Anthony Newman tries out the latest 3G WAN handheld and finds features aplenty - but they come at the cost of size.
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3G was a long time coming, remaining a bleeding edge technology in Europe: few providers are offering an actual product, with 3 being the biggest of these. Three’s range of handsets is provided by NEC and Motorola, and their flagship model is the Motorola A920. We took one for a spin around the UK.
Design
 | Size is sacrificed in favour of features in the Motorola A920
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Handsets compatible with the 3G network are still broadly considered to be first-generation, and unfortunately that is an impression reinforced by the A920. It is huge. Nearly 15 cm long sort of huge. It weighs in at a gargantuan 212 g, while for example the P800, running on the same platform with the same sized screen, weighs 158 g. Even another one of Three’s devices, the NEC 606, weighs in at 145 g. Comparison with the Sony Ericsson P800 reveals a great deal of extra bulk in this candybar handset, which breaks the cardinal rule of a connected device: it has to be small enough to carry all the time.
Made of navy and silver plastic, it feels solid enough in the hand, but the layout is messy, with a stubby external antenna and bulbous Motorola logos flanking a tiny, recessed screen. The screen isn’t actually tiny, but the bulk of the unit makes it look so. Thankfully, Motorola have chosen length over width, and the device does actually sit quite well in the hand as a result. Much of the length is due to the top-mounted rotating camera, which can rest with the lens protected, unlike the P800.
The 208 x 320 pixel, 16-bit display is also quite pleasant, displaying colours well with a bright yet slightly milky backlight. It’s not great outdoors, but is usable, and the touchscreen provides just the right level of feedback.
The stylus, stored in its corner silo, is half grey plastic and half metal, and is a pretty basic, mediocre tool. The buttons too are nothing special: a central directional pad with separate enter button is flanked by four more, which are by default assigned to take the user to the home screen, launch the Three services, bring up the phone keypad and activate a call, respectively. These are complemented by two ‘game’ buttons above the screen, which also allow the UIQ menus to be accessed.
Incidentally, the keylock is activated by pressing two keys that are almost four inches apart on opposite sides of the screen, making it difficult to engage with one hand. Finally, the left side holds the speakerphone button, a volume rocker and a voicedial key. Every button offers clicky feedback and a certain amount of resistance that we subjectively found a little tiresome.
A single LED graces the top of the unit, and by default does nothing. However, this can be changed to show signal strength by flashing.
Audio is one area in which the A920 shines. Voice quality was excellent, and music from the rear-mounted speaker was good for a mobile device. The included headset, which has an annoying proprietary connector, is one of the most uncomfortable creations that we’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing, although as a saving grace it produced good sound. Speakerphone was also solid, which is important for a device with an emphasis on video - we would, nonetheless, recommend using the headset especially in louder environments. A large selection of good polyphonic ringtones are provided, and users can customize every conceivable alert tone.
Connectivity
Expansion is supplied by an MMC / SD Card slot hidden under the battery cover. Not only is this not SDIO, but even if it were its positioning would render it unworkable. Motorola included an Infrared window in the right side of the device, but apparently this is not connected; the same holds true of Bluetooth, which is reportedly included in the hardware but not activated by the ROM. Rumours abound of an update in the new year.
The cradle supplied is a science fiction creation of sweeping silver plastic, and for those who like that sort of thing it’s quite attractive. When the handheld is placed into the cradle, a strip of clear plastic glows blue, and it also allows a spare battery
(included) to be charged - we’ll come to this later.
WAN connections come in the form of the handset’s 3G capabilities, which allow fast data transfer: downloading video clips with moderate reception we found that a 2 MB clip could be transferred in well less than a minute. When away from 3G UMTS reception, the A920 roams on a standard GSM network, offering tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz and Class 10 GPRS. Overall, in the South-East of England the Three reception was usually adequate, and when not the GSM coverage ably stepped in, and this was universally good. The A920 can clearly hold a signal. Anyone not in Three’s imminent coverage plans would probably be best off staying away from 3G, though, as when crippled to a standard GSM handset there are obviously better alternatives to the A920.
AGPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) is another lauded feature of the A920, allowing location-based services with greater precision than cell-only based rivals. However, the AGPS present in the handheld seemed to be having some issues during our testing, as when it worked at all it claimed we were in a town some miles away from our actual location. Interesting. Still, it is a unique feature.
Video calling deserves special mention, as it is the supposed ‘killer app’ of 3G. We have to say that we were a lot more impressed with this than expected: the picture - which shows both oneself and one’s partner - was actually crystal-clear for normal usage, and only broke up with extensive movement. Audio came through pretty clear and so the experience was not only fun but also usable, although at a price: battery life from full while video calling is rated at less than an hour, and we wouldn’t disagree.
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