|
|
| i-mate SPL |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 / Gsm 1900 |
| Announced | 2006, September |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 114 X 49 X 12 Mm |
| Weight | 102 G |
| Display |
| Type | Tft, 65k Colors |
| Size | 240 X 320 Pixels, 34 X 45 Mm |
| | - 5-way Navigation |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Polyphonic (64 Channels), Mp3 |
| Customization | Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | In Shared Memory |
| Call Records | Yes |
| Card Slot | Minisd, |
| | - 64 Mb Ram, 128 Mb Rom
- Ti Omap730, 200 Mhz Processor |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 10 (4+1/3+2 Slots), 32 - 48 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes, V1.2 |
| Infrared Port | No |
| Usb | Yes, Miniusb |
| Features |
| Os | Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone |
| Messaging | Sms, Mms, Email, Instant Messaging |
| Browser | Wap 2.0/xhtml, Html (pocketie) |
| Games | Bubble Breaker, Solitare, |
| Colors | Black |
| Camera | 2 Mp, 1600x1200 Pixels, Video(qcif) |
| | - Java Midp 2.0
- Voice Memo
- Mp3/aac Player
- Video/audio Album
- File Explorer
- T9
- Built-in Handsfree |
| Battery |
| | Standard Battery, Li-ion 1100 Mah |
| Stand-by | Up To 150 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 4 H |
|
i-mate - SPLThin, Smart, and Stylish i-mate SPL
The i-mate SPL is a device that, quite honestly, surprised me. After my shaky experience with the i-mate JAQ, I didn't have particularly high hopes for the SPL. There is no denying that i-mate has taken a page out of Motorola's design book, with the SPL looking and feeling strikingly like a SLVR, but at just 12mm (0.5") thick, the SPL proves to be a very capable smartphone despite its small size.
Physical Aspects
The SPL is a very solid feeling device, and apart from the cover for the miniUSB port, it is very well designed. The miniUSB port is the sole port on the handset, handling both charging and connectivity - this is great for business users, allowing them to charge the handset with, for example, a laptop computer (which I did on several occasions). The cover for this port is frustratingly hard to get out of the way when you are trying to plug the handset in though; the small rubber link between cover and handset needs to be about twice its current length to be usable.
Measuring up at 115mm x 49mm x 12mm (4.5" x 1.9" x 0.5"), the i-mate SPL is one of the smallest Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphones around. You can barely feel the device when it's in your pocket. Slim handsets are all the rage these days, but most are not smartphones, so the SPL comes to us as a pleasant surprise in this regard. A weight of just 102g (3.6oz) also puts it in a very exclusive class of lightweight smartphones.
Apart from the small niggle with the USB port cover, the i-mate SPL has great fit and finish. The device uses solid plastics, and a metal battery cover only adds to the solid feel. The SPL is plagued by the same annoyance as all handsets with glossy finishes though: fingerprints. The SPL attracted fingerprints even more so than the Motorola KRZR, which is itself a huge magnet for gunk. The glossy black finish is otherwise very classy looking, but expect to be wiping it down regularly.
Anyone familiar with the Motorola SLVR series will be instantly comfortable with the SPL's keypad. Those that are used to a keypad with more tactile feedback will struggle while getting used to it though. I did find that I could use the SPL without looking at the keypad after a short learning curve, and, if you can get over the 'flatness' of the keypad, you are left with a reasonable input method. The backlighting for the keypad is fantastic, featuring the same electro-luminescent style as the SLVR. Even though there is no ambient light sensor present to turn the keypad backlight on and off, usage in the sun was never an issue. My only complaint with the design of the keypad is the size of the d-pad - while the left and right directions have adequate space between them and the adjacent keys, trying to press up and down caused me to press the Internet Explorer shortcut and 2 key regularly, which are located above and below the d-pad. These d-pad directions were just too small to be pressed with any confidence.
The keypad includes call, end, home, and back keys, which are all located around the d-pad. Volume keys and a Windows Media Player shortcut key can be found on the left side of the handset, while the camera key is found on the right. With a long press, the volume keys also act as shortcuts to the voice recorder and 'Quick List' menu, which provides shortcuts to change the active profile and other handy things. The 2.0 megapixel fixed-focus camera is located on the back of the handset, with the self-portrait mirror and speaker found just below.
