We've been lucky enough to get our hands on an Orange SPV M5000 (also known as the HTC Universal/O2 XDA Exec/T-Mobile MDA Pro) and we're pretty impressed.
The M5000 is a fully blown Pocket PC, there's no doubting that, itÂ’s large in size which will automatically put some people off but give the device a chance and you might just be persuaded! For starters itÂ’s capable of 3G data transfer which means that you'll be able to make video calls as well as access the Internet at near broadband speeds. It also features a full QWERTY keyboard which has some extra keys to navigate the phone's software with.
The inclusion of WiFi is a must for any top end mobile device nowadays and the M5000 doesn't disappoint, 30 seconds after switching it on I was connected to my home network. ThereÂ’s a program named wireless manager present which is a great touch and makes the control of your networking connections (telephone, Bluetooth and WiFi) really simple. There's a shortcut to the application on the Today screen and its only ever two key presses away when using the keyboard too, thanks to a shortcut.
The WiFi is 802.11b which means that itÂ’s not blisteringly fast but it'll quite happily surf the Internet, communicate on MSN Messenger and download the odd file with ease. The M5000 is tri-band which means youÂ’ll be able to use it on (most of) your holidays which is always useful, especially considering that this competitor to the Nokia Communicator will most probably be popular with business users.
The M5000 comes with Windows Mobile 5 pre-installed (scroll to the bottom of this page for some screen shots) which is Microsoft's latest operating system for Smartphones and Pocket PC's and blurs the line between the two platforms even more with the inclusion of square screen support and soft keys on the Pocket PC, an input method that has been adopted by the Smartphone since its launch. The whole OS feels more rounded than its previous incarnations and looks better too with soft gradients over the soft keys and other nice touches. The only real drawback IÂ’ve found so far with Windows Mobile 5 is that it has a problem with backwards compatibility with regard to a number of software titles. This will no doubt change in the near future when developers feel the pressure from the consumer to make their applications Windows Mobile 5 compatible. There is also a slight issue with Windows Media Player reading your storage card after waking the phone from standby, basically you'll need to choose your storage card from the menu again as Media Player seems to lose it somehow! The phone comes pre-loaded with the usual Pocket PC applications including Word Mobile and Excel Mobile for viewing and editing office documents on the move, thereÂ’s also PowerPoint Mobile for viewing presentations. Solitaire and Bubble Breaker are both present to offer some light relief in the form of games and the M5000 also features ClearVue PDF viewer which is very useful.
The M5000 features a huge 640 x 480 screen which automatically rotates based upon what orientation you have the screen positioned at, you can also perform this rotation manually via a single click of the relevant icon on the Today screen. The M5000 has two cameras, one facing towards the user and one facing away, as is the case with many 3G telephones so as to provide the ability to record and transmit your own face whilst viewing the screen in a 3G video call as well as take photos as you normally would on a camera phone. The main camera on the M5000 has a 1.3 Mega Pixel lens but offers 2 Mega Pixel sized photos via a software enhancement. As is the case with most camera phones, the quality of photos taken with the M5000 are not going to make your digital camera redundant but the will happily pass for acceptable and will probably be ok for print at the size of 6 or 7 inches. The inclusion of a flash is a nice touch and the LED implementation works well, its very bright and will help you capture your photos when itÂ’s dark.
Click here to see an unedited photo taken with the M5000's camera.
The M5000 takes SD cards via an expansion slot which is always useful, the device itself has 64MB of persistent memory built into it which, in reality only equates to 43 MB for storage and 49 MB for programs so a memory card is essential to get the most out of the device, whether it be listening to music (MP3s or WMAs), watching full movies (WMVs and MPEGs as standard and DivX and XviD via third party software such as TCPMP), reading e-Books or viewing and/or editing documents. The fact that this memory is persistent is great news as it eradicates the fear of losing data if your battery runs out. The 520Mhz processor will handle even the most demanding of Pocket PC software that you can throw at it although, sometimes during general use the device can slow a little, this is nothing that should put you off buying the device.
The M5000 has a full-size headphone socket (3.5mm as opposed to the 2.5mm pockets found on many Smartphones) which is great for those of you who wish to use your own headphones although I have found the bundled headphones to be the best bundled headphones that I have used with a Pocket PC or Smartphone, they have a fitted feel to them as opposed to just being a block of plastic and are very comfortable, even after prolonged use, they sound great too. Naturally they double up as a hands free headset and feature a button for answering calls as well as a microphone and circular volume control, all of which is very easy to use. The phone comes with stereo speakers which are great for hands free calls and listening to music out loud. The position of the speaker and the microphone mean that you can make calls with the screen closed which is great as it means you don't have to have your face pressed up against the touch screen of the M5000 which has been a criticism of previous Pocket PC Phone Editions. Battery life is what you'd expect from such a power hungry device I guess, you'll get a day out of it if you are making calls, surfing the Internet and making calls, WiFi is an obvious power drainer but most users of the M5000 will happily trade off some battery life in exchange for the vast wealth of features and will be synchronising their devices regularly anyway which charges simultaneously. 1620 mAh which is huge in capacity so IÂ’d expect any improvements in relation to battery life to be made as a result of software patches as opposed to buying a better battery.
The M5000 comes bundled with two styluses which are well designed, one of which can be stored in the device itself and do not hurt your hand to use over a prolonged period of time, and a slip case which fits the device well and offers great protection. The gaps in the case are such that you can keep your headphones plugged in whilst the M5000 is in its case which is great.
When considering whether to buy an M5000 or not I would take into account the wealth off features as a trade off for the size of the device, the keyboard is really good for a mobile device and it may surprise you to learn that IÂ’ve written all of the text for this review on the M5000 itself! I don't normally like carrying around big devices in my pocket but the M5000 has won me over, it has the wow factor with its 640 x 480 pixel hinged, 180 degree rotating screen that automatically chooses between landscape and portrait orientation. The M5000 really is a palm sized laptop replacement for those of you who regularly need access to your email, the Internet, Word, Excel and so much more. The M5000 has a very specific market however I feel that it may just win over one or two others as well.
The M5000 is available from Orange retail stores and online (see here) and costs £299.99 based on a £30/month tariff.
Thanks once again to Orange for providing us with another great device to review.
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