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The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is the CDMA version of the new generation of Curve smartphones with an optical trackpad and music playback controls on top of the smartphone. We first saw this design on the BlackBerry 8520 GSM versions, and now the CDMA variants are available on both major US CDMA carriers: Verizon and Sprint. We take a look at the Verizon version in this review, but the hardware and the RIM bundled software are very similar on both Verizon and Sprint versions. The biggest difference is the carrier branded software and services.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a CDMA digital dual band phone with EV-DO Rev. 0 for data. The smartphone has WiFi 802.11b/g, a 2.5" QVGA 320 x 240 pixel display, a 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and an SDHC microSD card slot. Verizon currently offers the BlackBerry Curve 8530 in black and Smoky Violet colors; and Sprint offers it in black and Royal Purple.

The Curve 8530 runs BlackBerry OS 5 on a 512MHz processor with 256MB RAM and 256 megs of flash memory, of which 125 megs are free to store documents and applications. BlackBerry 5.0 OS has some new features including the ability to manage Exchange mail folders, view calendar attachments, forward appointments and more. If you are an IT professional or need more info on BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0, visit na.blackberry.com/eng/services/server/5/.

Design and Ergonomics

For current CDMA BlackBerry users, the optical trackpad is the biggest difference in the user experience from last generation Curve models. The optical trackpad uses a concept similar to the notebook trackpad except you use a small square pad to control the navigation on the BlackBerry. The optical trackpad takes a very delicate touch for navigation and works smoothly and agilely. For long time BlackBerry trackball users, this might take a little time to get used to, but the trade off is you won’t have to worry about dirt or grease getting stuck on the trackball. Just like the Curve 8520, the 8530 has a 2.46” QVGA display that supports 65K colors. The screen looks sharp and reasonably bright.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has an excellent QWERTY keyboard. The keys aren’t very large, but they are very useable with both audible clicks and tactile feedback when you press the keys. Like the Curve 8520 GSM version, the Curve 8530 has rubberized sides that make it easy to grip the smartphone, certainly a treat as more and more smartphones come in a slippery shiny form. The side buttons (volume and convenience keys) and the top music controls are all under the rubber cover or caps, and they are easy to use. The phone has a 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack and a microSD card slot for storing music and other media content. The microSD card slot is under the battery door, but you needn’t remove the battery to access it. The Curve supports SDHC cards up to 16 GB. The 2 megapixel camera lens sits on the top left corner on the back of the Curve.

Phone Features and Web Browser

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has decent 1x reception and solid 3G reception. Voice quality is decent though not super clear, but the volume is very loud. Most Bluetooth headsets worked well with the Curve in terms of voice quality and volume, and all Hands-Free features worked smoothly. The smartphone’s address book integrates with VZ Navigator: there are options to navigate, look up or share locations using VZ Navigator inside of the address book. Like other BlackBerry devices, the Curve 8530 offers support for 10 email accounts in addition to your BlackBerry email account, and the push email experience is excellent.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has EV-DO Rev. 0 for data and comes with a full HTML browser that’s capable of displaying web sites in desktop style. Though the phone has a good 3G speed on Verizon, the browser is slow at loading full HTML pages with a decent number of images even with Javascript turned off in browser settings (Javascript continues to be the BlackBerry web browser’s downfall). If you turn JavaScript on, full HTML pages load even slower. We experienced some broken layouts when using the browser to display various sites including our own site. The browser integrates with Bing search. We look forward to RIM’s future web kit browser since their existing web browser still falls at the back of the smartphone pack.

Multimedia

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a good music phone thanks to the loud speakerphone, the microSD card slot with SDHC support, integration with V CAST Music with Rhapsody and the support for BlackBerry Media Sync. There are several ways you can get music onto the smartphone: load your music onto a microSD card, buy tunes from the V CAST Music store or if you use iTunes, BlackBerry Media Sync (a free download for Mac and PC) offers easy iTunes syncing for songs and playlists. The Curve 8530 supports DRM-free music in MP3, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCELP EVRC, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA9 and Windows Media 10 Standard/Professional formats, and the phone comes with BlackBerry Media Player for music and video playback. The audio quality via the built-in speakerphone is quite good and the volume is super loud. The Curve also has a standard 3.5mm stereo audio out jack and it works with Bluetooth stereo headphones via A2DP. Other music tools on the Curve include VzwTones for downloading ringtones and VCast Song ID. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 also works with V CAST Video over EV-DO. When the 3G connection is strong, V CAST videos look smooth and audio is in sync with video.

