O2 Xda Atom Handheld PDA Phone

O2 Xda Atom Handheld PDA Phone - Review

This is O2's first PDA-phone powered by the new Windows Mobile 5.0. Let us see if this shiny dark and handsome prince has what it takes to earn its place as the successor to the ever popular O2 Xda II mini.

Design

Here, its appearance follows HTC's mini design very closely. It sports a solid black, shiny, plastic casing which leaves fingerprints easily. Like the mini, the camera is located at the back of the device together with a photo light and round mirror that's used for self-portraits. Manufacturer Quanta, in its infinite wisdom, has relocated the speaker from the back of the PDA-phone to the front, and it is now in full stereo glory.

The Atom succeeds in shaving off 6mm in length from the Xda II mini's specifications and compresses all its components into a 102 x 58 x 18.5mm frame. However, the struggle for estate space means some sacrifices have to be made. The manufacturer therefore chose to implement a 2.5mm audio jack, which is incompatible with all your standard earphones, and a miniSD expansion slot that effectively renders all your existing SD memory cards useless. Its 2.7-inch (mini's screen is slightly larger at 2.8 inches) 262K-color QVGA display serves its purpose well and the screen is sharp and vibrant.

Windows Mobile 5.0 implements softkeys with functionality not unlike those found in Nokia phones. Unfortunately, the Atom does not come with dedicated softkeys like the Dopod 900 and Dopod 838. Therefore, you will have to reconfigure two of your buttons to use them as the left and right softkeys. This leads to another gripe that we found: Of the nine buttons available on the Atom, only four can be reconfigured to other functions. Unfortunately, too, the practically useless "Start" button cannot be reconfigured to do something else.

The camera button on the right is too low and easily pressed by accident. Speaking of which, the camera application takes too long to start up. Once you accidentally press the camera button, you cannot do anything but wait for the camera application to load for about 10 seconds and then wait another 10 seconds to shut it down again. We recommend reconfiguring this button and the Notes button on top of it to the two softkeys.

It's a good move by O2 to provide a real stylus rather than a retractable one. However, it is as skinny as the mini's stylus and feels very much like holding a toothpick. It also takes considerable effort to insert the stylus into the Atom's silo. On the bright side, at least we are certain the stylus is well taken care of and will not fall out of the silo.

Features

This is not the first Windows Mobile 5.0 device and most people are already familiar with the enhancements such as its revamped Office applications. Instead of Pocket Word and Excel, you now have Word Mobile and Excel Mobile, with added support for embedded images, tables and charts.

By integrating wireless LAN into the Atom, O2 has finally resolved one of the biggest complaints from Xda II mini owners--the lack of onboard Wi-Fi. Previously, mini users had to buy an additional SDIO Wi-Fi card which took up precious SD expansion slot space in order to enjoy wireless connectivity.

With the Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, the Atom enables users to watch encoded videos as they commute… if they do not mind the sluggish video playback. Music playback, as expected, is of satisfactory quality. The stereo speakers located near the directional pad packs quite a punch when you play MP3s out loud. However, we noticed the speakers cracking up at the volume of 75 percent and above. Another glitch we discovered when we set the phone to vibrate or silent mode was a buzzing sound where audio was supposed to play. This was evident when you played Bubble Breaker in vibrate or silent mode. With game sounds turned on, do take note that there are two volume controls on the Atom: The main volume control that comes standard on all Pocket PC phones; and the volume control within the Equalizer application. If you should detect that volume is too soft, do ensure that both volume controls have been adjusted to optimal levels.

The radio feature is activated as with any other application on the Atom. It can be configured to one of the four reconfigurable buttons if it's a function you use often. However, the earphone must be connected to activate the FM radio, much like most phones and MP3 players with FM radio, as this works as an antenna.

Disappointingly, the receiving party tends to hear echoes during a call and picks up too much environmental noise. There were also a few occasions when calls were unexpectedly disconnected due to weak signals; for example, when commuting on the train.

Another interesting anomaly we found was persistent vibration when the PDA-phone was switched off amidst SMS notification in vibrate mode. We wonder if it's a special feature that prompts the user to respond immediately with its continuous buzzing or simply a hardware hiccup.

The speaker function is activated by holding on to the talk button. Surprisingly, it is quite an improvement from the Xda II mini. Likewise, the Atom's 2-megapixel camera takes better pictures and provides a strong blinding flash for taking photographs in low-light condition. However, we found the photos a tad noisy under dim lighting.

Its 128MB of ROM is sufficient for a normal user. Power users can simply purchase a high-capacity miniSD card and install more applications on the media. The Atom also comes with persistent storage which retains all your data when the battery runs out.

O2 has also provided some software of its own. Two noteworthy ones are O2 MediaPlus and O2 SMS Plus. The O2 MediaPlus is an all-encompassing application that enables the user to play any video, music, FM radio or view pictures in a user interface that's akin to the Windows Media Center PC style. O2 SMS plus, on the other hand, is an interesting SMS software that allows you to text message in a chat-style format.

Performance

Based on the specs given, the Atom is expected to last for 150 hours on standby and 5.5 hours of talktime. On normal usage, the Atom survives for one to two days before its 1,530mAh cell drains. The battery itself is removable, and more can be purchased as standbys.

In terms of processor speed, the Atom's zippy Intel PXA27x 416MHz processor is comparable with the 416MHz chip on the O2 Xda II mini. It handles multitasking competently without signs of lag. As Windows Mobile does not support the closing of applications, all the programs are running in the background. A soft reset is recommended regularly to keep the PDA-phone speedy.

Conclusion

The Xda Atom does look good in its piano black shiny casing with its sexy curves. It also packs all the bells and whistles that every PDA and phone user lusts for, including Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile OS. It is, indeed, a good phone for users who favor size over an integrated keyboard. In a comparison with its rival, the Dopod 818 Pro, the former's processor speed and integrated FM radio give it an edge up. The Dopod 818 Pro, though, packs an SD expansion slot and quadband GSM support as opposed to the Atom's triband capability.

If you already own the Xda II mini, there are no spectacular improvements offered. So there is no need for an upgrade to the Atom unless you really need Wi-Fi, an FM radio or some functions that are associated with Windows Mobile 5.0.

O2 Xda Atom's second firmware update

Overall Performance: Improves overall performance. Reconfigures memory system to allow more storage memory available to Outlook (PIM) data synchronization and to programs that must be run under primary storage space.

MMS client: Updates MMS software to 4.0.0 (Build 111) that supports insertion of multiple photo/video images.

GSM software: Provides better handling of GPRS, EDGE connection. Improves RF performance in weak signal areas.

Camera software: Improves performance of camera application and camera start up time. Adds a new video capture mode. Improves performance of album application.

Audio: Increases output level from stereo headset.

Resolutions to following issues: