HP iPAQ 614c Business Navigator

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Review

Any product that's drab, grey and unremarkable to look at usually comes with an ‘executive’ or ‘business’ label, and it’s a tag that HP has certainly reached for to explain away the austere appearance of its iPAQ 614c Business Navigator. And it's not hard to see why. Apart from a bit of rubbery plastic on the front and back, it's a wholly unremarkable Windows Mobile-based smartphone – all subdued tones and decidedly chunky – but it does have one or two innovative touches.

The HP iPAQ 614c has a somewhat traditional mobile phone design, but it’s larger and a little less comfortable to hold than other ‘candy bar’ models. The increased size has allowed HP to fit a large keypad, but it’s a standard telephone keypad rather than a mini Qwerty keyboard. 

The keypad also has a raised circle in its centre that appears to serve no obvious purpose, but it’s actually a touch-sensitive dial. Run your thumb around it and you can scroll through lists and menus, much like the click-wheel on older Apple iPods. It works rather well, even if it gives an odd-feeling profile to some of the number keys, but there is a small flaw. Rather than sit in the middle of the ‘dial as the 5 key’, the Enter/Select button is at the far right of the keypad and that’s an awkward stretch for a thumb if you’re right-handed.

A bigger problem is that the dial doesn't deactivate automatically when you're typing on the keypad, which causes the cursor to leap around the screen as you type in a most frustrating manner. You can manually disable the dial, but you have then to resort to the small, fiddly jog wheel on the left edge of the phone to scroll through lists.

Perhaps the 614c's second innovation can rescue it – it has on-board Assisted GPS (A-GPS). Unlike standard GPS, A-GPS uses information gleaned from the phone's current cell to help it achieve a quicker satellite lock (broadly similar to Google Maps' 'Where am I' feature for smartphones).

In theory this means less hanging around looking like a lemon on street corners while you wait for the GPS receiver to lock onto sufficient satellites to be able to pinpoint your location. In practise, it wasn't particularly revelatory. The phone still took around a minute to lock on in Google Maps in unfamiliar surroundings and with no driving sat-nav software included, you'll have to spend more cash if you want to use the iPAQ 614c as a navigator.

At 2.8in with a 320 x 240 resolution, the iPAQ 614c’s screen is standard for a Windows Mobile smartphone, though the narrow bezel makes it look a little larger. Battery life is a bit disappointing too – the 1590mAh lithium ion cell should be beefy, but you’ll find yourself charging this phone up every two days at the outside, or every day if you want to be sure of not running out power at a critical moment.

Still, while the iPAQ 614c’s exterior may be a little underwhelming, the rest of the specification is more difficult to find fault with. The phone's core specification is particularly impressive – the 520MHz Marvell PXA270 processor backed with 128Mb of RAM pushes Windows Mobile on at a lick that leaves most other smartphones in the dust. Even with several applications running at once, it rarely pauses for breath.

There's plenty of storage space for applications and files, too, with a generous 256Mb of flash memory set aside. A little less considerate is the fact that the microSD expansion slot is placed under the battery, so you have to reboot the phone if you want to swap it out.

When it comes to communications hardware, you won't find the iPAQ 614c wanting, however. It's a quad-band phone, so you can use it pretty much anywhere in the world. It has fast mobile data too, with GPRS and EDGE, plus 3G with HSDPA speeds of up to 7.2Mbit/sec (where you can get a strong enough signal, of course).

It's no surprise to find that HP has also included its usual goodly selection of software. In addition to the usual Microsoft suite of applications, you get a good picture browser (HP Photosmart Mobile) with basic editing functions and integration with HP's photo printing service, Snapfish. The shots you'll get out of the phone's 3-megapixel camera won't be up to even the most basic of point-and-shoot efforts, but it's nice to have an LED flash to make low light shots a more realistic proposition.

There's also a good selection of help files and tips to help you get to grips with the phone, an ‘HP Shortcuts’ application assigned to the right soft-key that launches a list of  application shortcuts, Remote Desktop is preinstalled and there's HP's rather unusual Voice Reply feature built into the Outlook Mobile menu. Instead of typing your email out laboriously on the keypad, this allows you to speak a reply and have it sent as a voice message, recorded using Windows Mobile's Notes application.

Sadly, no number of software extras can make up for the iPAQ 614c’s shortcomings. Despite a couple of innovative features and undeniably impressive performance, the device is just too poor in too many other areas to make it worthy of consideration. It is awkward to use, its a-GPS isn't arrestingly effective and its looks are questionable. There are many other Windows Mobile smartphones, including the HTC TyTN II, that are easier to use and -- more pocketable -- than this.

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