Dell XCD 35 -nice andriod phone for resonable cost. Review on Dell XCD35

Dell XCD35

This review is about the cell phone I bought recently-Dell XCD35. I don’t know if this will help anyone, because they stopped production. There are about couple of seller in e-bay who are offering it. I am probably writing to express my happiness of getting an android phone for 7400/- which is branded and does a great job. It is a really good entry level android phone.

I had bought a normal Samsung phone about a year ago. It was really good, good for music, blue-tooth, alarm, remainder, calculator etc. I had 8 GB memory card in it, so I could save lots of music files. The only thing I couldn’t do with it is make calls:D. People at the other end were not able to hear me properly. The voice was distorted. Gave it to Samsung for repair, they upgraded the firmware, wiped off everything in it. It made no difference and the warranty ran out by then.

So I was forced to buy a cell phone. I had to decide whether I need to buy a basic phone or a slightly better one. Where ever my friends talk about Froyo, Gingerbread and Ice-cream sandwich and apps I feel like a villager. So I decided to join the bandwagon of android phone users.

I wasn’t prepared to shell out 20k for a cell phone. I was okay with about 10k.

I had to make a decision among Galaxy Y S5360, HTC Explorer and Dell XCD 35. Explorer is about 10.5K. The other two are of the same price range, around 7.5 to 8. Galaxy Y is probably a little faster, it has a process speed of 830 Mhz and XCD35 is 600 Mhz. The reason I chose Dell is cos of the screen size. It is bigger compared to the two, it has 3.5 inch screen and Galaxy Y is 3.2 inch. Thought a slightly bigger screen would be better for browsing. I knocked Explorer out of the list, as the other cost me 2.5 less.

Once I froze on XCD35, I did a bit of research on it. I read lot of review, most of them were good. However a few people had reported that it heats up a little. I decided to take a chance because I trusted in Dell’s service. I thought if something like that happened I will use the warranty to get it repaired or get a replacement.

I bought it off ebay. It was waiting for someone to price it lesser than 8K, after about 2 months wait I found one for 7900/-. Then I had a 500/- discount coupon so it worked out to be a great deal.

It comes with a Blue box, not very attractive. But the phone side is definitely attractive. The box includes a head phone. Not the best in world, it is good to buy something better. Then it has a charger and other stuffs like the warranty card and the instruction manual.

First the design, it is just awesome. I have seen some of the Samsung which looks like match box. XCD 35 has great finishing, the Dell logo at the backup panel is place well. The back panel is plastic but the color gives it the looks of a metal. The screen is bright and looks impressive.

Here are the specs,

2G Network : GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network : HSDPA 2100

Type : TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors

Size : 480 x 800 pixels, 3.5 inches

Card slot : microSD, up to 16GB

Internal : 200 MB storage, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM

GPRS : Yes

EDGE : Yes

Speed : HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps

WLAN : Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

Bluetooth : Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR

USB : Yes, microUSB v2.0

Primary : 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus

OS : Android OS, v2.1(Eclair)

CPU : 600 MHz ARM 11

When I started using it, the phone used to get extremely hot. It used to burn my ears just by being on a call for few minutes. I thought I had a bit of head ache. I felt my worst fear had come true. Then I realized that there was a scratch guard on it which covered the air vents. I removed that and got a different one that fits just the play area and that helped a lot. It still heats up while charging and if I use internet for a little longer, but that alright. It is not alarming.

The other problem I find is the memory. 600 Mhz is probably minimum for an android phone. I can install about 4-5 applications. When I try to install more it says memory low. I have tried lot of applications about a few at a time. When I use an application for some time I get fed up with it. Then I uninstall it and try a different one. I have install AVG for antivirus. I have downloaded Opera for browser. There is an application called Android booster, which helps you close unwanted applications running in the background. There is another one called Vault, it helps you hike SMS, phones and phone number, I found that very helpful. I have couple of others, I can run those many without a probably. I guess I will be fine without an Antivirus, which should make a phone little bit faster.

Also this is an older version of Android called Éclair. Ginger bread and Ice-cream sandwich are the latest. I won’t complain given the price I paid for this.

I mentioned earlier that the memory is a little low. So if you want a phone for gaming, this might not be the best one. If have never had an android phone and wish to buy one without shelling out a fortune; then this is definitely the one. I would rather have a Dell in hand than a micromax or a Lava or Java or whatever.