Philips Xenium W8500: specs, reviews, unlock

Philips is not as active on the mobile market as the Samsung, Lenovo or LG, for example. Despite this, it 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, in front of you - Philips Xenium W8500. About what this gadget is and what features it has, read in this article.

general characteristics

We should start, perhaps, with the fact that we are facing a real smartphone with a degree of protection of the IP67 level. This means that the device is able to withstand the ingress of dust and moisture while maintaining its efficiency. Without any extra extra thinking, the device can be used for active sports, taking with you to hunting, fishing, hiking and so on. The second feature is all the more conducive to this - it's about the long life of the device.

As the manufacturer claims in the technical parameters to his model, the device can last at least 3-4 days on a single charge. Users celebrate 2-3 days, which is already quite a good indicator for a device that operates on the basis of the Android operating system. And this - due to a balanced charge of a battery capacity of 2400 mAh.

Mobile phone capabilities, provided by its processor, camera and other modules, we will expand further in the article. However, without this, we can safely say that the device is positioned as a smartphone, suitable for use in extreme conditions - this is obviously what the manufacturer is betting on. In addition, the device has an attractive stylish design, which under normal conditions will suit 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 its image you will not find common among other protected phones elements like large rubber blinds of bright color and incredibly thick glass. No, on the part of the device looks very neat, although there is not much elegance in it. On the perimeter of the body there is a frame, the thickness of which reaches 8.5 millimeters. It looks as if it has straight lines, 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 is so loved by manufacturers of such devices, did not find a place in the Philips Xenium W8500 - the case consists of a durable plastic with a relief texture on the back cover. Due to this, it is very pleasant to take the phone in hands and work with it. This plastic has such a structure, thanks to which there are almost no scratches on it. Under the top layer of the dark cover is a light gray structure.

On the body 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 plugs are closed with rubber caps, which harmonically fit into the overall concept of the phone.

Smartphone display

As claimed by manufacturers, the screen that is installed on the phone Philips Xenium W8500, has a diagonal of 4.3 inches. To ensure its protection from bumps and scratches, the display was covered with a protective glass of Gorilla Glass. Such a coating is used on many models, and how much it protects the smartphone screen from scratches, disputes are being waged. It is believed that the glass only reduces the likelihood of damage, but does not provide full protection.

The resolution of the picture on the Philips Xenium W8500 leaves much to be desired - it's about the size of 960 by 540 pixels. In general, the screen operates on the basis of TFT technology, so the smartphone is able to transmit only 16 million colors. But the density of the image can please - it is 256 pixels per inch.

CPU

As for the "stuffing", the results of her work will not boast. As evidenced by the reviews describing the Philips Xenium W8500 reviews, the device often starts to "hang" and run slower than the user expects. The reviews that we managed 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 wrong assembly of the phone, no. It's all about which processor is used here. This - Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8625, which has two cores with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. Due to this, the device works extremely slowly, besides it "hangs" when working with some applications. This is the focus of many review authors.

Device Battery

As already mentioned above, manufacturers position the phone as a hardy, unpretentious (in terms of energy consumption) device. This is facilitated by a battery with a capacity of 2400 mAh. As we noted above, practice shows that the device can withstand 2-3 days of active use before charging. And this is simply an irreplaceable quality, if we talk about different campaigns, travels to nature, extreme sports and so on.

Even if we assume that the owner of the device will not deal with such things, the very possibility of not charging the phone for a long time is a pleasant bonus, including in everyday life. However, some reviews point out that the device is not sufficiently hardy even compared to other Philips models.

The battery here 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 matrix, because it is intended for the creation of elementary photos ("Selfie"), as well as for video communication via Skype. The second one has more serious parameters (it has a matrix of 8 megapixels resolution), due to which it can create pictures with a resolution of 3265 by 2448 pixels.

Of course, you can also create videos on the W8500. In particular, we are talking about rollers 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 reproduce almost all the most common multimedia formats. In particular, it can be both films in HD-quality, and work with all audio files, and even the reproduction of radio stations. In order to listen to the radio, by the way, the phone will have to connect a headset - it will just use the role of the antenna to receive the signal.

Connectivity

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 the mobile Internet. You can also note the presence of Wi-Fi-module: with its help the device has the ability to work with high-speed wireless Internet connection. In addition, as indicated by the Philips Xenium W8500 specifications, the phone has a Bluetooth module for sending and receiving files.

Finally, the A-GPS module performs the function of locating the device on the terrain, as well as orientation in space . This feature is especially useful if you use the model for trips to an unfamiliar area or traveling where there is a chance to get 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 people put an average rating of the phone at the level of "3" on a five-point scale. And the reasons for this, as it turned out, are quite weighty.

First, many customers say about the numerous failures in the operation of one or another module of the device. For example, someone does not work Bluetooth, and someone complains that the Philips Xenium W8500 does not turn on. They struggle with this in different ways: by repeated firmware, by resetting the settings to factory ones, by replacing the parts of the device with others. Secondly, many reviews indicate a deterioration in the performance of a function, and even in general - its complete failure. For example, some people unlock the display Philips Xenium W8500: "Wrong graphic password". Such an inscription indicates that the operation of the mechanism for identifying graphic protection has been disrupted. To solve it, you must return to the factory settings in order to bring down the previously set access password. Problems and in fact quite a lot in the Philips Xenium W8500 (unlocking is not the only one). So be prepared for possible malfunctions.

Otherwise, the reviews are good - it is told how hard it is to damage this model, its protective properties. About the battery and endurance, customers write that the phone does not have the ability to be active for a long time - in fact, it lasts a little more than 2 days (whereas the usual Android will only work a day in normal mode). The advantage is, but it is not as significant as claimed by the developers.

Instead of concluding

What is the model? This is an inexpensive smartphone (its price, according to reviews, at the time of release in 2013 was about 10.5 thousand rubles), which has a mass of functions that are inherent in the standard device. In terms of performance, it clearly lags behind not only the "flagships" - Samsung, Asus, HTC and Lenovo, but even from some Chinese phones, whose cost is much lower. Plus, the current work of the model, to be honest, can not be called ideal. Numerous failures, failure of some functions, small errors, popping up in the process of functioning, all this draws a maximum on the "troyka", but not on 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 slightly lagging.