AnexTEK Pocket PC Phone SP230 Review

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/reviews/022004/anextek2.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/revi...04/anextek2.htm</a><br /><br /></div>Last month, Janak posted about the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23069">AnexTek Pocket PC Phone photographed At CES</a>. Now PPCT member Phoenix sends word that this design has surfaced as the HugeBee Pocket PC Phone SP230, on sale for $599 at the web shop of the HugeBee group <a href="http://www.internetishop.com/product_detail.asp?main_cat_no=CL&amp;sub_cat_no=01&amp;item=CL-HB-SP230">here</a>, while Ryaninc has pointed us to the review at <a href="http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/reviews/022004/anextek2.htm">PocketPCReviews.net</a>.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/SP230.jpg" /> <br /><br />"A first look at the surprisingly handsome AnexTEK SP230 reveals a top-notch design that makes few compromises to either phone or PDA functions. If you are looking for an all-in-one device this unit might serve you well. It features a Tri-band phone with video transmission, GPRS as well as fairly standard PPC specs but with a generous 64 MB of user-accessible RAM." Hmmm, I'm not so sure that 64Mb is 'generous' these days. :? That amount is standard, expected, a minimum perhaps.<br /><br />"The core unit is about the size of an iPAQ 2210, but thicker. It also feels heavier but not by much (158 gms vs. 144 but adding the numeric keypad notches it up to 170 gms and adds a few more mms in thickness). What makes the unit larger than the iPAQ is its protruding antenna. It sticks out by about 20 mms but, cleverly, also incorporates a full-size stylus (and comes also with a spare one!). Sometimes it’s the little things that count. The large capacity 1480mAh battery clips on securely and bulges just slightly, aiding the grip on the unit." Ah – so the bulky parts are clever and aid grip. Indeed. That's one of those irregular verbs isn't it? "My unit has clever aiding grips, yours is bulky, his makes house bricks look skinny." :lol: <br /><br />"This is not a phone with some or most PDA features. It is a fully-featured, albeit basic, PocketPC. It might lack Bluetooth or WiFi capability but it scores really high on that more important form of connectivity: the phone. Of course, it also has infra-red, SDIO, a full and brilliant 3.5” TFT screen with no yellowing. On bluetooth: the software has the BT functionality already built-in so the unit is BT-ready so to speak and can handle BT devices. With a 400 MHz Cotulla XScale engine and 64MB memory the SP230 is no slouch either." Which is nice.<br /><br />So, check out the review to get the full specs of the unit and view the pictures.<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> We previously linked to a review linked from HugeBee's website, but have since replaced the link with the original (more balanced) review at PocketPCReviews. The HugeBee version was apparently an unauthorized copy. :|

[Jereboam]

This looks to me like a re-cased, maybe slightly updated, original XDA/Wallaby (even the name is similar, HugeBee, well, kind of ;) ). Antenna/stylus design the same, same right-hand side screen offset, same accept/end call buttons. Battery life is also on a par with the XDA, which was quite exceptional.

I am curious about the flip though. I guess it must be like a pseudo-thumb-board or something?

If it really supports SDIO this will address one of the major drawbacks of the XDA - it never did, which was a killer for me, forcing me back to a two-device system with my 5450 and T610.

The review certainly sounds a little home-grown, IMHO. I also don't like the way the picture with flip closed has been kind of stretched out to make it look more phone-like...unless my eyes deceive me. Hmmm.

J'bm

[Mitch D]

As interesting as I think this device is, and I remembered the salt while reading the review, there is something about this device that just doesn't sit right with me and the heck if I can figure out what it is. Maybe it's just because I am eagerly awaiting the release of the iPaq 6xxx series and I am just biased.

Of well, I will admit it is a nice looking unit but the size and the wieght leave something to be desired. Large screens are nice but I like to be able to keep my pants around my waist while carrying it on my belt.

[pdaisdead]

'Huge Bee'?? That's just asking for it.....Huge it is.

[fgarcia10]

I guess the IR port is behind the Sd card slot. I could not see it in the photos. :?:

[felixdd]

It is a fully-featured, albeit basic, PocketPC.

Hmm...I read the review.

It was a good review, albeit a biased, contradictory, inaccurate, uninformative, sugar-coating, over-descriptive, review.

:roll:

[Ryan Joseph]

I actually have one of these. I ordered it from Huge Bee last week and it arrived yesterday. I'd be happy to answer anyone's questions about it.

Personally, I think it's awesome. It's certainly the best Pocket PC I've owned. The flip cover is really cool and the unit is much smaller than I expected. And actually, the battery does add grip. :-)

I'm surprised no one else caught this, but the text of the review on the AnexTek web site is identical to the review on PocketPCReviews.net: http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/reviews/022004/anextek2.htm.

Again, feel free to ask me any questions about the unit. I love it!

[Pinnacle]

I actually have one of these. I ordered it from Huge Bee last week and it arrived yesterday. I'd be happy to answer anyone's questions about it.

