Mio A701 GPS-enabled Windows Mobile smartphone reviewed
On paper, the Mio A701 smartphone sounds like
almost the perfect convergence device, sporting a Windows Mobile 5.0-powered 520MHz Xscale processor, SiRF III GPS
receiver, tri-band GSM radio, Bluetooth, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Sadly, at least according to Reg Hardware, the
A701 has so many little faults that the device is often barely usable, and sounds like a skip except for those folks
who absolutely must have GPS and aren't into the square-screened iPaq hw6xxx series from HP. Some of the Reg's gripes with this model include
its crappy camera (one of the worst they've ever seen, apparently), GPRS-only data connection, flimsy telescoping
stylus, lack of dedicated buttons for WM5 softkey control, and buggy navigation software (luckily it's optional).
Besides the full suite of accessories that come included in the box, there doesn't seem to be much good to say about
the $660 to $790 A701, which is no doubt a big disappointment to those who may have been looking to import what
appeared to be such a hot phone.
Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jayson @ Apr 28th 2006 4:47PM
i purchased the a701 and sent it right back due to all the problems with it...another thing not mentioned that i found out the hard way is the Mio doesn't include the OBEX profile on the A701 over bluetooth...that was a big oversight...i've since bought the E-Ten G500 and can honestly say that most of the pitfalls with the Mio are not a problem with the G500...some gripes though...No EDGE/UMTS, a little heavy, miniSD (instead of full size SD)...other than that, the gps/navigation is flawless and very accurate...bluetooth 2.0 with EDR is fast (OBEX profile)...call quality and reception are good (i live in southern california using cingular)...and generally the unit is very fast...navigation recalculates routes in less than 5 seconds and the unit has no trouble moving the map display as you travel...also, you can't beat the quad band and tron styling on the phone...you can see it here:
Http://www.etencorp.com
there are some forums on the unit as well, www.eten-users.net and you can find some rumblings on howardforums and modaco...since the phone is relatively new there are a few issues that people are complaining about but you will see more complaints online tha positive things cause if there's no bad news to report then why waste your time right? i think a new ROM update is coming soon which should enable push email and add FM receiver software (the G500 has TMC ability using it's built in FM receiver)...this new software should allow you to use your phone as an FM radio!
erik @ Apr 28th 2006 5:20PM
That thing looks like the red headed step child of the smartphones...