Design
If you're going give a product the suffix of "Stealth", then it's fair to expect a few things. It should probably be somewhat undetectable, for a start, although probably not completely invisible. A completely invisible phone would drive you insane, as you'd be able to hear it ringing on your desk but not actually find it, and even if you did, working out which buttons were which would still stymie you. No, instead O2's using "stealth" to presumably point out that the Xda Stealth looks somewhat like a chubby slider phone when powered down, and it's only when you flick the screen on that you realise it's also a fully functional Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with the usual touchscreen features. As smartphones go it's on the smaller side at 110 by 53 by 22.5 millimetres and 140 grams, but in a slider world rich with phones like the LG KG800 and Samsung D900, this is still a Kirstie Alley to their Kate Moss slender style.
The unslid portion of the Xda Stealth comprises selection buttons, calling buttons, a four way directional pad with a small enter key and, of course, the touchscreen above, which is a 2.4-inch 320x240 display. Underneath the sliding portion sit backlit dialling buttons in standard array. As with most of O2's range, charging is performed via USB, either with a PC cable or the supplied AC charger. The USB socket is located at the bottom of the phone. It took us some time to work out where the Xda Stealth's stylus was located -- perhaps that's the reasoning behind the stealth moniker. It sits in a groove at the base, just next to the USB charger, for what it's worth.
Features
The Stealth is packed full of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, infrared and native 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi. We connected to a wireless network in our office and experienced no problems. The connectivity options of the Stealth can easily be managed using the wireless manager application, which by default is accessible from the standby screen. This displays the status of each connection (Phone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and enables you to turn each of them on and off to preserve battery life. The Stealth also includes USB connectivity, but unfortunately this is USB 1.2 rather than 2.0, so transfer speeds are slower than they could be. Overall, we were satisfied with the connectivity of this device, but perhaps it is a little disappointing that the Stealth doesn't offer 3G support.
The Stealth runs the Windows Mobile 5 OS and uses an Intel XScale PXA 272 416MHz processor, with 64 MB RAM and 192 MB ROM standard. Although it isn't the fastest smart phone on the market, its speed and loading times didn't pose any serious problems. Do note though that we experienced a drop in speed when running multiple applications and the OS did seem to suffer from a few freezes and bugs.
Being a Windows Mobile 5 device, the Stealth comes with a range of applications including Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile. It also includes push email and we tested this with a standard POP3 Yahoo! account. The Stealth allows you to retrieve just new emails or your entire inbox and users can view, save and even edit their attachments. These can be then saved to the phone's internal memory or the mini-SD card. Unfortunately, O2 does not include a mini-SD card in the sales package.
The other main addition to the Stealth is O2's Media Plus application, first seen in the previous Xda Atom Exec. This is a music player, FM radio, picture viewer and video player all in one. It's almost identical to Windows Media Player, and is very easy to use. A status bar at the bottom contains all the playback buttons, as well as quick access to the impressive 10-band equaliser; one of the most comprehensive we've seen on a smart phone.
Purely as a phone, the Stealth does an admirable job; calls are clear and volume is loud enough, even in noisy environments. Perhaps the best feature of the Stealth is an application called Answer Machine. When in use, it automatically diverts all incoming calls, playing a user-recorded message and then saving the calls as an audio file. This means that instead of paying voicemail charges to your service provider (such as Optus, Telstra or Vodafone etc.) you can do this for free using this application. User-recorded messages can be unlimited in length and you can also choose how long you want the phone to ring before being intercepted, as well as saving them either on the internal memory, or a mini-SD card.
The Stealth features a 2 megapixel camera with flash but unlike the Xda Atom Exec, there is no self-portrait mirror. The quality of pictures that the Stealth produces is fairly standard for a 2 megapixel phone camera - good enough for happy snaps.
According to O2, battery life is rated at up to 150 hours of standby time and 4.5 hours of talk time. We found they weren't far off the mark, having to charge the handset every two nights with moderate usage. Keep in mind, these figures decrease if you constantly use the Bluetooth or wireless features of the device.
