Sector5

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

For the past weeks I had the pleasure to use the recently announced O2 Xda star (O2 Germany's version of the HTC Touch Dual) Windows Mobile smartphone and if I say I had the pleasure I definitely mean it was (and still is) a pleasure. Since the introduction of the Windows Mobile non-touchscreen Smartphone, I haven't used Pocket PC Phone Editions as my primary mobile phone anymore (except for some shorter tests if I reviewed a device) but this smartphone I'm using now for over four weeks as my primary smartphone. You might wonder what makes the device so good, especially because it lacks some basic features like WiFi what I normally request from all my smartphones? Well, it's the combination of design, size, Windows Mobile 6 Professional features and HTC enhancements.

But first of all let us start with the specs. The O2 Xda star features Windows Mobile 6 Professional and is therefore a touchscreen smartphone. Unfortunately it supports triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz and singleband UMTS/HSDPA at 2100 MHz up to 3.6 Mbps only and while it sports Bluetooth 2.0+EDR it lacks WiFi, not to talk about GPS. Therefore it's radio- and connectivity-wise somewhat limited with a strong focus on the EMEA and APAC markets but North American users, as well as international outbound roamers, will be able to use EDGE at 1900 MHz networks only - if available.

Nevertheless, the other features, like the 2 megapixel main and front facing CIF video telephony cameras, the Qualcomm 7200 chip at 400 MHz and 256 MB ROM/128 MB RAM are absolutely state-of-the-art and the definitive highlights of the Xda star are the slide-out SureType-like QWERTZ keyboard and the 2.6" TouchFLO enabled Bio Touch touchscreen.

Typically for O2 Germany, the German carrier uses its own industrial design and the Xda star looks a little bit different to the HTC Touch Dual. Basically it follows the design guideline of the O2 Xda nova (bigger 5 way D-Pad with nicer arranged call buttons) but unlike the Xda nova, the Xda star doesn't features a glossy housing but a black soft-touch housing which is less fingerprint sensitive and definitely feels nicer. Together with the chrome batten, it gives the rocking solid device a great look and feel.
The device isn't overloaded with buttons and keys. Beside the D-Pad and the call buttons it only sports the volume keys and the camera shutter. Nothing else; neither softkeys nor the Windows Mobile typical Start or OK keys. This gives the design a sleek look and feel: