O2 XDA II Mini Review

O2 XDA II Mini Review (Expert)

This unit is small. Alot smaller than the XDA or PDA2k. It is silver, and cold to the touch... Very solidly built, it doesn't feel like it will fall apart. You need to remove the back plate to insert the battery, but it seems very secure. Also inserting the sim card is very easy too, alot easier than most mobiles these days. Pros: * Build and size of the unit * Screen is amazing * Bluetooth * Speed of the machine * Phonepad * Screen rotation * D-pad Cons: * Speakerphone not quite as loud as expected * Lack of built in wi-fi (sandisk SD can solve issue) * Screen maybe to small for some * Buttons on front of unit are very close together

posted by mtekk.com.au

The first thing that catches the eye is, well, the Xda II mini's tiny form factor, particularly when placed next to its heftier sibling, the Xda IIs. According to O2, the Xda II mini is about two-thirds the size of the Xda II and weighs just 150g, making it a far more portable PDA-phone for frequent travelers. The matt silver-white finishing on the exterior adds to the overall clean and comfortable touch and feel, although our first impression is that the mini somewhat lacks the design elegance of the earlier Xda offerings. Impressively, O2 manages to equip the Xda II mini with a faster 416MHz processor than the Xda IIs. The tradeoff is a cutback on the onboard memory size to 64MB RAM and 64MB ROM, although O2 makes up for this with a free 256MB SD memory card bundled in the standard package. This will certainly come in handy for storing images snapped by the built-in 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera, again an improvement over the Xda IIs and Xda II's VGA-capable shooters. Downside: The Xda II mini comes with all the standard connectivity options such as Bluetooth, infrared, triband GSM/GPRS and USB (through the mini USB port). What's missing, however, is built-in Wi-Fi which will probably disappoint avid hotspotters. Although users can still connect to a wireless network via an optional WLAN card, it will mean that the MMC/SDIO expansion slot cannot be used for other purposes. One of the tradeoffs for the reduced form factor of the Xda II mini is its smaller 2.8-inch TFT touchscreen. Even though it offers the same 320 x 240-resolution and 65K-colour depth as its Xda IIs predecessor, the result is smaller fonts which can be quite an eye strain for some.

posted by znet.com.au

The first thing we noticed about the XDA II Mini is a common fault with smart phones lacking an integrated keyboard; the screen smudges quickly and often; we'd suggest carrying a cleaning cloth around with you if you're keen to show this phone off to your friends. Aside from that, the display is clear and bright, with the usual adjustments for maximising battery life by dipping screen brightness depending on your situation. As a phone we had few complaints about its performance, aside from one situation where it for some reason it incorrectly grabbed contact details for somebody phoning us -- although to be fair to O2, it does note on the splash screen of our review unit that it's a test unit, so some bugs are probably inevitable. As a PDA, the XDA II Mini sits well in a competitive category, although there's not too much that really catapults it ahead of the competition per se, and the fact that the rocker on the side of the unit doesn't perform scrolling functions -- it's a volume control for the PDA and phone capabilities -- threw us for a while. The XDA II Mini's camera is one of the better implementations of a mobile camera we've seen for a while; it's undoubtedly helped by having a rather larger than normal LCD for you to frame shots with, and wisely, there's a focus on fun shots -- including a number of silly shot templates to frame with -- rather than serious photography. Predictably, without a flash, you'll end up with a number of rather dingy looking photos at night, but daytime shots perform well.

posted by cnet.com.au

O2 XDA II Mini Review (User)

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