Our friends at Expansys sent us down the new HP iPAQ 614C Business Navigator for review and I have to say that it is a very nice phone. It is quite a large device however I found it wasn’t overly recognisable in my pocket. I really like the matted finish that the casing has; it is a welcome change to the current trend of plastic coating that seems to be housing most new devices. The outside has some good little additions. It includes a fly wheel, a feature which I am personally quite a fan of and one that seems to becoming standard on HP’s devices. This is useful for people on the go as it offers an easy way to quickly check e-mail and messages. After I turned on the device, I was pleasantly surprised with the design of the screen. It is a very nice blue fusion design, and it gives the device a more stylish touch. I have always been wary that devices running windows mobile tend to look a bit plain and although I don’t think it matches up to the style of the iPhone, at least devices are starting thinking about style as well as functionality when designing business phones.
The one thing I realised about the phone is that it focuses a lot of importance on SMS. There are four different ways to select SMS on the device. You can select it with the fly wheel, press the message button manually on the screen, use one of the silver shortcut keys on the keypad, or press the message button located on the side of the device! I like sending messages but I think even I may be a little spoilt for choice here! The keypad also has a brand new feature in the D-Pad that is built into the buttons. When using functions such as the internet, this is a useful tool for scrolling and is more efficient than using the stylus or fly wheel. The home screen is laid out well, showing a retro style clock along with SMS, E-Mail and contact options. It doesn’t have a calendar option available straight away and this slightly surprised me. The other surprise I found was that it has a 3 Mega Pixel camera. Not something you find on every business device. It was this little feature, added to stylish design that made me think that HP were actually trying to add a more personal touch to the phone. I believe this is a great idea and is a good way of differentiating itself from other business devices on the market. The camera itself has some good features such as a vanity mirror and flash light option.
I thought I would have some trouble getting used to the keypad, as it is not a qwerty keyboard like many other smartphone devices but it is very easy to get back into the old way of texting and the buttons are a good size so u don’t make any mistakes, something I have fallen victim to a few times with qwerty keypads. I would recommend this phone as it will definitely suit those people who want just one device, rather than a business phone and personal phone.
For more information on the HP iPAQ 614C Business Navigator then head on over to Expansys for the deets.