The Curve's multimedia controls up top.

GPS

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has a built-in GPS that works with BlackBerry Maps as well as VZ Navigator. BlackBerry Maps is a free application that gives you North America maps, and allows you to search locations and POIs as well as get directions. It doesn’t offer voice guidance, real time navigation and other services found in VZ Navigator. We tested the new VZ Navigator v5.1 and the Curve 8530 ran the services smoothly.

VZ Navigator v5 has a new user interface that integrates local POIs, movies, gas prices and weather on the home screen. When you launch VZ Navigator you get a slideshow of these local info pages centered on your current location. Trip navigation, turn-by-turn directions, 3D maps and voice guidance are still quite similar to the previous version of VZ Navigator. Route calculations are fast and re-routing is smooth. Though version 5 has a new UI, the POI database isn’t brand new. Like the older version, VZ Navigator 5 has traffic reporting, local search and location sharing with friends and family. The new version does have voice recognition that allows you to use “Say It” mode to verbally input destinations. This mode didn’t work on the Curve 8530 however.

Camera

Like the BlackBerry Curve 8520, the Curve 8530 also has a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and a fixed focus lens. By default the right convenience key launches the camera application. For a smartphone, a 2 megapixel built-in camera is low end; but by 2 megapixel camera phone standards, the Curve 8530 takes decent photos. Still images look bright with saturated and balanced colors, but there is a good deal of noise in the photos. The image quality warrants web posting of snapshots, but for printing or fine photo processing, the quality on these images won’t impress anybody. The camera application offers settings for white balance, picture resolution, quality, color effect and geotagging.

The Curve 8530 can also record video with audio in either QVGA resolution or 176 x 144 MMS resolution. Videos look smooth and the audio is in sync with the video.

Battery Life

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has a rechargeable cryptographic Lithium Ion battery that’s 1150 mAh in capacity. The battery life isn’t very good for a smartphone with push email, Wi-Fi, on-demand video playback over EV-DO and full featured navigation software. With moderate use you will need to charge the smartphone every other day. The standby time is average reaching about a week.

Conclusion

For Verizon users who have been waiting for the new entry-level Curve, the 8530 is finally here. The Curve 8530 is a solid smartphone with decent specs, and it has the new trackpad and the dedicated media control buttons on top. The smartphone feels fast running multimedia apps like music and video, and it supports the new VZ Navigator 5. The Curve 8530 has good voice calling quality and a loud speakerphone, an excellent push email experience, built-in WiFi and the latest Bluetooth v2.1 technology with a full set of profiles. The BlackBerry web browser still disappoints in terms of speed and rendering capabilities, and we wish the battery life was better.

Pro: Good trackpad and keyboard experience, good GPS performance.

Con: Battery life isn’t very good.

Price: $49.99 with 2-year contract after discount.

Web sites: www.rim.com, www.verizonwireless.com

Specs:

Display: 65K color transmissive TFT color LCD. Screen size diagonally: 2.46". Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels.

Battery: 1150 mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. Claimed talk time: 4.5 hours on GSM. Claimed standby: 10.5 days.

Performance: 512MHz processor. 256 megs RAM, 256 megs flash memory with 125 megs available to store programs and data.

Size: 2.4 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches. Weight: 3.7 ounces.

Phone: CDMA Dual Band: 800/1900 MHz. CDMA Dual Mode: CDMA2000 1X with EVDO Rev. 0 for data.

Camera: 2.0 megapixel with fixed focus lens (no flash or self-portrait mirror). Can take still photos up to 1600 x 1200 resolution and video up to QVGA 320 x 240.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder, music and video player included. Has hardware playback controls on the top edge. Ringtones: 32 Polyphonic – MIDI, MP3, SP-MIDI and WAV. Music playback: MP3, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCELP EVRC, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA9 and Windows Media 10 Standard/Professional formats.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Bluetooth profiles: hands-free, headset, serial port, DUN (dial-up networking), A2DP stereo with AVRC, SIM access, Secure Simple Pairing and phone book access.

