 | Announced in November 2006 the O2 XDA Flame is a 3G Windows Mobile Phone Edition that boasts a 3.6” VGA display together with an Nvidia GoForce5500 mobile graphics chip, an Intel XScale PXA270 520MHz processor, 2GB ROM, 802.11 b/g wifi, Bluetooth, surround sound and 2.0 megapixel camera.
Full details about the Flame can be found at O2 Asia
O2 have, so far, not announced any plans to release the Flame in Europe but it is available in Australia from Anything Online
Photographs can be clicked for full size images. | |
Before I start this user review of the XDA Flame I have to explain that most of my usage is data and that by far the best mobile signal available to me at home is from Vodafone - who also offer some of the most expensive data rates. Also, I'll say now that I'm pleased with the Flame but it has shortcomings (as you’ll find out).
I've worked my way through numerous PDA's - both Pocket PC / Windows Mobile and Palm - starting with a Philips Velo 1 and ending up with an HTC Hermes. Along the way I had an Exec which I had to retire when I found I needed more data than Vodafone could offer at a sensible price - so I switched to T-mobile. The Exec wouldn't hold a signal with them but the Hermes would so that was the end of the Exec - but I really missed the VGA screen.
When the Flame was announced it came with, what is for me, the perfect spec. This included infra-red - something that is vital for me but no longer available on the new HTC offerings. Because of this I decided to take the plunge and order one from Australia. Five days after spending £527 and placing my order (and that included a weekend) the Flame was in my hand. A couple of weeks after I received the Flame I also received an import duty / VAT bill - which I was expecting - of £110 making a total cost of £637, a lot for a PDA but the perfect spec doesn't come along every day!
What's in the Box?- The XDA Flame
- Headset with 2.5mm jack
- Mains Adaptor
- Stylus
- Spare stylus
- USB Host Cable
- TV Out Cable
- Mini USB sync cable
- Manual & Outlook / Activesync CD with ActiveSync and Outlook 2002
(No case of any sort!)
On arrival I fitted a screen protector, plugged it in and attempted to leave it to charge. After a few minutes the urge to have a play took over and I pressed the power button. After the usual windows set up the extended ROM installed the camera, the FM radio and some O2 specific applications (that I've never used) and I was ready to go.
Display and Buttons
 | The VGA display is superb - clear and bright. My only previous VGA PDA was the Exec and the Flame is just as good. In an attempt to save power when on battery I'm using the display on one of the lowest brightness settings but it is perfectly readable when outside and in sunlight. As the Flame is WM5 it doesn't have the high-resolution internet option that WM6 offers but when using the Opera browser it is almost the same as browsing on a desktop. It being WM5 is okay with me - I have used a WM6 ROM on my Hermes and didn’t find it offered substantially more than WM5 - but WM6 would be nice! (Some reports say it's on the way).
Sometimes there is a delay (of approx 1 second) when turning the Flame on. This doesn't concern me - I just hit the power button, get the stylus out and once the stylus is in my hand and I'm ready to go and so is the display. I could see this being a problem for some people. Conversely the display sometimes appears so quickly I'd swear it is on and working before I've even pressed the power button.
Incidentally, the only button that can be used to turn the Flame on is the power button. There may be ways round this but I'm not into registry hacking etc - there certainly isn't a menu option for it. Initially I missed the 'OK' button that I’d become used to on the Hermes but I've changed what was the 'Messaging' button to be an 'OK' button and all is fine. | |
Dimensions
 | |
| There are numerous websites that will give you exact dimensions but suffice to say it is similar to the Exec but not as deep. In use I find it fine but I am sure some would find it large. Most of the size is because of the VGA screen – which is a lot of the reason why I bought it. | |
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Phone and Radio
Not much to say about this. It works fine with reception and call clarity on a par with my previous Hermes and sometimes maybe a little better. The dialler etc. are standard WM5 fare. On receiving an incoming call there is a small delay before the phone rings. This is no more than one ring and could possibly be cured by using wma ringtones rather than mp3 ones - I've not tried as I'm quite happy with it as it is.
The wifi works well, and in the usual WM5 way. I have had no problems or hitches whatsoever. Much better range than the wifi on previous PDA's.
I've used bluetoothBluetooth headsets (Sony HBH662 / Jabra BT800), stereo headphones (Itech) and GPS (Holux). All have been fine. On the headphones the A2DP is not superb but it is acceptable for me. I have read reports saying that there are problems whereby when the Flame is turned off the Bluetooth connection is broken but since the machine has been on whenever I've used Bluetooth I can't comment on these.
Memory/Processor
With usable storage memory of 1742MB and program memory of 110MB setting the Flame up was great - just throw whatever applications I like at it and not worry about how much memory I was using up. Now, three weeks after I got the Flame I am still enjoying not having to think about free memory and loading up whatever I like. I've ended up putting 1GB plus of music onto the storage memory so I could use my memory card for Navigator maps.
The memory is all memory chips (if that's the correct description) - not microdrive. This was important to me. I cycle for a couple of hours most days and I wanted something with no moving parts.
