Design, ergonomics

ASUS P527 utilizes the classical candy bar form factor (traditional for WM-based PDA phones) with a block of controls and an alphanumeric keypad below. Let’s note a successful design of the model, most of all reminding of Sony Ericsson K600i. The casing is made out of plastic with a soft-touch back cover and a metallic insert on the front panel. The latter features a surface engraving in the likeness of the same E-TEN glofiish X800, but here it falls better into the overall stylization pattern.

The novelty looks really very solid and impressive, especially taking into consideration a high quality of implementation. P527 does not creak on squeezing; the back cover is close-fitting. The coating also left the most positive impression - it absolutely doesn’t tend to accumulate grease and fingerprints, at that it’s wear-resistant. The only coloring available nowadays is metallic (Silver gray), which is maximally neutral. No other variants are expected in the nearest future.

«ASUS P527 looks stylish and sports a high quality of implementation. »

P527 enjoys average dimensions and weight, the smartphone sits in the hand rather comfortably. The scroll wheel on the left edge is in its place and the right edge hosts the blocking slider, which is pleasant. The set is typical for ASUS PDA-phones, which speaks well for this brand against the background of other ones. Book-readers and music-lovers will be glad about it. By the way, as for the latter point the model is quite ordinary for a WM handset - only a 2.5 mm output is available, though it’s separate. The interface slot is the habitual miniUSB, charging via USB cable and even the Mass Storage are supported (special operating mode settings are available).

The stylus is most usual (non-telescopic). Its pocket is located on the bottom edge of the casing - alas, it’s a forced step due to the extensive amount of details already placed at the top. It does not cause much discomfort and the majority of modern smartphones have such "geography". The navigation button gave rise to many reprimands of our colleagues, but we are going to dwell upon it and the nearby controls, including the keypad, in a separate item.

«ASUS P527 sports an alphanumeric keypad, very handy for its class. »

Above the screen there is a status indicator changing from color to color - red (an event, charging), blue (Bt, GPS), green (GSM, charge ending). It is moderately informative, a reminder or a notice are frequent to miss. The upper edge hosts the power button; the OK button is placed on the left edge. The usefulness of the latter is moderate, since this function is repeated with the right rocker-button in the software-key strip.

On the right edge there is a camera button and a memory expansion slot. The latter keeps with the hot swapping support and is of the most universally accepted microSD format. A soft-reset socket is located nearby. The GPS aerial connector is available on the back panel next to the camera. It’s covered with a gag. There is no voice recorder button on the edging; it’s part of the advanced P527 keypad.

Keypad

The keypad is the key feature of ASUS P527, therefore we have viewed it separately with all the detailed information, thankfully enough it’s worthy of an honorable mention. The element sports an uncommon implementation, which gives ground for numerous reproaches of the skeptics – they say the call buttons are small, don’t like the navigation button and so on. In actual fact everything is very well done, the model has got one of the most convenient keypads among similar solutions. The closest Mio A702 is much inferior in respect of the ergonomics, having a cascade design of the keypad and a less bright backlighting. Not the best segmentation of the keys also causes censures while they are perfectly spaced apart in P527. Already after a week of operating the smartphone you will be able to type SMS messages without looking at the handset faster than when using a usual mobile phone. Such succession is a serious advantage of alphanumeric keypads and it’s a great pity there are few such models on the PDA-phone market. It’s this kind of smartphones that are much easier and more convenient to pass to after using usual handsets.

The P527 keypad is implemented in five rows, the laterally outermost rows being so-called service ones grant quick access. These eight keys (four in each of the two rows) are by default assigned to business card recognition, Travelog, radio, launcher, canceling, Bluetooth, messaging and voice recording. As a matter of fact, we have an original solution of stylusless management - HTC TouchFLO on a hardware level. It’s hardly possible to overestimate the importance of such soft-keys for ergonomics; it really makes a process of operating the PDA-phone much simpler. Unfortunately, one cannot reassign all these keys, but we hope the point will enjoy a full-fledged implementation before the model hits the shelf, which will significantly expand the functionality. It is especially effective in combination with a firmware launcher, which reduces to a minimum the lack of an entire front panel (and thus an opportunity to install TouchFLO) and the drawback of a small diagonal of the screen.