Software: BlackBerry OS v5.0. BlackBerry push email client. BlackBerry Messaging, SMS and MMS. BlackBerry Maps (free service), Documents to Go standard edition (view and edit but not create MS Office documents), web browser, media player for MP3 and video playback. PIM apps include address book, calendar, tasks and memo. Also alarm, clock, voice notes, calculator, Password Keeper. Games: BrickBreaker, Texas Hold 'Em Sudoku, Klondike and Word Mole. BlackBerry Desktop software for PC included for syncing and software installation (PocketMac for BlackBerry Mac software can be downloaded for free from RIM's site). Verizon apps and services include V CAST Music with Rhapsody, V CAST Video, VZ Navigator, Visual Voice Mail, Song ID and Tones. Also City ID and Bing search are included.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.

In the box: Phone, battery, charger, USB cable, software CD and printed material.

The Nokia E72 has a hard act to follow in the much-loved Nokia E71. Though affordable, the E71 had excellent build quality, that Eseries liberal use of metal rather than plastic, plenty of features and it just plain old worked well. The NAM unlocked edition with US 3G HSDPA on AT&T's bands sold well here by no-contract phone standards, helped by the fact it was relatively inexpensive. Even AT&T eventually picked it up as the Nokia E71x, albeit with their usual liberal dusting of bloatware.

Like the E71 NAM, the E72 NAM is a quad band unlocked GSM phone with EDGE and 3G HSDPA on AT&T's 3G bands and Europe's 2100MHz band. It's EDGE only on T-Mobile in the US. Since it's an unlocked phone, you need not sign up for a new contract or extend your existing contract. Just pop in your SIM card, let the E72 automatically configure itself for your carrier's data, SMS and MMS settings and you're ready to roll.

It's been 1.5 years since the E71 launched, and Nokia has been teasing us with promises of the E72's much faster CPU, better camera (you could only go up from the E71's weak camera), updated design and improved multimedia in a still super-slim package. Unfortunately, some things stayed the same: namely the small QVGA display. Heck, it's 2010 and QVGA is feeling mighty dated-- even the once conservative RIM has moved up to larger, higher resolution displays. At 320 x 240 pixels, you'll be doing plenty of scrolling, and Nokia has at least made that task easier with their new optical d-pad that can also act as a traditional d-pad if you're feeling retro. The optical pad works well, and we vote it as an improvement.

The keyboard on the E71, though small, was uncannily usable. The E72's is even better and typing is a joy on this QWERTY messaging phone. If your thing is texting and email, the E72 has its eye on you. The keys are domed, clearly backlit in white and pleasantly tactile. There's now a dedicated Ctrl key and a few keys handle alternate functions like turning on the flash light and accessing Bluetooth. We did notice that typing sometimes lagged behind our key presses and hope that Nokia's fixes this in a future firmware update (Nokia can generally be counted on to release firmware updates for their S60 phones).

The phone comes with Nokia Email (2.1 on our unit) and it handles POP3, IMAP and MS Exchange via Mail for Exchange (MfE) and Gmail too. You'll get HTML email with MS Exchange 2007 and though some folks have had trouble setting up email accounts with Nokia's relatively new email client, we had no trouble with POP3, IMAP and Gmail account setup and operation. The email app also supports Yahoo, Lotus Notes Traveler and Hotmail among others. While it might not have the immediacy of the BlackBerry email push system, you don't have to sign up for an expensive data plan either. Nokia phones work just fine with inexpensive feature phone data plans on AT&T and T-Mobile (and other GSM carriers).

If you're into social networking, there's a decent Facebook app included and you can download free and paid clients to extend IM support, and add MySpace and Twitter (Gravity rocks for Twitter). These are available through the Ovi store on the phone.

Since the E72 runs the newest available version of Symbian OS and S60: Symbian 9.4 with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, you get stronger multimedia format support, a more flexible Active Standby home screen and and Modes (i.e.: Work and Home with different apps and background). The changes are subtle but do improve usability.

The Nokia N900, Nokia N97 mini and Nokia E72.

The usual S60 folder system is still there, which veteran Nokia fans often love (hey, it's familiar) and other folks find takes too many clicks. We won't argue that some tasks do take quite a few wiggles of the d-pad and clicks to get done, but if you're familiar and happy with S60 this likely won't bother you. Nokia seems to try out a new folder arrangements randomly, and it did take time to find where all those familiar S60 apps now live. You can move things around and create your own folders, of course.

Likewise, Nokia plays with their photo and video viewers, and this time it's all in the Gallery application. Once you enter Gallery you see a list of un-sexy folders for photos, video, songs, sound clips, streaming links and presentations. What music is doing here, we're not sure since it merely takes you to the Music Player application.

