O2 XDA II Mini

Achieving the right balance between size and functionality has long been the challenge with smartphones. O2 has just about got that balance right with the Xda II Mini, providing all the features of a tri-band smartphone packed into a case only slight larger than a mobile phone.

The Xda II Mini is light, compact and fits comfortably in the hand. Unlike the larger smartphones, such as the HP iPAQ or O2 Xda IIs, the Xda II Mini can also slide comfortably into a pocket, making size a big selling point of this phone. Looks are another bonus, with the sturdy attractive silver casing and large LCD screen.

O2 has outfitted the Mini with an Intel PXA272 416MHz processor--the fastest processor on an O2 device with the exception of the just released Xda IIi. The Xda II Mini runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC Phone Second Edition and applications like Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint and Windows Media Player 10 are all provided.

Unlike its larger cousins, the Mini only comes with 64MB of onboard memory, but an MMC/SDIO card slot is provided at the top of the phone for an extra memory card.

O2 has managed to integrate a large 2.8" TFT LCD 64,000 colour display, but does not have a keypad on the phone. An on-screen keypad is displayed when using the phone, but they keys are small and some users will have to dial numbers with the stylus. The large and sharp screen which dominates the device is impressive - the screen also lets you view files in portrait and landscape mode, with the icon to switch views conveniently located at the bottom of each screen.

For connectivity, both Bluetooth and infrared are provided, but the biggest failing of the Xda II Mini is the lack of native Wi-Fi support. The Mini does support the use of Wi-Fi cards, but these fit into the SD slot, meaning any extra memory cards have to be removed first. (It is possible however, to now purchase combined memory and Wi-Fi cards)

Two dedicated Call Start and End buttons are located under the screen, as well as a five-way navigation pad and a shortcut key for both the Contacts and Calendar functions. The main input is through the stylus, sitting at the back of the device. The Mini also has a 1.3 megapixel camera, better than the 640 x 480 cameras found in other O2 devices.

A Mini-USB socket is placed at the bottom of the device which is used for charging and synchronising. This means that as well as being charged through the AC adapter, the Xda II Mini can also be charged via the USB synchronisation cable, which is very handy for mobile laptop users.

Retailing at $1,199, the Xda II Mini has all the features of the larger smartphones with the convenience of a small mobile phone.