Orange SPV M5000 Smartphone Review

Jan 30 Orange SPV M5000 Smartphone Review
Found in:Devices, Smartphone, Reviews,

The issue with any pocket size device is usability. Of late the trend for pocket size devices is to make them hand held, with as much physical space as possible dedicated to the screen. The obvious down side to this is the lack of keyboard and this problem has been addressed in a number of ways. The most obvious solution has been the soft keyboard, where you stab at letters displayed on the screen with a stylus or your finger.

The other method has been some form of character or handwriting recognition. Unfortunately input methods like Palm's graffiti are difficult to master, and although the handwriting recognition built into Windows Mobile does a great job of deciphering my scrawl, it's far too slow to be used for anything other than short notes.



With data services becoming the norm on mobile devices, more and more users are enjoying the benefits of email on the move, while the more adventurous are even chatting on instant messenger services while they're out and about. Once you start to use these kinds of services you'll soon realise that a soft keyboard is far from adequate. This is where the Orange SPV M5000 steps in - on paper it offers everything you could ever want from a mobile device, but I'm always aware that what looks good on paper doesn't always work so well in practice.

If you are familiar with the O2 XDA Exec, you'll notice that the SPV M5000 looks very familiar. To be honest the two devices are the same - at the hardware level anyway. One thing that you can usually be sure of is that four different network operators can use the same hardware but deliver different user experiences.

The M5000 is a large device, not as large as the beloved Psion Series 5, but definitely large by today's PDA and smartphone standards. To be fair the length and width of the M5000 aren't any larger than most smartphone devices, but it is much thicker - 130 x 80 x 20mm (WxDxH).



The reason for the extra girth is the clamshell design - lifting the lid reveals a landscape aspect ratio screen and a full qwerty keyboard. Now, shoe horning a qwerty keyboard into a mobile device is one thing, but making it usable is something else completely.

Annoyingly the Internet Explorer button is next to the (somewhat short) Spacebar - the result is that while you're in the middle of typing a sentence, Internet Explorer fires up and you're presented with the Orange World home page.

But you don't always need to use a keyboard while you're out and about. Sometimes a portrait aspect ratio handheld device can be easier - but don't worry, the M5000 has that covered.



The screen on the M5000 will swivel around to face outwards and then fold flat against the keyboard. Once you do this the screen layout automatically switches from landscape to portrait mode. You can then use the M5000 like any normal PDA.

But let's not forget that this is a connected device so you can also use it as a phone. As always with PDA/phone hybrids, I can't help but feel ridiculous holding something the size of a sandwich up to my head and talking into it. But the point is that the functionality is there if you need it.

The SPV M5000 has two digital cameras. One is a 1.3 megapixel device for taking still images and video – the latter can be recorded as MPEG 4 or motion JPEG, but the resolution is limited to 320 x 240. The second camera is limited to low resolution for video calls.





All the memory in the SPV M5000 is non-volatile so if you happen to let the battery run down completely you won’t lose any data. There’s about 45MB for storage and around 50MB for programs – although 23MB of the program space is already taken. Of course if you need more storage space you can simply stick an SD card in – with 1GB SD cards going for around £50 these days, you’ll be able to store a fair amount of data and media on the SPV M5000 without breaking the bank.

The SPV M5000 charges over USB and has a standard mini-USB connector. I’m a firm believer that every device should charge this way, then the business traveller doesn’t have to carry loads of chargers with him/her, instead just charging everything from their laptop. In the box there’s a mini-USB to USB cable and a mains charger with a mini-USB connector – the beauty of the latter is that you should be able to charge other devices with it too.

The M5000 runs Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition, which is the latest version of Pocket PC for smartphones. If there’s criticism that I have of Windows Mobile 5.0 it’s that you need to use ActiveSync 4.0, which no longer allows you to synchronise over WiFi – a bit of a shame for a WiFi enabled device.

Also in the box is a stereo headset, but don’t expect amazing sound quality from it when you’re listening to music. Thankfully the SPV M5000 uses a standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use a decent set of headphones, although then you won’t get the hands-free functionality. But since the M5000 has integrated Bluetooth, you’re more likely to be using a Bluetooth headset than a wired hands-free anyway.

Whats In the Box



The Orange SPV M5000 is a great device for someone that needs this kind of functionality in their pocket. However, it is expensive to buy and to run, so if you’re an individual that pays your own bills it might not seem so compelling. But if you’re a business user that needs to be connected and productive wherever you may be, ask your IT manager to sort you out with one of these.

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