O2 Xda Orbit 2 Review

The O2 Xda Orbit 2

O2 have been renowned for innovation over the years with the creation and development of the Xda series of machines. Twelve months or so ago O2 launched what was arguably the best Xda machine - the Xda Orbit. This developed a massive following despite it having a few shortcomings such as too fast a trackball and a relatively slow operational speed.

O2 have now launched the replacement for the Orbit which has been imaginatively named the Xda Orbit 2. This is again based on a generic HTC design (the Polaris) but has been fitted out with an O2 designed housing as was the original Orbit. This resultant blend of HTC technology and O2 style serves to produce a modern looking and attractive machine.

The Orbit 2 serves to bring to the user a high level of features; 3Mpixel camera, fast processor, large RAM / ROM, GPS, Quad band, phone, Touch interface, etc.

O2 are back with another revolutionary Orbit design, but will it follow through and gain on the success of the original Orbit or will it be found lacking?

We'll look at its features as we move through the review and see if the Orbit 2 does carry on the traditions of the original Orbit.....

Once more we extend our thanks to the generous folks at O2 for allowing us to review the Xda Orbit 2.

As always in the hardware section of the review all images shown are thumbnails which may be clicked upon to load a larger more detailed image.


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: High Tech Computer (HTC)
HTC Code name: HTC Polaris
Supplier: O2 UK PLC
Product Name: Xda Orbit 2
Price: Varies depending on contract


Firstly let's cover the initial technical ground with a detailed listing of the hardware specification that comprises the Orbit 2.

The high points for me here are the large memory (ROM : 256 MB / RAM : 128 MB SDRAM), and a fast processor (Qualcomm MSM 7200 400MHz) as these have the greatest effect on the operation of the machine. It should be noted that the Qualcomm 400Mhz processor operates approximately 50-60% faster than the corresponding 400Mhz chip from Samsung (as used in the Xda Orbit), which makes for a noticeable operational speed increase. The machine positively flies compared to the Xda Orbit!

Features Platform PDA phone with embedded GPS Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional Processor/Chipset Qualcomm MSM 7200, 400Mhz Memory ROM: 256MB RAM: 128MB LCD Module 2.8" 240x320 QVGA resolution Colour TFT LCD with LED back light Anti-glare design Touch Screen GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA Function Internal antenna UMTS (850/1900MHz for NA, 2100MHz for Europe) and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (quad-band, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) HSDPA 3GPP Release 5 compliant DL up to 3.6 mbps and UL up to 384 kbps EGPRS Functionality EGPRS class B Multi-slot class 10 PBCCH GPS Internal GPS antenna Standalone GPS and A-GPS mode FM Radio Turing range: 76Mhz ~ 108Mhz Auto channel search Wireless LAN WiFi 802.11b/g Security 802.11i and AES QoS Device to Device Connectivity Bluetooth 2.0 Digital Camera Main camera: 3 mega-pixel CMOS imagine sensor with AF 2nd camera: VGA CMOS imagine sensor Power Battery Removable and Rechargeable Lithium ion battery, 1350mAh AC adaptor AC input: 100~240V, 50/60 Hz Keyboard/Button/Switch Power button 360°Track wheel w/ 4-way navigation control Action button w/ lighting Send/Hands-free button End/Keylock button GPS On/Off button Portal button Volume up/down button Voice dial/record button (or PoC button) Camera capture button Reset Notification 1 bi-color LED (green and red) for UMTS/GSM network status, notification, and charging status 1 tri-color respective (blue, amber, and green) LEDs for Bluetooth/ GPS/ WiFi notification Notification by LED, sound, message and vibration

Audio Built-in microphone Receiver Loud speaker for Hands-Free supported Interface 3V USIM/SIM card slot HTC ExtUSB (11-pin, mini-USB & audio jack in one) MicroSD card slot External GPS antenna connector Stylus Lock type mechanism Hanger hole Stylish hanger to wear phone with neck strap as pendant or to attach various phone hangers Accessories Available User manual, Quick start guide & Sync. software CD Screen Protector Stylus 3-in-1 stylus Travel Charger (AC adapter) Pouch (Carrying Case) USB Sync Cable (mini-USB/USB) Battery Wired Stereo Headset 3.5 mm Audio Adaptor 3.5 mm Audio Adaptor with Microphone Wired Remote Controller Mono Bluetooth Headset, BH M100 Mono Bluetooth Headset, BH M200 Stereo Bluetooth Headset, BH S100 Device specific designed Bluetooth Headset Bluetooth Keyboard Bluetooth Handsfree Y-Cable 11 pin to 5pin + 6pin Y-Cable 11-pin to 5-pin + 3.5 mm Audio Jack Car Charger Generic Car Holder External GPS Antenna Cradle Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional Applications Pocket Outlook Calendar, Contacts, Messaging, Tasks, Voice Notes & Email Setup Wizard DirectPush Mail Internet Explorer Mobile Office Mobile Word, Excel, & PowerPoint Mobile Windows Media Player 10 Mobile Pictures & Videos ActiveSync Client Pocket MSN Internet Sharing Device Management OTA Provisioning Terminal Service Client Calculator Games Value Added Applications Ringtone SIM Manager Smart Dialing STK release 99 3G-324M Video Telephony Camera capture utility Camcorder utility H.263, MPEG4 MMS Client Picture Enhancement for Pictures & Videos Audio & Video Enhancement for WMP FM Radio Application OMA DRM v1.0 Comm. Manager Task Manager Voice Dial Voice Recorder ZIP PDF Viewer Backup Tool GPS Navigation Software

