The O2 Xda Orbit 2 is a rebranded version of the HTC Cruise, an all-in-one smart phone running Windows Mobile 6 Professional. It's also the successor to the original Orbit, which was the first Xda device to have built-in GPS.
A year on, we don't find built-in GPS to be such a big deal anymore, so how does it stand up against the competition? We put it through the paces to find out. The O2 Xda Orbit 2 is currently available free on a monthly contract.
Design
Combining styling from the original Orbit and HTC Touch, the Orbit 2 is definitely a step in the right direction for O2's now sentence-cased Xda portfolio. It looks less like a business phone and more like something ripped off the inside of a BMW.
The Orbit 2's 71mm (2.8-inch) large screen makes viewing content enjoyable and is complemented by large, easy to press navigation and soft keys. The circular, four-way navigation key also doubles up as a scroll wheel, which is useful for searching through long lists. Another noteworthy design feature is the accessible microSD slot that allows you to slip in and out microSD cards with minimum hassle.
Aside from these design perks, the Orbit 2's design isn't much of an improvement on its predecessor. The handset has cleaned up nicely, so you won't be the laughing stock of your business meeting, but we'd like to see some panache substitute its chunkiness.
Features
There's no need to worry about connecting to the Internet if you're using an Orbit 2 -- it connects to almost everything. HSPDA (3.5G), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth mean that you're rarely going to be out of touch.
You won't be lost either: the Orbit 2 comes with CoPilot Live 7 sat-nav software. It's very capable at getting you from A to B without too much fiddling. The speakerphone is sufficiently loud enough to hear in a car, so you shouldn't miss a turn if you're paying attention.
Windows Mobile 6 Professional offers you all the Exchange email connectivity plus Microsoft Office editing and viewing capabilities that you'd expect, with 128MB SDRAM and a Qualcomm MSM7200 400MHz processor pushing it all along.
On the media side, there's an MP3 that supports a variety of formats and an FM radio. On the back, you'll find a 3-megapixel camera, which takes still pictures and videos. It seems a growing trend for handset manufacturers to leave off the LED photo light or xenon flash, and the Orbit 2 sadly follows along, making low-light photos impossible.
Similar to the HTC Touch, the Orbit 2 features the TouchFlo interface, which appears when you slide your finger up the screen. It gives you quick, finger-friendly access to contacts and selected apps, but is disappointing because it inevitably drops you back to the Windows Mobile interface, which isn't as touchy feely.
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User reviews4
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kwithers 9 July 2008
Good: Touchscreen response, lightweight
Bad: You can only customise the alarm tone with WAV files and I can't find a decent one!
Comment: It pretty much is a small PC in your pocket. I have really enjoyed it so far. the only down side to the phone is that you can only slide show the pictures that are kept on the harddrive and there really isn't that much space. But it is not a big deal really.
Fab phone, enjoying using it a lot
P968CS 8 June 2008
Good: Fairly copmpact and with lots of features, but .....
Bad: Impossible to read screen outdoors, crashes and locks too often
Comment: I really wanted to like this product - on paper it has everything, and the built in GPS was the icing on the cake! But the GPS is poor (trying to send you down umnade roads as the 'quickest route'!), the phone is unuseable outdoors as the screen is completely unreadable even with the backlight at max, and the whole system crashes one or twice a day needing a reset and re-boot. Out of 14 calls one day I only received 3 - the rest diverted immediately to voicemail. Once I answered a call and the system loaded the GPS then locked up hung! I never found out who had called me. For a business user this is totally unacceptable.
I guess you get the gist that its a great gadget, but is basically useless. Perhaps I just got a duff one but mine's going back for a refund.
RSmith 2 June 2008
Good: Fully featured, but.....
Bad: The touch screen is very poor in sunlight and a pain to use.
Comment: I want to like this phone, but the poor user interface (i.e. all driven via the touch screen) becomes very annoying outside of the office when you're on the go. You can't operate the phone easily with one hand (like other PDAs I've had in the past) and so if you need to write notes or refer to info, it becomes a nightmare to use. I also found the stick you use on the touch screen to be slow and ackward to use - I'll take a keyboard and a track wheel any day. Because you operate this phone via the touch screen, unless its locked, you constantly trigger unwanted programs or make unwanted calls accidently just by holding the phone. You need to use this phone as a business tool outside of the office to appreciate how poor and annoying the user interface is - it's a shame, as otherwise its got lots of functionality.
See all 4 user reviews