The miniSD memory card slot can be found underneath the battery cover, and is not hot-swappable. Its odd positioning directly above the battery means that it can be very hard to get out once you have inserted a card. The SIM card slot is also a point worth mentioning, consisting of a thin metallic tray that slides out from below the memory card slot - while it isn't an altogether bad design, it will prove a little hard to use for those with larger fingers.
Indoors, the 2.2" 64k color QVGA (240x320 pixel) resolution display was more than acceptable, but outside it was almost unusable. It becomes extremely washed out, and disappears almost entirely in strong daylight. This is a shame, as otherwise the display is very bright and clear. Color is reproduced quite well, and the display appears very crisp.
Core Functions
The i-mate SPL isn't the best performing handset I've used when it comes to call audio quality, but it isn't the worst either. The odd positioning of the earpiece (on the far left of the handset) means that getting it in line with your ear can be difficult sometimes, and even when you do get it right, the audio seems a little muffled. While outbound quality is great, on some occasions I was informed that the remote party on the call could hear an echo of their own voice. This wasn't a consistent problem though, so it could come down to a quirk with my mobile operator.
Battery life was about average for a Windows Mobile smartphone. Users can expect to have to charge the handset nightly with average use of PIM functionality and calls/messaging. Bluetooth use didn't seem to reduce the battery life to any great extent.
Reception was a big plus with the SPL, with no dropped calls or clipped audio experienced during our tests. The SPL also surprised me with being able to find and use a signal in a basement snooker hall I frequent, which is something that only a handful of handsets have achieved. I was very impressed overall with the reception performance of the SPL.
As always, Windows Mobile 5.0 provides a great contact management system, allowing you to store any data point that you could store in Microsoft Outlook on a desktop PC. One of the things that I particularly like about Windows Mobile 5.0 is that you can start typing a contact's name (using T9) right from the home screen - the numbers you enter appear on top of the display, with a list of contacts with matching first or last names below. Contacts can have personalized ringtones, and searching and browsing the list is a joy. It is all very tidy when it comes to contact management.
Speakerphone functionality is present, but is fairly useless due to the lack of volume from the speaker. There is also not a lot of background noise cancellation, which means that the feature is only usable in perfectly quiet conditions. Speed dialing worked well, and the system has the added advantage of allowing you to add an application as a speed dial as well as a contact like other handsets. Eight ring profiles are available, with four being completely customizable. A meeting profile is present, and can be set to activate when your calendar indicates you are busy.
Text messaging is intuitive, though the i-mate SPL can't keep up with anything but the slowest text entry. There is a big lag between key presses and when the letters appear on the screen. When you type quickly, the SPL also misses the odd key press. The MMS system was intuitive and even looked attractive, with detailed options for everything having to do with multimedia. Both POP and IMAP email accounts were easy to configure and I had no issues sending and receiving on the handset.
The lack of any form of 3G data was a big letdown in an otherwise very capable device. Some form of high-speed data would have made checking email and browsing websites much more satisfying, but as it stands the SPL user is limited to GPRS and Bluetooth. On the plus side, both of those systems worked very well, with the SPL even auto-detecting my network operator and configuring GPRS settings when I first turned on the device. Bluetooth v1.2, though a little hard to configure, worked flawlessly. It is worth noting that while the SPL supports a range of Bluetooth profiles, including the high-demand A2DP stereo headset profile, you do not seem to be able to send files from the handset using OBEX file transfer; retrieving files from the device required the use of ActiveSync, which could create a problem for Apple users. The SPL will receive files from other Bluetooth devices, though.
Multimedia / Applications
The camera on the i-mate SPL really lets the device down. Though it isn't deal breaking in a device that is designed for the business user that may occasionally take the odd photo, unless you are in great lighting conditions the camera really struggles. While it is a 2.0 megapixel sensor, there is no auto-focus or even an LED assist-light. Due to the fixed focus lens with no macro mode, photos taken at closer than portrait distance appear quite blurry. On the plus side, when conditions are good (such as outside on a sunny day), photos come out quite well. The camera application has options like a burst mode and shutter timer delay. Several white balance options are available, including cloudy, sunny, office, night, and home. Video performance was also disappointing, with the QCIF resolution captures coming out very choppy and unpleasant. Photos and videos go into a unified gallery application and can be easily viewed. As previously mentioned, while you can send your media via MMS or email from the gallery application, there is no method to send via Bluetooth.