Performance
On the phone front we only had a few problems with the Xda Stealth. While it in theory offers the option of either touchscreen or dialling pad for calling numbers, we found a few instances -- such as entering SIM security codes -- where it completely ignored the dialling pad. To make matters worse, it gave us no error messages to indicate we should only use the touchscreen, leaving us wondering why we were getting no signal all of a sudden. Battery life wasn't all that exceptional, with the phone requiring recharging every two days during our test period under moderate usage. Expect that figure to dive if you use the integrated wireless or Bluetooth functionality often.
On the Windows Mobile front we were mostly satisfied with the Stealth, but never entirely happy. On the plus side, while its offering of applications isn't that much different from any other smartphone, they all worked reasonably quickly and well. On the minus side, as with other touchscreen specific smartphones, long text entry is still something of a chore. We also quickly found it prudent to keep the Stealth locked at all times, as it had the disconcerting habit of launching applications while it was sitting flat on a desk. Hopefully a future firmware upgrade will fix that particular quirk.
Our biggest concerns with the XDA Stealth were, however, outside of its functions as a phone or PDA, and more centered on the phone's physical design. Once we found the unit's stylus, we were rather disconcerted to discover that the nub of the stylus fell off very easily. Our opinion of the XDA Stealth wasn't improved when it managed this trick while trying to get the stylus out of the phone, whereupon we had to use a pen to wedge the stylus out. This could be a function of our particular review model having been treated badly by other reviewers, but it doesn't bode well for the durability of the unit as a whole. Then there's the display screen. At 2.4 inches (6cm), it's relatively generous by slider phone standards -- but quite small by smartphone standards. When you combine that with the physical size of the Stealth, sitting between the uber-slim sliders and the bigger, chunkier Blackberry-style smartphones, you end up with a phone that's perhaps not quite as easy to use as it should be.
Physical design
Form factor :
Slider
Dimensions :
110 x 53 x 22.5 mm
Weight w/battery :
140 g
Primary display resolution :
320 x 240 pixels
Phone
Phone type :
Triband
Networks :
GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900
Connectivity options:
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, Infrared, USB
Messaging features :
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant message
Ringtone options :
MP3 ringtones, WMA ringtones
Polyphony :
192
Calling Features ;
Speakerphone
Multimedia
Built-in digital camera :
Yes
Maximum camera resolution ;
2 megapixels
Camera sensor type :
CMOS
Imaging features :
Onboard flash
Video features :
Video recording, Video playback
Additional multimedia features :
Stereo speaker; Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP profile; omni-directional mono microphone
PDA
Operating system :
Pocket PC
Main processor type :
Intel Xscale PXA 272 processor
Main processor speed :
416 MHz
RAM ;
64 MB
ROM :
192 MB
Expansion option(s) :
miniSD
PC connectivity :
Windows
Battery type :
Rechargeable, removable Lithium-ion 1,300mAh battery
Removable battery :
Yes
Rated battery life :
4.5 hours
Installed applications :
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 (operating system); Pocket MSN; Outlook Mobile with Direct Push Technology; Internet Explorer Mobile; Windows Media Player 10 Mobile; Excel Mobile; PowerPoint Mobile; Word Mobile; Terminal Services Client; Pictures & Videos; Calculator; Games; ActiveSync 4.0; File Explorer; Camera and video capture utility; GPRS Monitor; Power management; 02 AutoConfig; O2 Connect; O2 Plus; O2 Phone Plus; O2 AutoInstall; PDF Viewer; Self Diagnostics; SIM contacts; Voice Speed Dial; Wireless Manager; Code Wallet Pro.
Included accessories ;
Battery, universal AC adapter, stereo wired headset, mini USB cable, additional stylus, Companion CD with Microsoft Outlook 2002 and ActiveSync, Quick Start guide and user manual and local warranty card.