The Nokia E72 has a 3.5mm stereo jack up top.

Given the E72's impressive 600MHz ARM 11 processor, and the widened codec support, we expected a bit more from the video player. Yes, it supports MPEG4 and even WMV but VGA MPEG4 video encoded at mobile-friendly low bitrates (660 kbps) seems to strain the phone and we saw frame drops. It seems that QVGA video is the best bet, and these played well up to 900kbps. In truth, we're not sure that extended video viewing is something you'd expect to do on a relatively low resolution, 2.36" display. If that's your thing, go with an S60 5th Edition smartphone with a larger, higher resolution display like the Nokia N97 or N97 mini.

In all other tasks, the E72 is quite responsive and the faster CPU means quicker folder open times and generally improved application performance compared to the E71. Flash video playback via YouTube's desktop site is actually watchable even if blocky. It drops frames but it's worlds better than the E71.

Video Review

Here's our 7.5 minute video review of the Nokia E72:

Phone and Internet

The quad band GSM E72 will work with any GSM provider's SIM for calls and data on GPRS and EDGE. It has 3G HSDPA up to 10.2 Mbps for use overseas and with AT&T in the US. We tested it with both T-Mobile and AT&T SIM cards and the phone worked well and automatically configured settings to match each carrier. We primarily used the phone on AT&T since it has 3G on that carrier's bands. Call quality was very good, as per usual for Nokia E and Nseries smartphones. The rear-firing speakerphone, powered by a large mono speaker, wasn't all that loud but it was clear. We tested the phone with several Bluetooth headsets including the Jawbone 2 and Plantronics Discovery 925 and it worked well in terms of voice quality and connection reliability. Bluetooth range was average, and we got about 15 feet before voice quality began to degrade.

Nokia's excellent Webkit browser is on board with Flash support, and it does a good job of rendering full HTML sites accurately and quickly. Since this isn't a touch screen phone, you use the d-pad to move a virtual cursor around web pages. At QVGA resolution, you'll only see very small sections of desktop-oriented sites, so plan on plenty of scrolling. Though the browser is capable enough, the low resolution means we wouldn't recommend this smartphone to someone who plans to spend a lot of time web browsing.

GPS and Camera

The E72 has a built-in GPS with aGPS, and you can download the full version of Ovi Maps for free (Nokia made it free in January 2010). This gives the E72 and other recent S60 smartphones an edge against other smartphones that require you to pay for turn-by-turn spoken navigation. Nokia Maps' routing is decent, but their POI database is spotty in the US. You can use 3rd party navigation applications as well. We had no trouble with the GPS hardware at all, in fact it performed quite well and managed fast fixes and solid satellite locks.

The 5 megapixel autofocus camera is a vast improvement over the E71's lower resolution shooter. It isn't just the higher resolution; images are sharper and clearer with better exposure. The E72 still can't compare to Nokia's own Nseries phones and their superior cameras, but for a business phone, this is a decent camera. The phone can also shoot VGA video at 15 fps and there's a flash that's useful for close range shooting.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 and the Nokia E72.

Conclusion

The E72, much as we'd anticipated it, is something of a let-down. It is by no means a bad phone and the features are good: it has a fast CPU, US 3G HSDPA, WiFi, a GPS, Bluetooth with a full set of profiles, an SDHC microSD card slot and an FM radio. But it just doesn't add enough to the Nokia E71 package to make us want to replace the E71. Yes, it's faster and the camera is better, but are those good enough reasons to spend $350? If you're not considering upgrading from an E71 but are looking for an unlocked GSM QWERTY-bar smartphone, the E72's definite good looks, quality design and strong keyboard are worth a look. But RIM's BlackBerry smartphones offer stiff competition, at least the higher end models like the BlackBerry 9700. The E72 just lacks that special something, be it updated software or cool new hardware, to make us rave. But it's a solid phone with all the features a business person needs, and it's a good looking piece in the hand.

Price: $359 (no contract, no subsidy)

Website: www.nokiausa.com

Specs:

Display: 24 bit QVGA 320 x 240 pixel color LCD. Diagonal screen measurement: 2.36 inches. Has accelerometer and ambient light sensor.

Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable, 1500 mAh (BP-4L). Uses the smaller round charger connector and not micro USB (uses micro USB for sync). Claimed talk time: 12.5 hours on GSM, 5 hours 54 minutes on 3G. Claimed video playback time (max): 13 hours. Claimed music playback time (max): 37.5 hours.

Performance: ARM 11 600 MHz processor. 128 megs RAM. 512 MB Flash ROM with 250 megs available to store applications and data.

Size: 4.48 x 2.34 x .39 inches. Weight: 4.51 ounces.

Phone: GSM quad band unlocked 850/900/1800/1900MHz with EDGE. On the NAM (US version) 3G HSDPA 10.2 Mbps on AT&T's 850/1900MHz bands and 2100MHz for abroad. Supports VoIP calling.

Camera: 5.0 MP with autofocus lens and LED flash. Max photo resolution: 2592 x 1944. Max video resolution: VGA 640 x 480 at 15 fps. Has front-facing VGA camera.

GPS: Has GPS with aGPS and a compass. The GPS works with the now free Ovi Maps and other mapping and navigation applications.

Audio and Video: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Gallery, Flash Player, Real Player and music player included. Supported video formats: GPP formats (H.263), Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8,9/10 and WMV. Supported audio formats: AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AU, eAAC+, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, 10, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV and WMA.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR with a full suite of profiles including A2DP stereo and DUN.

Software: Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.

The LG eXpo is the HTC Tilt 2's competitor on AT&T. While the Tilt 2 features HTC's TouchFLO 3D that makes the smartphone much more fun and modern, the eXpo opts for impressive hardware like the 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU, good 5 megapixel autofocus camera, fingerprint reader and optional pico projector. Both sport a very ample slide-out hardware QWERTY keyboard and an 800 x 480 pixel resistive touch screen. The LG is a bit slimmer and more pocketable than the beefy Tilt 2, but it's still a large phone.

Our gripe with the LG eXpo is the very stylus-centric UI that's mostly vanilla Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro and the relatively small 3.2" display that makes for smaller on-screen targets. It's just not fun and finger-friendly compared to HTC's TouchFLO 3D Windows Mobile phones, Android smartphones and other modern OS phones. This is a business phone first, and fun isn't its prime directive but even LG's S-Class UI doesn't help it out of the doldrums. But for those of you who like Windows Mobile just fine, the eXpo has great appeal since it's currently the fastest US Windows Mobile phone (until the HTC HD2 hits T-Mobile in the spring of 2010). Not to mention the fingerprint sensor for security (remember that feature from HP iPAQ PDAs way back when?) and the optional projector that's great for incredibly portable PowerPoint presentations. Unfortunately, we didn't receive a projector with our phone, so we won't be able to cover that important business feature.

For a stylus-centric phone, we were surprised that LG uses a lipstick style external stylus
that attaches via lanyard and looks a tad feminine.

The smartphone's build is solid, and the eXpo looks like a quality piece of hardware, though it's nothing to speak of on the style front. The large QWERTY keyboard is excellent, though we still prefer the offset keyboard on the Tilt 2, which is the best keyboard on the market. Key travel is a bit shallow, and the d-pad likewise lacks travel-- but at least it has one. The d-pad seems to be disappearing from WinMo touch screen phones.


Specs at a Glance

The LG eXpo (don't blame us for the bizarre capitalization) is a Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional phone with a 3.2", 800 x 480 pixel resistive touch screen. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and a flash, a GPS that works with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth and WiFi. It has 256 megs of RAM, 512 megs of flash storage and an SDHC microSD card slot that's conveniently located under a door on the phone's side.

Phone and Internet

The LG has very good call quality and the earpiece is slightly louder than average. This is a quad band GSM world phone with EDGE and 3G HSDPA 7.2Mbps on AT&T's bands and 2100MHz for 3G abroad. Reception on 3G is mediocre; it's fine in strong coverage areas but it's not the best phone for those in marginal coverage areas.

Opera Mobile has infiltrated quite a few high end Windows Mobile phones, but unfortunately not the eXpo which ships with the stock Internet Explorer Mobile 6. It's an OK web browser, but we suggest you purchase Opera or another browser if you spend serious time browsing.

Email is handled by the capable, if dated looking, mobile Outlook client. It handles POP3/IMAP and MS Exchange with Direct Push if your company runs a relatively recent version of Exchange Server. There's an IM client on board along with support for SMS and MMS.

Video Review

Here's our 8.5 minute video review of the LG eXpo that covers physical design, UI, web browsing, video playback and more.

