches its first Sailfish OS(MeeGo) phone.

You must have heard of Jolla Mobile by now. It's a new company formed by a number of ex-Nokia employees, who have adopted the MeeGo OS that Nokia abandoned in favor of Windows Phone. The goal of Jolla is to become a successful player on the market by launching both consumer- and advanced user-centric devices based on MeeGo.

The good news is that the company seems to be acting quickly. A new article on the WSJ claims that Jolla is about to launch its very first smartphone (previously said to be a consumer-oriented product) as soon as next month! This is quite an achievement for such a small and young company. However, it's worth noting that the meaning of the word "launch" has kind of changed in recent years, and could now be used in the sense of both an actual release, or simply an announcement, so it could mean either of those. But this still doesn't change the fact that Jolla is moving quite fast. Those who have followed the company's progress probably remember that it already has deals with a number of partners, including China's largest phone retailer.

As far as the MeeGo experience on Jolla's phone goes, we shouldn't expect an interface similar to the one Nokia had in the N9, which is a good thing, we dare say. Jolla is going to have its own user experience, codenamed "Sailfish".

Interestingly, Jolla is also planning to license the Sailfish implementation of MeeGo to other companies including phone manufacturers. The software will reportedly be ready to be licensed sometime in spring of 2013.

We're looking forward to Jolla's announcement next month, and you can count on us to keep you up-to-date with all the details. Let's see if this small, but ambitious company has the potential to disrupt the status quo!

Xolo A1000

Xolo A1000 is the company’s latest offering in the economy android phone market. Xolo has pitched the 5 inch screen phone, as one that can comfortably fit the consumers palm and budget. Xolo A1000 is priced at Rupees 13,999. The phone has width that measures nearly 70 mm, making the big screen phone easier to hold and function with the same hand. It also uses One Glass Solution technology. As the name suggests, only a single glass is used on the phone.
With these special features, will XOLO A1000 5 inch screen phone be able to stand tall, in a market that has already been swamped by competing brands. XOLO A1000 is not the first 5 inch economy phone in the android phone market. Micromax and Intex launched their 5 inch screen phones weeks before XOLO A1000 . Both phones are priced way below the new entrant’s MRP. Micromax A110 Canvas 2 and Intex Aqua 5.0, both were launched in December and are priced around 10,000 rupees. The latest Micromax A116 Canvas HD that we reviewed recently is priced similar to the Xolo A1000.
Lets begin our review of XOLO A1000 with unboxing.

Specification 

XOLO A1000
Processor	Chipset	MT 6577
	CPU	Dual Core 1GHz
Network	Frequency Bands	GSM: 900/1800
		HSPA: 2100
	HSDPA/HSUPA	up to 7.2 Mbps (DL)
		up to 5.7 Mbps (UL)
Graphics core	Chipset	PowerVR SGX 531
	Triangles per second	21 million/second
Display	Display Size	5.0"
	Resolution	1280x720
		295 pixels per inch
	Colors	16M
	Display Technology	One Glass Solution (OGS)
		In-plane Switching (IPS)
Operating System	Android™ v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
GPS	Assisted GPS
Camera	Rear camera	8 MP with BSI sensor technology
		High Dynamic Range (HDR)
	Front camera	1.2 MP with BSI sensor technology
		Operator Video Calling
	Flash support	Yes, single LED
	Auto focus	Yes
	Touch focus	Yes
Sensors	Accelerometer
	Ambient light sensor
	Proximity sensor
Audio	Audio codecs supported	MP3, MIDI, WAV, 3GP, AAC
	FM Radio Support	Yes
Video	Video recording & playback	HD 720p@30fps
	Video codecs supported	MPEG4, H.263, H.264
	Video Player	Android Video Player
Connectivity	USB	v2.0
	Bluetooth	v4.0
	Wi-Fi	802.11 b/g/n
Memory	Internal Memory*	4 GB
	RAM	1 GB
	Expandable Memory	Up to 32 GB
Battery	2100 mAh
Design	Dimensions	143.5 x 70.8 x 8.8 mm
	Hard Keys	Power Key
		Volume Key
		Camera Key
	Slots	SIM Card Slot
		Micro USB
		3.5 mm Audio Jack

 

Features at a glance

 

Unboxing

The box is made with somber packaging. Contents include XOLO A1000 handset, 2-pin charger, 2100 mAh battery, in-ear earphone, USB cable, quick start guide and a warranty card. Good to see that Xolo has taken the effort to ensure that the colour of accessories is the same as that of the handset.

An unusual addition in the box is a screen protector. The handset comes ready with one plastic screen protector on it. In the box is an additional sheet. Check out more images from our unboxing.

