The Hi-Phone’s many lows as the perfect clone


The effort to challenge the iPhone as the ultimate mobile device is, it seems, going to be an unfinished business.
Clone after clone, they attack the exceptional technology of this wonderful creation, to no avail. The assault, by the way, is through the very simple technique of copying which, we must stress, to no avail.

And from the infamous bootleg alley now comes the Hi-Phone.
So is the Hi-Phone the perfect clone to the iPhone?
Only one way to find out, and that is to get one (Hi-Phone) and put it alongside The One (iPhone).


Face It
You might say that the face of both the iPhone and Hi-Phone are exactly the same. But try to look closely. The iPhone has a 3.5-inch display, and the Hi-Phone’s a bit smaller. How to know immediately the difference? Just look at the space between the display and the home key (the only button located at the front of the phones).
Size does matter
Look closely again, and you would immediately notice that the iPhone is slim at 11.6 milimeters. The length and width of the Hi-Phone is almost similar, but its thickness is very noticeable.
Branding
Products usually carry the manufacturer’s logo. The iPhone carries the Apple logo at the back of it. The Hi-Phone, on the other hand, has the Bluetooth logo printed at the back. As far as we know, Bluetooth is an electronic protocol and they don’t make mobile phones. Take note of the other prints at the back. The iPhone has its name printed at the back, as well as its serial and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers.


Charger issues
An iPhone is basically a pimped out iPod, so iPod chargers and docks can be used to charge it. Somehow, it has become a universal standard in Apple iPods. In the case of the Hi-Phone, a unique USB connector supplied with a (lousy) USB cable and AC adapter (so you can plug in a wall socket) are in the package. And the USB connector is designed deep within a recess in the Hi-Phone’s casing, making it quite hard to connect the cable.


Play and display
Comments on the display first. Although there are so many similarities with the main menu, the difference in the pixel quality and the sharpness of colors is too visible. The Hi-Phone has a poor quality resolution display which may not be noticeable If you don’t have an iPhone. In the iPhone, you see the deep colors that are very pleasing to the eyes, and the icons almost have that 3D effect.

Take note of the fade-in-fade-out interfaces, they are very different from each other. On the iPhone, the icons breaks out once you select an application in the main menu and all zoom back when you press the home key. In the case of the Hi-Phone, the selected application kinda zooms in to full screen and zooms out when you exit. Almost all applications in the Hi-Phone have a "return" option which doesn’t require you to press the home key to exit.
Verdict
We heard that the Hi-Phone is very cheap compared to the iPhone (it has to be). Now considering the technology, design, and durability, the iPhone would still be our first choice. The Hi-Phone may have wowed consumers since it has the closest design to this date, but there’s still a lot of work to be done on the inside (hardware and software-wise).

We declare that we’re not about to see the end of this clone craze, not with the iPhone refusing to budge from its lofty spot.


by: Carlo S. Suerte Felipe

No comments: