Innostream Inno A20/ i3200

[wonderbao]

I'm planning to buy this phone and was wondering if anybody has any experience with it?

[rongus]

http://www.innostream.com/products/gprs_f.jsp?code=inno_a20

i'm also considerint this phone or the xcute dv2...
was wondering what features of this phone made u want to buy it?

[wonderbao]

Mostly the design and the overall features. Video recording at cif resolution sounds good, and mp3playback shall be good with manual settings available. Im a sucker for flipphones from asia with twisted screen :p Ordered one allready, I will get it next week.

[rongus]

yeah me too
how much did u order it for
and tell us how it is when you get it :D

[wonderbao]

Just received this phone today. The phone is beautiful! The buildt quality is really good even though its a twisted screen. Easily the most beautiful phone I ever own.
The bundle is amazing too: 2 batteries, travel charger, ekstra charger, usb cable, stereo headphones, handsfree headphones converter with volumecontrol(if you dont want to use the inno stereo headphones, you can plug in any other 3.5 headsett, it is with microphone, so now you can use any headphones and still use handsfree), leather strap and manual.

Pros: Really good mp3player with equalizer and bassboost
Decent videorecord
Fullscreen mp4 playback with sound (the quality is great)
Decent camera.. (of course you can't compare with k750 since it does not have autofocus, but the quality is still decent for partyuse and catch the moment)
Genius filemanager.. (just plug in the usbcable to the computer, and the pc will recognise it as mass storage.. easy for filetransfer. And in the phone, you can use File Manager to move and copy the files around)

Cons: Abit slow phone when you write sms and go around in the menus. It takes you a day to get use to the speed, its not very slow, but slower than nokias and SE's.

That's it for now.. will post more later when I get to play with it more.
Let us know when you get yours, rongus.

[rongus]

alright thanks for thank :D
i'm asking my friend overseas if he could send it too me... unlikely though
where did you get yours again?
thanks... looking forward to your next post

[rongus]

one question..how rotatable is the screen?
like, could u rotate it so you could take self potraits?

[c_g_f]

GGGRRRRRRRRRRRR... haven't heard about it until right nowa nd I already ordered a DV2.. hey wonderbao, could you tell me..

1. how is video quality, how many fps and what is the extension of the file..

2. how good is the mp3 player, is it loud enough, playlists?

3. battery life with mp3 player?

4. would it work with 2go mmc cards? no sd support?

thanks in advance..

[c_g_f]

forgot something very important... how much did you pay for it?

[rongus]

i'm still considering about the a20 or the dv2... i like the functions and looks of the a20 whilst i adore the dv2's camera...
anways
the inno a20 records at 15fp/s in mpeg4
i can't answer the other ones considering i don't have
but also
the price is about the 500 AU range... there is one for sale on ebay right now.

[c_g_f]

thanks dude.. well I can't really help you on your choise, it depends on what you want more from you're mobile.. if it is mp3 I just can tell you that it sucked on dv1, I don't know if it has been improuved on dv2 (but I read somewhere it hasn't).. if you write a lot of sms' I'll say that you'll be deceived with its predictive input.. besides that I think i'll stick with xcute.. great videos.. much better screen.. smaller.. but inno built quality seems better.. it's a hard choise.. any question about dv1 or dv2 (i'm receiving it this week) feel free to ask..

[braindead5400]

does anyone have any pics from the A20? The a10 had a TERRIBLE camera in it

[rongus]

i've only seen one photo from the a20 on http://www.m-box.com.tw/test/INNOi3200/i32007.jpg
it's even scaled down...but we can see the camera ain't that great

i think ill post hte question in dv2 in the dv2 forum

[wonderbao]

Hello everybody.

