The SDA Music phone lets T-Mobile customers enjoy an exclusive listening experience. The first Smart Phone with the Windows Mobile operating system not only allows access to Microsoft applications like Outlook, but also can be used to relax after work thanks to the integrated audio player. Other highlights of the device include an integrated VGA camera for taking photos and videos, an MP3 player and a stereo headset.
"Just a couple of days from now T-Mobile will start selling its first Windows Mobile powered Smartphone – the SDA. It is time to take a look at the Orange c500’s brother to unveil the differences between both phones.
The SDA continues the line of T-Mobile’s MDA (MDA stands for Mobile Digital Assistant, SDA for Smart Digital Assistant) and is the first Windows Mobile Smartphone in T-Mobile’s product portfolio."
Good:
- very well finished device
- joystick
- keypad
- quick and stable even in beta stage
- customizable right soft key
- price below 400 Euro w/o contract
Not so good:
- Gapi bug (like c500
- some games end up in a flickering screen. We don’t know if it will be fixed until the release)
- Light sensor useless (like c500)
- Shut down sound (T-Mobile jingle) plays even if the device is in silent profile
- Sleek finish (question of taste)
- No docking station available (like c500)
Read more at T-Mobile SDA uncovered
Get more information about the SDA at:
- Gizmodo - SDA Music
- MobileBurn - T-Mobile SDA Music
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Update: T-Mobile announces the launch of the T-Mobile SDA in February 2006. From the release:
The T-Mobile SDA is a super sleek smartphone that makes it easy to stay connected and organized. With the familiar features of Microsoft Outlook, you can keep your calendar, contacts and e-mail always up to date and with you on the go ... with out the bulkiness of a standard PDA.
Sign up for launch information here.
T-Mobile SDA Reviews
DesignTechnica reviews the
T-Mobile SDA, and are not very impressed with the phone's camera: "Don’t plan on doing any photography with the SDA’s 1.3-megapixel camera. The quality isn’t up to par like some other 1.3MP phones such as Samsung’s T809 or Sony Ericsson’s 2.0MP monster: The W800i. In proper lighting conditions, the camera was pretty decent and did well with pictures of people, objects, and buildings. However, when the clouds came out, a light got dimmed, or anything of the sort, the SDA’s camera took horrible pictures that remind me of the first generation camera-phones. The camera also has video-recording capabilities that work very well actually. I took a 30-second video of my girlfriend and grandmother chatting by a fire in low light and was surprised with the results. You can have a lot of fun with the video functions on the SDA, just not as much with the camera though, which is a shame."
CNET reviews the
T-Mobile SDA and writes about the phone's camera: "Overall, the T-Mobile SDA's picture quality was good for a camera phone, sporting bright colors and crisp lines. The Night mode even did an admirable job, with images taken in dark environments. Once you're done with your masterpieces, you can save them as wallpaper or send them to friends and family via multimedia message or e-mail."
Sci-Tech Today reviews the
T-Mobile SDA and concludes, "The new $250 T-Mobile SDA smartphone packs an enviable amount of communications firepower in a relatively small, lightweight package. For those not needing a built-in Qwerty-style keyboard, the SDA is an excellent option as a mixed-mode handset that offers both cellular and Wi-Fi capabilities."
Brighthand reviews the
T-Mobile SDA and says, about the smartphone's camera: "The camera in the SDA is very marginal. It's a better than some of the integrated cameras that you find in handhelds and cell phones, but it's not even close to good quality. Pictures tend to be blurry, and lighting is an issue in all but the brightest environments. You can see this in photos taken indoors in a well sunlit room. The photos are more shadowy and lacking in detail than they would be in better light. A brightly lit day outdoors produced slightly better photos, but they're still blurry and distorted. As always, the best advice is to not use the digital zoom, as it only makes the pictures fuzzier." Overall, the SDA does a good job on the phone-related features.
EngadgetMobile reviews the
T-Mobile SDA and comments, "There's a decent 1.3 megapixel camera for a few shots on the go, and also a miniSD slot -- annoyingly placed under the battery -- to expand the phone's paltry 64MB of storage, half of which is already used out of box (hey, that OS has to go somewhere). We would recommend planning to spring for a decently-sized miniSD along with the phone's $300 price tag, especially since the phone excels with media, offering Windows Media Player syncing and great video playback on the QVGA screen. Syncing media files over USB 2.0 went fast, and while the 200MHz processor's performance isn't stellar, we were able to play some DivX "24" in TCPMP without a hitch."
MobileBurn reviews the
T-Mobile SDA and isn't very impressed with the phone's camera: "The SDA's camera is a 1.3 megapixel unit that seems to have a lot of problems. The fixed-focus lens seems to be tailored for portrait distance shots rather than landscapes, and the lens also seems to have trouble with bright, high-contrast scenes. As a result, sunny shots of the park and such are going to show a lot of purple fringing and other unpleasant things. Due to the blocky looking images, I would have guessed that the camera were actually of lower resolution and that the 1.3 megapixel rating was achieved through software, If I didn't know better. Shots of closer subjects look much nicer, and the automatic white balance system actually does a very good job of dealing with incandescent lights, which is a rare thing."
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Posted by Darren at September 24, 2004 10:43 PM
