Orange San Diego review

Is the future bright with this one?

Orange San Diego review
Intel is inside its first European handset, but is it any good?

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Battery life

Intel has made a bit of a big deal about the battery life on the Orange San Diego, claiming its integration of the processor and other features has helped improved the longevity of the battery.

The San Diego packs a standard Li-Ion battery, which Intel reckons will offer eight hours of call time and up to 14 days of standby time.

Orange San Diego review

Orange San Diego review

Some may be disappointed to learn that the battery isn't removable, or even accessible, which means you won't be able to perform hard resets of the handset, although we didn't experience any freezing or crashing during our tests.

We found that the Orange San Diego could happily last all day with moderate to heavy usage, including web browsing, calls, texts, gaming, social networking and some navigation – with juice left over to get you through day two as well.

This puts the San Diego ahead of a lot of smartphones these days, which often to fail to make it to bedtime before they give up the ghost, so Intel should be applauded for the work it's put in to give this result.

Connectivity

All the usual suspects are present and correct on the Orange San Diego when it comes to connectivity, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB and A-GPS all making an appearance.

It's also supports the 3G network for faster web browsing on the move, supporting speeds of up to 21.1Mbps if you're in an area of top-notch HSPA+ coverage.

Orange San Diego review

A couple of added bonuses with the San Diego are the inclusion of a mini HDMI-out port and NFC technology.

There's no HDMI cable provided included in the box, so you'll need to pop off to the shops if you fancy hooking up to your TV.

Orange San Diego review

The inclusion of NFC shows the continuing shift towards near field communication as a way of transfer data between handsets as well as using your phone to purchase items.

NFC hasn't fully caught on yet and we're still a bit unsure about how mainstream it's going to become, but it's good to see it included - with the likes of BlackBerry and Sony following suit in their handset ranges.

TOPICS
John McCann
Former Global Managing Editor

TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.

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