Digital Trends

Motorola MPx200

March 2nd, 2004 | by Ian Bell

Design and Features

When it comes to PDA/cell phone hybrids, product size and ultimate usability is often sacrificed for features. There are several phones on the market that feature full-blown versions of Microsoft's Pocket PC OS or Palm's personal information manager OS. Packing all of these options into a device that is supposed to be comfortably held up against your face for a call can be a daunting task. The small size constraints normally associated with a cell phone means something has to be sacrificed.

We have seen phones with touch screen stylus pens or fold-out keyboards all in an effort to give you regular PDA usability on your cell phone. But what if you do not want everything a normal PDA offers? Enter Microsoft's Smartphone operating system. Basically it's a trimmed down version of Microsoft's Pocket PC OS, minus Pocket Word, Excel and some other Pocket PC programs. The Smartphone OS gives you the necessities for contact management and adds a few fun programs which help to round out the offering.

Motorola was able to take Microsoft's Smartphone OS and put it into an elegantly designed wireless phone that is not much larger than other flip phones currently on the market. The outer case is a very attractive glossy black finish with stylish silver and blue accents.

There are actually two LCD screens on this phone. When the unit is closed, a 96 x 32 pixel display shows caller ID, date & time, and phone status. The outside screen, although not in color, lights up with a very soft blue backlight which stays consistent with the overall design elements.

Located on the left hand side of the phone are the volume controls, the power button and the infrared receiver/transmitter. The right hand side of the phone is the location for the SD/MMC card expansion slot and a headset jack. While the outside is well laid out and clean, it gets even better on the inside.

Once the MPx200 is opened, you are greeted by a vibrant and colorful 176 x 220 pixel “Vivid” 65K Color TFT display and Microsoft's Smartphone operating system. With built-in MSN Messenger and Microsoft Pocket Outlook you never have to be disconnected from your co-workers and friends.

If that is not enough, you can surf the internet and check your daily news in color with a full Internet Explorer Web browser. Motorola packages two headsets with the MPx200 phone, a stereo headset which you can use to listen to MP3's or WMA files on your phone, or a regular single bud headset for easy use in the car. A USB cable and phone cradle is included for synchronization between the MPx200 and a computer.