O2 XDA Flame

O2 XDA Flame

The first smartphone to include dedicated graphics card, O2 XDA Flame features the NVIDIA GoForce graphics. It 'also a great 2GB of internal memory, 3.6in VGA touch screen, TV-out, and the sound SRS WOW HD. Clearly designed for true portable media player and phone in one package, the Flame packs quite a punch, but its hefty price tag is a bitter.

Features:
With a 3.6in VGA (640x480) screen and a dedicated graphics processor, it is clear that the flame is all the multimedia experience. The screen is one of the largest we've seen this type of device (which is slightly larger than 3.5 inches from the screen) and works well. We particularly enjoyed the scenery and watch videos full screen, and the nature of the crisp, clear screen is a real head Turner. We would have liked the screen a little brighter however, and their performance in direct sunlight is poor, with heavy reverb proving to be an obstacle.

The display works with the NVIDIA GoForce 5500, which improves the properties of the flame graphics on a regular smartphone. We're not sure of the specific applications that we are to take advantage of graphics cards, but should be related videos and games. However, the videos played on Windows Media Player, are of good quality, and we have no qualms about recommending this for use in portable media player. It also plays well in Word and Excel documents, because the text is detailed, fresh and smooth.

Still on the subject of multimedia, the Flame features TV-out, so you can print the screen, video projector or TV. It will only use the composite outputs, but despite this, it works well for an LCD TV. Connecting to a TV to surf the entire flame phone, including reading and sending, games and watching videos.

Perhaps a more interesting feature of the GPU and VGA is the support of the flame for USB On-The-Go (USB OTG). An adapter is included in the sales package allows you to connect to a USB device. Flash drive appears as a hard disk in Explorer in Windows Mobile 5, and as an ordinary PC, files can be copied from the phone to disk or vice versa. This is a great feature and one that has many useful, particularly when taking into account of the Flame has 2 GB of internal memory. You can connect a variety of gadgets USB OTG, including printers, hard drives, digital cameras and MP3 players.

The flame runs the familiar Windows Mobile 5 operating system, so of course the mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 10 and Pocket MSN. 3G and Wi-Fi integrated combine to make an electronic sound, and the standard Windows Mobile messaging application supports push e-mail from a Microsoft Exchange mail server, POP3 and IMAP and standard email accounts like Hotmail , Gmail and Yahoo. Unfortunately, the flame is not HSDPA capable, but Bluetooth 2.0, infrared and USB include everyone.

Flame supports a variety of file formats, most playable via Windows Media Player. These include MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR-NB and MIDI files. Unfortunately, the support of the media failed by a 2.5 mm headphone jack instead of the standard 3.5 mm. This means that users must use an adapter before they can use their own set of headphones with the flame, but the included earphones offer reasonable sound quality. SRS WOW HD surround sound experience is average, but the speakers on the sides of the unit to do a reasonable job considering this is a portable device.

O2 is again engaged in their applications, Flame, O2 automatic configuration, self-O2, O2 Connect, O2 Media Plus, O2 SMS Plus and O2 We found the application very useful Media Plus, it's a single interface, where Users can access all your media files, such as an FM radio on the train. Keep in mind that included headphones are the antenna of this function. Also very useful is a remote control application, where you can control any infrared wireless device in your home or office, including TV, home theater system, DVD player, and much more. You can manage up to five devices, flame, and if the character display device is not listed in the manufacturers, you can program the device manually.

The flame is powered by an Intel XScale PXA 270 processor running at 520MHz, 64 MB Flash ROM and 128 MB of RAM. The processor is a very fair job, we had minimal slowdown on the taxation of normal functions, including running multiple applications. Despite massive internal memory of 2 GB, O2 has included a microSD card slot on the right side of the device, but you must purchase a card separately.

Pictures taken with the 2 megapixel camera is decent, but far from sharp or vibrant. There is a white LED strobe flash and a mirror self-portrait, night photography, but is not the best. Being a 3G phone, the flame is also a front mounted VGA camera for video calls, and can also be used for portrait photos. The camera can capture images with a resolution of 176x144 up to 1600x1200, and sports a 4x digital zoom and a timer of 10 seconds. There is also a camcorder that records in MP4 or 3GP resolutions up to 352x288, but the quality is below average.

Design:

Measuring 74mm x 126mm x 17.5mm and weighs 190g, the Flame is one of the smart phones we've reviewed, although voluminous form is understandable given the big screen and the graphics processor you have. Anyway, the flame will not appeal to everyone, and it is important to establish that it is a true multimedia-centric device. While many features of the company, it is clear that business users will not launch its BlackBerry.

