Jørgen Sundgot gets to grips with O2's compact XDA Mini S business phone, complete with a slide-out thumbboard, an extensive line-up of connectivity options and Windows Mobile 5.0.
Review summary of the O2 XDA Mini S:
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 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. Release: November 2005. Price: $75.
Pros: First-rate thumbboard; good battery life; compact size
Cons: Mediocre one-handed navigation; lacks 3G; limited memory
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Full review of the O2 XDA Mini S:
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For someone who's used a Windows Mobile device or two, the O2 XDA Mini S will appear almost impossibly small at 108 x 58 x 24 mm and 160 g. Despite its small size, the device manages to cram in an impressive array of functionality including two of the most important prerequisites for a business phone; a quality thumbboard and a decent screen. But what about the rest?
Tippity-tappity
A tour of the exterior of the XDA Mini S quickly reveals the device as best suited for two-handed use, be it with its retracting stylus or the slide-out thumbboard. In particular, the lack of an 'Ok' button in closed mode hobbles one-handed management of incoming messages, also requiring users to resort to the 'End' button to return to the Today screen - in the process severing active data connections.
These niggles aside, we favour the superb navigational pad as well as dedicated hard buttons for Pocket Inbox, Pocket Internet Explorer, the combined radio/vibrating alert manager and for voice dialling - which, disappointingly, is speaker dependent. In addition, the slide-out thumbboard also offers a first-rate typing experience, but has its drawbacks including the inconvenient location of some frequently used symbols and a place-locking mechanism which is likely to have its snug fit reduced by frequent use.
Meanwhile, the 2.8-inch QVGA display of the XDA Mini S is a bright and highly legible affair despite its sub-par ClearType font-smoothing performance, automatically changing its orientation dependent on whether the device is used in open or closed mode. It also doubles as a viewfinder for the mediocre 1.3 Megapixel camera, which is a nice addition although not terribly useful.
A jack of all trades
Sadly lacking 3G connectivity, the XDA Mini S still does rather well in the connectivity department with adequate data transfer speeds and good voice performance as delivered by quad-band GSM and EDGE support. The inclusion of Bluetooth 1.2 for dial-up networking and headset use further improves matters, as does Wi-Fi 802.11b and the inclusion of USB 2.0 with charging support - always a nice touch for road warriors.
Sporting comfortably snappy overall performance despite its modest 200 MHz processor, the XDA Mini S does well at common productivity tasks, including the full set of its pre-installed applications. It's a bit limited in the memory department with only 37 MB of storage and 24 MB of RAM, which means its miniSD memory card slot should come in handy for all but the most basic of users.
Capable of sustaining Windows Mobile 5.0 for up to two days with average use, the XDA Mini S plays to the strengths and weaknesses of this operating system which include its broad variety of Microsoft branded applications, best-in-class desktop synchronization and good groupware support for Exchange. Document management, meanwhile, is decent but by no means extensive with Microsoft's own applications handling the viewing and editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.
As always with Windows Mobile devices, however, the basics have been slightly neglected, as witnessed by less-than ideal one-handed navigation and a lacking profile functionality.
Price and availability
The O2 XDA Mini S is at the time of writing available exclusively to subscribers of mobile network operator O2 in the UK, selling for £50 GBP or €75 EUR with a service agreement.
Price and availability
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