We’ve been following Fujitsu’s quad-core Tegra 3 smartphone from Las Vegas to Barcelona, and today we’re finally getting a look at the finished project in Tokyo at AU’s summer launch event. Long story short, the Arrows Z ISW13F (as it will be known here) has a list of specs that handily makes it one of the most feature-packed devices we’ve seen in any market.
Aside from the 1.5GHz processor, the Android 4.0 phone features a big 4.6-inch 720p (1280 x 720) LCD display, 16GB of onboard storage (expandable up to 48GB with a microSD card), and its rear-facing camera can take 13.1-megapixel stills and 1080p video. Adding to the list, the phone features Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output through its MicroUSB port, dustproofing, and waterproofing — both from spraying water in any direction at up to 4.35 psi as well as complete immersion to a meter or more. And being a Japanese device it’s also equipped with infrared, Osaifu Keitai (wallet phone) for FeliCa-based payments, and a 1seg TV tuner.
1/5
Performance mostly delivers on the quad-core dream
Some of the more interesting features in the ISW13F are a built-in FM transmitter, a thermometer and humidity sensor, and a fingerprint scanner. Fujitsu has been putting the scanners in their devices since 2003, but the ISW13F adds a privacy mode that allows you to hide people from your address book, and keep your phone from beeping when you get a call or email from one of the names you’ve added. Instead, your battery indicator subtly changes color — say from blue to green — to notify you.
During our short time with the phone we found that performance mostly delivers on the quad-core dream, with a really smooth gaming and browsing experience. That said, the glossy plastic body doesn’t feel as tightly built as some of the other devices we’ve seen today, and we noticed that the camera’s shutter lag and long refresh time between shots fall behind a lot of the competition. The Fujitsu ISW13F will be launching sometime around the middle of July in Japan, and we may even see an American incarnation further down the road.