Display
Monochrome or color :
Color
No. of colors :
16 bit
Touch screen :
Yes
Backlit display :
Yes
Data Input
Method :
Keyboard, Pen
Interfaces
Infrared:
Yes
Audio
Built-in speakers :
Yes
Built-in mic :
Yes
Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included :
Yes
Synchronization with desktop :
Yes
Cradle included:
No
Power supply
Batteries rechargeable:
Yes
AC adaptor included :
Yes
Warranty
Base warranty :
1 year
If you're going give a product the suffix of "Stealth", then it's fair to expect a few things. It should probably be somewhat undetectable, for a start, although probably not completely invisible. A completely invisible phone would drive you insane, as you'd be able to hear it ringing on your desk but not actually find it, and even if you did, working out which buttons were which would still stymie you. No, instead O2's using "stealth" to presumably point out that the Xda Stealth looks somewhat like a chubby slider phone when powered down, and it's only when you flick the screen on that you realise it's also a fully functional Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with the usual touchscreen features. As smartphones go it's on the smaller side at 110 by 53 by 22.5 millimetres and 140 grams, but in a slider world rich with phones like the LG KG800 and Samsung D900, this is still a Kirstie Alley to their Kate Moss slender style.
The unslid portion of the Xda Stealth comprises selection buttons, calling buttons, a four way directional pad with a small enter key and, of course, the touchscreen above, which is a 2.4-inch 320x240 display. Underneath the sliding portion sit backlit dialling buttons in standard array. As with most of O2's range, charging is performed via USB, either with a PC cable or the supplied AC charger. The USB socket is located at the bottom of the phone. It took us some time to work out where the Xda Stealth's stylus was located -- perhaps that's the reasoning behind the stealth moniker. It sits in a groove at the base, just next to the USB charger, for what it's worth.
Features
The Stealth is packed full of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, infrared and native 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi. We connected to a wireless network in our office and experienced no problems. The connectivity options of the Stealth can easily be managed using the wireless manager application, which by default is accessible from the standby screen. This displays the status of each connection (Phone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and enables you to turn each of them on and off to preserve battery life. The Stealth also includes USB connectivity, but unfortunately this is USB 1.2 rather than 2.0, so transfer speeds are slower than they could be. Overall, we were satisfied with the connectivity of this device, but perhaps it is a little disappointing that the Stealth doesn't offer 3G support.
The Stealth runs the Windows Mobile 5 OS and uses an Intel XScale PXA 272 416MHz processor, with 64 MB RAM and 192 MB ROM standard. Although it isn't the fastest smart phone on the market, its speed and loading times didn't pose any serious problems. Do note though that we experienced a drop in speed when running multiple applications and the OS did seem to suffer from a few freezes and bugs.
Being a Windows Mobile 5 device, the Stealth comes with a range of applications including Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile. It also includes push email and we tested this with a standard POP3 Yahoo! account. The Stealth allows you to retrieve just new emails or your entire inbox and users can view, save and even edit their attachments. These can be then saved to the phone's internal memory or the mini-SD card. Unfortunately, O2 does not include a mini-SD card in the sales package.
The other main addition to the Stealth is O2's Media Plus application, first seen in the previous Xda Atom Exec. This is a music player, FM radio, picture viewer and video player all in one. It's almost identical to Windows Media Player, and is very easy to use. A status bar at the bottom contains all the playback buttons, as well as quick access to the impressive 10-band equaliser; one of the most comprehensive we've seen on a smart phone.
Purely as a phone, the Stealth does an admirable job; calls are clear and volume is loud enough, even in noisy environments. Perhaps the best feature of the Stealth is an application called Answer Machine. When in use, it automatically diverts all incoming calls, playing a user-recorded message and then saving the calls as an audio file. This means that instead of paying voicemail charges to your service provider (such as Optus, Telstra or Vodafone etc.) you can do this for free using this application. User-recorded messages can be unlimited in length and you can also choose how long you want the phone to ring before being intercepted, as well as saving them either on the internal memory, or a mini-SD card.
The Stealth features a 2 megapixel camera with flash but unlike the Xda Atom Exec, there is no self-portrait mirror. The quality of pictures that the Stealth produces is fairly standard for a 2 megapixel phone camera - good enough for happy snaps.
According to O2, battery life is rated at up to 150 hours of standby time and 4.5 hours of talk time. We found they weren't far off the mark, having to charge the handset every two nights with moderate usage. Keep in mind, these figures decrease if you constantly use the Bluetooth or wireless features of the device.
