HP may not be the first name you think of when it comes to phones but it know a thing or two about putting together PDAs and smartphones. That said, the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger is something a little different from the company.
This is the first HP smartphone we’ve seen that places an emphasis on the phone aspect, rather than just business and email. It’s a candybar design that’s a little larger than your average mobile phone, making it much more in keeping with the BlackBerry Pearl than any other smartphone.
Weighing 170g, it’s certainly pocketable and being made of rather robust plastic, it’ll withstand the average rough and tumble. The 2.4-inch screen has a rather basic 240 x 320-pixel resolution but we found the screen bright enough for most tasks.
Below the screen is a QWERTY keyboard and a rather awkward touchpad for navigating the screen. The keys have two letters to each key, so it’s quicker than using a standard phone layout. However, the touchpad lets navigation down. Not only is it a little small for most hands, it’s not the most responsive so you’ll need to be patient with it to get the best results.
Running Windows Mobile 6.1 we found this a responsive smartphone, and we found setting up the push email service extremely easy. HP has done little to the OS to make it more user friendly, so it’s not up to the par of HTC’s TouchFLO system but you’ll soon get to grips with the interface.
Battery life is acceptable, as is the 128MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM storage. You can add more using a microSD card. Apps that come as standard include GPS, Google Maps and the built-in Wi-Fi make sit easier to connect to hot spots.
Verdict
This is a good all-round smartphone and while we don’t think HP is about the threaten BlackBerry or even Apple in the design and utility stakes, it’s shows the company can design a smartphone with appeal as well as business focus.
Best features
Good screen
Easy to use
Built in GPS
Wi-Fi as standard
Not so good
Awkward touchpad
Basic battery life
No flash on camera
Check out our HP iPAQ Voice Messenger gallery:
Closest rivals
Nokia N96
If the N79 still isn’t powerful enough for you, then the Nseries flagship smartphone may be up your street. Its built-in BBC iPlayer app and 16GB stash of memory sets it apart from fellow Nseries cohorts.
Nokia 6220 Classic
This Symbian S60 smartphone may lack some extra mods to qualify for Nseries membership but its feature line-up is pretty stellar for a pocket-friendly mid-range smartphone.
Samsung i900 Omnia 16GB
This Windows Mobile OS powered touch phone steams in with a similar features line-up as the N79 but serves up a mammoth 16GB dollop of memory.
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