When it comes to phones I'm a little difficult to please. I like a gadget, I like my phone to look good, I don't like paying a fortune unless I can see what I'm paying for. Therefore I deliberated over the xda orbit for some time. Below are my thoughts after having the phone for only a short time, I hope to update these initial observations over time as I get to know my phone more thoroughly. - I have now had the phone for a couple of months so thought I would add some more thoughts to my review...
I've long said that a phone that does everything just doesn't appeal to me, mp3 player and video? save it for a dedicated device where it doesn't matter so much if you kill the battery in the middle of nowhere. Camera phones are useful for the odd snap but any serious photography should be resigned to a 'proper' camera. Reading ebooks - pda. Playing games - handheldgames console. However, gps, wow, that's something that would come in really handy on your handset. How many people are going to be walking around with a dedicated gps unit in their pocket? It's the gps that sold this phone for me.
So after deciding upon the phone I then embarked upon research. What did everyone else think of it? The reviews seem rather mixed and hence me writing my own to put my two penneth in and perhaps help those as confused as I was.
The main complaint, the phone is too slow. I have to say I can't see this. I also have a rather fast
dell axim x50v which has served me well for the past couple of years. Compared to the dell, perhaps the orbit does lag very slightly, but not annoyingly so, and certainly no more than any other mobile phone I've had before this one. Phones, in my experience, can be slow, they just don't have, or need, the sort of power a dedicated (much larger in size) pda contains. Granted, I'm not running loads of software on the phone, I will save the larger pda applications for my axim, but I don't agree that the machine is hindered by its processor size. - after using the phone for a bit I do think that it sometimes suffers from a lack of speed, I have now added an overclocking program to the phone (BatteryStatus), which seems to help with this a bit. I hold onto my original thoughts though, it is only a phone and phones are slow, that's just life right now.
The complaints go on to bag microsofts os for leaving programmes running in the background rather than shutting them down when you exit but come on, how annoying would that be, you've started to write a note, you need to look something up so switch to the calendar and when you go back to your note the program has been shut down and you have to find it before you can continue. No, that just wouldn't work. However, something I am glad to see in the 2005 os which wasn't available in 2003 is the addition of a button on the today screen (on my phone, skinned to the o2 bubble) which once clicked allows you to see a list of all programs running and gives a cross next to each to shut them down. Quick, clean and very useful to the pda user.
The second complaint is the size of the screen. Ok, so yes the screen isn't as big as a full blown pda screen available these days (or even when my axim came out) but I don't find it as small as I thought I would. Browsing the internet and documents is perhaps not as comfortable as on my axim but I don't think I will be using the orbit for that function often - but then if I'd got any other phone currently available through o2 I doubt I would be using them for this function either. On the whole though the picture is very clear, the screen as the right amount of spongyness to accept my taps comfortably and everything I will use the phone for is viewed easily. This leads me onto a quick review of the camera. It's ok, it works. I wouldn't say the pictures are astounding but nore are they very bad. A flash would probably helped a great deal, indoor picture are hindered by poor light but they're passable for phone picture. Outdoor pictures seem quite good and I would certainly use it for those odd pictures when another camera isn't at hand. I even took a picture from a moving car window without too much distortion which to me is very good for a phone.
The third complaint is the slowness of the gps. Now I have to admit I haven't used the unit for proper gps navigation yet (o2 send the copilot software in the post after purchase and I'm still waiting for mine) but I have played about with tracking my position on google maps. At first this was very slow and I began to think the reviewers were right, but, after the first lock on to my position the process became much quicker restoring my faith that it will work as expected. I have no experience of other gps units but I will probably update this when I have used the phone with the copilot to let you know how I got on. As an aside, the pda version of googlemaps is very good and well worth a download if you purchase this phone just to have a play about with!
I have now received the co-pilot software and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. So, yes, it does insist on directing me along a bus route to work... which, in fairness to the software, would make much more sense (who designs these road restrictions anyway!), but it generally gets me to where I want to go. I've found the best time to use the gps is when you don't have a clue where you are going as you don't know to argue with it! The speed at which it locks onto my position is pretty good however, and it's redirection very fast. Perhaps snazzier gps units perform better, for the price I paid for it I am more than happy with the co-pilot for now... and free speed camera updates via the copilot site, bonus...
The fourth complaint, no hardware keyboard. Ok, yes, I will admit this is a bit of a pain. If you are a keen texter like me you will find this a problem as the default keyboard simply isn't big enough to tap on without the stylus, ruling out one handed replys. The solution however is to do a bit of research and download one of the many large key software keyboards available on the internet as I'm sure you will find something that works for you - if you have a friend who currently owns a pda you could get them to try a few for you to see how you get on before you commit to the phone (I played about on my axim first).
And the fifth, but I think last complaint, the phones insistance on using gprs at every available opportunity. O2 are not known for their economical pricing plans when it comes to gprs, I for one cannot afford the £3 a meg price and was very nervous of my phone running up huge bills without my knowing. This has been quickly solved however, a google search turned up a little application called noData which allows you to toggle the internet settings on and off and thus preventing any accidental dial-ups. I'm assuming I will have to turn it on if I ever want to send or receive mms messages but I will do so on my own schedules and not the phones :-)
So now we've addressed the problems, what does the phone come with? (I must point out that this is with an o2 contract and I'm not sure if the contents vary with other vendors) Well in the box you get: the phone, the battery, a spare stylus, a screen protector, a usb connection cable (so you can sync it with your pc), a phone charger, a handsfreeheadphone and microphone cable (which doubles up as the radio antenna - the radio can't be used without it), a cd containing active-sync and outlook for your computer, a cd containing a couple of other applications you can use on your pda, a quick start book and a rather large instruction manual (which I found I needed to read!). There is no case for the phone in the box which is rather disappointing and well worth a mention. I currently have the phone living in my old axim slip case whilst I wait the arrival of a pdair case I've ordered. - an update to this, after receiving my pdair case I discovered it was for the more generic version of the phone, not the o2 version, whilst it fits the phone well the stylus is positioned slightly differently and can't be removed without first taking the phone out of the case, a blob of hot glue (from a glue gun) on the stylus top fixed this for me so I can now get it out. I am waiting to see if any company produces a case specifically for the o2 version of the phone.
And, my opinion of the phone. Well so far, and I hope this doesn't change, my opinion is very high, the phone certainly holds up to everything I expected of it and a little more (I was prepared for a few disappointments and none have come true). The phone is small enough to carry around in my pocket whilst large enough to carry out all the tasks for which is was designed. I look forward to using the phone and updating you on it's use over time. - update, I'm am still very pleased with the phone, even more so that it's price hasn't dropped on the o2 site, how frustrating is it to buy a phone only for it to become cheaper the next day! It definitely feels like a phone I can be proud to own :-)
Price wise, yes the phone was expensive (£199 on my tarif with the copilot software), but, compared to the price of gps units on the market I don't think this is extortionate - indeed you are getting a pda, phone and gps unit afterall and until these functions become standard in mobile phones I don't begrudge paying just that little bit extra at the moment.
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Advantages: Lightweight, Loads of features, GPS, free Win Mobile 6 upgrade Disadvantages: Touchscreen can be a little fiddly, cheap headphones, no case included
hailstormxp 17.10.2007 (17.10.2007)
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Review of O2 Xda Orbit
Advantages: Good looks, huge screen, software, range of features Disadvantages: Apps not easy enough to find, battery life not great when running WiFi or Bluetooth
MikeB_86 09.06.2009 ·
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