The navigation button is actually not the most convenient one, but gives rise to no serious problems. You’ll get used to it just in a couple of days, though this element is definitely better in P750. Most of all the navigation button reminds that of P525, the tip of it isn’t rubberized either. Let’s recollect that the previous P526 lacked it at all and it becomes clear that the solution is quite good within the ASUS product range. And we don’t share the criticism of call buttons and soft-keys. At first glance one may consider inconvenient their level - lower than that of the main keypad - as well as the average size, but it does not cause any discomfort. Traditionally enough the handsets are many-coloured and the backlighting is bright and even, white, very comfortable and pleasant in most environments. The P527 keypad software is remarkable for the traditional XT9 support that gradually comes to take place of the archaic T9. Among the settings are mistake correction, attachment and replacement as well as words ending option.

Connectivity

ASUS P527 is designed to be used in GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks, it supports GPRS/EDGE, but the 3G networks are left out of work. The wire communication is achieved through USB1.1 (old platform costs) that makes use of the common microUSB slot. The data transfer speed is not high since 2.0 version isn’t supported. The Mass Storage is supported as usual with the ASUS smartphones – it can be selected from the corresponding menu.

The wireless communication of P527 is represented by the Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module and Wi-Fi. Both work quite well and give raise to no reprimands. AD2P enjoys a perfect support - the sound volume is higher than average, its quality is almost ideal, the communication is never interrupted. It's a pity though that should the connection be lost, the sound doesn't stop automatically, the built-in speaker is instantly activated – the same disadvantage is found with Symbian-based smartphones. In addition to AD2P, the following profiles are supported:

• File Transfer
• Generic Access
• Generic Object Exchange
• Handsfree
• Headset
• HID
• Object Push
• Personal Area Networking
• Serial Port
• Audio/Video Remote Control
• SAP (SIM card access profile)

Document printing is also possible. There's also the Bluetooth synchronization, you just need to:

1. Install the Windows Mobile Media Control Centre or ActiveSync software to your PC.
2. On the PDA side, run - Start > Programs > ActiveSync.
3. Activate Bluetooth both on the PC and the PDA, than engage the visible mode.
4. On the PDA side, run - Menu > Connection > Bluetooth.
5. Start the Bluetooth Configuration Wizard on the first connection.

Wireless Manager is rather standard, the five items are available. The first one deactivates all the communication modules and the next ones handles accordingly Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Phone and Data. The solution is typical except for the built in Task Manager which deactivates Phone, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on the schedule. The Phone module activation is also possible at a definite time.

The GPS support is well done for P527; this aspect of the PDA phone is based off the SiRFstarIII chipset that proves itself slightly better than Qualcomm 7200 with HTC, for example. The device was able to detect some seven-eight satellites on a clear day, which is quite in keeping with Mio. The latter, let’s remind, ranks among the leading suppliers of the navigation equipment in the world. As for the preinstalled software, it is remarkable for a number of GPS-utilities:

«The GPS support is well done for P527; this aspect of the PDA phone is based off the SiRFstarIII chipset that proves itself slightly better than Qualcomm 7200 with HTC, for example»

• Location Courier for an emergency message with your current coordinates to be sent to numbers (up to 5) specified in advance so that they could locate you.
• GPS Catcher for GPS-data updating once in three days that serves for launching the navigation process on-the-fly. The update protection via ActiveSync is available.
• Travelog for your route management. The application allows for getting standard data like speed, height above sea-level, etc. Basic processing of route points (notes, photos) and a compass are available.

FM-tuner

P527 is the first ASUS smartphone with an integrated FM-tuner that’s why let’s view this element separately. Its shell is well implemented, everything is quite logical. Besides the stats elements there are six fields on the main screen acting as quick shortcuts to presets, the 20 preset memory being available sum total. Each can be moved up or down within the list, the opportunity to name each hasn’t been left out.