EXTERNALS AND HARDWARE

WHAT'S IN THE BOX It must be highlighted that this review is produced based on a pre-release machine which O2 kindly supplied therefore there are no shots that can be taken of the final consumer packaging; that was not available at the time of the review. The review package received contained: Xda Orbit 2 Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery, 1350 mAh Xda Orbit 2 pouch AC charger for recharging your Xda battery. USB to PC sync cable Hands-free stereo headset

It is anticipated that the final consumer package will contain:

Xda Orbit 2
Xda Orbit 2 pouch
Xda Orbit 2 battery to power your Xda
AC charger for recharging your Xda battery
Connection cable to connect your Xda to a PC for synchronising data and charging
Hands-free stereo headset
Quick Start Guide
Full User Manual (available on the CD)
Warranty card for Europe
In-box CD: Applications Getting Started, Full User Manual
CoPilot 7 Live CD containing: Installer for CPL7 Live (as backup to the version in ROM), CPL7 maps for the UK are Northern Ireland, O2 Specific version of the PC CoPilot Central Application

Note: CD contents include: GPRS Monitor & Sprite Backup. Windows MobileTM software, including Microsoft® ActiveSync®4.5 Connectivity Software and Microsoft® Outlook® 2007 (trial)

THE HEADSET The headset supplied with the Orbit 2 is exactly the same as supplied with the Xda Stellar and as such is a great improvement compared to those offered with prior Xda models. It comprises two distinct parts: Earphone component - which sports a 3.5mm (standard) jack plug, stereo earphones (with foam padding to ensure a good fit), and a sliding spacing bar which allows you to control the spread of the wires once fitted. The ear pieces when fitted with the foam comfort pads fit well in the ear and are reasonably comfortable to wear. However as the jack plug is the 3.5mm standard size used in third party headsets you are free to replace this portion of the headset with a more expensive comfortable third party model of your choice.

Control module - This comprises the control module itself and a metre of connecting cable which terminates into the HTC modified USB connector which fits into the bottom of the Orbit 2. The module supports a number of top mounted remote controls such as: - Answer call, terminate call, play track, pause track, previous / next track, volume up / down, with the side supporting additional controls for putting a call on hold or for muting the volume. The back of the control module sports a spring loaded plastic clip which allows it to be conveniently clipped onto a shirt or jacket collar.

FIRST LOOKS AND FRONT When one removes the Xda Orbit 2 from the box the first impression is of sleekness and mirror finishes. The housing designed and specified by O2 serves to eliminate the 'hard' corners of the HTC Polaris and replaces them with gentle curves as seen on the original Orbit. These ensure a pleasing and comfortable position in the hand. The style of the main body is bright reflective silver which surrounds the edges of the Orbit 2 in a distinctive strip and holds within it the side mounted controls. This is set into a matte black casing which is almost velvety to the touch. This looks good in contrast to the polished silver and also serves to give a 'tactile' surface which means that when held grip slippage is reduced. I hate to say it but on an emotional level the Orbit 2 fairly screams to be picked up and fondled - I found myself picking it up over and over and moving it around in my grip - prior even to turning it on and charging it for review! I don't believe in calling PDAs sexy - but the Xda Orbit 2 certainly is! Most of the front face of the Orbit 2 is taken up with a highly polished transparent touch sensitive screen which is pierced only by the second camera. The actual display screen in set centrally within this with the Xda and O2 logos printed immediately above and below this area. This new type of screen (as first seen on the HTC Touch) takes a little getting used to for anyone used to an indented screen where it is positioned set into the body of the machine. On the Orbit 2 this smooth surface offers no screen edges that can be used as stylus end stops but has great effect as an improved touchable interface as we'll see later. Once one has adjusted to the surface screen though it is almost painful to adjust back to using inset screens on other PDAs - it is just so comfortable to work with. Immediately below the screen is the slightly concave control module in bright matte silver which holds the illuminated Start/End buttons and other control keys. The problematical track ball on the original Orbit has been replaced with a new large action button surrounded by a rubberised jog-ring. This serves to give very precise control of movement (with no finger slippage), positive action via the large central button as well as 4 axis control as the jog ring also acts as a cursor pad when pressed. This is one heck of an impressive control to use and so far is the best control I've seen on any PDA for navigation, scrolling and function operation.