Hardware

The XOlO A1000 hardware has striking aesthetics for a phone at this price range. We got a white handset to review and simply loved it. The phone adores the white shade throughout, except the rim, that has the metallic tone. A1000 with the HD display uses ‘One Glass Solution’ (OGS) Technology that makes the device sleeker and offers better color reproduction. In the time we spent with the phone, the screen produced fine and crisp images. However, the big bright screen is perhaps the reason for the battery draining out way too soon.

One of the phone’s USP is its 70 mm width. As you can see in the pictures the glass is surrounded by a very thin border so that the phone fits well in the palm and lets the thumb waltz around with ease. Our experience with the 5 inch screen- it isn’t easy to reach every corner of the big screen phone, no matter how big the hand is. Yet the phone is much more comfortable to hold than some of its competitors in the market.

The corners of the phone have the necessary volume rocker and switch buttons on opposite sides. Here’s another button just below the volume key. It functions as a snapper button when the camera app is active, It can also be used for taking screenshots when the camera is inactive.

XOLO has some impressive Mega pixel numbers to flaunt. Front camera has a 1.2 MP camera and the back camera is 8 MP with an LED flash and BSI sensors that help take better pictures in low light.

Cover of the phone has a plain finish and a sturdy built. XOLO A1000 is a dual SIM phone. It has 4 GB of internal memory that can be expanded to 32 GB with a micro SD slot, placed behind the cover. Check out more images from the Xolo A1000 photo gallery.

Software and Multimedia

Xolo A1000 has a simplified Android 4.1 User interface. The Pull down menu in the screen shot below shows the regular setting shortcut icons.

The phones comes pre installed with google maps and several other google map services and youtube app. Facebook , twitter and other social services can be downloaded free from Google Play Store. The processing speed of the A1000 is average despite the phone running on a dual core 1 Ghz dual-core processor. HD videos on you tube, don’t quite look HD on the phone. Xolo A1000 has 4 GB inbuilt memory, but it was difficult to store more than 20 screen shots in the phone as a notification to insert SD card kept prompting no sooner.

Dual SIM Functionality

The dual SIM functions of Xolo A1000 are very simple to set. On inserting the two SIMs, the phone automatically names the two SIMs for easy identifications. Both the SIMs can be assigned their functions in the settings option. Each SIM can be customized for voice calls, video calls, messaging, data connections and roaming.

One feature we really like about messaging customization is the prompt notification that lets the user choose between SIMs, just when you are sending the message. There is also the option to choose one SIM as default number to send all messages.

Camera

XOLO’s back side camera is an 8 MP camera. It has BSI (Back Side Illumination) sensor for better low-light imaging. The default resolution of images were 4000 by 3000 pixels, which is 12MP. Looks like images were upscaled using software technology. It also has a  LED flash. Here are some snaps in low light, sunlight, indoor locations, with and without flash light. (Click to view full resolution images)

Performance

The performance of the phone is average. It is powered by a a 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor with PowerVR SGX 531 GPU. High-end games worked, but they were not smooth.

Quadrant Benchmark

In the Quadrant Benchmark, the A1000 lies behind the A700 that is also powered by a similar MediaTek quad-core processor. We reviewed the Xolo A700 earlier this year.

AnTuTu Benchmark v2.9

The Xolo A1000 lies in the same spot even in the AnTuTu benchmark.

Vellamo 1.0

In the Vellamo 1.0 browser benchmark, the Xolo A1000 running Android 4.1 is right behind the Micromax A116. You can check the complete list of Xolo A1000 benchmarks here.

Battery

2100 mAh Li-ion Battery is what Xolo has added in the phone to power its 5 inch massive screen. The phone is a dual SIM phone and has a HD screen. One day of use included an hour of net surfing, games, long calls. It was the usage of the big screen under bright sunlight, that exhausted the battery because we had to set the screen to full brightness. A1000 was exhausted by evening. This is perhaps the case with most touch screen phones sized this big.

Conclusion

It isn’t easy to make a mark in a crowded Android phone market, where nearly every day a new phone is launched. XOLO’s 5 inch screen phone has a good hardware and can give tough competition to other 5 inch phones in the economy range. It serves well – as a big screen phone. It is fueled by a big battery that will need some pumping just when you think – the phone can last the whole day. Dual SIM functionality is well managed. However there are some vices, the 8 MP camera’s performance was not quite satisfactory and the processing speed of the phone while playing videos can get annoyingly slow whether on WiFi or 3G .
Pros

• Good Build
• Sharp and bright screen
• Dual SIM functionality and customization options

Cons

• Poor video recording
• Performance is not impressive
• Average battery life

Ratings (Out of 5)
Design: 4.5
Display: 4.5
Camera: 3.5
Performance: 3
Software: 3.5
Battery Life: 3.5
Value for Money: 4.5
Overall: 3.5



Picture Courtesy: Phone Arena and XOLO.in