February 2008, Mio-Tech Website: The latest PDA-phone with GPS from Mio landed on our desk this week, and we’ve been impressed in the short time we’ve had to play with it.
We thought it would be interesting to see how a fully-fledged GPS PDA/phone compares with consumer versions like the Nokia Navigator 6110. The Mio is arguably a different class of phone, it has Windows Mobile 6 with the usual spreadsheet and word features, but if you’re after portable navigation it also outclasses the consumer grade GPS phones.
Mio’s pedigree in navigation made us more comfortable than usual when unwrapping a GPS phone for the first time. We have mixed feelings about these devices - they can impress, but can also come with catches compared with dedicated in-car units. For one thing some don’t come equipped with the onboard maps, meaning potential data charges for downloading.
In this case the GPS is ready to go straight out of the box, with pre-loaded maps (like the 6110). In fact we were able to get track our journey without a SIM card at all.
It’s a marked contrast with some other business class PDA phones such as Nokia’s E90. The E90 requires you to fiddle around enabling your navigation license. Crucially, the A702 also includes turn by turn voice navigation as standard – this costs over $100 a year with Nokia’s E90.
We find the Tom Tom interface friendlier, but if you’re familiar with MioMap you’ll have no trouble with the A702. The 2.7inch screen is big enough if you’re walking down the street, though we’d find it too small for mounting in a car. Zooming in and out is easily done via a small jog dial on the left of the unit, and the system copes quite while with minimal lag when zooming out to a city –wide view.
The major area where the Mio and smartphones like the Nokia 6110 differ is wireless connectivity. Unlike the Nokia, which can access the Web at HSDPA speeds (up to 3.6Mbps), the Mio lacks 3G. It seems like a major disadvantage until you take into account the Mio’s drawcard – WiFi. WiFi is still a relative rarity in run-of-the-mill consumer grade phones, and it gives the Mio a serious advantage in terms of cheap Internet access. We wish more phones had it.
The Mio also outclasses the Nokia 6110 with its touchscreen - this is a must for GPS navigation because it makes selecting menu items much less of a headache.
The Mio also stacks up well in other areas. The 3.2 megapixel camera isn’t groundbreaking, but it beats the 6110’s 2 megapixels. The Mio is slightly heavier at 150g than the Navigator (125g), but the difference isn’t huge. It’s much easier than carrying mini-bricks like the ASUS PND models.
The Mio A702 also gets a much-needed upgrade to Windows Mobile 6. Opinions vary on Windows Mobile, but this is a PDA device as well as a phone, so if you’re after email and messaging then Windows Mobile is a good thing. It’s overkill if all you need are calls and texting.
One of our few gripes was the slow startup time – it took 50 seconds before we had a usable menu screen. The unit also took about 17 seconds to load the MioMaps application – it doesn’t sound like a long time, but if you’re after directions in a hurry it can be a pain. The lag isn’t too bad within Windows Mobile 6 though, and we were able to startup Word and the calendar without any problems.
In short, this is a PDA-class smartphone aimed at executives, couriers, or a sales force, but it’s worth considering if you’re after a solid GPS phone. The touchscreen and preloaded maps means we’d choose the Mio A702 over Nokia’s 6110 for navigation, though if you’re a heavy data user you may miss 3G speeds and a QWERTY keyboard.
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