Looks pretty smooth, the flame ends in a subtle matte gray plastic and black, and will not win design awards. The battery cover on the back is finished in engraved checkered design, while the controls are a little higher and comfortable to press. There are two buttons, pressing the answer / end, a start button and a programmable shortcut button below the screen. The right side has a volume control, microSD card slot and a dedicated button, wireless and dedicated record button on the left side.

Unfortunately, the battery is well below average, and despite the seemingly heavy multimedia offerings chew a lot of power, the figures are extremely disappointing. Flame is designed for just four hours of talk time and 170 hours of standby time on 3G, even though these figures do not add six hours of talk time and 200 hours standby on a regular basis in the GSM network. Despite the moderate, we had to load the Flame every night during our test period.

O2 Cocoon

O2 Cocoon

It is very unusual for a network to produce its own phone from scratch, so we were surprised when we heard about the O2 Cocoon. Designed by O2 and manufactured by Pantech, this handset offers more unusual than meets the eye.

O2 Cocoon is currently available free on a monthly contract of £ 35 or £ 160 for a contract of £ 25 per month. Otherwise, you can pay £ 300 to get the salary you will.

Join the cool car-in-white, the cocoon comes in a trendy white box with black sides and interior. It is a little thick compared to the Samsung Ultra Edition handsets, but not so large that it does not fit in your pocket. Unlike many clamshell phones, the top and bottom curves Cocoon create a profile oval.

The advantage of having rounded corners is that slips easily into a pocket in a similar way to a smooth stone. The oval case is extremely reminiscent of a 60 egg chair and gives the phone a retro look and feel.

Further back inside the cocoon, which looks dated and a bit uncomfortable - a shame considering how the exterior is elegant. However, it is very functional, if not attractive. The screen is relatively large, as is the keyboard easy to use.

Note that the screen does not seem like too much direct sunlight and it is difficult to see in very bright environments.

And 'quite a heavy zipper is useful for volume control, which can be used inside and out, and it is much easier to use than traditional up and down volume buttons. Equally useful is a dedicated music keys on the Cocoon, which allows you to play music when the clamshell is closed.

The Cocoon comes with a set of LEDs behind the front of the phone. These show the time, the details of incoming calls and text messages are seen in blue light.

This innovative feature may seem gadget, but it is really useful, especially when combined with the Cocoon docking station, making it a full-blown renaissance. A reproach, who had a minor alarm clock with snooze button is not big enough, but it is probably because they do not wake up.

If you like lots of features, so you will not be disappointed with the offer of Cocoon. Most impressive, the cocoon comes with 2 GB of onboard memory, enough to store up to 500 songs or data in mass storage mode. There is also an expandable microSD slot that allows you to add up to 2 GB of memory.

We also like the music player that supports MP3 and AAC files, among others, and displays the album art. You can configure it to play tracks in shuffle mode, and there are possibilities to adjust the equalizer and bass. Control your music can be done in the music player interface or via the dedicated music keys on the side.

O2 Xda Argon

O2 Xda Argon

O2 XDA line-up of Windows Mobile Pocket PC has been around for several years, and the operator to add new models. Finally, hit the test bench is XDA Argon, XDA III, a popular upgrade.

XDA Argon is unusually large and heavy (200 g, 129.7 mm long, 69.8 mm wide, 18.8 mm thick). It irritates, who want their gadgets to be small, but it appeals to anyone who finds reading the small screens of Windows Mobile devices a little piece because the XDA Argon is a screen that measures a massive (in terms of Windows Mobile) 3, 5 inches from corner to corner.

These people probably also like the fact that O2 has selected the SD card format choice in the relatively large small tiny miniSD and microSD are popular for PDAs and phones today. This may be a while before you need to use extra memory, however, because the Xda Argon has 256 MB of ROM and 128MB of RAM, which is generous with Pocket PC.

Bluetooth, infrared and Wi-Fi are all here, is a 2 megapixel camera, 400MHz processor and a jurisdiction is able to effectively keep the device current. Battery life is also good. We asked XDA Argon to play off a full charge and leave the screen size, and ordered the tracks with a couple of minutes to more than nine hours.

This is a good thing, but a couple of points on the Xda Argon can not impress a lot more. First, consider the operating system. Windows Mobile 5.0 is fine as far as it goes, but Windows Mobile 6 goes further, and those who want to use your Xda on a corporate network led by Microsoft Exchange Server may feel cheated by the lack Windows Mobile 6 provides the minutes of extra features .

