two motorola phones -- MPx200, A925
two phones, two operating systems.
Motorola MPx200
The MPx200 is a Windows based phone. This model is a clamshell made from a robust looking glossy black plastic. It has a largish screen, a little larger than the N-Gage, and also a LCD panel on the front to indicate network status, incoming calls, etc.
The Windows system offers the usual PIM apps that actually become useful on this size of screen, as well as a solitary game -- solitaire! Or is it Patience? Are they different? Well, in any case, games aren't the reason for this phone. Some clues are the ports on the phone. There is one for headphones, one for SD/MMC cards, and another for USB. Windows Media Player will play MP3's so here we have a Pod competitor that also doubles as a phone. Videos are also on the menu for those that can be bothered.
If you're running Windows on your desktop, then you can sync your PIM apps using the USB port. Otherwise you can use Infrared. There is no Bluetooth.
Motorola A925 3G phone
Like the previously reviewed Nokia N-Gage QD, this is a fair bit more than just a phone. The game is given away by the fact that this is a fairly bulky object that comes with a sizable manual.
We were after one of the Linux based phones for review but this is not one of them -- Symbian is used on this model. Hopefully we'll get a look at the 760 0r 768 sometime soon.
The A925 has a built in camera which will take stills or video and with your 3G system operating you can send these where you want with reasonable speed. The trouble is, hardly anyone has found the telco's 3G offerings very attractive. People might conceivably be interested in making mobile video calls and streaming music and video to each other, or downloading commercial content, but not at the current rates. It has to be said that picture quality isn't very wonderful either.
When the unit is turned on we have a sizable, (and with the factory default settings) quite garish main menu. From it we can get extras, search for content, plug into GPS and find ourselves, access emails, voicemails, or videomails, or play with some of the apps such as the usual PIM things. Quite a lot of the items require visits to the 3G network.
There is no thumboard with this unit so the entry methods are a choice of a screen keyboard or writing on screen with a stylus. The handwriting recognition is quite good but the stylus tip has an uncomcomfortable coefficient of friction. It's too sticky if there's a plastic screen protector stuck on (as with the review machine) or not sticky enough on plain glass. It's much like any other stylus though. The only people to worry about it seem to have been Cross, and they make a nice add-on but it might not fit into the Motorola slot.
We didn't throw the A925 around at all but it looks very robust. It comes with a pouch, stereo earphones, a spare battery, and a media card, as well as a cradle and connecting USB cable.
Sundry Specs Dimensions 148 x 60 x 24mm 175cc Weight 210g Display 65,536 colors 208 x 320 pixels Camera Built-In camera 640 x 480 resolution Memory 8MB built-in memory SD/MMC Memory card slot Battery up to 95 mins talktime up to 55 mins videocall up to 70 hrs standby Features Bluetooth E-Mail Client Hands-free speaker Infra-red Java games MMS MP3 Player Polyphonic ring tones SD/MMC card support Symbian Operating System To-Do List Touch Screen Triple Band USB port Video playback Voice dialling Voice recorder
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