The main controls / functions on the front of the Orbit 2 are: 1 - Earpiece & left / right LED indicators 2 - Power Button 3 - Second camera 4 - Talk button - Press to answer an incoming call or dial a number 5 - Windows start button - Press to launch windows 6 - Navigation wheel/Enter - Press up, down, left and right, or rotate the wheel to move through menus and programme instructions. Press the centre of the navigation button to carry out the selection 7 - OK button - Press OK to confirm actions and to close applications and screens 8 - End button - Press to end a call or return to the Today screen The indicator LEDS (set on either side of the earpiece) show various operational functions such as: Right LED: Shows green and amber lights for HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GSM/GPRS standby, message, and network status as well as for notification and battery charging status. Shows a flashing red light when the battery level reaches 5% or lower. Left LED: Shows a flashing blue light when the Bluetooth system is ready to transmit or receive Bluetooth signals, or a flashing green light for Wi-Fi status. When both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled, their lights flash alternately. Shows flashing amber light for GPS status. It should be noted on the Orbit 2 that there are no hardware keys in the body for actioning the Left and Right on screen soft keys - on this machine you are expected to operate their functions directly via the touch screen. Again this takes a little adjustment in operating manner as you do have to get used to interacting with the touch screen via fingers instead of just a stylus!

THE BOTTOM PORTS The base of the Orbit 2 is again slightly convex and contains from left to right / top to bottom: The soft reset port into which the stylus can be pointed to soft reset the machine. HTC custom USB port - this serves to allow the device to be fitted with either a power charger (mains or car), PC sync cable or the wired headset. To the right of this is the back cover lock / unlock slider. The very small hole top right (set into the black body) is the input microphone. Bottom right is the stylus silo again set into the body area.

STYLUS / STYLUS SILO With the Orbit 2 HTC / O2 have retained the one piece stylus as used on the original Orbit. This means that it is some 92mm in length and relatively comfortable to use when held. The nose is nicely shaped similar to a spear head and therefore when being used the shank does not interfere in any way with screen visibility. The locking mechanism works purely on friction to there are no moving internal locking mechanisms to get jammed or broken.

THE TOP FACE The convex top of the Orbit 2 is very plain and understated holding only the on / off / standby button. Press to turn on or turn off the display temporarily. To turn off the power, press and hold for about 5 seconds. A message prompts you to choose whether or not to turn off the device completely.

THE LEFT HAND SIDE The first control is the Voice Dial Button which serves to activate the Voice Command software, used for voice dialling and program activation. Volume Slider - During normal operation it raises or lowers the system volume of the device. During a phone call (or when playing music) the slider can be used to alter the volume level of the call in progress. Lanyard mount - HTC / O2 do insist on moulding lanyard loop mounts into the body of recent machines. Useful maybe but I've yet to find a lanyard small enough or strong enough that I'd wish to put into place on such a valuable device!

THE RIGHT HAND SIDE The right hand side continues the spartan theme only containing: The MicroSD port. This is protected by a pop out cover which is secured to the body via an internal strong flexible plastic cord. The interface itself is SDHC complaint which means that (at the moment) cards up to 8Gb can be used. Camera Button - Lower down towards the base of the machine is the camera button, this is slightly raised from the surface, which when using the camera serves to allow the finger to locate it comfortably. It should be noted that the camera button is dual position - if slowly depressed it serves to set the focus of the camera, and if held in this position the focus will be locked at that point. When fully depressed the actual photograph will be taken.

THE BACK FACE, CAMERA, BACK REMOVAL AND BATTERY The back of the Orbit 2 contains: External GPS antenna port (with prise-off cover). 3MegaPixel camera. Vanity mirror for taking self portraits. Speaker which is protected by slots in the body housing. As on the Orbit the battery cover cannot be removed until the lock has been disengaged on the base of the machine - once this has been operated the back pops up slightly allowing it to be removed. Once the cover is removed the Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery (1350 mAh) is revealed. One would think that such a battery would be underpowered for a 3G / GPS ready device but so far it seems to be perfectly capable - more on this later!

SIM LOADING With the Orbit HTC have addressed one of my main hates of the original Orbit - that of having the MicroSD card hidden below the SIM card holder. The loading / locking of the SIM card has also been improved with much more durable components now being used. To load the SIM card the battery has to be removed as this releases a sliding peg which assists in holding the SIM carrier closed. Once the battery has been removed the SIM carrier can be pushed back in the direction of the arrow and popped upwards to allow the SIM to be slid into position. Once loaded the carrier should be gently lowered back into position and the lock / spring mechanism will self engage (it may sometimes need a bit of gentle assistance). The battery can then be reloaded which will push the locking peg over the SIM carrier to ensure it will remain locked. The back / battery cover then can be replaced.