Then there's the fact that the XDA Argon is a tri-band GSM coverage on other Windows Mobile Pocket PC to control quadband and 3G to shed some 'pasta. Finally, strangely, is a whole be taken into account. Yes, clutter great fit for some users, but others yearn for one of the many devices in the form of small, usually about one third smaller.

We can not think O2 might have tried a little harder with the Xda Argon. We are sure that some people will love, and is an update obvious to anyone who is currently using the Xda III, but if you are looking for a Windows Mobile device, which would be new tempted to go to something smaller and richer feature.

O2 has walked a fine line with the Xda Argon. Is it good enough to encourage users to upgrade Xda III, but may have trouble convincing anyone to come to Windows Mobile first choice unless they have difficulty getting to grips with the many available, small selected, more pocket friendly alternatives.

O2 XDA Orbit II

O2 XDA Orbit II

It 'been so productive in the last year or so that you can think - or maybe waiting - that HTC could possibly lose the case. A little 'as a writer of the novel after novel, we may not be easy to maintain the high quality as it has recently been published with the upper end smartphones like the TyTN II and Touch Dual, to name a few.

However, continue to develop quality products that fact, and the cruise - in the form of O2 XDA orbit 2 on the review here - is no different. At first glance, nothing special. Face-to blows O2's website shows what appears to be a bog standard phone Windows Mobile PDA. There is a large screen above which is a small 2.8-inch lens for video calls, below which is a set of familiar aspect of the control buttons. You can see the usual pick-up and hang up buttons, plus a couple of shortcut keys to activate the start menu and OK controls and sides that looks like a navigation key five-lane standard.

But this is not normal PDA phone with Windows Mobile and begin to appreciate how different it is until they meet in the flesh. I'll start with the screen, unlike most touch screens I've seen in the last year, is located behind the fascia surrounding. In fact, the screen surface is one with the rest of the front of the phone: its glossy surface extends around the edges to the button cluster. Not that hard glass screen of the HTC Touch or the iPhone, however, and has a slightly plastic feel.

The effect is that the orbit is a stylish phone and feeling - and it is helped by the fact that the rest of the phone is well designed. The button cluster is formed in a matte silver plastic and has a pleasant slightly concave, sculpted shape. The rim is wrapped in shiny chrome and the rest of the Orbit frame is made of lightweight but sturdy feeling plastic finished with a tactile, non-slip rubber coating. And it turns out that the cluster of five waterways is unusual too. This is a dual-use control: not only can you click in either direction to scroll from top to bottom, left and right, the outer ring also rotates so you can scroll through the lists in a pinch.

02 XDA Stellar

02 XDA Stellar

Based on the phone to the HTC TyTN II, O2 XDA configuration includes some pretty impressive models, and the XDA Stellar is the first, which includes a built-in GPS and QWERTY keyboard.

Satellite navigation is taken care of CoPilot Live 7 Software included in the package, while Windows Mobile 6 drives the phone.

Size 20 mm thick and weighs 190g, XDA Stellar is too great for many, but if you want a qwerty keyboard that you want to make sacrifices. Push the left screen and the keyboard is revealed. Such a small space between the keys, typing is difficult at first, and certainly with two fingers only. The tilting screen makes it perfect to sit down to watch the video.

Windows Mobile 6 can not match the iPhone interface for ease of use, but it beats hands down in terms of functionality. Mobile versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint included with Outlook, Messenger and Windows Media Player. It may be slow to react sometimes, though.

Battery life is not very big and pretty trying circumstances it takes a little over a day. Used sparingly, you should get a few days out of it.

CoPilot Live 7 works well, but it is slower than its own satellite navigation system, especially when browsing the map enlarged. It houses most of the features you'd expect (including updates on the traffic), but also the space walk passes one-way streets, is not smart enough to be directly through the park.

If you can deal with its size, the XDA Stellar offers a lot, but do not expect that kind of long documents. Also available through Orange, T-Mobile (as the MDA Vario III) with the cost to the contract, and sim-free for around £ 450.

O2 XDA Zest

O2 XDA Zest

O2 Xda range is somewhat of a mainstay in the circles of Windows Mobile. Smartphones company brand has existed for many years, and a look at the current range is the only test that needs love HTC O2, as almost all phones in the current line up is made for them. In most cases, you can get something similar to both free and SIM card from other operators.

But the new XDA Zest is different. And 'the Asus and the model is unique as the O2. And perhaps even more interesting that this is the first to be available on the XDA prepayment (which will cost £ 249.99), and pays a monthly basis, which is free of some of the contracts.

It is a decidedly middle-of-the-road Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with a few points higher real and some comments.

