Motorola MPx220/Smart Phones For Globe Trotters

4. Motorola MPx220

Product Summary

The good: Windows Mobile 2003 OS; ergonomic controls; easy to use; solid call quality; Bluetooth; world phone; VGA camera.

The bad: WAP browser could be improved; difficult to sync with a corporate Exchange server.

The bottom line: Motorola's MPx220 is a worthy choice for a Windows Mobile 2003 smart phone, though some of its features are less than perfect.

Specs: Carrier: AT&T; OS provided: Microsoft Windows Mobile for Smartphones 2003 Second Ed.; Installed RAM: 32 MB

We had high hopes for the MPx220, Motorola's follow-up to the popular MPx200. We're always excited when a product shows up promising so many fantastic things: Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 OS, Bluetooth, and Windows Media Player 9.0, just to name a few. We're pleased to say that after a few initial bumps (call quality was horrible until Motorola sent us another review unit), the MPx220 met most of our expectations. We liked the Cingular smart phone's PIM capabilities, Bluetooth support, and multimedia functions but found fault with the WAP Web browser and the syncing support. The handset is fairly priced at $399, but you should be able to find it at a discount with a service contract.

Design of Motorola MPx220 (AT&T)

Compared to other popular smart phones such as the RIM BlackBerry 7750 or the PalmOne Treo 650, the Motorola MPx220 measures a more pocket-friendly 3.9 by 1.9 by 1.0 inches and weighs a lighter 3.9 ounces. Its sturdy flip-phone form factor also makes it comfortable to hold while you're talking. Yet we aren't completely impressed by the design. The two-toned silver styling is attractive but a bit vulnerable to smudges, and the postage-stamp-size external screen is rather small. It does support 56,000 colors, however, and shows the time, signal strength, battery life, and photo caller ID (where available). Below the screen are the speaker, the camera lens, and the flash.

Half pint: For a smart phone, the MPx220 is compact.

Inside the phone, things get a bit better. The 2-inch-diagonal, 65,000-color display is large enough for viewing PIM data such as contacts and calendar information (you can change the text size), as well as games and photos. That said, however, the bright display was disappointing when viewing Web pages such as mobile versions of MSN, Yahoo, and The Onion. Images typically looked washed out, and using Web-based mail was not as pleasant as with other devices such as the Audiovox SMT5600.

Killer controls: We loved the MPx220's huge navigation controls.

We were very pleased with the attractive and user-friendly navigation controls. The four-way toggle is large and easy to manipulate, and it has a big, blue OK button in the center. Surrounding it are four buttons: two menu soft keys, the Home key, and a Back button. Below the Home and Back buttons are the Talk and End keys, respectively. On the left spine, you'll find the power button, a volume rocker, and the headphone jack. On the right spine are the Mini SD slot, a dedicated camera button, and the infrared port.

Side storage: The MPx220's memory card slot increases storage capacity.

When it comes to using the MPx220 as a mobile data-entry device, hard-core road warriors who have grown accustomed to smart phones with full QWERTY keyboards will no doubt bemoan having to compose e-mail with a standard keypad. Of course, anyone with experience sending text messages with a traditional cell phone won't have a problem, as the MPx220's keys are well designed and amply spaced. Though they're set flush with the face of the phone, they're quite tactile, and misdials were rare.

Features of Motorola MPx220 (AT&T)

The Motorola MPx220 offers a generous feature set. The phone book is limited only by the available memory (the phone comes with 64MB, and an additional 250 names can be stored on the SIM card). Each contact stores multiple fields such as 11 phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, three street addresses, and other personal information. You can also assign contacts to caller groups and pair them with a picture and a polyphonic or MP3 ring tone for caller ID. Other features include vibrate mode, a voice recorder, a calendar, a calculator, a task list, text and multimedia messaging, voice commands, MSN Messenger, Bluetooth, an infrared port, a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser, USB connectivity, and a speakerphone. Aside from the 64MB of internal memory, there's also an expansion slot for Mini SD (Secure Digital) cards.

The handset runs on a 200MHz processor. Microsoft's ActiveSync handles PIM synchronization. And since the handset is essentially a Pocket PC device, it ships with an array of Windows Mobile software: Pocket Outlook (Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts), Pocket Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player 9.0. Despite the MPx220's power, we would have liked easier access to our corporate Microsoft Exchange server. The MPx220 doesn't ship with e-mail redirector software, which is a common feature on smart phones, including the PalmOne Treo 650 and the BlackBerry line of handsets. If your company runs Exchange ActiveSync on its mail server, then getting mobile access to your corporate e-mail will be a snap. If not, you may be out of luck. That said, we easily configured Pocket Outlook to access POP and IMAP e-mail accounts. Furthermore, the WAP browser, while not the prettiest, can display mobile-mail sites such as Yahoo and MSN.

Flashy: The MPx220's camera lens includes a flash.

The MPx220 provides a 1.23-megapixel camera with a flash and a 3X digital zoom. You can take pictures in six resolutions (1,280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 174x144, 160x120, and 128x96) and adjust the contrast, brightness, and white-balance settings. You also can choose from several shutter sounds (including a silent option) or use the self-timer. The external display makes taking self-portraits a snap when the clamshell is closed. The MPx220 also records videos with sound. Editing features is somewhat limited, but the length of the clips is restricted only by the available memory. Both snapshots and videos were good quality, and when you're finished, you can send them to others via a multimedia message, Bluetooth, or the infrared port and save them to the phone itself. You can store as many photos and videos as will fit in the available memory. A convenient counter keeps track of how much space you have left.

The MPx220 had good photo quality.

The MPx220 ships with Mobile Media Player 9.0, which supports playback of MP3s and MPEGs. You also get two Java (J2ME)-enabled games, Billiards and Skipping Stones, but more are available for download. You can personalize the handset with a variety of color schemes and background images and choose from up to eight ringer profiles.

Performance of Motorola MPx220 (AT&T)

We tested the Motorola MPx220 in the San Francisco Bay Area on the Cingular network, and the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone worked well. We were initially disappointed with the call quality, but Motorola remedied that situation by recalling the first batch of MPx220s it shipped. Once the problem was solved, audio quality rocked. Callers remarked that the signal was quite clear. Furthermore, we never lost a signal, whether here in downtown San Francisco or in more residential areas in the East Bay. Calls using the speakerphone were also admirable, and when we tested the handset with a Logitech Mobile Freedom Bluetooth headset, callers said the audio quality was fantastic.

Though we fell a bit short of the promised times, battery life was satisfactory. We managed four hours of talk time, an hour short of the rated time of five hours. Standby battery life was 7.5 days, slightly less than the promised time of 8.3 days. According to the FCC, the MPx220 has a digital SAR rating of 0.75 watt per kilogram.

Source: askmen-cnet.com