Jørgen Sundgot dials in to find out what Philips' top-of-the-range model, the Fisio 825, has to offer - except a colour screen, Bluetooth and a minute size.
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An update to the Philips Fisio 820, the Fisio 825 shares most of the traits of its predecessor, including its physical size and measurements - as well as general looks. As minute and sleek as its predecessor, the 825 offers up only one improvement of significance, consisting of an improved colour display now supporting 4,096 colours where the 820 only offered 256, and at a slightly lower resolution of 112 x 112 pixels. Still, the display could have been clearer.
 | Little is new in the Fisio 825, except from its colour display - which could have been better
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Utilizing a deceivably simple carousel menu navigation system, the Fisio 825 presents quite a navigational challenge as the top five buttons have their functionality altered frequently. Additionally, its operating system is somewhat underpowered, which combined with a lack of shortcuts - voice aside - can make navigation a slow experience despite the initially excellent context and overview provided to users by the carousel interface.
Unfortunately, simple as well as advanced functionality often also requires too many steps, such as sending a new SMS message. Fortunately, voice dial and voice command enable fast access to functions and contacts, mitigating this somewhat. Then again, the poor tactile feedback of the keypad, combined with a slow operating system, makes it far too easy to skip characters when increasing input speeds to a comfortable level. Also, some users are bound to find the absence of a dedicated navigational pad confusing - although the overlay solution works well after a period of adjustment.
Overall, the Fisio 825 comes equipped with an adequate feature set but nothing more - most of its competitors offer more features, and the level of quality of the features included with the 825 is also just adequate in most cases. Its POP3 e-mail client is unable to save local copies of e-mail and requires these to be downloaded every time a connection is made, and a WAP 1.2.1 browser is hardly groundbreaking.
On the bright side, GPRS Class 10 and excellent Bluetooth range draw up the overall impression, as does Phonebook and Agenda synchronization with mainstream PIMs such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and Lotus Organiser. And, although it is a somewhat fumbly procedure getting pictures across to the handset, the FotoCall photo caller ID feature has been well implemented.
Listed as offering a standby time of up to 400 hours and talk time of up to 5 hours, the Fisio 825 performed just below these specifications, although frequent Bluetooth usage impacts its battery life rather severely - probably due to its excellent range. Audio quality and signal reception both rank as adequate.
Availability
The Philips Fisio 825 is available now in most European countries, and sells in the 250 EUR range.
Conclusion
Despite a relatively adequate feature set, the mobile phone revolution has now caught up with the Fisio 825, which is already long due for a replacement. Several recent mid-range models now offer a similar feature set, and the 825 does not shine in any respect - except for its ability to synchronize both its Phonebook and Agenda with popular desktop PIMs using Bluetooth.
What's positive: Long Bluetooth range; fast GPRS; PIM synchronization
What's negative: A bit long in the tooth; mediocre feature set
| Features: | 5/10 |
| Exterior: | 6/10 |
| Ergonomics: | 4/10 |
| Performance: | 4/10 |
| Value: | 5/10 |
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iSW Score:
4.8/10
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Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in November 1999.
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