Orange Rio 2 – Evaluation Report

The Orange Rio II is a surprising small number. It looks like a BlackBerry, but expenses a fraction of the cost. Yet it gives a lot more than you'd anticipate from the price tag. In some methods it's even better than the BlackBerry 8520 costing twice as much. Orange are expecting this to become their top selling pay-as-you-go phone of 2011, and you are able to see why.

With the BlackBerry looks and also the purse-friendly cost tag, you are able to see at a glance that this really is a telephone for the facebook generation. It features a fantastic QWERTY keyboard, plus the benefit of a touchscreen - something that the BlackBerry 8520 does not have. This is not the highest spec telephone by any indicates, but for messaging it is great. Also as text and video messaging, the Rio II comes pre-configured for push email, and you will find widgets for quick access to facebook and other social networking sites. The Rio II also has the benefit of 3G with HSDPA giving fast access to the web, so there is no hanging around waiting for facebook to load.

There is also a fundamental 3 megapixel camera with video, plus a media player and FM radio. A 3.5mm audio jack lets you plug in your personal headphones. Actually you'll have to, as headphones aren't included in the box.

The built-in memory is 80MB - extremely generous for this price range - and you can add a microSD card to provide a lot of storage for music, and so on. Connectivity is by Bluetooth or mini-USB, along with a USB cable is supplied within the sales package. Battery life isn't fantastic, however.

We believe this is a fabulous little telephone. It is smart, it's simple to use and it is not expensive. We've just got to say it - BlackBerries are not the only fruit.

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