UBiQUiO 503G review |
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Another review from Mark, this time the UBiQUiO 503G.
The device is the very first non-HTC Windows Mobile device I've ever used. Naturally, as I nearly end up throwing my Hermes device out of the window at times, I was eager to try it.
I must point out that I am reviewing a pre-production unit here. There are a number of issues with the unit, which I'll address; but these are apparently known faults and I have been assured that they will be resolved in the final retail build of the device.
Design-wise the UBiQUiO 503G looks similar to the iMate JAQ3 (both are manufactured by TechFaith Wireless). In fact the keyboard looks identical.
On the left side of the device you'll find a scroll wheel, voice notes or voice navigator button and a button for the camera.
To the right you have you'll find nothing more than a microSD card slot under a rubber cover that seems to have become standard amoung WM devices.
When powering up the unit, there is one "feature" that immediately jumps out at you - the screen. It's brilliantly bright, clear and the colours are exceptional. Even my acid-test of a converted YouTube video looks great on it. The 503G wipes the floor with any device I've used. This extends to the touch screen functionality as well. It's very very sensitive, with only the lightest tap enough to activate whichever control you are targetting. Similarly, it seems highly accurate at well.
Running Windows Mobile 6 Professional, also means you get all the usual niceties with the newer applications, gradient taskbars, and... annoying Customer Satifaction rubbish from Microsoft!
The UBiQUiO 503G itself reminds me a little of a scientific calculator. It's very thin, has a lot of buttons, and is a similar shape too. It is made of plastic, but doesn't look or feel like it. A brushed metal look is used throughout - apart from a chrome directional pad. There's no joystick or trackball to be found here - but the direction pad seems fine to me. However, there is currently a problem with the pad, and indeed the QWERTY keyboard as well. While most keys work fine, feel sturdy and give a nice click sound - there are a few troublesome ones which don't always fire. I've been assured that this is a known fault, and well definately NOT affect the final retail device.
I very much like the use of a touchscreen with a keyboard as well. It just seems the best solution for a "use anywhere" approach - and although slightly larger than its Blackberry competition, I think it pulls this off rather well. It's also possible, after practise, to use the device keyboard with just one hand. Certainly useful at times to me, and I'm sure to quite a few people.
Unlike operator-branded kit, and indeed HTC, UBiQUiO don't appear to have added any of their own software to the mix. It looks to be a fairly plain Microsoft install of WM6. This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your outlook I guess. I certainly don't hold it against the device. Not even a today plugin is included - beyond the WM defaults. As you might expect though, all the today plugins I tried worked fine.
There's another couple of oddities about the device I should bring your attention too; firstly, CAB files designed to put Operator specific connections and so on, onto HTC devices, don't seem to work. I couldn't work out why this is. I used the HTC windows .exe installer, selected Orange UK, and it all downloaded and installed OK via Activesync. Indeed, the connections are even listed correctly on the device but they simply do not work, and just hang when connecting. This is strange, especially as setting up seemingly the same connection manually works fine!
As well as this, the device seems to only want to charge from its own AC charger - and not any of my old mini-usb chargers (usually sourced from HTC devices). This is slightly annoying, as I have gotten used to not having to remember to take chargers with me! It doesn't even seem be able to run from AC power, unless using the one supplied!
Aside from these minor issues, the UBiQUiO 503G is good. It's very quick, and seems to handle full screen MP4 videos fine and copes just well with anything else thrown at it. The form factor seems to fit my hand quite nicely, and although it's fairly large in some respects, it's so thin that it fits nicely in the pocket.
The integrated WiFi is nice on any device, and certainly a bonus on a device that genuinely can be used for useable web access. The 503 connects quickly to the WiFi point I have at home and performs very well. Along side this, is full HSPDA 3G connectivity. Whether Orange have enabled HSDPA in my area yet, I'm not sure, but the device absolutely flies, both in PIE and Opera and my email arrives VERY quickly.
It's always hard to judge whether a WM device is easy to use or not, because I'm so used to the OS now. I certainly don't see any major problems here though. If I was being picky - I'd say having the full stop on a secondary function on the keyboard is a mistake though!
As I've said - the device is fussy about how it charges - but it does have a standard Mini-USB socket.. and... wait for it... a normal 2.5" earphone jack!! Round the corner from this, you'll find a Micro-SD slot, with nice rubber cover so no need to remove the battery to change cards!
The 2 megapixel camera is about what you'd expect for a phone this size.... not bad, but no digital camera replacement. Phone-wise, calls were good quality, better than I'm used to I think, and it seemed to keep a signal is the area I live very well.