SIZE MATTERS

As the Orbit 2 will invariably be compared to the original Orbit and the Xda Stellar both for performance, specifications and size we thought it might be a good idea to compare them physically side by side. As you can see the Orbit 2 (top) is thinner by around a millimetre compared to the Orbit and a massive 3.2 millimetres thinner than the Stellar. Where it really scores is on weight where it is 3 grams heavier than the Orbit but an incredible 60 grams lighter than the Stellar - Now you know how much excess weight the Stellar needs to support that QWERTY keyboard.

THE SCREEN The last and probably one of the most important aspects of the hardware that requires discussion is that of the screen. The screen is sharp and clear with a good contrast and colour balance, but without any of the brightness issues seen in that of the Stellar. The screen is usable in all lighting conditions encountered so far, even bright winter sunlight. The touch screen appears to have been coated or infused with an anti-glare coating as even though it has a glossy surface it does not interfere with screen readability.

All images have been processed using the superb SnagIt from TechSmith

HARDWARE CONCLUSIONS

Once again O2 have worked closely with HTC to re-engineer their premier Xda machine. The Orbit 2 carries on the tradition of the original Orbit; style, comfort, light weight, small size and a goodly number of features.

The machine is very well constructed, with no undesirable idiosyncrasies that I could see and all the essential external hardware features are there. Taking these together with 3G connectivity, A-GPS and camera it looks like this will be a winner and valid successor to the Orbit.

Of course the hardware is only part of the story so we'll move onto examining the internals of the device next and also see how it performs in the real world!

INTERNALS AND APPLICATIONS

In this overview of the internals / applications on the Xda Orbit 2 we will not cover or look at all applets and programs that the device has built into ROM, as that would be in large a review of the Windows Mobile operating system - we will highlight only applications or programs that have been added by O2 or screens that show interesting changes that have come to light with this ROM build.

THE TODAY SCREEN O2 have added their own suite of today program applets into the ROM which comprise: Last Call Profiles Meters Calendar Shortcuts Running Apps These are very much an O2 standard and have been seen in ROMs from older machines. There is no innovation here, you are still limited to 5 shortcuts in their launcher for example. Even if we accept that limitation the applets remain useful and do improve the functionality of the device making it easier to change profiles, see last callers, etc.

APPLICATIONS The Orbit 2 comes with the full blown version of Windows Mobile® 6 Professional with all the usual programs in place. The ROM is however recently updated and includes the Windows Mobile 2007 Office applications of Word, Excel and Powerpoint - giving you compatibility of file access with Office 2007 on the desktop PC. Supplied games are the standard Bubble Breaker and Solitaire. Other additions include: Acrobat Reader LE - for reading PDF files Audio Booster - A mini graphic equaliser for your Orbit HTC Audio Manager HTC's own library based music playback system Bluetooth Explorer - Allows you to send / receive files with other BT devices HTC Comms Manager - Allow control of communications Java - for running small Java applets O2 Operator Settings - reset / modify O2 connection settings on the fly SIM Manager - allows you to copy contacts between the SIM card and the Orbit 2 System Info - O2 commissioned application displaying free memory, BT status and battery charge HTC Voice Recorder - HTC application for recording voice notes Cyberon Voice Dial - for voice enabled contact dialling ZIP - HTC application which allows one to work with ZIP files The Companion CD also includes: Sprite Backup - Probably the best backup program available Spb GPRS Monitor - allows you to monitor connection use / charges

MEDIA
Media is well catered for with the Orbit 2 having the HTC Audio Manager acting as an alternative to Media Player for handling the playback and organisation of music libraries. Audio Manager can be used to scan through all directories on a Storage Card and auto add any media files found to the Music Library.

This coupled with the Audio Streaming applet give a set of useful tools for playing back media both on and off the device.

For the first time on any Xda device the Audio Booster has also been added which serves to allow you to fine tune your listening experience, giving you the ability to vary the Bass, Treble, and 3D effect of the sound output as well as choosing from various pre-defined profiles.

COMMUNICATIONS
The Xda Orbit 2 as a converged device supports many communications protocols as well as mobile phone connectivity. The Comm Manager is used to control both which connectivity options on the device (WiFi / BT / Internet / Phone, etc) are active as well as allowing Bluetooth / WiFi connections to be configured and managed. Bluetooth connectivity includes A2DP which means that devices like BT Stereo headphones can be used to great advantage with the HTC AudioManager.

The Phone dialler works well and follows the theme of the Audio Manager (replacing the O2 dialler seen on previous machines). As expected the dialler supports smart dial whereby typing a contacts name on the keyboard operates a smart search which then offers numbers to dial. Whilst configuring the phone options are found to adjust connectivity between various bands (2G, HSDPA and 3G in reality) as well as controlling other options such as PIN security, Ringtones, Services, Network etc.