Performance
On the phone front we only had a few problems with the Xda Stealth. While it in theory offers the option of either touchscreen or dialling pad for calling numbers, we found a few instances -- such as entering SIM security codes -- where it completely ignored the dialling pad. To make matters worse, it gave us no error messages to indicate we should only use the touchscreen, leaving us wondering why we were getting no signal all of a sudden. Battery life wasn't all that exceptional, with the phone requiring recharging every two days during our test period under moderate usage. Expect that figure to dive if you use the integrated wireless or Bluetooth functionality often.
On the Windows Mobile front we were mostly satisfied with the Stealth, but never entirely happy. On the plus side, while its offering of applications isn't that much different from any other smartphone, they all worked reasonably quickly and well. On the minus side, as with other touchscreen specific smartphones, long text entry is still something of a chore. We also quickly found it prudent to keep the Stealth locked at all times, as it had the disconcerting habit of launching applications while it was sitting flat on a desk. Hopefully a future firmware upgrade will fix that particular quirk.
Our biggest concerns with the XDA Stealth were, however, outside of its functions as a phone or PDA, and more centered on the phone's physical design. Once we found the unit's stylus, we were rather disconcerted to discover that the nub of the stylus fell off very easily. Our opinion of the XDA Stealth wasn't improved when it managed this trick while trying to get the stylus out of the phone, whereupon we had to use a pen to wedge the stylus out. This could be a function of our particular review model having been treated badly by other reviewers, but it doesn't bode well for the durability of the unit as a whole. Then there's the display screen. At 2.4 inches (6cm), it's relatively generous by slider phone standards -- but quite small by smartphone standards. When you combine that with the physical size of the Stealth, sitting between the uber-slim sliders and the bigger, chunkier Blackberry-style smartphones, you end up with a phone that's perhaps not quite as easy to use as it should be.
Physical design
Form factor :
Slider
Dimensions :
110 x 53 x 22.5 mm
Weight w/battery :
140 g
Primary display resolution :
320 x 240 pixels
Phone
Phone type :
Triband
Networks :
GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900
Connectivity options:
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, Infrared, USB
Messaging features :
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant message
Ringtone options :
MP3 ringtones, WMA ringtones
Polyphony :
192
Calling Features ;
Speakerphone
Multimedia
Built-in digital camera :
Yes
Maximum camera resolution ;
2 megapixels
Camera sensor type :
CMOS
Imaging features :
Onboard flash
Video features :
Video recording, Video playback
Additional multimedia features :
Stereo speaker; Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP profile; omni-directional mono microphone
PDA
Operating system :
Pocket PC
Main processor type :
Intel Xscale PXA 272 processor
Main processor speed :
416 MHz
RAM ;
64 MB
ROM :
192 MB
Expansion option(s) :
miniSD
PC connectivity :
Windows
Battery type :
Rechargeable, removable Lithium-ion 1,300mAh battery
Removable battery :
Yes
Rated battery life :
4.5 hours
Installed applications :
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 (operating system); Pocket MSN; Outlook Mobile with Direct Push Technology; Internet Explorer Mobile; Windows Media Player 10 Mobile; Excel Mobile; PowerPoint Mobile; Word Mobile; Terminal Services Client; Pictures & Videos; Calculator; Games; ActiveSync 4.0; File Explorer; Camera and video capture utility; GPRS Monitor; Power management; 02 AutoConfig; O2 Connect; O2 Plus; O2 Phone Plus; O2 AutoInstall; PDF Viewer; Self Diagnostics; SIM contacts; Voice Speed Dial; Wireless Manager; Code Wallet Pro.
Included accessories ;
Battery, universal AC adapter, stereo wired headset, mini USB cable, additional stylus, Companion CD with Microsoft Outlook 2002 and ActiveSync, Quick Start guide and user manual and local warranty card.
Display
Monochrome or color :
Color
No. of colors :
16 bit
Touch screen :
Yes
Backlit display :
Yes
Data Input
Method :
Keyboard, Pen
Interfaces
Infrared:
Yes
Audio
Built-in speakers :
Yes
Built-in mic :
Yes
Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included :
Yes
Synchronization with desktop :
Yes
Cradle included:
No
Power supply
Batteries rechargeable:
Yes
AC adaptor included :
Yes
Warranty
Base warranty :
1 year