Battery

The LG eXpo has a power-hungry fast CPU, 3G HSDPA, WiFi and those consume battery quickly. There aren't many US 3G Snapdragon phones on the market to compare, but I will say that the 1GHz Nexus One running Android lasts significantly longer. The LG seems to wake up and make brief connections to 3G even when no applications are running (not even Exchange email), and this may reduce battery life. With moderate use, we had to charge the phone nightly. With heavy use, we had to charge it by 3pm each afternoon.

Our Take

The LG eXpo has exciting hardware that's let down by dated software. If you're a fan of Windows Mobile's user interface, the eXpo will likely suit you well, but if you're tempted by other platforms and other manufacturers' updated user interfaces for Windows Mobile, the LG will seem dreary. That said, it's fast (you've never seen the Windows Mobile file explorer list all the files in its Windows directory this fast) and has a good camera, a very functional fingerprint scanner for security and a tightly integrated optional pico projector that just might save you from lugging a laptop.

Price: $199 with a 2 year contract

Websites: www.lge.com, wireless.att.com

Specs:

Display: 3.2" resistive touch screen with haptic feedback and proximity sensor. Resolution: 480 x 800, supports both portrait and landscape modes.

Battery: Lithium Ion polymer rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1500 mAh.

Performance: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. 256 MB built-in RAM. 512 MB Flash ROM.

Size: 4.45 x 2.24 x 0.65 inches. Weight: 4.46 ounces.

Phone: Quad band GSM world phone 850/900/1800/1900MHz bands. 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps on AT&T's 850/1900MHz US bands and 2100MHz for use abroad.

Camera: 5.0 MP with autofocus lens and LED flash. Supports AT&T's Video Share one-way video conferencing service.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and proprietary stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Mobile Media Player 10 included.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.

Software: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional OS. Both standard UI and LG's S-Class UI are available on the device. Internet Explorer 6 mobile, MS Voice Command, Java VM, Windows Mobile Marketplace, Adobe Reader, Sprite Backup and Windows Media Player Mobile. Standard MS mobile software suite: Office Mobile (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote Mobile),, Email (POP3/IMAP/MS Exchange), File Explorer, PIM suite (contacts, calendar, notes and tasks), SMS/MMS client, BubbleBreaker and Solitaire. AT&T software: AT&T WiFi, AT&T App Center, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Music and trial games.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, or so the cliche goes. It's apt enough for HP's latest business smartphone, the Glisten, whose form and function aren't so different from the 2008 HP iPAQ 910c. The looks have gotten more modern and trendy, with a flush display and a black soft-touch casing, but it's still your basic Windows Mobile Pro QWERTY-bar business phone. What has suffered is one-handed and touch navigation thanks to Windows Mobile 6.5. WinMo 6.5 was designed with larger screens in mind, and it attempts to be more touch-centric, neither of which matches with the QWERTY bar smartphone. That means the traditional Start Menu that looked just like the one on your Windows PC is gone. A shame because that was easy to navigate using the d-pad, while the hex grid of icons that replaces it is a nightmare with the d-pad. Thank goodness for the touch screen, you say? Well, not so much. The small, low resolution display is hard to navigate with a finger, making the included stylus a must, and that feels very dated and inefficient.

What stands in the Glisten's favor are its sturdy build, grippable back and good QWERTY keyboard. Combine that with Windows Mobile's excellent integration with MS Exchange, and you've got a decent business phone. The HP Glisten is likely to appeal to veteran Windows Mobile users who accustomed to, if not fond of, that operating system's features and UI. It's otherwise unlikely that the HP would win in a contest against a BlackBerry. RIM's smartphones are easier to use one-handed and their UI is much better optimized to the hardware controls with myriad keyboard shortcuts and convenient home screen options.


The Glisten at a Glance

The HP iPAQ Glisten is sold by AT&T in the US and it has 3G HSDPA on AT&T's bands as well as 2100MHz for Europe and Asia. It's a quad band GSM world phone with EDGE for those places that are devoid of 3G coverage. It has a 2.5" AMOLED touch screen and it runs Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional. The Glisten is powered by a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU and it has 256 megs of RAM and 512 megs of flash memory. There's a fixed focus 3.1 megapixel camera on board as well as a full complement of wireless: GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR and WiFi 802.11b/g.