HSDPA - The Orbit 2 supports high speed HSDPA connectivity offering speeds up to 384kbps for upload and 3.6Mbps for download. This can have an adverse effect on battery life so that functionality may be turned off via the HSDPA applet.

As always with O2 Xda phones the Orbit 2 is not SIM-locked which means you can insert a SIM card from a different air time provider and use it without any issues (apart from adjusting the connectivity settings).

SETTINGS
The settings on the Orbit 2 are very much Windows Mobile 'standard' with a few extras and the 'Touch' system added to enhance the machine. These are:

TouchFLO - The TouchFLO applet allows one to turn on and off the sound sample which is played when navigating around the touch sensitive screen when scrolling or panning.

This can be seen in applications like the Inbox (Email / SMS, etc) application where one can scroll up and down the messages shown on screen using a finger, or switch between the various email accounts by swiping the finger left and right. Or in the Contacts application where again one can scroll the contacts list up or down using the finger. The Contacts application is further enhanced by sliding selector bar (right hand side of screen) which when pressed and slid allows on to traverse quickly through the alphabet to locate contacts starting with that letter.

TouchCUBE - TouchFLO also features the Touch Cube where you can launch messaging programs, Pocket Internet Explorer, and other programs. O2 have worked with HTC to extend the the features of the 'standard' cube with an O2 specific page (with colour icons) which allows the launching of:

CoPilot 7 Live!
Yahoo Search
FM Radio
Windows File Explorer
Alarms Application
Office Mobile Applications

It should be noted here that Yahoo search is a new feature that O2 bring to the Xda range for the first time.

The other faces of the cube allow add your favourite contacts, play music (launches the Audio Manager), and access your pictures and videos (launches the Camera Album in photo or video mode).

The photo contact system has also been improved in this version as if one selects multiple photo contact entries for the same contact the photo shortcut will be overlaid with a small house, office block or mobile phone allowing you to differentiate between the various phone numbers - very useful! If the contact does not have a photo assigned to them the the contacts first or last name will be displayed. The buttons at the bottom of the photo contact screen server to offer:

Launch Phone Application
Open Call History
Launch Contacts
Delete Favourite Contacts

The Touch Cube is displayed in portrait view only, if you are working with the screen in landscape mode then the cube is disabled. The cube is activated by placing your thumb (or finger) at the bottom of the screen and swiftly sliding it upwards. Once activated one can swipe the thumb left or right to traverse between the different faces of the cube. The cube is deactivated by placing your thumb (or finger) at the top of the screen and swiftly sliding it downwards. The cube will then slide away to reveal the screen which was in use prior to the cube being activated.

ROM AND MEMORY
As you can see here the Orbit 2 is based on the HTC Polaris platform and does indeed sport the fast low power Qualcomm 7200 processor which ensures good battery life whilst maintaining a fast operational speed.

Memory has been enhanced compared to the earlier Orbit machine with the Orbit 2 having 120Mb of Storage memory and 101Mb of program memory. After a hard reset 82.82Mb of Storage memory is available with 62.97mb of Program memory free. This gives plenty of memory for running large applications as well as room internally for loading 'critical' applications which you may wish to hold in the internal faster memory.

Whilst discussing memory it is worth restating that the Orbit 2 is SD 2.0 / SDHC compatible which means that MicroSD cards up to the (current) maximum of 8Gb can be used to hold applications and data.

Free memory after a hard reset:

Storage

Total: 119.17Mb
In Use: 30.35Mb
Free: 88.82Mb

Program

Total: 100.77Mb
In Use: 37.80Mb
Free: 62.97Mb

The screen shot above is the memory state once a small screen shot application had been added and PIM data synched onto the device and the machine allowed to sync with the PC. It should be noted that internal storage memory is reduced compared to the Stellar as CoPilot 7 Live is loaded into ROM after a hard reset.

BATTERY INDICATOR One of the great annoyances to owners of the Orbit was that the battery charge indicator only indicated decrements of 10%; in the Orbit 2 this has been addressed and the battery charge is now shown in single percent increments.

SMS / MMS The combination SMS / MMS Inbox is present again on the Orbit 2 but I'm happy to say (so far at least) that no problem issues have been observed and MMS / SMS messaging is so far working without any issues.

RSS HUB

RSS HUB The Orbit 2 comes preloaded in ROM with the RSS Hub application. This is an O2 badged version of Ilium Soft wares' Newsbreak Application which allows you to subscribe to and read RSS feeds on the move. The main features are: Listen to your favourite podcasts, watch vidcasts, and view attached files and images! Save your podcasts to listen or view when you have the time, and schedule them to download however you choose Tell the Hub what news to search for - save keywords and let it find stories you're interested in Get the news you care about as it happens! Have NewsBreak scan your feeds and notify you about important stories by setting up alerts Spot the headlines that matter to you by using keyword icons

CPL7 Live

CPL7 Live As the Orbit 2 has of course a GPS unit built into the hardware O2 have made the most of it by supplying CoPilot 7 Live (CoPilot Live! (7) Review) built into the ROM of the machine. So once you have your Orbit 2 charged you are up and running. Some customisation of CPL7 has been made by O2 and features like the rather annoying keyboard sound effects have been turned off. As well as CPL7 being built into ROM O2 supply the Orbit 2 with a 1Gb microSD card pre-loaded with the CoPilot maps which cover the UK mainland and Northern Ireland.