Windows Media Player is installed on the i-mate SPL to handle audio and video playback, and does an adequate job. The player supports WMA, WMV, and MP3 format files, and synchronizes with the desktop version of Windows Media Player quite well. Media is organized into music, video, and TV categories, and is then further broken down by artists, albums, and the like. If you have used Windows Media Player on a PC, you will know what to expect - the experience carries over seamlessly.
While the Windows Mobile version of Internet Explorer is still not as good as the browser on S60-based handsets, it is a capable application for surfing on the go. When browsing, you can choose from three display options: one column, default, and desktop. One column is useful for browsing websites that are not optimized for small screens, rendering the webpage in a single column with limited graphical elements, while the desktop view attempts to render pages as they are on a desktop PC, but fails on alignment issues on most sites.
Of course, a smartphone would be nothing without PIM applications, and this is an area where Windows Mobile does not disappoint. The only thing that Windows Mobile for smartphones leaves me wanting is a notes application, other than the voice notes app that is bundled. Apart from this, contacts, tasks, and calendar data can be synchronized in from Microsoft Outlook (which worked seamlessly with the Office 2007 version I use), and the device provides intuitive and informative views of all data. Nothing really stands out in this department, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Everything just works, and if you are an Outlook user, you will be right at home.
Several games came pre-installed on my i-mate SPL, including 3D Bowling, Number Place, and Poker, in addition to the usual Windows Mobile Bubble Breaker and Solitaire.
User Interface
I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Windows Mobile 5.0 for smartphones, and the SPL is no exception in this regard. While it sometimes takes a little getting used to, it is overall a good system. The home and back buttons work as expected, with the back button also acting as a clear key in text boxes. Some key options are hidden in submenus at times, which can be confusing for a first time user, but the learning curve isn't much more than on a regular non-smartphone. Almost everything in the menus is accessible with keypad number shortcuts, which appear to the left of the options whenever a menu is opened.
The 200MHz TI OMAP processor used on the SPL seems to lag while navigating the UI somewhat, though it is not unbearable. There are times when you are left looking at Windows Mobile's spinning loading icon, but wait times are over relatively quickly. While UI navigation speed can't compare to non-smartphones, it is no slower than S60 devices, and only minimally slower than other Windows Mobile smartphones.
The UI features a customizable 'Today' screen that displays information such as the network name, upcoming appointments, the active profile, and unread messages count. There is also a row of icons representing your most recently used applications - I much prefer having a row of customizable icons (a-la S60), but this is more than adequate. The main menu can be displayed in either a list or icon based system. The center button on the d-pad is always the OK or select option, with the right softkey bringing up a cascading list of additional menu options, and the left softkey performing the most common function depending on where you are in the user interface(taking you up a folder in the File Explorer, for example).
Limited theme support is present, though apart from changing color schemes, they do not affect much else. Menu icons do not change with themes, though background pictures do.
Conclusion
While I can't say that the i-mate SPL is a perfect device, it does come very close to it. To have the power of Windows Mobile 5.0 in an attractive, slim design such as this is fantastic in my opinion. i-mate has done a great job in preparing a device that both satisfies business users and is good-looking enough to take around with you on the weekends. For the price, there is not a lot out there that can match it right now.
On the down side, the camera is way below average when lighting conditions are not optimal, which is something that hinders an otherwise great device. Apart from this, the only other negative thing I can say about the SPL is that the lack of 3G data or WiFi is a real let down. While the keypad does take a little getting used to, and the overall UI speed is a little slow, this device is very close to perfect.
As it stands, I feel confident in giving the i-mate SPL a Highly Recommended rating for those people looking to get into a smartphone and can look past its minor flaws. Most of the SPL's target market will not worry too much about the camera, so if you can live without the blessing of high-speed data, the SPL will be a welcome addition to any business user's pocket - and won't break the bank while doing so. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: i-matee , i-mat4 , k-mate , i-mzte |
|
|
