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 among a large number of people.
We will talk about one of these devices in this article. Meet the Philips Xenium W8500 in front of you. Read about what this gadget is and what features it has, read in this article.
general characteristics
Perhaps we should start with the fact that we have 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 thought, the device can be used with active sports, take with you on hunting, fishing, camping and so on. The second feature all the more contributes to this - we are talking about the long life of the device.
As the manufacturer claims in the technical parameters for his model, the device is able to 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 that runs on the Android operating system. And this is due to the balanced battery consumption of a 2400 mAh battery.
The capabilities of a mobile phone provided by its processor, camera, and other modules will be revealed 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 is what the manufacturer obviously relies on. In addition, the device has an attractive stylish design, which in normal conditions will appeal to any user.
Appearance
From what the phone looks like, we will begin our more detailed description. So, Philips Xenium W8500 is presented in the form of a typical “brick”. In his image, you will not find elements common among other secure phones like large rubber caps of bright color 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 take the smartphone in your hands, you will notice a smooth transition to the back of the device.
As for the materials, it should be noted that aluminum, which the manufacturers of such devices like so much, did not find a place in the Philips Xenium W8500 - the case consists of durable plastic with a relief texture on the back cover. Due to this, picking up the phone and working with it is very pleasant. This plastic has such a structure, due to which scratches are almost invisible on it. A light gray structure is hidden beneath the top layer of the dark coating.
On the case you can see only three physical navigation buttons - one (screen lock) is located on the upper edge of the device, the other two (volume keys) found their place on the right side. Headphone and charger connectors are closed with rubber plugs, which in color harmoniously fit into the overall concept of the phone.
Smartphone display
As stated by the manufacturers, the screen that is installed on the Philips Xenium W8500 phone has a diagonal of 4.3 inches. To ensure its protection against bumps and scratches, the display was covered with a 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.
The resolution of the picture on the Philips Xenium W8500 leaves much to be desired - we are talking about a size of 960 by 540 pixels. In general, the screen operates on the basis of TFT technology, so the smartphone can only transmit 16 million colors. But the image density may please - it is 256 pixels per inch.
CPU
As for the "filling", the results of its work will not work out. As evidenced by the reviews describing the Philips Xenium W8500, the device often starts to “freeze” and work more slowly than the user expects. 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 be buggy, get ready for it.
The reason is not some kind of improper assembly of the phone, no. The thing is what processor is used here. This is the Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8625, which has two cores with a clock frequency of 1.2 GHz. Due to this, the device works extremely slowly, and also “freezes” when working with some applications. This is emphasized by many reviewers.
Device battery
As already 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: the device can withstand 2-3 days of active use before charging. And this is simply an indispensable quality, if we talk about various trips, travels to nature, practicing extreme sports and more.
Even assuming 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 even compared to other Philips models.
The battery is built-in, so you can change it only in 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 resolution of the matrix, as it is intended for creating elementary photos (“selfies”), as well as for video communications via Skype. The second has more serious parameters (it has a matrix with a resolution of 8 megapixels), thanks to which it can create pictures with a resolution of 3265 by 2448 pixels.
Of course, you can also create video 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
Smartphone Philips Xenium W8500 has all the necessary communication capabilities that are inherent in other models of devices from other manufacturers. This is primarily the 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 high-speed wireless Internet connection. In addition to the specifications of the Philips Xenium W8500, the phone also has a Bluetooth module for transmitting and receiving files.
Finally, the function of determining the location of the device on the ground, as well as the orientation in space, is performed by the A-GPS module. This feature is especially useful if you use the model for trips to an unfamiliar area or traveling 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 by customers about it. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say that most of them are positive. Most of all, people give an average rating of the phone at the “3” mark on a five-point scale. And the reasons for this, as it turned out, are quite significant.
Firstly, many buyers talk about numerous failures in the operation of a particular module of the device. For example, someone does not have Bluetooth, but someone complains that the Philips Xenium W8500 does not turn on at all. They struggle with this in different ways: by re-flashing, resetting to factory settings, replacing parts of the device 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 the display is unlocked, it displays the Philips Xenium W8500: “Wrong graphic password”. Such an inscription indicates that the operation of the graphic protection recognition mechanism is disrupted. To solve it, you must return to the factory settings in order to reset the previously set access password. In fact, there are a lot of problems with the Philips Xenium W8500 model (unlocking is far from the only one). Therefore, be prepared for possible problems.
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 normal Android will only work for a day in normal mode). There is an advantage, but it is not as significant as claimed 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 its 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 clearly lags not only from the “flagships” - Samsung, Asus, HTC and Lenovo, but even from some Chinese phones, the cost of which is significantly lower. Plus, the current work of the model, to be honest, can not be called ideal. Numerous failures, the failure of some functions to work, minor errors that pop up during operation — all this draws maximum to the “three”, but not to the 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 bit lagging behind.