The processor can be set for speed, battery life or auto. When in the speed setting the Flame just burns through batteries quicker (more on that later) so I've used it on auto. This is fine and I've had over 10 applications running at once with no slow-down. |
I have never had a PDA that ran so many applications at the same time without slowing down.
Battery/Power
This is the one area where I have found the Flame really falls down. I am sure that part of my problem is again down to me being in an "iffy" 3G signal area and if I were to lock it to GPRS connections only things would be better but as things stand I can just about get through a day on a charge. When I was recently using the machine to watch Eurosport via Slingbox/3G I encountered the unique (for me) situation where the battery charge was decreasing despite me being plugged into the mains at the time.
The Flame seems to charge fine when connected by Activesync, and when plugged into it's own charger it is fine but when plugged into most other mini-USB chargers it doesn't charge. I think it needs 5V/1A charge whereas most chargers seem to be |
| 5V/850mA. |
Camera
 | The camera is the best that I have used on a PDA. It says 2.0 megapixel autofocus on it so, in theory, it should be similar to the Tytn one but it is way, way better.
The adjacent photo was taken on the Flame. Click on the photo to see the original in its full glory. | |
Applications
The Flame comes with all the usual applications and a few extras. There is a built in FM tuner. In the usual way the headset is used as an aerial and, once the radio is on, the sound can be sent out the Flame's built in stereo speakers or the headset. The reception on the radio is outstanding - I have a little Philips FM radio that I have used for years and the Flame gets a signal when that doesn't. As my Flame came from Australia the pre-loaded presets weren't much use but they were easily changed.
Built in to the Flame is a remote control program. I've not used this much but it operates my Panasonic TV fine from the other end of the room, although before you can use it the program will insist on asking you if it is okay to switch the device into landscape mode.
Other aspects of the Flame that I've not used at all yet are the TV-out facility and the SRS sound. The sound is excellent through wired headphones but eventually I'll get round to playing with these.
USB host is also included. So far I've plugged in a card reader - which showed up as a hard drive in file explorer and worked perfectly - and a USB keyboard - that I am typing this on now.
In preparing this review I discovered that a screen capture utility is also included so the screenshots I’ve included have been taken with that.
TomTom Navigator is not part of the standard package but I have loaded it up and it functions fine, although it does seem spectacularly slow unless Bluetooth is turned on. With Bluetooth on (even if a GPS is not connected) everything runs quickly. Whether this is down to the Flame or how I have set up TomTom I don't know, and it is so insignificant I don't care!
Value for Money
The nearest competitor to the Flame is the HTC Advantage which currently costs £610 (a little less than I paid for my Flame but the Flame price included express DHL shipping). Both are VGA devices with large amounts of built in memory, the Advantage has more memory but it is a microdrive. The Flame is smaller but does not include a keyboard. I think the Flame offers good value for money - as long as the hardware is what you require.
Miscellaneous/Problems
Sometimes the Flame seems to lock up for no apparent reason. When this happens all button presses seem to produce no response yet when the power is turned off and then on again the machine seems to "catch up with itself", carry out all button presses and return to normal. As it "catches up with itself" the data always re-connects. Also, there is an intermittent problem whereby the data ceases to operate after reconnecting to the network following signal loss or sometimes this arises when switching between a 3G or a GPRS connection. In this situation turning the phone radio off and on does not solve the problem with only a soft reset seeming to fix things. Where I live I don't have a great 3G signal and when I spent a weekend away recently (in an area of good 3G coverage) neither of these problems arose - so I'm not sure if these problems are down to the Flame or the phone network confusing it.
The built in "device lock" sometimes locks the device so well that it takes numerous attempts to unlock it before the Flame is successfully back in action.
Some programs (e.g. Pocket Music) switch the display off when in use. After this has happened and the display then turned back on the backlight doesn't seem to come back on when the display does.
Prior to buying the Flame I'd read that it was fussy about memory cards and didn't like Sandisk ones (I actually think it was down to the country that the card originated from) so I bought a Kingston one for it, which I have been using (without problem) for most of the time. I have also tried a Sandisk card in it and that too has worked without problem.
Summary
Pros
Fast processor
3.6" VGA screen
Large amount of included memory
3G
Superb camera
Build quality
FM radio
Cons
Battery life
Size
Occasional delay when powering up
4WM Rating
86%
Conclusion
The specifications of the Flame make it perfect for me, although I am sure that many would find it too big and not want to go near it.
However the ROM needs some work. Regardless of whether or not the soft-resets that I frequently have to make are due to a poor phone signal the Flame should be able to handle it. When and if a WM6 ROM appears things may get better. There are lots of small faults (e.g. the display with the screen coming on sometimes) that I’m ignoring but it’d be nice if they weren’t there.
Note
Since writing this review I have disabled push email on the device and have it automatically checking for emails every 15 minutes. So far the problems of it locking up and failing to reconnect the data properly have entirely disappeared. Whilst I was happy with the Flame anyway this – if it has solved the problems – has improved things no end!
As I’ve said, I am not regretting buying the Flame - it does everything that I want a PDA to do. The only challenger to it as far as I am concerned comes from the I-mate Ultimate range - which has yet to appear.
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