The overall objective, it is a squat little, because it is a little larger than we are used to 60.5mm. It is 102mm high and 16.5mm thick, slightly chubby, and weighs very little chance to 120g. This corresponds to an even slightly less comfortable in the hand than we're used to, but we do not want to overstate this point and it is certainly not a deal-breaker.

The case is fairly predictable in appearance. The plastic housing is mostly black with touches of silver, including the D-pad on the front. The call, end, Start menu and OK buttons are a bit small, but perfectly integrated into the overall look.

We want a lot of that is a hold button on the right side. Push this and the screen goes blank and locks the touch screen and all buttons. Windows Mobile has a locking feature, but this is a software to run and is only available in the main screen - and only if you choose to display there. This option is most useful as it may, at any time.

Here comes the niggle. Has 256 ROM and 128MB RAM. These numbers are standard rates and not to complain. You can add more memory, a microSD card - again as standard. But the slot under the battery, which means that you must turn off the XDA Zest for it. Honestly, these days, we expect that the memory location to be easier than we can to Hotswap cards easily.

It is a GPS antenna and you get a three-month trial that the CoPilot navigation software. We are more used to seeing this comes for free for good, and fork out for that then can be painful for you. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are built in. The Xda Zest is an HSDPA and has a front camera for video calls in front of two ways.

A highlight of the Xda Zest is its screen. This measure a generous 2.8 inches with a resolution of 640x480 pixels. Screens with this resolution are much clearer and sharper than 320x240 pixels, and really thought it was a bargain.

Since then, the tendency is to hide the outdated Windows Mobile interface, the O2 is an option to clean up its board. Since the standard Windows Mobile Today screen, you can choose from the drop menu labeled 'soft' O2 ', and then you can use the three screens, or by touching the icons at the bottom of the screen or a finger is swept horizontally.

Menu photocontacts 4x4 grid, 3x3 grid applications, shortcuts, tools and options, and the main screen, which displays the current time, weather and information about messages, emails, missed calls, and so on. There is nothing revolutionary about the system, but it is a graphic design which appeals to the finger and sweep and clean.

E 'on the back of the case and this shot in 3-megapixel stills. Again, this is nothing revolutionary, but mounted on the right side of the button makes it very easy to use as they do all the icons on the screen of choice tappable image resolution, zoom, change the macro mode and selecting the timer mode shot.

Another major criticism is that there is no dedicated headset. Helmets must use a mini-USB connector that is shared by the mains cable and PC. This is far from ideal, and for us it's a bit a deal breaker because it means we need an adapter to use our favorite headphone.

We are pleased to offer O2 Xda on Pay & Go and the monthly salary, and we love the high resolution screen, an interface fingerprint and HSDPA. But we have some small problems as well. There are many mid-range competition out there to check before taking the plunge.

O2 XDA Guide

O2 XDA Guide

O2 wants to try and cover virtually every niche of its XDA line-up for smartphones and so it is added to the Temp XDA guide for those who want a phone that can also be as a navigation system or the car or when I'm around on foot.

It is no secret that O2 does not actually produce their smartphones, but it relies on outside companies, such as HTC and Asus to build real hardware before adding its own brand. The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed the photo of the guide XDA is actually the rebranded version of the HTC Touch Cruise O2 logo imprinted on the buttons below the screen and the XDA Insignia engraved on the base icon at the top. This package is more than a simple guide phone is also navigation ready, but we'll talk later.

This handset may have been on the market for a while in its previous form as the Touch Cruise, but it's still quite an attractive phone. The resistive touch screen is mounted flush with the rest of the case giving the lines nice and clean and dark graphite on the back and edges look appropriate professional. Add chrome effect buttons below the screen and you have yourself a sophisticated and elegant phone.

A major innovation of the Guide is mechanical scroll wheel that is embedded in the circular D-pad that is located below the screen. This is used to move through the list of items in menus and also to zoom in and out on pictures, maps or Web pages. It works a treat, especially in the web browser and is probably the next best thing to the iPhone multi-touch pinch to zoom.

The guide uses a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor, along with 256 MB of RAM, although this is not the fastest around smartphones that is not exactly slow either, and certainly have not experienced problems with performance, even with several background applications. The phone has 512 MB ROM, or to store applications and files, but O2 also includes a 1 GB microSD card (card slot is located under the battery cover) of meat is still available storage space, which is useful as CoPilot Live 7 navigation software and maps related obviously take up some space. Naturally, the device has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and you also get HSDPA for browsing on the move through the list, the Opera web browser pre-loaded.