{"id":2431,"date":"2013-04-29T08:56:44","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T06:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svay.com\/blog\/?p=2431"},"modified":"2018-10-23T19:59:55","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T17:59:55","slug":"review-of-the-first-firefoxos-phone-the-geeksphone-keon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svay.com\/blog\/review-of-the-first-firefoxos-phone-the-geeksphone-keon\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the first FirefoxOS phone : the Geeksphone Keon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"geeksphone-keon\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Following\u00a0Palm’s\u00a0trails, Mozilla is pushing its own phone OS based on Web technologies. Not to end the same way, Mozilla is betting on openness by allowing anyone to build FirefoxOS phones and apps. The corporation has also decided to start with emerging markets, leaving the western markets to Android, iOS, Windows8 and others.<\/p>\n

The first dedicated handsets just came out last week. Built by the spanish company Geeksphone<\/a>, the Keon and the Peak are not targeted to end users: they are development devices<\/strong>. I ordered the cheapest one to see what the user experience is like, and maybe create\u00a0an app in the future.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The device<\/h2>\n

Even if the Keon is meant to be used for development<\/strong>, I guess some people will want to use it as their main phone (even if they shouldn’t). For them, here is what the hardware feels like.<\/p>\n

Costing approximatively 100\u20ac, the Keon is on par with similarly priced Android devices.\u00a0The device is light and not too thick (approx. 12mm).<\/p>\n

The Product Expert<\/a> review describes this camera: the body is made of a rubberized and soft plastic that feels pretty good. The device has one 3MP camera on the back, one micro USB port, one audio jack, one loudspeaker, a power button and a volume rocker.<\/p>\n

Even\u00a0if\u00a0the color is rather unusual for a phone, the industrial design is pretty good for a cheap phone.<\/p>\n

Now let’s see what’s inside.<\/p>\n

The CPU is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, the small internal storage (4GB) is dedicated to the system and cannot store media files. You will have to add a micro SD to take pictures, watch videos or listen to MP3 files. The device supports 3G, WiFi N, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, has light and proximity sensors, a gyroscope and a GPS. Considering they are targeting emerging markets, the included FM radio is a smart addition. Consumers will be happy to be able to listen to music without having to consume their data plan or purchase tunes.<\/p>\n

The screen is probably the most important part of the phone and is probably the most disappointing. The resolution (320×480) is standard for the price, but the quality of the display isn’t great. The most visible problem is color rendering. I don’t know how many colors the screen can display, but we can clearly see dithering and banding problems on gradients. Most people wouldn’t mind, but as a designer, it’s hard not to notice.<\/p>\n

\"P1060471\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The battery is a 1580 mAh Li-Ion pack that probably won’t last more than one day of moderate use.\u00a0Like most smartphones, you will probably have to charge the device every night.<\/div>\n

Overall, the Keon is what you can expect from a 100\u20ac phone : a device with compromises to make it affordable. Can the OS bring more value to it?<\/p>\n

The operating system<\/h2>\n

\"P1060477\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s included<\/h3>\n

At the very beginning, the OS was simply meant to launch a browser, with a name to show that: Boot2Gecko. Now, the OS has been rebranded to FirefoxOS and offers what’s expected from a smartphone OS:<\/p>\n

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