Sorry for the late reply, Ive been busy lately.
I've been using the phone in almost a week now, and here's a brief review of it:

Buildt quality and screens:
The reason I bought this phone is because I fell in love with its design when I first saw pictures of it in the internet. When I received the phone, it didn't disappoint me, the design is beautiful and the buildt quality is great. You don't have to be afraid that the screen will brake in 2 when you use it alot.
The main screen is 176x220 with 260k colours. The colours are nice, something like the new samsung phones like e730 etc. But not as good as the Sharps and the new Panasonics with qvga resolution.
The external display measures 96x96 with same amount of colours, so you wont have any problems reading what says on it.
Buildt quality and design: 6/6 Screens: 4/6

The menu and apps:
The menus design looks hi-tech with less colour and and nice icons. This is a matter of taste, I think they fits the phone well. But when going around the menus, you notice it is abit slow. Same goes with when typing sms. It is slower than the nokias and SE phones. You just have to get use to the speed. If you love to write lots of sms, I recommend you to find another phone.
The phone comes with only one game, a 3D car racing game that is fun, but difficult. I have tried to install a couple of java games, but with no luck. The phone keeps saying not supported format. I will check this again later.
The calendar is nice, and you can set alarm and notes for events. You also get voicememo, I think you can record for 60min or something, calculator, world calendar, stop watch and a english-chinese dictionary.
The phone has a very smart inbuildt program called File Manager. This program works like windows explorer where you can manage your files. This is a great feature and easy to use.
One other nice feature of the phone is that when you plug in the usb cable to the pc, it recognise the device as a mass storage device. This way , you don't have to install any programs to use with the phone. And the phone charges when it is connected to the pc of course.
Menu: 3.5/6 Apps: 4/6

Camera and videorecording:
I didn't expect any great camera since I know it does not have autofocus. But it actually managed to take very decent pictures. The pictures takes and saves really fast. This is great for partyuse and catch the moment pictures. I will post some pictures later on.
You can only turn the screen 18 degrees, so taking selfportraits must be used with the outer screen.
The videorecording is nice, 15fps and cif resolution is not bad for a phone. The only downside is that you can't record with the flash on, I guess it's because they are afraid of the batterytime. This is not 100% sure yet, since the manual is in chinese, and I can't read chinese. You can record till the memorycard is full. Will post some samples later on.
Camera: 4/6 Videorecording: 5/6

Bundle:
The phone came with 2 batteries, travel charger, deskcharger, usbcable , stereo headsett, leather strop and handsfree/volum controller with 3,5 hole to plug in any sett you want. This is first time I got so much stash for a phone.
Bundle: 6/6

Mp3 playback:
This is the phones strongest feature. The mp3 playback when using stereo headsett is really good. This is thanks to its buildtin equalizer, it is 5 presets and if you are not happy, you can configure it yourself. It also has a feature called bassboost where you can chose 4 levels of bass. The phones volume has 5 degrees, but when you use the handsfree/volumcontroller, you can turn the music much louder when using headsett. If you are not happy with the inno headsett, just plugin any headsett you want. Oh, by the way, the inno headsett is not bad at all. The only minus I can find here is no multitasking, still I give this a 6/6

Overall:
This phone as all other phones has its weak and strong sides. The weakest side is the slow UI and lack of bluetooth. It has some small irritating errors like no big letter when starting an sms and after punktum and no slideshow.
Its strong sides are the great design and mp3playback. It has MMC-slot and I will buy 1gb card next week. It can also play mp4 movies in full screen. This is a nice feature, Ive been watching lots of simpsons episodes with this baby.
I paid 475$ for it including shipping and all from a guy on ebay called shoppingsheap. He sent it as a gift so I didnt have to pay any customs fee.
After one week of usage, I give it a 5/6. Still loving it.

Rongus: If you are looking for a phone with great camera and videorecording and nice screen, go for the dv2. If you are looking for a flipphone with great mp3playback and good buildt design, go for the a20 aka i3200.

Will post some pictures tomorrow when I get my usb-cable.

[rongus]

thanks for that, quite detailed... much appreciated
i guess i wanted a phone more on the dv2 side of things. thanks for clearing that up for me... :D
enjoy your a20!

[dahool]

what a coinicidence, rongus, i am too am considering A20 and DV2. after reading the thread on the DV2 - hmmm, having 2nd and 3rd thoughts :-(

[JohnsG]

Hi,
I was part of the group that tested the innostream A20 and P90 mobile phones.
The A20 is a very good phone. Camera and videocamera quality are good and so is the screen quality. The phones never crashed during testing unlike other phones ive tested. If my memory serves correctly the phones past the vast majority of tests first time round without the need for a new software version.
Any other queries? Ill try and remember for you.