Personally, I think it's awesome. It's certainly the best Pocket PC I've owned. The flip cover is really cool and the unit is much smaller than I expected. And actually, the battery does add grip. :-)

I'm surprised no one else caught this, but the text of the review on the AnexTek web site is identical to the review on PocketPCReviews.net: http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/reviews/022004/anextek2.htm.

Again, feel free to ask me any questions about the unit. I love it!
Is there anyway for you to post pics of this device next (or stacked) to a TMobile PPC Phone? Or maybe a 2215?

This looks like a great PPC competitor to the P800/900, actually. No gamepad, but I'm sure that results in a more compact frame. I owned a P800, and the removable numeric keypad flip is more welcome than you can imagine in actual use. How does the phone act with the keypad attached? Is there a "mini" phone screen to view calls and SMS? Does the keypad support T9?

The size specs on this are very similar to a Treo 600, albeit a bit wider. I want to hear about battery, gaming, and video performance on this thing. Thanks.

[mbranscum]

They ommitted one very important thing in the review....who can use it. Is it 900 or 850 on GSM???

[foldedspace]

900

It was at the bottom of the second review

[Janak Parekh]

They ommitted one very important thing in the review....who can use it. Is it 900 or 850 on GSM???
I believe it's 900/1800/1900 triband. Useful for T-Mobile in the US, but it'll be of less utility with AT&T/Cingular.

--janak

[Eos]

Quoting...."On bluetooth: the software has the BT functionality already built-in so the unit is BT-ready so to speak and can handle BT devices..."...

Interesting language.....So, does this have a built-in BT transceiver or doesn't it.

Is it a dual/tri-band phone or else...

And to me it looks more than anything else to the Lenovo/Legend ET-560..but I guess that it was already mentioned up this thread..

Any real owners' comments ?

======
Saar

[surur]

As interesting as I think this device is, and I remembered the salt while reading the review, there is something about this device that just doesn't sit right with me and the heck if I can figure out what it is. Maybe it's just because I am eagerly awaiting the release of the iPaq 6xxx series and I am just biased.

Of well, I will admit it is a nice looking unit but the size and the weight leave something to be desired. Large screens are nice but I like to be able to keep my pants around my waist while carrying it on my belt.

Thats easy. There is no bluetooth, which is really mandatory in a phone these days. Its a nice phone, but its not really pushing the frontiers either as a phone or a pocketpc. Now if it had something special (more than the keypad) such as 128 Mb then I would be more enthused, but without bluetooth it will always be no-sale.

BTW, I liked the review. It ws obviously written by some-one who owns and uses a PPC, and he does provide the benchmarks at the end. Lots of excuses in the review however, but its quite adequate for a review found on a vendors site.

Surur

[Ryan Joseph]

Is there anyway for you to post pics of this device next (or stacked) to a TMobile PPC Phone? Or maybe a 2215?

This looks like a great PPC competitor to the P800/900, actually. No gamepad, but I'm sure that results in a more compact frame. I owned a P800, and the removable numeric keypad flip is more welcome than you can imagine in actual use. How does the phone act with the keypad attached? Is there a "mini" phone screen to view calls and SMS? Does the keypad support T9?

The size specs on this are very similar to a Treo 600, albeit a bit wider. I want to hear about battery, gaming, and video performance on this thing. Thanks.

I don't know about the pictures. I don't own either of those two devices (I sold my 2215 to get this), but I'll see what I can do. I have some other devices I can compare it next to if you like.

The keypad is very cool. The only downside is that with the keypad on, the unit doesn't fit very well into the supplied case. Without the keypad, it fits fine. I think I'll be buying another case.

The keypad doesn't support T9, but this is a PPC, so it's easier to use the software to send messages anyway.

With the keypad on, the display shows the phone number you are dialing in the exposed portion of the screen. When you flip the pad open, the display changes to whatever was being displayed before the phone dialer. When the pad is flipped closed, it displays the dialer again. Nice touch.

Another thing not mentioned in the review is the orange light. Above the power button, there are two lights, green and orange. The green flashes whenever a cellular signal is present. The orange is usually off. However, if you miss a call, it flashes quickly. This comes in very handy because you don't have to turn the whole unit on to see if you have any missed calls.

Again, I've only had the sp230 for two days now, so I can't really make any statements about battery life. The battery performed great for those two days, though. :wink:

I'll take some pictures of it this afternoon and post them here.

[snazzy]

And to me it looks more than anything else to the Lenovo/Legend ET-560..but I guess that it was already mentioned up this thread..

Any real owners' comments ?

======
Saar

definitely lenovo/ legend which made its debut abut 6 months ago.

[Jonathon Watkins]

I'm surprised no one else caught this, but the text of the review on the AnexTek web site is identical to the review on PocketPCReviews.net: http://www.pocketpcreviews.net/reviews/022004/anextek2.htm

Yes, after reading that, I decided that the best thing to do, would be to link to that slightly more detailed review at pocketpcreviews.net, instead of the original review I linked to. So, I've slightly re-worked the front page post to take account of the fact we now know where the review came from.

