T-Mobile MDA Vario review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 27 Jul 2006

Price when reviewed: on £25 contract

Reviewed By: Chris Finnamore

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

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Review
Specs

Where O2's XDA Exec is more like a notebook than a phone, the MDA Vario packs a full QWERTY keyboard into a small case.

When closed, the Vario is only slightly thicker than Qtek's S200 and T-Mobile's MDA Compact II. The back of the case slides out sideways to expose the keyboard, and the screen rotates into landscape mode ready for typing. Although you have to type with your thumbs, the keys are well spaced, making it easy to create emails and edit Word documents. Like all Windows Mobile 5 devices, the Vario supports POP3 and IMAP4 email. You can use wireless networks for quick browsing, but with no 3G you're limited to GPRS when on the move.

Unlike the XDA Exec, the Vario lacks a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, but the supplied pair sounds reasonable. The handset has 44MB of internal storage, but the expansion slot uses mini-SD cards. This is annoying, as mini-SD cards cost more and there appears to be enough room for a full-size SD slot. Photos taken using the 1.3-megapixel camera are reasonable if over-exposed.

The MDA Vario is not much bigger than the MDA Compact II and Qtek S200, but its full keyboard makes it better for sending email, editing documents and web browsing. It's not as powerful as the XDA Exec, but it's small enough to use as a phone. It's the best value Windows phone here

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