FM RADIO

FM RADIO One useful feature of the original Orbit was the FM radio which is retained by the Orbit 2. Once again for this to function the wired headset must be in place and this has a secondary function as an FM antenna. The first time the application is run it will automatically scan for the available FM channels in your area, save them as presets, then play the first FM station found. When you tap the Exit icon on the top right of the FM Radio screen, the program continues to run in the background and allows you to continue listening to the radio while you use other programs. To turn off the FM radio, tap on the upper left corner of the FM Radio screen. Full control of the radio is allowed with options / features of: Allows you to switch between Mono and Stereo modes. Switches between speaker and headset output. Search the FM band for the next lower / higher FM channel. Volume adjustment RDS Station name display Preset saving and adjustment As well as navigation via the Jog ring: Press NAVIGATION left/right to search the FM band for the next lower/ higher FM channel. When the search reaches the last station, it cycles back to the beginning of the FM band. Press NAVIGATION up/down to select the previous/next available preset station. Press the ENTER button to toggle mute on and off. Rotate the NAVIGATION Wheel clockwise to increase the volume, anticlockwise to decrease the volume.

QUICK LIST

QUICK LIST One new feature incorporated by HTC is the Quick List which is activated by pressing and holding the 'End Call' key for a few seconds. This allows one to quickly access features such as turning on Flight mode, Locking the device, etc. This can be adjusted via the options menu to activate some of these functions directly without displaying the menu. This type of feature originally came from the Nokia phones and it has been a much requested feature for Windows Mobile devices.

GOING LARGE

LARGE START MENU and NOTIFICATION BUBBLE As the drive towards producing a more finger friendly interface seems to be the goal of the PDA industry HTC have offered the option to modify the Start Menu. The Large Start Menu option increases the spacing of the start menu entries as well as increasing the size of the recently used program icons. This only makes a slight change to the menu but does ease finger operation. The notification bubble has similarly been enhanced whereby if the small notification icons in the to tray are tapped upon a large finger friendly pop out bubble appears to allow each icon to be selected by a finger sized icon. Both these features are in effect HTC efforts to get around the user unfriendliness of the WM6 operating system. As development moves forward I can either see Windows Mobile improving the user accessibility of the operating system or in lieu of that HTC continuing to replace portions of the system with these more friendly options.

DEFAULT SIP

DEFAULT SIP On the Orbit 2 HTC have included two custom Soft Input Programs (SIPs): The Touch Keyboard and Touch Keypad. The Touch Keyboard features 20 keys. The keys are large and user-friendly and this mode includes enhanced features such as XT9 (extended T9) predictive input which can be used to 'text type' faster and more accurately. The Touch Keypad is a 12-key on-screen keypad that has a similar layout to that of a mobile phone keypad, plus some additional keys. The keys are once more large and user-friendly. Both SIPs support XT9, Multitap or Numeric input. A Symbol Pad can be called up and provides a comprehensive list of common symbols such as parentheses, braces, currency signs, and more, as well as punctuation marks and special characters. The Symbol pad is available when using both the Touch Keyboard and Touch Keypad.

CAMERA

THE CAMERA The camera software included is the new HTC application which replaces the camera part of the 'Pictures and Videos' application. This offers a one screen display consisting of a central view finder with adjustment / mode controls surrounding it. Options use for the camera may be changed by tapping on the surrounding icons or via selecting the bottom right 'menu' icon (options icon). When actuated the screen rotates into landscape mode and in effect becomes the viewfinder for the camera.

HTC have taken great trouble to improve the camera application with the Orbit 2 and have added a Quick Settings panel that allows one to quickly vary the: Resolution White Balance Brightness Storage Medium used Camera Mode Call timer Digital zoom is available from 1x to 8x (dependant on which resolution you are operating in). This is operated via either rotating the navigation wheel clockwise or anti-clockwise, using navigation up / down, or via using the on screen zoom icons. In addition to the following modes which are available via the regular options.

