O2 XDA Zest
Discontinued 11th November 2008
It may not be the most exciting phone
to look at, but the O2 XDA Zest certainly seems
to have hidden depths. A relatively compact Windows
smartphone, the XDA Zest has a VGA resolution display,
GPS, WiFi, 3.5G support and a 3 megapixel camera.
This
is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device, giving
access to Microsoft's latest mobile operating system
and all the built-in applications that come with it.
That's a pretty crowded marketplace these days, but
we think that the Zest has enough going on to make it
stand out a little from the competition.
The display is definitely worth mentioning
- the 2.8" 640 x 480 pixel touch-sensitive panel
is a much higher resolution than most of the competition
that only manages 320 x 240 pixels. VGA-resolution displays
are still less common than we
predicted, but we feel that this will quickly become
the new standard.
This isn't an expensive device - the
O2 XDA Zest will even be available to pay-as-you-go
customers for £250 - but there are surprisingly
few compromises. One of them is that the Zest is only
a European-style tri-band GSM phone with single band
2100 MHz UMTS / HSDPA support, but then most of these
phones won't stray too far from Europe in any case.
The Zest's HSDPA support gives a maximum
download speed of 3.6 Mbps, or alternatively you can
use the handset's built-in WiFi connectivity. On the
back is a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus with a VGA
resolution video calling camera on the front. Annoyingly,
audio output is through a mini-USB port rather than
a standard 2.5mm or 3.5mm socket, so you can't easily
use standard headphones with it.
All
the usual software features are built in, plus some
O2 enhancements to make Windows Mobile a bit more interesting.
Windows is certainly getting better, but it still lacks
the polish than Apple brings with the iPhone. The Zest
also comes with a trial version of the CoPilot SatNav
software and some preloaded maps on an SD card - we
guess that you can always use the card for something
else if you want.
The Zest weighs 120.5 grams and measures
102 x 60.5 x 16.5mm which is a little larger than the
original HTC
Touch. The large 1300 mAh battery gives up to 3
hours talktime and 9 days standby time on 3G. Inside
is a 624MHz Marvell Tavor processor with 128MB RAM.
The little-known Tavor is just the latest development
of the popular ARM processor.
It may lack the style of some of its
better known rivals, but the O2 XDA Zest is certainly
an impressive device and well worth considering if you
are looking for a Windows Mobile device on the O2 network.
O2 say that the Zest will be availabl in the UK for
contract and prepay customers from 17th November.
|
O2
XDA Zest at a glance
|
Available:
|
November
2008
|
Network:
|
GSM 900
/ 1800 / 1900 + UMTS 2100
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA
+ WiFi
|
Screen:
|
480
x 640 pixels, 65k colours
|
Camera:
|
3
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Compact
PDA-style device 102
x 60.5 x 16.5 / 120.5 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Limited
|
GPS:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
3 hours talk / 9 days standby
(3G) 5 hours talk / 11
days standby (GSM)
|
|
|