HTC O2 Xda Stellar review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 15 Aug 2008

Price when reviewed: £0

Supplier: http://www.o2.co.uk

Reviewed By: Jon Bray

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

User Rating

O2's Xda Stellar is a big phone to hold, but it has good reason to be 19mm thick.

It has a full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard hidden beneath its 2.8in screen, complete with a clever mechanism that enables you to tilt the screen towards you. This makes it comfortable to hold, and you can even type with the phone flat on a desk.

The keyboard makes tapping out emails and text messages very easy, and when the phone is closed, you can use the touch screen and directional keypad to navigate around Windows Mobile. A cut-down version of HTC's TouchFLO software adds the ability to drag lists of calls, contacts and emails up and down with your finger.

Because it's a Windows Mobile Professional device, both email and document compatibility are excellent. In addition to POP3 and IMAP support, a Microsoft Exchange client also offers push email, so messages are delivered to the phone as soon as they arrive.

Call quality is decent, although the speakerphone is a little crackly. The phone is stuffed with every feature you could possibly want in a smartphone: HSDPA data compatibility means browsing the web is reasonably quick, wireless networking provides faster connections to the internet in hotspots or at home, and a GPS receiver allows you to use the positioning features of Google Maps or install a full satnav package. The phone's Pocket Internet Explorer browser isn't the best browser around, however, so we'd suggest installing Opera Mini.

The Xda Stellar is excellent for messaging and the web. Its only real problem is its battery life - seven hours and 12 minutes is easily the worst in the group. Nokia's E71 is a better buy if you don't want to carry a charger around.

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