Garmin Asus AlO : Navigational Phone Companion

Coming in an all-black body, the 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen phone - Garmin Asus AlO - has a slight rubberized finish which gives a good grip. The AlO is runs on a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor and comes with a skinned Android 2.1 as. It comes with seven default home screens. The first screen is the Garmin navigation page with options to view a map, browse places of interest around etc. Navigation apps like Where Am I? and Where To Go? are quite nifty and really helpful in simplifying your journey. Pre-loaded maps in the phone is a huge plus.

Call clarity was good in Zone 1 and 2. Media playback was decent but you will definitely want to invest in a decent set of earphones if you are a big music enthusiast. The 5 MP camera clicked great photographs outdoors in daylight, but absence of flash rears its ugly head when it comes to indoor and low light shooting. We liked the geo-tagging feature present in the camera options. Battery life of the device was something of a worry, if you have GPS activated.

On a full charge it did not seem to last more than 6 hours. Another cause of worry was the constant hanging of the phone. It takes at least a minute to start up though. The phone is priced at a competitive <18,990. But with certain flaws like hanging, long start up time, poor battery life and absence of flash, we feel that it should lower. Wonderful product to have for someone who is a travel buff and does a lot of long drives.

Specifications

OS: Android 2.1 - Pre-load maps
Screen: 3.2-inch capacitive
Camera: 5MP
Battery: 1500mAh
Price: Rs. 18,990

Rating 6.5 / 10

Features 7.5 / 10
Performance 6.0 / 10
Build Quality 6.5 / 10
Value for Money 6.0 / 10