Review: O2 Xda Venn

O2’s Xda series comprises a wide range of different Windows Mobile devices, but the Venn adds something new to the mix. It has both a sliding numerical keypad and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Dual sliders aren’t a new thing, but they are very rare.

Specs & info
Price: contract
Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard
Processor: Qualcomm 7201A
Memory: 256MB
Dimensions: 106mm x 51mm x 21.6mm
Weight: 151g
Display size: 2.4 diagonal inches
Display resolution: 320 x 240
Expansion slot: 1 x microSD

In this case the format is squeezed into a very small overall casing, measuring just 106mm tall and 51mm wide. That means you can flick both slides one handed, and could even make a stab at using the QWERTY keyboard one handed if you have larger hands.

However at 21.6mm thick the Xda Venn does feel a bit chunky. It is also, at 151g a bit on the heavy side.

The numeric pad is flat but fairly responsive. You probably won’t get up to top texting speeds on it, but it should be fine to use at average speeds.

The QWERTY keyboard nicely designed with large keys that are quite easy to hit successfully. There is no separate number row, but leaving that out has given space for the remaining keys to be as large as possible. The rounded corners of the Venn means that the left and right edge keys, and particularly those on the bottom row (back and Caps/shift) are oddly shaped and relatively small, but overall the design works quite well.

The operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, does not cater for touch screen support, and so you are reliant on buttons to get around. Beneath the screen is a relatively large navigation pad that looks as though it should swivel under a finger but which does not.

To its left and right the Call, End, softmenu, Home and Back buttons are all fairly small, with Call and End squeezed somewhat at the very bottom of the shell making them a little awkward to use.

The 2-4-inch screen is small, but good enough as long as you are not inclined to lots of media rich activities. With HSDPA to 3.6Mbps this is not the fastest handset on the block. The absence of Wi-Fi is also going to annoy many. Wi-Fi is really a basic feature of a smartphone these days.

Interestingly, the specifications at the O2 Web site say GPS is built in, but the box does not list this as a feature, it isn’t mentioned in the manual, and we couldn’t find it on board. That’s a pity, actually as GPS would have been a nice addition to the features set.

The camera is somewhat low grade. It shoots at 2 megapixels and has neither flash nor self portrait mirror. There is no front camera for two way video calling.

This being a Windows Mobile 6.1 device Office Mobile is built in. But as it is Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard you can’t create new documents, just exit existing ones. The trick to get round that is simply to put a template document on the device and then edit that however you want.

If you are into mobile music you’ll need an SD card to augment the built in memory. The slot is on the bottom edge of the casing and cards to 32GB in size are supported.

That’s good, but less encouraging is that the provided one-piece headset with its in-ear buds is not the best quality and connects to the handset via a proprietary port – the same one that is used by the mains power and PC connection cables. So you can’t easily use your own favourite headset.

In the end the somewhat mediocre specifications let this nicely built dual slider down.

Verdict
Performance: 8
Design: 8
Features: 6
Value for Money: 8

Overall score: 7/10

Written by Sandra Vogel. Originally published in Smartphone Essentials magazine.

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