Lava Xolo X900 is 1st shipping Intel-based phone [hands-on]
updated 07:50 am EDT, Thu April 19, 2012
Lava Xolo X900 goes on sale
Intel crossed a milestone Thursday and confirmed that its first shipping Intel-based phone would be the Lava Xolo X900. The phone is due both online and in Croma stores in Lava's native India on April 23, when it will cost 22,000 rupees ($422) off-contract. Despite early hopes, it will ship with Android 2.3 at first and get 4.0 relatively soon afterwards.
The X900 is based on Intel's reference design and revolves around the 1.6GHz Atom Z2460. Although not the fastest mobile processor, it's faster than most rivals in areas like web browsing as well as a unique photography trick. The eight-megapixel camera can both record 1080p video and take burst shots of 10 still photos in one second.
Its design is considered proof that Atom chips can now be treated like regular mobile processors, as the phone uses a regular-sized four-inch display and has up to eight hours of voice calling, albeit a slightly short five-hour life for HSPA+ 3G web browsing.
Other phones running Intel hardware are due soon after, including the Lenovo K800 and the X900's European mirror image, the Orange Santa Clara.
We tried the X900 at Mobile World Congress and found that the most impressive feature was simply its speed: despite Intel's relative inexperience at mobile, it was consistently brisk. Mobile games played well, and the burst camera mode works exactly as promised, with a full set of photos taken almost before you're ready. Our only initial issue was that it was an unspectacular design and could really have used Android 4.0, but it's at least initially a solid entry.