Design and Ergonomics

The iPAQ feels solid and well made, and we particularly like the grippy soft-touch back. The QWERTY keyboard's keys are laid out in a smile configuration and are relatively large: both pluses. But their slick surface makes typing faster but less accurate.The embedded number pad is clear in contrasting white and there are shortcuts on the bottom row for the web browser, calendar, email and AT&T Navigator. The chromed plastic sides have relatively few controls and ports. A 3.5mm stereo headset jack and micro USB port are on the right and the volume controls are on the left. The not terribly good or loud speakerphone lives under a small grille on the back. The HP isn't a thin phone by any means, and it's about the same thickness as recent BlackBerry Curve 8500 series models. To our eyes, it looks less plasticky and higher quality than the BlackBerry 8520 and 8530.

The AMOLED display uses less power and is more vivid than traditional LCDs, though the HP's isn't as vivid (or over-saturated) as recent Samsung AMOLED phone displays. It's a resistive display (Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn't natively support capacitive displays) and that means you can use a fingernail, a gloved finger or the included plastic stylus with the touch screen.

Phone and Data

While HP's smartphones have had excellent voice quality and volume since the hw6915 that preceded the 910c, the Glisten has average voice quality and its earpiece isn't particularly loud. Incoming voice is clear with very light background hiss but outgoing voice sounds digitized and this was augmented with many of the Bluetooth headsets we tested with the iPAQ. Volume is average for a GSM phone and it's fine for home and office but it can't combat very noisy public locations. The speakerphone isn't among the best we've heard, but it's suitable to increase volume in a loud place when the earpiece doesn't do the job, and it's fine for in-car navigation using the included AT&T Navigator's spoken directions.

Like all Windows Mobile phones, the Glisten ships with Internet Explorer Mobile and the mobile version of Outlook which is comprised of Messaging (for email, SMS and MMS) and PIM applications (calendar, contacts, tasks and notes). These sync to MS Exchange over-the-air flawlessly and the phone can also sync to Outlook on the desktop via USB. Messaging is a solid email client that works with POP3, IMAP, Gmail and other accounts well, and the Exchange experience is top notch.

Though many Windows phone manufacturers include the superior Opera Mobile browser, HP thinks you can make do with IE. Honestly, the screen is so small and the QVGA resolution so outdated, that we don't consider the Glisten optimal for web browsing anyway. If web browsing is important to you and you plan to do a lot of it, consider a smartphone with a larger, higher resolution display like the HTC Tilt 2. For full HTML sites, you'll see only a fraction of the web page on screen at a given time and selecting links, even with the stylus, takes patience.

Video Review

Here's our 7 minute video review of the HP Glisten:

Conclusion

The HP Glisten is literally a solid Windows Mobile QWERTY bar phone. It's well-made, sturdy and not bad looking as business phones go. But we can't say it adds anything new or enticing to the mix, and there's little that's changed since the HP 910c (which was a decent smartphone). What has changed is the OS, and unfortunately, Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional is less well suited to the QWERTY bar form factor than was Windows Mobile 6.1. One handed operation is limited and you often must touch the display to get things done. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if the display wasn't so small and the on-screen targets too tiny to easily tap with a finger. The iPAQ is definitely better suited to those who are comfortable with the stylus.

In terms of features and performance for the price, the HP does well and has all the bells and whistles you'd expect on a business smartphone at this or even a slightly higher price. The 528MHz CPU generally does a good job of keeping up with tasks and with 256 megs of RAM, you can leave several applications running simultaneously. Windows Mobile is often maligned, but it offers solid business features including strong MS Exchange support, a built-in Office suite, good security and compatibility with Windows desktops.

Price: $129.99 after rebates with a 2 year contract.

Websites: wireless.att.com, www.hp.com

Specs:

Display: 65K color 2.5" AMOLED color touchscreen. Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels.

Battery: Lithium Ion polymer rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1590 mAh. Micro USB charging and syncing port.

Performance: 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU. 256 megs RAM, 512 megs flash ROM.

Size: 4.44 x 2.47 x 0.53 inches. Weight: 4.66 ounces.

Phone: GSM quad band world phone 850/900/1800/1900MHz. 3G HSDPA on the 850/1900/2100MHz bands.

GPS: Has GPS and AT&T Navigator.

Camera: 3.1 megapixel, fixed focus lens. 5x digital zoom, no flash or self-portrait mirror.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR.

Software: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.