[whydidnt]

Interesting - they indicate that it is Bluetooth ready in the review. However, the specs don't say this is SDIO, just SD/MMC.

ryaninc, any idea if the SD slot is SDIO for peripherals or not? If not, I think this is a bit too crippled for my needs.

[Ryan Joseph]

Yes, it does have SDIO. I'm using it right now with a SanDisk WiFi card on my wireless network. Very cool. :mrgreen:

And about the Bluetoth...there's a bluetooth option in Connections, but when you try to use it, it says "No bluetooth hardware installed." I guess this means that you could use any bluetooth SDIO card without special software.

[mbranscum]

900

It was at the bottom of the second review

Oh well...that rules me out, Cingular 850. :|

[possmann]

No Bluetooth and a phone device? no way... I'm out. Innovative design though (flip keyboard and all)

[islebutt]

Hello folks...I'm new to this board...

I've owned the SP230 PDA for about a week now and love it in general. Its much smaller and it feels lighter than the PPC - I had one of the very first PPCs (Tmobile) and it was recently stolen. Anyway the SP230 comes with a little pouch which fits on your belt horizontally. Other than the physical feeling of having it on my belt there is no sense of its weight at all.

I bought it from HUGEBEE although I had contacted ANEXTEK as well. The folks at ANEXTEK were very friendly and helpful but did not want to sell it for less than $650 so I went with HUGEBEE's $599 + shipping. They shipped it immediately and it was well packed although there are no manuals. They did included instead a "homemade" CD with everything on it including some sloppy fingerprints on the CD...its a new process.

Incidentally ANEXTEK has built and is in the process of finalizing the FCC approval processing for the external Bluetooth, Camera gadgets - which will apparently hookup through the universal pin at the bottom or through the SDIO slot - unclear at this time.

There are some quirky things - my unit seems to be having problems with audio. The ringer is very low even at its highest setting so when on the belt you will probably miss a few calls. Also people can't seem to hear my end of the conversation a lot of the time and I sometimes can't hear the other end as well. I've called HUGEBEE about this and they were VERY responsive and gave me a choice of a fix, replacement, or money back. Active Sync does not seem to always sense whn the unit has been docked. So far the only way I can sync is to dock the unit and reboot my PC.

Another thing is it seems HUGEBEE is doing a much better job of marketing and going to market than ANEXTEK which is really strange since ANEXTEK has a HUGE marketing engine for its storage business 8O .

I will never go back to the PPC. I really like this baby!!! :wink:

I hope this helps and I will try to be much more brief on my next response if there are any questions.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Welcome Islebutt, good to have you on board. 8)

... and gave me a choice of a fix, replacement, or money back.

So which did you go for? Have they replaced it & did it get better?

I will never go back to the PPC. I really like this baby!!! :wink:

Even with the reception problems?

[Ryan Joseph]

Let me just put my two cents in here. First of all, I'm glad to see that there's at least one other sp230 user out there. It really is a great PPC.

Secondly, I've never had any reception problems with mine. It must be Islebutt's unit (which he said he was going to have replaced). I've also never experienced ActiveSync problems. Again, I'd blame the faulty unit.

And I agree one hundred percent with Islebutt's statement about never going back. I'll probably buy a new PPC Phone sometime, but now that I have one, I'll never return to seperate devices.

[islebutt]

Tnx for D welcome!

I originally asked for a replacement unit when I first spoke to them and they gave me an RMA # without a flinch. However I really did not want to send it back yet so I'm still playing with it.

Active Sync problem seems to be solved.

I removed the ActiveSync from my PC and reinstalled it and it works fine now - there seems to be a specific sequence of how to dock the SP230 that works all the time - basically it appears I have to use the STOP function on the unit's ActiveSync program before undocking.

This thing is really nice! Syncing is a cinch and definitely much faster than my old PPC-Phone Edition unit.

[mkthigh]

I've had the SP230 (purchased from Hugebee) for a month now. It worked perfectly (reception, performance, sync, and all) when I was in Asia on a business trip, and continues to impress. I have since gotten rid of my Ipaq 4355, and now rely solely on the SP230 for my PPC needs and for text messaging to friends and relatives in Asia.

[Johnny37]

Hello to all,

Curious to know if one of the two owners has used the speakerphone feature on the device yet and if there are any quarks, how does it sound?

Thanks,

Johnny37

[Ryan Joseph]

Johnny, I have used the speakerphone several times and it seems to work fine. The only flaw is that it doesn't always come on right away when I want it to. It usually does, but not always.

When it's working, however, it works great. I used it once to take notes from a phone call. The person on the other end was reading a document to me and I was writing it down as they read. I couldn't hold it to my ear and use Pocket Word at the same time, so I put it on speakerphone and used it that way. It was very cool. :mrgreen:

[100thMonkey]

Audiovox has released a North American model with 850/1800/1900. It is called Audiovox PPC 4100

[rbrome]

Audiovox has released a North American model with 850/1800/1900. It is called Audiovox PPC 4100

Well, they technically haven't released it yet, or even announced it... but yes it definitely is coming, and has been approved by the FCC. AT&T Wireless will carry it later this summer or fall.

Full details here:

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=530

8)