Newcomers from O2 and HP stir up the ranks of Europe's five best business phones; here's the list of what you should buy if you're looking to get some work done while on the go.
Orange SPV M5000/T-Mobile MDA Pro/O2 XDA Exec (Score: 95%, Excellent)
Wholly identical as far as hardware is concerned, the
SPV M5000, MDA Pro and XDA Exec are distinguished merely by their visual styling, slight software tweaks and rate plans. Rear-ending the competition with their near all-encompassing feature sets, only two drawbacks are worthy of note: somewhat unstable GPRS to UMTS (3G) handovers and an unfortunate case of obesity. Selling in the €800 EUR range sans subscription, this is as powerful as it gets.
O2 XDA Mini S (Score: 80%, Very good)
Although disappointingly void of 3G connectivity, the O2 XDA Mini S performs an admirable balancing act with features on one side of the bar and size on the other. Its first-rate thumbboard joins a decent set of applications to render document management a pleasant experience, while comprehensive connectivity and excellent battery life will keep even power users connected and ticking all day long. Granted, its performance is modest and memory is limited, but neither impact the execution of common productivity tasks measurably. More...
Nokia 9300i Communicator (Score: 80%, Very good)
Although bereft of 3G, the 9300i does quite well for itself with Nokia's usual excellence in connectivity on full display. A lovely landscape display, superbly user friendly interface and first-rate thumbboard further enhance a positive impression, as does document management fully on par with that of Windows Mobile devices such as the above troika. Unfortunately, poor local synchronization and a complete lack of out-of-box groupware support torpedo an otherwise excellent device, relegating it to a number two spot for €700 EUR. More...
Nokia 9500 (Score: 75%, Very good)
Racking up a third and last spot for Nokia is the 9300, or the Wi-Fi less predecessor of the more recent 9300i. With the exception of minor changes to the functionality of its external user interface, the two devices are near-identical twins - except for the darker colour scheme both externally and internally of the 9300i. If you don't need the Wi-Fi functionality, it's a steal as compared to its successor; just €450 EUR with all the strenghts and flaws as mentioned above. More...
HP iPAQ hw6915 (Score: 75%, Very good)
The unique selling point of the HP iPAQ hw6915 is its integrated GPS support - which also happens to be the sole feature of this business phone which truly shines. Above-par performance and a large screen are both good and well, but come at the expense of battery life. Also, the screen is of too low resolution to be much good for document management, and when coupled with mediocre data entry allows for only light work. Its unfortunate lack of 3G aside, it does however offer excellent connectivity as well as favourable one-handed navigation. More...
| Scoreboard |
Battery
life |
Connect-
ivity |
Data entry |
Document
management |
Display |
Synch-
ronization |
Perform-
ance |
| O2 XDA Exec |
Very good |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Very good |
Excellent |
Very good |
Excellent |
| O2 XDA Mini S |
Very good |
Very good |
Very good |
Very good |
Very good |
Very good |
Good |
| Nokia 9300i |
Very good |
Very good |
Excellent |
Very good |
Excellent |
Average |
Good |
| Nokia 9500 |
Very good |
Very good |
Excellent |
Very good |
Excellent |
Average |
Good |
| HP iPAQ hw6915 |
Very good |
Excellent |
Good |
Good |
Good |
Very good |
Very good |
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