Haier Elegance Handset

Filed in archive Device Evolution on April 18, 2007

I noticed a post over on Uberphones about the Haier Elegance handset. The main reason it caught my eye? I have one, and the picture just to the left there I took with my k800i a few minutes ago. I never posted about it as I always thought it was a fairly common handset.

The one I have is branded for i-mobile in Thailand, and whilst it doesn't have anything even remotely resembling WAP access, what it does have is a very good MP3 player, a USB connector and a standard headphone jack. The screen is also very large and colourful, and the scroll 'wheel' on the side makes navigating the menus very quick and easy.

Coming in a dimension that is not too far from that of a delicious Mars bar, the Elegance packs in some serious functionality such as an integrated FM radio, MP3 capability, Bluetooth connectivity, a color OLED display, and a battery that provides up to 200 hours of standby time. The BlackBerry-inspired scroll wheel enables you to zip through the menus quickly, while the keypad doubles up as a music controller to save on space.

And yes, it's a very small phone, about the size of an iPod Nano (although obviously a lot thicker!).