Self Timer - On / off Storage - Main Memory / MicroSD card (if inserted) White Balance - Auto / Daylight / Night / Incandescent / Florescent Effect - Grayscale / Sepia / Cool / Negative Resolution - 120x160 / 240x320 / 480x640 / 960x1280 / 1200x1600 / 1536x2048 Camera - Main Camera / 2nd Camera / 2nd Camera (flip) Quality - Basic / Normal / Fine / Superfine Metering Mode - Center Area / Average Time Stamp - on / off Mode - Photo / Video / MMS Video / Contacts Picture / Picture Theme Panorama / Sports / Burst Capture Format - JPEG Shutter Sound - on / off Shoot Option - Full Press / Half Press Grid - on / off Keep backlight - on / off Review Duration - No review / 3 seconds / 10 seconds / no limit Flicker adjustment - Auto / 50Hz / 60Hz Prefix - Default Counter - X / reset Adjust - Contrast / Saturation / Hue / Sharpness

CAMERA ALBUM

The Camera Album can be used to view images and videos captured using the Camera program. It offers a host of features that let you rotate images, view them as a slide show, as contact pictures, and more. When first loaded the Album displays a screen of thumbnails which can be scrolled through using the fingers via swiping the screen to the left or the right. For reference it should be noted that the Album application only works with the screen in Landscape orientation.

If a picture is tapped a further set of icons pops on screen offering you the options of: Sending a copy of the picture via a messaging account Assign the image as a contact picture Return to the main Camera Album screen Start the slide show Delete the image Instructions to show you how to use gestures when viewing photos

While viewing the slide show, touch the screen to call up the playback controls which allow: Touch to open the slide show options where you can set the transition effect to use, time per slide, and orientation of the images Touch to go back to the previous image Touch to play or pause slideshow playback Touch to go forward to the next image Touch to return to the main Camera Album screen

ALBUM GESTURES The Album application is impressive looks wise but where it really comes in to its own is the ease of manipulating the images via gestures. When you are viewing a single photo on screen navigating to the next or previous image is simplicity itself - all you have to do is to stroke your finger across the photo from left to right (next picture) or right to left (previous picture). You can rotate the image or zoom in and out using the gestures shown on the left. Double tapping on an image fits it to the screen. Very impressive and a lot of fun to use!

EXAMPLE PHOTOS
All photographs were taken with the Orbit 2 set to use the highest resolution and best picture quality:


A wintry day during Christmas 2007 - light conditions were terrible with little sunshine and a lot of grey cloud cover
Taken on the same day, but with a little bit of sun appearing to give a slightly better set of conditions. Light balance of the wintering tub was good
A couple of shots taken of one of my wrist watches the first taken from about 8-9 inches away ...
... and then moving in to 3-4 inches to see how the lens performed close up.

In all cases the settings were left fully automatic and the Orbit 2 hand braced.

PC INTEGRATION

PC INTEGRATION One feature available in Windows Mobile 6 that can be used with WMDC (Windows Mobile Device Center) and Vista is that of icon integration. This takes place during the creation of the partnership with the PC and means that both WMDC and Windows Explorer will detect and load in icons specific to the connected mobile device. Once more this is a first for O2 as this facility has not been used on any prior Xda device. As you can see both large and small graphical icons are used in both WMDC and Explorer. It may not be a massive feature but it is good to see it being used at last.

PROS AND CONS

Pro Fast processor Large memory Inbuilt GPS Custom housing 3G Quad band Comfortable in the hand Good quality screen Loud Volume Strong construction Non-slippy casing FM Radio Unique navigation dial Battery lock Full size stylus Sprite Backup included GPRS Monitor included O2 added applications Enhanced Headset Good quality screen Good battery life Fast Sat Nav locks TouchFlo system and Cube CoPilot Live included in ROM SDHC capacity microSD

Con No HTC Home application

Whilst we look at the Pros and Cons of the Orbit 2 it is well worth considering the slight differences between the O2 machine and other variants of the Polaris design offered by other airtime carriers.

O2 have decided not to include the popular HTC Home application but do include their own O2 today applets which whilst very phone biased do offer a lot of added functionality.

The enhanced headset is only offered by HTC and O2 - other carriers supply the basic headset.

The Orbit 2 resides in a custom housing especially designed by O2 for comfort and ease of use.

Spb GPRS Monitor and Sprite backup included free of charge. The later especially is a superb bonus program that can save you from disaster!

OVERALL CONCLUSION


The Orbit 2 will be available to buy from January 21 2008, exact pricing and information on what deals are available have yet to be published by O2.

Connectivity - As the Orbit 2 supports HSDPA connectivity O2 were asked if they support HSDPA, and if so what is coverage like? They replied advising: Yes, and coverage is about 30% of current 3G coverage and growing. However it was pointed out that O2 Customer Services will need to be contacted as the SIM records will need updating to allow HSDPA connections to be made. If this is not done the SIM will only give you a lower data rate on HSDPA instead of the anticipated higher rate of connection.