Numerical combinations don’t work for some reason though you can use the keypad to navigate through the presets. Instead, the navigation button is multipurpose - it is possible to move around the list of frequencies and stations as well as replace the saved records, which is very convenient. The application’s functionality is minimal; in particular there is no ability to record radio broadcasts. RDS isn’t supported. The functions of auto scan and manual frequency input are available.

The settings allow you to specify the rate of sensitivity while searching, so that to filter out weak stations. The quality of reception itself is low, slightly yielding even to the standard WM parameter, which is average for usual handsets. Sound output can be configured for the embedded speaker, but its volume is hardly sufficient, no such problem arises with the headset.

Storage

Many people felt disappointment at only 64 Mb of RAM with P527, really it‘s not pleasant. On a par with USB1.1 the given circumstance is sequent of the old hardware platform. The new factory in Shanghai should solve this problem to a certain extent, giving production capabilities for modernization. The ROM size is quite sufficient for basic functionality - 256 Mb. The memory card slot is the microSD standard, the most universal variant for the time being, the officially announced card capacity maximum is 4 Gb. Unfortunately, no memory card comes bundled, so it has to be purchased separately. As we have already mentioned, it keeps with the full hot swapping support.

One shouldn’t think that only exacting users need 128 Mb of RAM for "heavy" tasks; pitifully enough, but these are demands of the times. Just remember that the mere IE takes 4-5 Mb a page and many people use expansions for launching up to four tabs simultaneously, which makes as much as 15-20 Mb. WM itself takes no less than 25 Mb without applications. In the upshot it becomes clear that 64 Mb is quite sufficient, provided you pay attention to the list of launched applications – you should promptly shut the "heaviest" of them. You cannot avoid such multitasking compromise without 128 Mb.

Screen

One more disappointment concerning P527 is an average diagonal of the screen (2.6”). Besides, it sports only a QVGA resolution of 320x240 despite of the high price status. The screen is powered by the TFT technology. The color depth is 65K colors. The image quality is high, yet the maximum brightness is not as high as one might want. The image dearness is good, the view angles are excellent. The screen info stays quite legible in the sunlight; however the sun-resistance is not ideal.

User interface

The interface design is typical of Windows Mobile phones. Here there is no such firm innovation as TouchFLO with HTC, but at the same time ASUS Launcher is available, let’s dwell on it further. The upper line is used for displaying service indicators like the signal quality and battery life meter, clock as well as the wireless protocols availability, Bluetooth, GPRS/EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi, the list of launched applications. The lower line contains info about context button functions.

The main part of the desktop can be varied to your liking. By default it shows current day, the service provider info, the owner personal data, messaging stats, the tasklist and schedule, and the indicator area (battery charge, display angle, wireless module manager and backlighting level). The user can customize the order in which these fields follow or remove some of them from the screen completely. Today Desktop can feature a custom picture or a photo.

There are two kinds of menus in this phone: the quick access menu and the main menu. The former is activated on pressing the Start button and essentially is a vertical list that contains 7 items, info about the 5 recently launched applications and grants access to the main menu and settings. The main menu is a list of applications very much similar to a regular Windows-styled window with icons and application names below them. A maximum of 12 icons per screen is allowed.

Besides there is a firmware ASUS Launcher shell employed for starting applications. It has been available already with P526 that is why it is not a novelty, but this launcher is really functional and not just nice like many others. As a matter of fact, it is called upon to replace the habitual WM interface with a more PDA-suitable one, in many respects it reminds of Nokia smartphones. The extended functionality and customization are offered, the navigation comes in handy. It’s a doubtlessly pleasant point with P527.

Traditional of ASUS, the model makes use of a status monitoring of the primary parameters through the icon on the Today screen which offers short stats. It’s a useful thing too.

There is also a simple task manager that allows you to switch between the running applications.

ASUS Launcher

ASUS refused the idea of investing large sums of money into the development of a complicated launcher right after HTC or Sony Ericsson, but habitually provided an alternative management software for their smartphone just like some other manufacturers (for example, the recent LG KS20 has got a similar application). One cannot say that the ASUS solution is remarkable for its functionality or ergonomics against such background, but the maximal succession as compared to the menu of usual mobile phones (particularly Nokia) is a serious advantage. The user will need less time to get used to it, at the same time all the necessary opportunities are available.