[royal101]

hey, just reading that you choose this phone over the DV2.
I was in the same situation but ended up choosing the xcute, very happy with the end result, but what your saying is definately true, because if someone bought the DV2 wanting a good mp3 player they would be quite dissapointed just the same as if you bought the A20 wanting a high level camera.
Each to his own i believe.

Be nice to see some sample shots from the camera thou?

[JohnsG]

http://www.m-box.com.tw/test/INNOi3200/i32007.jpg

[wonderbao]

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9272/bike6zx.th.jpg (http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bike6zx.jpg)

[Funmap]

Hi - is it true that Inno A20 can not receive contacts via infrared? Thanks for the information in advance!

[wonderbao]

It can not send contacts via infrared, so I guess it can't receive either. Have only tested with pictures and ringtones, and they went fine.

[Funmap]

Thanks, just ordered the phone, but this is very funny as with most phones it is the other way round!

[wonderbao]

Where did you ordered your phone? Remember to check if you get it with the newest firmware.

[Funmap]

Via eBay and I asked the seller to upload newest firmware as I had problems with the firmware of Inno P10/i3100!

[wonderbao]

Sounds great. Let me know when you've received your phone, I'm glad I'm no longer the only one here with this phone :)

[Funmap]

It is already on its way and should arrive this week. I have two more questions:

1. Does the 1 GB MMC work (if so I will order one)
2. Did you manage to install any games (if so, where did you find them)

Thanks and I will post some pics once I have the phone (got it in white - should look good next to my iMac :D)!

[wonderbao]

1. Yes, Im using 1GB MMC Kingston plus
2. I have over 80 fullscreen working games for the phone. Can pack them and send to you once you receive your phone.
I guess you are from Germany? Then we bought the phone from the same seller :)

[Funmap]

My Inno A20 in white has arrived, see here (http://homepage.mac.com/gadgetworld/.Pictures/Inno%20A20.JPG)! My first impression are very good. Very good MP3 sound, camera quality better than expected and beautiful design, very solid build. More picutres will follow this weak. Oh, and mass storage works under Mac OS X as well, very surprising and convenient.

wonderbao, would be cool to hear from you now I have the Inno too :)

[wonderbao]

How is your second impression of the phone? It looks really nice in white. Just give me your email, and I'll send you a package of working javagames, wallpapers and a program to convert your movies to mp4 so you can play on your phone. Remember that all these files together are more than 3mb big, so it's best if you have gmail or other email account that can handle big files.

[Funmap]

I think the phone is excellent. I have the latest firmware and the menu is pretty fast. I will post many more pictures later this week.

Only cons I came across:
- SMS typing takes pretty long
- No Bluetooth (then it would be perfect)
- Can not send contacts via Irda

Main pros:
- Both displays are gorgeous
- Many cute features like using the multimedia menu when the screen is flipped around, making date and operator name disappear from the displays with just one touch of the loudness button
- Very colorful menu
- Camera quality very good when you shoot objects that are in close range
- Pretty powerful flash
- Excellent package content
- Can be used as storage disk under Mac OS X
- VERY good sound of MP3-player
- Convenient file browser
- All data (besides contacts) can be send via Irda

More to follow this week :up:

[Funmap]

Here (http://homepage.mac.com/gadgetworld/PhotoAlbum25.html) you can find a few 2 MP pictures taken with Inno A20 in best quality. Due to the lack of autofocus picture are not of premium quality but when you take close-up shots (like the books), the quality (especially color-rendering) is ok. More pics of the phone itself will follow!

[wonderbao]

Nice photos you've got there. You must convert some movies to mp4 and watch them in fullscreen.. very nice quality. I'm glad you agree with me that the mp3 quality is very good. I've even compared it with the SE w800i, and the inno20 has better sound. Agree with you that the only big miss is the bluetooth.