SPV E200

The SPV E200 was announced only a few months after the SPV E100 was released. It’s perhaps unsurprising then, that such a speedy succession has resulted in a phone that is almost identical to the E100. The only immediately discernable differences are the new and improved joystick and action keys, a new speaker design and blue backlit keys.

DIGITAL IMAGE
However, it’s not until you turn the handset over that you notice the biggest change to the chassis: an embedded VGA digital camera. Because of this, the SPV now weighs 5g more than the previous model at 130g, yet the manufacturers have managed to keep the chassis the same size at 50 x 120 x 23mm. While this means it is on the big size for a phone, it’s impressively small for a smartphone and feels comfortable in the hand.

Apart from the new Microsoft Smartphone 2003 platform, the most major change inside the phone is the addition of Bluetooth functionality. This is a welcome inclusion and means that owners will be able to synchronise the E200 wirelessly and beam information to other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Clearly, a built-in camera and Bluetooth are improvements on previous models, but both are renowned for draining battery power and it came as no surprise that the E200’s battery life was extremely poor for a mobile phone. If you’re intending to make a lot of voice calls or leave Bluetooth switched on, you will need to recharge the battery daily. Unfortunately, the E200 uses a different battery to its predecessor, so you can’t even use the old one as a spare.

The E200 runs on a 133MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 710 processor and has 32MB of RAM. The Smartphone 2003 OS operates a lot more smoothly, with less of a time-delay than the 2002 version. Many of the quirks of the original OS have now been ironed out, but a couple still remain. However, on the whole, the phone is straightforward and intuitive to use.

With every incarnation, the SPV range keeps getting better. The SPV E200 is a useful and capable smartphone, offering a good degree of functionality and power. While its battery life remains a problem, users looking for a PIM device with the added benefits a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone can offer will not be disappointed.

RATING: 7

PRICE: £99 (INC. VAT) WITH CONTRACT
PROCESSOR: TI OMAP 710 133MHZ
OPERATING SYSTEM: WINDOWS SMARTPHONE 2003
MEMORY: 32MB RAM
EXPANSION: 8MB SD CARD INCLUDED
SCREEN: 16-BIT TFT (65,536 COLOURS)
SIZE: 50 X 120 X 23MM
WEIGHT: 130G
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