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The Lordowner.net review of the Haier Elegance. |
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Haier Elegance Review |
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Well here we are with the very latest unique form factor handset from Haier. Much to our surprise we aren’t looking at the Haier P8, the bleated reincarnation of the P7 Pen Phone, but the brand new Haier Elegance / Black Pearl. Oh, and before you ask, the handsets name has been the subject of a little contention of late, hence it being known as both the Elegance and Black Pearl. We think Black Pearl sounds far better (and less like the name of a Ralph Lauren fragrance) but the official name is now the Haier Elegance.
The Haier Elegance is Haier’s first departure from the highly successful Pen Phone format and certainly continues the traditions of innovative handset design. The first thing to note about the Elegance is its size; its tiny! At about 9cm tall it’s as small as we would ever want a handset to be without losing functionality. When making a call, it practically disappears into the palm of your hand – nice if you’re ever worried about flashing an expensive phone around.
By no means however does the size of the Elegance detract from its functionality. Like the P7, the Elegance comes with a side mounted jog-dial which allows you to navigate nearly all of the menus with just your thumb. It’s responsive too; you can zoom around the phones interface as fast as you like without delay. This is particularly usefull when sending text messages. Texting on the P7 was a nightmare with a texting delay of around half a second per character. This does not sound like much, but composing anything longer than a sentence would take a lifetime. So the Elegance comes up trumps in the functionality department.
Another A+ score is dished out for its features. Haier finally got the point that all phones these days need MP3 functionality and the Elegance has plenty. It houses a gigabyte MicroSD card with ease and has dedicated MP3 controls found in the centre of the keypad. We were also very impressed with the FM radio that had no difficulty in picking up clear and crisp signals.
Moving onto looks, which we know is what you’ve been waiting for. The risk in creating a small phone in candy bar format is that it would go unnoticed and become outdated relatively quickly. We were so pleased that Haier paid real attention to detail in creating the Elegance (well, technically the Elegance was designed by a third party design agency, but we’ll let that one slide). The smooth contours of the Elegance are reminiscent of a weathered pebble or bar of soap that’s seen a decent amount of lathering. This not only makes it a pleasure to hold, but makes it really stand out from the crowd of square and chiselled handsets and Smartphone’s available today. Of course the most striking thing about the Elegance is its stunning use of pearlescent gunmetal black and an OLED screen. When the phone is not in use, the screen melts away behind the gloss finish making it practically invisible. Haier have made brilliant use of this in the form of their icon driven main menu system. All the animated primary level icons such as Phonebook and MP3 Player appear to float beneath the glossy surface. Even the dimple where the speaker permeates the surface is a stroke of design brilliance. The Elegance looks like it’s simply been poured out of a bucket of mercury.
Getting back to the details however, the Elegance charges and syncs though a standard mini-usb connector allowing you to charge from your laptop when on the go. It’s hands free unit connects into the standard 35mm headphone jack used for the MP3 player – No need to buy a 25mm converter like some mobiles and Smartphone’s. And that’s only presuming you want to use wires. The Elegance also comes with Bluetooth for hands free and wireless headphone operation.
I thought I’d never switch my Haier P7 for anything else. I thought wrong. The Haier Elegance is a dream to use, is small, lightweight and doesn’t run the lines of a good suit. And ladies, it’d fit perfectly in that little black bag of yours. It’s a perfect size to take to the gym, throw in a briefcase or slip in the change-pocket in your favourite pair of jeans (really! It’s the perfect place for it!) And needless to say it’s different enough to stand out, resist dating and just like the P7, is a true conversation starter. Oh, did we mention is a lot cheaper too? It’s almost £100 cheaper than the P7, retailing for just £169.98 though the experts at HaierMobiles.com – We wouldn’t buy a Haier phone from anyone else!
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