Despite the 'issues' with this pre-production version I would still recommend the UBiQUiO 503G and once the problems have been resolved in the retail version it has all the potential to be a killer. I'll be following up the review with an update just as soon as I can get my hands on the retail build!
As a final note for Gilbert, who asked about Program and Storage space. Currently, the UBiQUiO 503G shows the following memory usage:
Storage:
Total: 192.00 MB
In Use: 158.05 MB (!!)
Free: 33.95 MB
This is down to the pre-release rom build. The 'fluff' will be removed from the final retail ROM build.
UBiQUiO 503G Specification
You can order the UBiQUiO 503G now from eXpansys for just £389.95.
Review by: Mark
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, UBiQUiO 503G, eXpansys]
Permalink13 comments
i had the phone for few days and i had sent it back for refund. whatever u have mentioned as a preproduction thing still exists in the final retail version what they are selling it now.
below i had just summarized my problems.
1) I barely hear other party during phone calls. Phone's conversation speaker volume is way too low even on max volume.
2) power button is too recessed or faulty in mine that doesn't power on all the time. i need to give some pressure.
3) Keyboard is way too slow. it just simply misses too many characters. which is a deal breaker for guys like me who sends atleast combination 100 sms & email a day.
4) Side scroll wheel doesn't increase volume while on conversation. i need to manually tap the on screen speaker icon and then rotate the scroll wheel to increase it. imagine the trouble for me when i am driving, way too troublesome.
5) Screen is very reflective which makes it almost impossible to see it on outdoors.
6) The ROM is very low. Only around 34mb after a fresh hard reset. I learnt from expansys forum that a ROM patch will be released to address it. But i am not sure whether it will address the other issuse's i mentioned.
7)when on home screen, the keyboard always revert back to numeric mode. that means when u are at today area, u can press start but cannot press "P" for programs, u have to bring it back to character mode then press "P".
8) If u think "." as a secondary function on a key is very very bad idea. Just try to enter "&" key. u have to enter "P" then press "sym" button 3 times. how is that. i thought the "sym" button would bring up all the symbols not on the keyboard. but i was wrong. very very frustrating.
All in all i have to say the i was little disappointed with the way they have implemented the keyboard.
P.S whatever i have mentioned above is not flame Ubiquio or Expansys. Just a frustrated fan who was watching and waiting a long way for this model. Infact i am very happy so far with the way expansys is handling my case.
regards
Krishna
Matt
I'm assuming that you are not a UK customer? I've just been talking to eXpansys and have discovered that the 503G has only went on sale in the UK yesterday and included the updated ROM.
Matt
Krishna received some of our Hong Kong stock. We've passed on all of his input to the factory who is working on a ROM update for us very soon. The ROM issue is one that is still present in the devices that are shipping, but we will have a fix for it very soon that will clear up some ROM space. As for the rest, we have not experienced some problems here such as the volume and power button issues Krishna has, but we'll look into them as well to be sure we take care of any customers who experience issues. If anyone has a problem, I urge them to email us at support@ubiquio.com and we'll do our best to take care of them now and of future customers by issuing ROM updates as needed.
Martha Sama
Business Manager
UBiQUiO
Yes i am not in UK. i live in singapore and i bought it through expansys hongkong the day it became available.
Paul,
Sorry to say this, i have been using windows mobile smartphones and PDA phones for a very very long time and i am very sure that i did try to increase the volume during the phone call only. please read my point 4 to indicate that scroll wheel is not increasing the ear speaker volume, so i am trying it while on call only. No offence my friend.
Martha,
Glad to see that somebody from manfacturer of device itself is looking into these forums and blogs and responds to customer issues. i am more than happy to hear that all my feedbacks are forwarded to your technical team. my sincere appreciation and thanks to you guys.
Regarding the power button issue, you can notice that i have already mentioned that it could be faulty in mine. please refer to point 2.
Again, i need to ask you frankly. how much of the issues can a new ROM can fix. i know the ROM space would certainly be fixed but how about other issues like keyboard speed, symbols layout and the keyboard always revert back to numeric mode when u are at today area? why i am asking this is, whether to give this device a second chance or not? please give me ur honest answer.
regards
Krishna
Martha,
this is really encouraging to find someone form the company talking to customers, please do tell us what to expect with ROM update.
many thanks
while using the 3g network from local provider CTM the
phone keeps showing the ROAMING symbol on the screen...
Also had some problems with wifi connection, both in Macau
and in Bangkok...
apart from that...seems ok...for now...
while using the 3g network from local provider CTM the
phone keeps showing the ROAMING symbol on the screen...
Also had some problems with wifi connection, both in Macau
and in Bangkok...
apart from that...seems ok...for now...
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