It was now time to explore Android on the Ideos U8150. In the U.S it is better known as T Mobile Comet, and is clearly one of the cheapest smartphones available. I bought the Ideos keeping in mind the affordability and the price point it offered. The features were on par with those offered in other smartphones. Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth, AGPS, Android Market, 3 MP camera, 3G enabled and it can be used as a mobile hotspot. The hardware is of more modest nature, with 528 MHZ processing speed, with a 256 MB RAM.
There are multiple advantages of choosing this phone. Having been launched in U.S and internationally, it has been explored across the world various times, and the number of custom ROMs for this device are remarkable. It gives a sense of confidence that this phone is indeed decent enough. When I unpacked the phone contents, it was obvious that Sangeetha mobiles were selling off the Aircel tied up Ideos. The logo was there on the box, and a prepaid sim card as well. I was also pleased to find a 2GB micro sd card inside the box.
The battery cover was blue, and the phone felt quite light in my hands at 102 gms. It was annoying to find the Aircel logo flashing when I booted up the phone. I have a Vodafone connection and I wouldn't want another network provider's logo flashing on. Moreover, in this phone, the phone maker's logo or name is nowhere to be seen. It just says Ideos by Google, which makes it more of a personal phone. I liked this aspect as well.
A price of 7500 for an Android phone, which flashes an unnecessary logo motivates one to rid of the logo. Right? Atleast I was determined to get rid of it. The price encouraged me to experiment ways and means to personalise the phone even more. I explored forums, and I stumbled upon the xda developers' forum for Ideos U8150. There was a custom ROM available, dronix 0.3 which was very impressive. But to unleash the potential of the phone, I had to first root it. Rooting basically means, the user has admin access over the firmware and certain hardware features of the phone. For example, it is possible to run ad free games on the phone.
Rooting was not as difficult or risky as I thought it would be. z4root is the best apk option available to root any Android Froyo phone. In fact the entire process of rooting the Ideos and installing a custom ROM are given in detail in this link. Once I rooted the phone, I was able to flash the custom ROM, dronix. It is mighty impressive and I am now able to overclock the little Ideos upto 729MHZ. I however still could not get rid of the Aircel logo flashing. I wiped the cust/data folder while doing the wipe, which removed all traces of Aircel in my phone. I was very happy and thrilled to have the Ideos for myself. Here I was, with a personalised phone, with the applications and games I wanted.
Of course, the drawback of rooting is that it voids the warranty of the phone. If one is unlucky it could even brick the phone and make it useless. But once the phone is rooted, and an efficient ROM is identified, it really performs beyond its potential. The touch screen response is amazing, while scrolling is a pleasure with the dronix 0.3 ROM. While the Ideos Stock ROM does not allow multi touch or pinch and zoom, after flashing dronix 0.3 I can do both flawlessly.The resolution admittedly is very average at 320X240 and the screen size is also a modest 2.8 inches. But for a smartphone at that price, it is more than what I could have asked for.
It fits snugly in my hands, and the smaller screen size and lesser weight makes it very portable. Battery life has been very decent, and I charge it once in two days with moderate use. I also purchased a silicon case for the Ideos at an Indian online website for 300 bucks. In fact, the delivery of the case from Delhi took 3 days, while the delivery of the phone which was available locally in Bangalore took a week. What an irony. The case fit my phone perfectly and I am very satisfied with it. It gives a premium feel to my Ideos.
Personally for me, the phone has turned out to be a better deal than the Samsung Galaxy Pop. Price wise it made more sense, and it also gave me the liberty to risk rooting it. I can now unleash the potential of my phone, in terms of performance. Maybe my next Android stop would be a quad core phone in the same price range. That of course, is a distant dream. For now, my Ideos rocks, literally.
Games which suit my Ideos:
Air Control Lite
Angry Birds
Angry Birds Rio
Scooter Hero AD
Paper Toss
WordzUp!
Doodle Dash
Jewels
Abduction
Traffic Rush
There are multiple advantages of choosing this phone. Having been launched in U.S and internationally, it has been explored across the world various times, and the number of custom ROMs for this device are remarkable. It gives a sense of confidence that this phone is indeed decent enough. When I unpacked the phone contents, it was obvious that Sangeetha mobiles were selling off the Aircel tied up Ideos. The logo was there on the box, and a prepaid sim card as well. I was also pleased to find a 2GB micro sd card inside the box.
The battery cover was blue, and the phone felt quite light in my hands at 102 gms. It was annoying to find the Aircel logo flashing when I booted up the phone. I have a Vodafone connection and I wouldn't want another network provider's logo flashing on. Moreover, in this phone, the phone maker's logo or name is nowhere to be seen. It just says Ideos by Google, which makes it more of a personal phone. I liked this aspect as well.
A price of 7500 for an Android phone, which flashes an unnecessary logo motivates one to rid of the logo. Right? Atleast I was determined to get rid of it. The price encouraged me to experiment ways and means to personalise the phone even more. I explored forums, and I stumbled upon the xda developers' forum for Ideos U8150. There was a custom ROM available, dronix 0.3 which was very impressive. But to unleash the potential of the phone, I had to first root it. Rooting basically means, the user has admin access over the firmware and certain hardware features of the phone. For example, it is possible to run ad free games on the phone.
Rooting was not as difficult or risky as I thought it would be. z4root is the best apk option available to root any Android Froyo phone. In fact the entire process of rooting the Ideos and installing a custom ROM are given in detail in this link. Once I rooted the phone, I was able to flash the custom ROM, dronix. It is mighty impressive and I am now able to overclock the little Ideos upto 729MHZ. I however still could not get rid of the Aircel logo flashing. I wiped the cust/data folder while doing the wipe, which removed all traces of Aircel in my phone. I was very happy and thrilled to have the Ideos for myself. Here I was, with a personalised phone, with the applications and games I wanted.
Of course, the drawback of rooting is that it voids the warranty of the phone. If one is unlucky it could even brick the phone and make it useless. But once the phone is rooted, and an efficient ROM is identified, it really performs beyond its potential. The touch screen response is amazing, while scrolling is a pleasure with the dronix 0.3 ROM. While the Ideos Stock ROM does not allow multi touch or pinch and zoom, after flashing dronix 0.3 I can do both flawlessly.The resolution admittedly is very average at 320X240 and the screen size is also a modest 2.8 inches. But for a smartphone at that price, it is more than what I could have asked for.
It fits snugly in my hands, and the smaller screen size and lesser weight makes it very portable. Battery life has been very decent, and I charge it once in two days with moderate use. I also purchased a silicon case for the Ideos at an Indian online website for 300 bucks. In fact, the delivery of the case from Delhi took 3 days, while the delivery of the phone which was available locally in Bangalore took a week. What an irony. The case fit my phone perfectly and I am very satisfied with it. It gives a premium feel to my Ideos.
Personally for me, the phone has turned out to be a better deal than the Samsung Galaxy Pop. Price wise it made more sense, and it also gave me the liberty to risk rooting it. I can now unleash the potential of my phone, in terms of performance. Maybe my next Android stop would be a quad core phone in the same price range. That of course, is a distant dream. For now, my Ideos rocks, literally.
Games which suit my Ideos:
Air Control Lite
Angry Birds
Angry Birds Rio
Scooter Hero AD
Paper Toss
WordzUp!
Doodle Dash
Jewels
Abduction
Traffic Rush
1 comments:
video ellam upload ah.. enjoy :-)
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