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	Preview: BenQ P31	By Jørgen Sundgot, Monday 4 April 2005

Gone is the antenna, camera resolution is upped and things are overall better: Jørgen Sundgot takes a quick look at BenQ's P31 communicator.

Despite the overall success of the Symbian OS operating system, a quick glance at which platforms run atop reveal a rather glaring fact: Nokia's Series 60 and Series 90 platforms are far, far ahead of UIQ - the platform that powers coveted products such as Sony Ericsson's P910 and Motorola's A1000 communicators. The reason? Whilst Nokia and partners are pumping out gazillions of products, the two above-mentioned products are virtually the only two UIQ products you'll find in store shelves.

That fact is likely the reason for why when BenQ unveiled its P30 communicator last year, enthusiasts had their knickers in a knot over the stylish and oh-so-thin addition to the range of UIQ powered devices. As time passed, however, most people realized they weren't going to be able to get their hands on the P30 due to lacking retail presence outside Asia, and as such interest in the product waned.

BenQ P31

These days, the P30 has been retired in favour of the P31, an upgraded version which doesn't get anywhere near as much attention as it deserves as compared to BenQ's other high-end communicator product, the Windows Mobile powered BenQ P50. Still, it's a good improvement over the original P30, and this is where I jump off the history train to share my first impressions of the device with you.

Supposedly already on sale in Asia, the P31 has rid itself of the rather blemishing external antenna of the P30, and has a slightly more conservative - yet still appealing - design. Base specifications include tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS, but unfortunately there's no EDGE support - something of a faux pas for a communicator that's just gone on sale. As for other connectivity, we have USB, Infrared and Bluetooth, which is suitably comprehensive.

At 118 x 52 x 18 mm and 150, the device is relatively petite as compared to, say, Sony Ericsson's P910, but appears larger than its predecessor - a visual illusion, methinks. Although not excellent, the 208 x 320 pixel 65K colour touch screen of the unit is quite good, and comfortably large at 2.6". Powered by UIQ 2.1, the P31 shares an interface virtually identical to the P30; snappy and responsive all over, from what I could tell from the brief time I spent with it.

BenQ P31

The 1.3 MP camera appeared to produce good quality photos although light sensitivity was a bit poor. Also recording video in MPEG4 format, we also find the obligatory MP3 player along with the usual UIQ software pack, including among other things PIM applications and Microsoft Office compatible file viewing.

All in all, the P31 appears to be quite a nice little communicator - its size in particular is appealing, however I find its lack of high speed data transfer a tad disappointing. It's certainly as good as - or better than - Sony Ericsson's P910, but upcoming Motorola devices have it beat no doubt. With a modest price tag, though, it could quite possibly carve itself a niche for those not dependent on all that fancy schmancy 3G stuff kids use nowadays.