The revolutionary character of E-TEN glofiish X800 consists in it being the first 3G-based PDA phone by that brand and the first VGA-display PDA phone with an outstanding set of functions at the same time. It’s unclear if this device will enjoy any popularity on the company’s main market - the third generation networks aren’t supported in Russia yet, so there’s no reason for Russian customers to shell out extra money for an upgraded X500+, though outside the borders of Russia the device is sure to find popularity with its target audience.

By its release date the X800 model will have a number of competitor devices besides its twin X500+, among them Gigabyte GSmart i350 and O2 XDA Flame, by the end of the year a VGA-display based PDA phone by HTC is expected as well. The latter is to be the strongest rival to the latest glofiish, and the i350 seems to overpower it in a few aspects, especially in the performance. What goes to Flame, we wouldn’t consider their product an alternative, it’s marketed towards a more niche-oriented audience. Let’s compare E-TEN glofiish X800 to Gigabyte GSmart i350 (the black color variant will be shipped to Russia):

Display is the key feature of glofiish X800, it’s one of the few VGA-display based communicators available on the market today. Microsoft themselves do not consider this a turning point in the development of the Windows Mobile platform, considering it more of an experiment aimed at exploration of greener pastures. However E-TEN has quite a different opinion, they are posing the 640x480 resolution as a breakthrough in functionality and ergonomics, especially for viewing videos. Rather an extravagant approach especially if we consider the small physical length of the display diagonal (for example, that makes about 2,8’’ for X800). That kind of advertisements looks more like some sort of marketing provocation so the rest of major companies operating in this sector have a skeptical view of the chances and reasons to join the new trend in the technology race.

As advertised by E-TEN, camera is another trump card of the X800. However this is nothing more than an auto-focusing 2 Mpix module, so that’s quite modest for a flagship phone of the series. The HTC company supplies their TyTN II with a more powerful 3,2 Mpix camera module, the same goes with Mio A702. E-TEN’s reasons for limiting the camera power only to 2 Mpix remain unclear, but the fact remains a fact. The maximum resolution for the camera is 1600x1200 which is quite enough for printing 10x15 cm photos. Following a path trodden by other manufacturers, E-TEN supplied their new product with a visit card recognition system that will prove useful to business people.

The new design also leaves an ambiguous impression, especially considering the high price of the phone. The conservative looks of X500+ fits this class even better. Neither the size nor the weight is balanced which causes the X800 to give the hand an unbalanced feel, yielding to i350 in this field. The ergonomics suffers from crowded control elements that include nine (!) buttons. The extravagant urge for reinventing the wheel again and again while the rest of the companies utilize fewer control keys in their products, thus contributing to the ergonomics.

The scroll wheel is absent in X800 unlike the top models by HTC and Mio. The interface slots raise no objection, they use an universal standard - a 2,5 headset jack and a miniUSB slot for synchronization and recharging. The slider block function is performed by the Power On button, so that’s quite convenient, too.

The stylus pocket is designed for a downwards stylus extraction so maybe some people won’t find it to their liking. The stylus itself is quite comfortable.

The hardware platform of E-TEN glofiish X800 is based on the Samsung SC3 2242 processor operating at a frequency of 500 Mhz. It’s lower than the performance of GSmart i350, but still provides enough power not to be called a failure. Numerous tests revealed no performance issues with the majority of applications.

The memory is quite enough for all the basic needs - 256 Mb of HDD storage plus a microSD slot with hot swap support. Unfortunately no card comes with the sales package which is rather disappointing for a top model.

The phone is fed by a 1530 mAh battery. The device is able to stay alive for about two days of moderately extensive usage without recharging. E-TEN officially promises some 3,5-4 hours of talktime, 120-150 hours of standby mode, 10-15 of PDA mode and 2,5-5 hours of GPS mode.

Preinstalled software package:	Operating System Windows Mobile 6 Professional, Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Inbox), Picture, Notes, Office Mobile (Microsoft Office Word Mobile, Microsoft Office Excel Mobile, Microsoft Office Excel Mobile), Internet Explorer Mobile, ActiveSync, Calculator, Games (Solitaire and Bubble Breaker), Voice Recorder, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live, Windows Update, Windows Media Player, Direct Push, Microsoft Reader.
glofiish software package:	Phone services: Phone, Settings, SIM Toolkit, Speed Dial, Call Filter, Wireless Modem, Dialer Skin, Add Ringtone, CSD Type, Connection Wizard, SMS Sender, SIM Manager, Videotelephone Communication Agent Multimedia applications: Image Wizard, Image Maker, Multimedia Manager, Camera, Camcorder, FM Tuner MMS Composer Utilities: Quick Link, Battery Meter, Zoom SMS, Bluetooth Manager, M-Desk, Scenario, Backup Utility, namecard recognition system - Namecard Manager GPS Navigation Utlities: Location SMS, GPS Viewer

The sales package includes the following items, according to the manual: the glofiish X800 handset, a stylus, a mini-USB/USB data cable, a charger, a wire stereo headset, a leather case, a brief printed user manual, a software disk containing the complete manual in a digital format, a battery, a detailed printed user manual. Not much of a treasure, considering the top class of the device. (The sales package contents are listed according to the manual, we didn't have a chance to have a look at an actual sales package since our copy of the device provided to us for testing and reviewing didn't come with any of the additional acessories).

Will the model win any popularity on the market? In our opinion, that’s a good chance for E-TEN to improve their sales volume all over the world which leave much to be desired as of now. The 3G support along with the marketing prospects of the VGA displays are sure to lure a certain number of potential customers in spite of the high price. To other people it may seem more reasonable to buy the cheaper but not actually less functional X500+ or the faster Gigabyte GSmart i350. The release of the new WM6 firmware for P3300 (Artemis) makes that solution by HTC up to date once again, making a good option for people who are looking for practical usefulness rather than for fashion features like the VGA display. Considering these factors, the sales forecast for X800 is that it will have rather moderate sales. We are looking forward to more balanced solutions by E-TEN and hope they really feel like making some in the future.

Author: Boris Nikiforov, boris@smape.com

www.smape.com

	Comments: