Mobile Phones

Sporting a full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard combined with a sleek and stylish design, the Xda Zinc is O2's latest smart phone. The feature packed Xda Zinc runs the Windows Mobile 5 operating system, has a 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity and full 3G support.

Features

The Xda Zinc is a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS and WCDMA2100 phone. It performs quite well, with reasonable in-call quality and volume levels. The Xda Zinc offers standard phone functions seen on many smart phones, including a hands-free speakerphone, speed dialling, call history, and a 1000 entry phone book. Being a 3G handset, the Zinc is also capable of video calling.

Running the popular Windows Mobile 5 operating system, the Xda Zinc has mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 10 and Pocket MSN. Both the built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and the GPRS/EDGE wireless functionality make the Xda Zinc an excellent email device. The standard Windows Mobile messaging application supports push email from a Microsoft Exchange mail server, as well as standard POP3 and IMAP email accounts such as Hotmail, GMail and Yahoo! Mail. Also standard is Bluetooth and infrared connectivity.

Helio recently added a slick new slider, the Samsung Heat, to the company's growing selection of handsets. The Heat, looking ever so much like Samsung's E900 that was released last year for the European market, provides users with an elegant and versatile choice in a phone. The Heat is available in two color schemes: black onyx and gold. With its simple lines and discreet touch sensitive buttons, the Heat definitely seems to be on.

The Samsung Heat, cloaked in a glossy black sheen, is a slider form factor handset that has very clean and ergonomically friendly curves throughout. Fitting easily in the palm of the hand, the compact 93mm x 45mm x 16.5mm (3.6" x 1.8" x 0.6") Heat is sure to be a crowd pleaser when it comes to things like pocketability. Weighing a mere 93g (3.2oz), the Heat will not weigh down anyone's pockets, either.

Helio's Samsung Heat offers users a large 2" 262k color QVGA (320x240) pixel display. The bright display provides offers easy to read screens that make it a joy to use when messaging or surfing the web. Located below the phone's main display are the Heat's main attractions, its touch sensitive buttons. Utilizing electrostatic technology, these "touch pad" buttons are used instead of the traditional softkeys and call buttons. When inactive, the buttons are obscured from view. By activating the handset, which can be done in a number of ways, the Heat's touch sensitive keys will light up. The two softkeys, the send button, and the back button are all of the touch-sensitive variety. Hidden, except when the media player is active, are the dedicated previous and next track buttons that straddle the mechanical d-pad. The downside to the controls is that the touch sensitive keys were quite a chore to use at times.

A compact and stylish portable speaker system featuring Bluetooth, the MOTOROKR EQ5 does a reasonable job of both music playback and call handling. This versatile unit can stream music wirelessly from any phone that features A2DP Bluetooth, but also offers support for devices that have a standard 3.5mm audio jack.

Motorola has done a reasonable job in the construction of this unit, which is designed with portability in mind. A convenient kickstand on the rear allows the EQ5 to stand upright on a desk or table; when it's closed, the compact system is small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. The design is sleek and attractive: a gloss black finish on the front contrasts nicely with the rubberised sides and rear, while chrome edging and the etched Motorola logo on the front provide finishing touches.

The EQ5 is certainly easy to set up and use. Pairing is a simple process - simply turn on the unit and it automatically enters pairing mode. Once paired, a small LED indicates the status of the unit. A combination of green, red, blue and yellow flashes convey information such as standby mode, incoming calls and music streaming.

A mobile phone with an iPod like scroll wheel? No, it's not an Apple product, but rather LG's new 3G mobile handset. Exclusive to 3 Mobile, the U400 offers a scroll wheel control system, quality crystal clear display and comfortable keypad. It is a solid mid-range product, but the new control system is not as intuitive as it should be and the bulky design leaves a lot to be desired.

Scroll me

Unfortunately, while the idea is good in theory, LG's implementation of this could use a little work. For starters, the scroll wheel doesn't sit in the centre of the phone - it is pushed towards the left hand side and this places the selection buttons off centre. For example, the answer key is located where the right selection key usually is, so it takes a lot of time to get used to.

Secondly, the scroll wheel is less than intuitive as it does not feel smooth or comfortable. Scrolling often has mixed results, with the wheel sometimes jumping two or three lines with one spin, yet other times not moving at all. This makes basic usage like navigating the menu a trial as you constantly wind up on the wrong item or icon.

Form Factor and Design
The myC5-2v is another small and compact flip phone from Sagem. The handset feels relatively well built and the design is sleek, without looking that striking. In good news, the antenna is an internal one rather than the external ones that protrude from the top of the handset. The myC5-2v also features an external screen; a must have these days for flip phones.

The myC5-2v is actually quite plain, both on the outside and inside. The only button accessible when the handset is flipped closed is the volume key, located on the left hand side of the unit. That's it. The rest of the controls and buttons are hidden beneath the flip, but even then, only a 5-way navigation pad, two selection buttons and Answer/End call keys are present. This really is a pretty basic handset, evidenced by these simple controls.