AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone Review

Jan 06 AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone Review
Found in:Devices, Smartphone, Reviews,

Hot from Taiwan, hot on specs and hot in performance: the new AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone. And, for a change, the English-speaking world is to get this phone before Asia does! This latest incarnation from the Wistron company is a far cry from its earlier SP230 model for which we had the scoop review last year. With Windows Mobile 5.0 running on a 520 MHz XScale PXA272 and all the connectivity you’d want plus a 1.3 MP camera this would be a serious contender if you’re looking for an all-in-one device. How does it perform, how does it feel and how is the quality of the phone, the camera and the PDA?

Sizing up the 3360

The initial announcements of the new AnexTEK phone, some months ago, gave the impression the 3360 was a rather large device so I was prepared for something akin to my very first mobile phone, weighing in at a pants-pulling 2 kilos or so…
I was pleasantly surprised how well the device looked and felt in my hand.
Of course it is a rather large phone at 123 x 61.5 x 23 cm but at the same time it’s also a rather small PDA.
My iPAQ 4700 is longer and wider but the moboDA certainly is a bit thicker than your average Nokia or PDA.
Personally, I like a phone that’s a bit longer and feels a bit more substantial than most phones on offer and I love the larger keys that come with it.
This makes it more of a “blokes” phone rather than one that the ladies would be enamoured with.
Could the phone have been a tad smaller?
Sure, but you’d also miss out on some valuable display area.
aving been used to the magnificent 4” VGA screen of my iPAQ, I’m spoiled.
Does the 2.8” 65,536-color TFT (240x320 cm) disappoint?
Certainly not! The display area is quite sufficient for most tasks. Any smaller would have taken away from the PPC functionality; any larger would have become unwieldy and uncomfortable for a phone. I would say they’ve struck a happy medium here.
How heavy does it feel? It weighs 150 g (including 30g for the 1300 mAh LiON battery).
Compare that to my iPAQ 4700, which I do not consider a “brick” – yet it weighs in at 187 grams! Overall, the “feel” of the 3360 is great.

A Pleasant Surprise

Two things surprised me pleasantly: in the box was an Australian power cord, indicating that AnexTEK are serious about servicing our continent in addition to the rest of the English-speaking world, and in the box there was also a belt carry case.

I had been wondering about the need to get a pouch of some sort to protect the touch screen and thought that no-one (not even Piel Frama) would already have the right size carry case. With great foresight, AnexTEK provided a simple but quite adequate case so that you can have the 3360 on your belt.

What else was in the box?

Everything you’d expect for a device like this including a massive and well-written manual.
However, there’s no cradle for it as you might expect with a PDA but then again, this is primarily a phone…
When you do recharge it from mains you need quite a setup: see the accompanying photo.
Perhaps a car charger would have been handy or the ability to recharge from a USB port.



Connectivity Plus

First off, the GSM is Tri-band (GSM900/1800/1900) with GPRS class 10.
Wi-Fi is the standard 802.11b/g (AnexTEK emphasises the low-energy consumption of the device), Bluetooth version 1.2 as well as infrared.
A bit peculiar is the Wireless Control menu where there is a box to tick that says: “Insert/Remove Wireless Card”.
It sounds like you’d have to physically insert a Wi-Fi card but that’s not the case.
Perhaps this is a standard WM5 menu that caters also for devices without built-in Wi-Fi.
If that’s the case they may want to change the spelling of “Wirless”…
What I will miss is the FM radio on my Nokia but if you’re within Wi-Fi range you might try one of the Radio applications that are available from different vendors.

Phone Functions

Initial calls made on the moboDA were very clear and dialling via the touch screen or the numeric keypad was very comfortable.
Ring tones were fairly limited but that’s no problem of course.
There were a half dozen ring types but my favourite was missing: vibrating AND ascending volume…
I haven’t fully checked out the claimed Talk Time of 4 hours but it seems reasonable.
Standby time is said to be 150 hours.
Our next report will also include endurance figures for using the 3360 in primarily PDA mode.

PDA Functions

The display is large for a phone and still practical for PDA use.
It’s not VGA sharp but quite good for daily use.
One peculiar thing is that the brightness keeps on defaulting to medium bright, even though I set it to full bright several times…
Most important is also the built-in memory: 64MB of RAM and 192MB flash ROM.
This is quite adequate for the moment and again, fairly standard for today’s Smartphone or PDA.
I’m a strong fan of the added functionality of the new Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
It’s pleasing that AnexTEK waited to bring out the 3360 with this OS, unlike some other players that are dropping devices this month with still the old and dated Windows Mobile 2003.
So now you’ll have the pleasure of using Excel Mobile, Word Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile plus Windows Media Player 10.
Here’s some alphabet soup for the audio/videophiles: the 3360 has support for MP3, WMA, WMV, MP4, H263, H264, MIDI, WAV, AAC, AMR, 3GP and AVI.

Camera Functions
The moboDA 3360 has a (by now fairly standard) 1.3MP camera with a “flash”, capable of taking video. The quality of the camera is not bad but if you take pride in your photographic endeavours, you’ll tote a proper camera along as well.
Easy to use? Very.

Battery Life

We’ve done some extensive testing initially with different scenario’s. We then followed it up by using Spb benchmarks.
You have to remember that you can’t really compare battery life with that of a normal phone. The PDA functions and particularly having the screen brightness turned up fully (which is my preference), plus having the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios on, will sap the juice out of the moboDA at a prodigious rate. I got two hours out of the unit in that configuration. And I had not made any phone calls yet!
Obviously, that is an extreme situation. If you don’t use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the time more than doubles to 4 hrs 15 minutes. Have the screen on half bright and you’ll get 12 hrs out of it.
Normally, you’d have the screen turned off most of the time which makes it dramatically better. On the other hand, when you figure in calls made and received, it balances to just a normal work day, which is the best we can expect.
The manual gives the following figures:
Talk time: up to 3 hrs
Standby time: up to 100 hrs
Typical PDA use only: up to 12 hrs.
Data time: up to 5 hrs (I presume they mean GPRS or WiFi use here …)

Other aspects

GPS ??

One of the features I noticed in the Windows Mobile OS is a GPS symbol on the Settings/System screen which is for configuring any Bluetooth or SD receiver. The manual does say: “Built-in GPS receiver” but no matter how hard I looked there is no built-in GPS. I also checked this with the manufacturer and they have now updated their manual. It would have been nice…

Backlit Keys

Didn’t mention it last time but the symbols and numbers on the 3360 light up nicely when you press the buttons. Compared to the earlier model, the SP230, the moboDA has an abundance of hardware buttons to launch programs. It even has two soft key buttons to respond to the context-sensitive choices on the bottom of the screen. It looks like the moboDA 3360 started life as the much anticipated SP300 as I found a few references to that model on the unit…

Back Up facility

Strangely enough, there's no backup facility in the OS. I've been caught out more than one-time when the battery had completely drained and I had to start all over again. Despite the presence of persistent storage in the new operating system, I would not want to be without a good backup system. Fortunately, there are plenty of good backup software programs out there.

Locking the unit

One of the ways to prevent the units from draining power is to be able to switch it off completely. The AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone can be locked by a simple tap on the screen. Unlocking it is a two tap process. It would have been handier to have had a physical button that you can slide to perform the Lock function. I have noticed that, when you put the phone back in its pouch, you can't help but press one or several buttons that reactivate the screen, even though it is locked. Battery life will be longer if you can physically force the phone into lock mode.

ROM change

I also went through a ROM change without any problems even though the changes were minor.

Conclusion and Recommendation

There’s a lot to like in the AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone. It’s a state-of-the-art converged device that looks like a phone, not like a PDA. That means the ergonomics of holding the unit are better. The integrated keypad makes it easy to use it for its primary function as a phone. Similarly, the on-screen dialing keypad is also very easy to work without a stylus.

The main areas for room for improvement revolve around easier recharging and a much sturdier build. The phone, particularly the black version which I also reviewed, smudges very easily and looks rather plasticky. Like I mentioned before, this is a phone that should be treated like a PDA rather than being chucked into your pocket to fight it out with your keys. If treated properly it will have a long life.

The moboDA 3360 is highly recommended if you like the form factor and all the features it has to offer. Just be aware that with the additional features battery life can be quite a bit shorter compared to a normal phone. The PDA features are all there but on a smaller screen. The two main areas of concern that I mentioned above can easily be rectified in a subsequent model. I don't think we will have to wait that long before AnexTEK will bring out the new models. In the meantime of the moboDA 3360 provides excellent capabilities in an all-in-one solution.

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