By default ASUS Launcher is bound to the left soft-key of the Today screen. The main menu consists of the three vertical rows four icons each - twelve icons in all, the structure of it being invariable. It’s Internet, Office, Profiles, Camera, Messages, Play, Files, Contacts, Calls, Application, GPS and Settings. Each item opens a corresponding vertical list that is customizable. By the way, the main menu can be also represented as a vertical list - one more analogy with usual mobile phones.

You won’t find any pretentious functionality here, though everything is simple and handy. You can make use of numerical combinations, but the handset obviously lacks the return button; the habitual C isn’t bound to this operation for some reason, one has to use the left soft-key for UP. The pleasant thing is that the items of the main menu are not single-level icons, which is usual for this kind of launchers. At least one submenu is available per icon. Strangely enough, no P527 key grants a default access to this program, but this can be easily adjusted through the appropriate settings.

Preinstalled Software

Settings

Вкладка Personal
Buttons, Voice Speed Dial, Input, Lock, Menus, Owner Information, Phone, Profile, Ring tones, Sounds & Notifications, Today, Video Call Setting, Wakeup source

Вкладка System
About, ASUS status, Audio, Auto Cleaner, Backlight, Brightness, Certificates, Clock & Alarms, CPU mode, Backup, Memory, Encryption, Switch mode, Power, Regional settings, Remove programs, Scren, System information, Windows update

Вкладка Connections
Beam, Bluetooth, Connections, GSM/3G networks, Network setting, USB setting, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi manager, Wireless Manager

Call serviceс

Conversations are in charge of the Phone application, which can be activated either by pressing the Call Button or by activating the corresponding menu item in the Start menu. The main screen of the Phone application hosts the three tabs - Calls, Quick Dial and Contacts.

ASUS P527 stores contacts within the Contacts application. The SIM-card stored contacts share the same list with the user-memory stored contacts. A SIM-stored contact can be transferred to user memory and vice versa. The PDA phone supports three types of contacts:

MS Outlook contacts can either be created directly on the PDA phone or synchronized with a PC or an Exchange Server contacts database. Each contact stores a few phone numbers, e-mail addresses, instant messaging contacts, home and work addresses and misc info like post, date of birth, etc. Each Outlook contact can be associated with a unique picture and ringtone.

Контакты с карты USIM/SIM. Для каждого можно сохранить только имя и номер телефона.

USIM/SIM card contacts. Any of those can only store a name and a phone number.

Windows Live Contacts are used by the Windows Live Messenger (MSN). Likewise the Outlook contacts, Windows Live contacts can contain detailed data about the person.

Only one telephone number is allowed per USIM/SIM-card stored contact. If you copy a user memory contact to SIM/USIM, the SIM Card Manager program splits any multiple phone numbers associated with a single contact into separate contact records for the USIM/SIM card memory. A special suffix is added automatically to the names of such duplicate contacts to tell between them (by default "/M" stands for Mobile, "/W" for Work and "/H" for Home).

To make a phone call, you can equally use the Phone application, the Contacts book, the Quick Dial or the Calls menu as well as the SIM card manager. Traditionally there's support for Smart Dialing which makes dialing easier than before. Once you input the initial symbols of the phone number or the person's name, the phone filters all the contacts automatically to fit the search criteria. This sorting works automatically for contacts stored both in user memory and on the SIM card and is applicable to the contacts book and the call log (among missed, outgoing and incoming calls). This saves a bit of time while searching for some person's name in the phonebook. By default, the call log displays information about all calls but it's customizable to filter missed, outgoing and incoming calls only, sorting by name is also present. Besides the name and the number each record in the log stores the time, the date and one call or all calls length.

The only limit to the size of the contact book is the volume of free user memory. Up to 12 phone numbers of different types of phone numbers, 3 e-mail addresses, home and work address, web page address and a plenty of other details like Assistant's Phone Number can be associated with every contact. It goes without saying that each contact can enjoy its own ringtone and picture as well as belong to one of the customizable user groups.