Battery life - For me battery life is measured on how much of the working day I can get through without running out of power, or if the device survives with power remaining then how much is left by the time I reach home. Typically my average working day involves about an hours eBook reading, two or three phone calls, and extensive use of both Pocket Excel and Pocket Informant. For around half an hour the machine is connected to a BT headset in case any calls come in whilst working on the shop floor resolving IT issues. The machine is connected to 2G GPRS (there is no 3G connectivity for me either at home or work) all day with Push Email active. The Orbit 2 is set to turn off the back light after 60 seconds and the back light intensity level is set to 50% then turned down by one notch in the settings applet. Typically the Orbit 2 returned home with battery levels down to around 68%, with the lowest achieved being 63% and the highest 74%. Sat Nav is also used whilst travelling to and from the office, but as the Orbit is docked and powered this is seen as having no impact on battery life. This is on par or slightly better than other machines like the Stellar.

SatNav lock times - during the course of the review the Orbit 2 has been hard reset three times which has the side effect of clearing the GPS cache. Each time after the reset the Sat Nav system was initialised and times taken to achieve a first and secondary lock. First lock times varied between 27 and 32 seconds and secondary locks were achieved in between 6 and 11 seconds. Subsequent later locks (with QuickGPS enabled) occurred within 5 to 9 seconds during normal SatNav use. This is impressive beating the Stellar by a small margin and being quicker than my aging BT GPS unit.

Camera - Camera quality is adequate and suitable for taking those quick snaps to record a holiday trip or an event which may occur whilst out and about. However HTC still have not realised that other non Windows Mobile camera phones have moved onward and improved the technology and quality of the cameras. This is the one area in which the Orbit 2 falls over the camera needs to be improved in quality - 3Mp is adequate for a device like a PDA but the camera hardware itself needs to be improved to give better light balance, focus and depth. HTC have improved the camera software within the Orbit 2 which allows one to gain significant photo improvements over the Stellar but there is still a lot of room for improvement

Email - As the Orbit 2 is a fully converged device benefiting from an always on GPRS / HSDPA connection, Push Email, email handling is an absolute pleasure - you are always in contact and in touch. Those features along with the Enterprise facilities in the WM6 ROM for searching (and retrieving) Exchange server emails which are not stored locally on the device, together with HTML email support make it a dream device for email handling.

Signal Strength / Radio - The radio in the Orbit 2 is slightly more sensitive than that used in the Stellar, and for me on par with the original Orbit. I tend to find that the signal strength indicator is higher by 'one bar' both at home or work compared to the Stellar. At both home and the office we tend to get poor 3G connections and somewhat 'spotty' HSDPA speeds. The Orbit 2 is the first device I've been able to leave set to 'Auto' on the band selection as it can achieve a 3G connection at home.

Workhorse - I've been honoured to have the Orbit 2 in daily use since mid-December (thanks O2) and I'm very impressed with all aspects of its design and function - The Touch FLO, Touch Cube and Camera Album systems make it a positive joy to use. It's fast in operation, comfortable to use and sleek. As a PIM device as well as Alarm Clock, eBook Reader, Navigation System, and Messaging tool it has performed superbly. Prior to the release of the Orbit 2 the Stellar was my 'Best ever Xda', but the Orbit 2 again raises the Xda stakes and for me takes the crown. The full TouchFLO implementation along with the custom housing more than compensate for the QWERTY keyboard of the Stellar. The Orbit 2 is therefore a worthy and competent successor to the original Orbit.

THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS

BRODIT MOUNT

One item I consider essential for any GPS enabled PDA is a car mount, and the choice of mount I prefer are those manufactured by Brodit. These are manufactured in Sweden, but are sold through various outlets in the UK. The mount shown was purchased from DSL Developments (Brodit Proclip | UK | DSL Developments) who are my preferred UK stockist - based both on price and customer service. The Brodit mount used for the Orbit 2 is NOT the same as that for the original Orbit. The original Orbit bracket will fit but the Orbit 2 will largely be supported by the USB connector and not by the mounts glideways.

The bracket that fits is the Brodit model code 968714 (Brodit PDA Active Holder Tilt Swivel for HTC Artemis 100). Existing Orbit owners may prefer to buy a new mount to ensure safe mounting. The Orbit 2 is held securely under all driving conditions and there is no danger of the machine coming loose during navigation.

However if one wishes to risk the device being secured via the USB port you can use the original Orbit mount (Brodit model code 968731 - Brodit PDA Active Holder Tilt Swivel for O2 XDA Orbit).

Again all images shown above are thumbnails which may be clicked upon to load a larger more detailed image.

APPLICATIONS

Of course to make any PDA completely usable each respective owner will install their choice of third party applications to ensure that the device meets more closely their own personal needs.

Here are a few of my essential applications that I always load onto any PDA I use. I can confirm of course that they run well and fast on the Orbit 2 with its large memory and fast processor:

Pocket Informant

uBook

CodeWallet

ListPro

MagicCall

Resco Photo Viewer

Resco File Explorer

Memory Map

CoPilot Live 7