Till now, the O2 Xda Atom Life remains a popular handheld among those looking for a compact keypad-less Windows Mobile (WM) device. It helped that the company relaunched it in a new color, but still, the fact that people are still buying it a whole year after its initial availability is testament to its staying power. It makes sense then for MWg (what O2 Asia is called now) to carry on the Atom line of products with the upcoming Atom V.

Pros

Design is an important reason the Atom Life was successful, and from the images and specs, the Atom V looks to emulate that. Though not razor-thin like so many consumer mobile phones these days, the Atom V is pretty slim, measuring in at just under 15mm, down from the Atom Life's 18mm.

The thinness doesn't limit the Atom V's features, though, as most of those you find in the Atom Life are still intact. This includes HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connection options as well as quadband GSM, a feature frequent travelers to the US will appreciate.

Another feature that globetrotters will like is the inclusion of GPS. This was one feature that gave the HTC P3600i (or Dopod D810) the upper hand when comparing features. The GPS in the Atom V will utilize the tried-and-tested Sirfstar III chipset. Of course, that isn't a guarantee for success as the quality of the internal antenna will have be support it. More on that when we are able to test this feature out in a future review.


Cons

One of the most glaring omissions is the lack of a secondary camera for video calls. Though it is equipped with 3.5G, it looks like you may have to accept that it's primarily for high-speed data transfer.

Though still fast at 520MHz, the Atom V's processor is slower than the Atom Life's 624MHz one. It may not mean a lot to most users, but those switching over from an Atom Life may feel the difference.

Though many handhelds now come with 128MB RAM, the Atom V sticks with 64MB. RAM is temporary memory for running applications, so more of it will make multitasking more efficient. This is one feature we really regret not seeing in the Atom V.

Bottomline

With companies like Samsung and LG entering the Windows Mobile PDA-phone space, current players need to take the design aspect up a notch. MWg looks like it has a promising contender with the Atom V even though we have a few misgivings about some of its features. The Atom V is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2008 but no pricing information is available yet from MWg. It is interesting to note though that Expansys HK, an online retailer, has it on pre-order at HK$4,960 (about US$636).