Two hidden gems: Huawei X5 and Spriiing Smile

This year’s CES has certainly given us a lot to talk about- and then some. It was the most visited since 2007, a lot of powerful new features and gadgets were introduced and it became clear that 2011 is the year of the tablets and double nucleus processors. But asides from all this innovation (the promising Tegra2 and the portable console that was the fair’s star gadget) 2 manufacturers that generally make lower-end devices emerged with a clear focus on the Android market. We’re referring to Huawei and their “Ideos X5″ and Spriiing, with their phone “Smile”; two very different concepts aimed at covering the mid-range market once the dual core enters into play. Here’s a summary of what to expect.

Huawei Ideos X5

As I mentioned, this device is aimed at covering the segment that currently holds a processor of around 600-700mhz. It’s powered by a SnapDragon running at 1Ghz, supported by Android 2.2, with a 5 megapixel camera that shoots 720p video. It’s a small but it has some interesting features such as an FM Radio (remember that the Nexus S has no radio) and it comes without the personalization that Samsung and HTC have. As you can see, it comes with all the characteristics of what in the sector is currently considered a “high-end” phone, meaning that the X5 is settling itself one step below the many wonders that were introduced at the CES.  The release date of the new addition to the Ideos range is set for January in Europe and after that, sales plan to expand to Hong Kong, Australia, followed by the United States. We’d like to know more details, such as the RAM and ROM memory, the screen type etc. but it’s definitely a promising phone that represents Huawei’s first shot at devices with a high-quality finish and a strong hardware line-up.

Spriiing Smile

This is a terminal with a totally different design to anything that’s appeared before. Fully immersed in the battle of stats, benchmarks and features, this phone has clearly opted for an attractive and innovative aesthetic edge as its selling point. Like the H5, it’s manufactured by Huawei, but under the brand name Spriiing and with Swedish design (relax, you don’t have to build it yourself ). It has a 528Mhz. processor, 256mb of RAM and 512 of storage but this can be expanded with a Micro SD card. This device is different from the previous one in that it’s aimed more at Blackberry users who don’t need powerful technology so much as a functional phone with plenty of communication alternatives. It’s certainly unique, but with these characteristics and Android 2.1, we’re not sure if it’s going to be well received, at least among fairly experienced Android users. We like the design (even though it’s reminiscent of the Motorola FlipOut), and though it’s kind of risky, it’s a welcome breath of fresh air in the midst of the stats battle that the release of every new Android device has become.

Two hidden gems uncovered… So they may not be this year’s biggest sellers, but as new players in the battle of innovation, they’re definitely something we should know about. So what do you guys make of them?

Happy applications discovery!