The profile management item (not always included in WM) is available in the settings. There is the ringtone management as well. Let’s note the most useful addition to the traditional Windows Mobile software packet – the Call Filter application. As we have already mentioned, it allows blocking undesired contacts. The feature is a basic one; however its availability is pleasant.

Messaging

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Traditionally the Messaging application is used for composing, viewing and sending SMS and MMS messages as well as e-mail messages. Once you get a new message, the Today screen displays a special reminder symbol. You can sort your messages in a number of ways, for example you can sort your e-mail messages by topic.

An incoming message is indicated by a pop-up window regardless of the menu the user is currently browsing through. The message can be instantly opened, deleted or ignored. That stands to reason that all the messages are stored within the same folder, at the same time shown in a tree-like structure allowing for easier navigation. We viewed the text input with the help of keyboard above, there is no problem when using MioKeyboard; everything is highly convenient.

The E-mail options include auto delivery (a certain time interval is set, defining the period of time between automatic mail checks), also you can set the message delivery mode (define how old in days can a message be in order to pass the filter and be downloaded), activate simultaneous sending and receiving of mail, set a mailing schedule when roaming abroad and sort incoming messages by size prior to downloading them to the phone.

If a Microsoft Exchange 2007 server is used, the message will be loaded at once and not on the next synchronization, HTML support is available. If the message contains several attachments, all of them are loaded at once, delayed download is supported. You can use hot key combinations for quick access to the messaging functions like Reply, Forward, etc.

An able security system is in its place. For instance, the ActiveSync application can be set to digital signing of documents and enable encryption for all outgoing messages, the IRM (Information Rights Management) menu allows you to limit access to certain sections like messages and so on.

PIM

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The Calendar application is used for planning events and meetings, this day's schedule can be displayed on the Today screen. If your PC has a copy of Outlook installed on it, you can synchronize the schedules. Reminders can be set in the form of sound signals or screen flickers. There is also the firmware application serving the same purposes.

Calendar can also be used for arranging meetings via e-mail with the users of Outlook or Outlook Mobile. If the recipient accepts the proposition, the meeting is automatically added to their schedule. When the person affirms to participate, your schedule is automatically updated with an acknowledgement. The Windows Mobile platform has long been known for its strong points in the corporate sphere.

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The standard vCalendar file format is supported for exchanging information about scheduled events; the corresponding files can be exported to the PC version of Outlook.

The Tasks application is used for scheduling events which can either be set to be one-time or recurring. You can set up reminders and sort them by categories. There's a tasklist which automatically highlights in red expired tasks. You can set a reminder that will be automatically activated on every occasion when open your schedule to add a new event.

The Notes tab helps you to store quick notes. You can input the text from the keyboard, put it down in handwriting or use voice-to-text processing as well as convert handwritten notes into text files or send your notes to other people. If a letter crosses more than three marking lines, it's processed as an image, otherwise - as text. To highlight an image (e.g. to copy or delete it) you have to press the stylus on the image for a few moments.

The Office Mobile software package consists of three applications which serve to edit and view Microsoft documents: Word Mobile (supports viewing and editing of *.doc, *.rtf, *.txt and *.dot files), Excel Mobile (viewing and editing of *.xls files), PowerPoint Mobile (viewing and editing of *.ppt and *.pps files).

Explorer is a basic file manager that serves for browsing media folders. A .zip archiver is included as well. A back-up functionality is provided by the Sprite Backup software.

Of a list of the ASUS firmware set we’d like to especially mark the Ur Time application. As a matter of fact, it’s the habitual world time feature, but a praiseworthy one taking into account that it’s a preinstalled application. The status indicators can be carried out to the Today screen, the developed system of reminders is also pleasant. Unfortunately, the latter is not bound to the common WM one, which is not always convenient.

Newstation is another useful PIM-application. It’s a simple RSS-reader that will come in handy for businessmen. It’s not necessary to keep track of your own channels; the phone will download a ready database on its own.

A back-up functionality is provided by the Backup software and Remote Presenter is employed for managing presentations via Bluetooth as well as Meeting Time Planner for planning meetings. These applications are simple enough; that’s why we won’t dwell on them.