| Review of the UTStarcom PPC6670 |
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The UTStarcom is a Windows CE Smartphone with a very cool slide-out QWERTY-like keypad. As you know however, I don’t test phones for their usability as data devices, but rather as phones. In that regard the PPC6670 turned out to be a big disappointment.
This phone is available through Bell Mobility Last Updated: 06-May-2006 |
Before reading this review, please read Some Thoughts on Phone Reviewing.
RF Performance
RF Sensitivity: I brought the 6670 (along with a
Samsung SPH-a920 I was testing at the same
time) over to Rockwood Mall, which is excellent for testing Bell Mobility phones
because the network has poor coverage in there. This was one of the few areas
where the phone really shines, as it has excellent RF sensitivity. It was a
match for the a920 and it blew the doors off my old ST-7868W.
Over-the-road Performance: This aspect of its
performance was also quite good, but it wasn’t quite as good as that of the
a920. It did a fairly reasonable job of taming the frame errors and if it
weren’t for the better performance of the Samsung model I might not had thought
it was anything but terrific. Sadly the good news ends here, because just about
every other core aspect of the phone was either mediocre or disappointing. That
was quite a contrast to the a920, which overshadowed the 6670 in my testing.
Click on this link for a full description of
RF Performance, and how to interpret it.
Audio Performance
Tonal Balance: The tonal balance of the 6670 is a
decidedly tinny, but not harsh. However, harshness usually occurs at high
volumes and sadly the 6670 isn’t capable of generating very much volume on the
native earpiece. It’s also difficult to find the right position for your ear on
what is essentially a featureless surface.
With my trusty Samsung earbud plugged into the 2.5mm headset jack at the bottom
of the unit I found phone volume to be only a tad louder than with the native
earpiece. Volume for other functions, such as output from Windows Media
Player, was actually quite good. It’s too bad they couldn’t make it loud for
phone calls too.
Sound Reproduction: Because the volume was rather
low, it was difficult to make any real judgments about the sound reproduction.
However, when compared to the Samsung a920 that I was testing at the same time
(turned down to match the volume of the 6670) I found the two phones to sound
about equal in this respect. There is however more background hiss on the 6670
than on the a920.
Outgoing sound was below average for a CDMA phone. Even when tests were made in
a quiet environment, I could still tell from listening to the voicemail messages
I’d left that the call had been made from a CDMA phone, and once there was some
background noise present, things just got worse.
In the not-so-crowded food court at Rockwood Mall, where the background was
rather minor, the detrimental effects on the audio were stunningly obviously.
When tested in a moving car, with and without the windows down, the audio
suffered an even greater blow. While this isn’t the worst CDMA phone I’d ever
tested in this regard, it is certainly the worst I’ve tested in quite some time.
Your callers are going to wonder what they did to deserve such brutal
punishment.
Speakerphone: This is one of those disappointing
speakerphone implementations that’s really only of value when you’re on hold and
don’t want to keep the phone plastered to your ear. The volume is very low and
the sound is exceptionally tinny. The speaker opening is on the back, and so
depending upon what surface you put the phone down on, you can potentially blot
out the openings and things get worse than they already are.
Click on this link for a full description of
Audio Performance, and how to interpret it.
Support Features
Ringer Volume: The ringer volume on this device is
about mid-pack. It’s loud enough to hear in many situations, but it lacks the
oomph to be heard in really noisy situations. The phone supports waveform
ringtones and the one that sounds like an old-fashioned telephone with a bell in
it is really quite good. The recording quality on the sound clip is excellent
and the speaker seems capable of reproducing it without distortion.
Keypad Design: I can’t really say much about this,
since like most Smartphone designs, there IS NO KEYPAD. Phone dialing is done
exclusively from a VIRTUAL keypad on the screen. This means that there is NO
tactile feel and no way to distinguish one key from another. You’ll be tempted
to dial using the stylus, which of course great complicates the process. Since
this is true of virtually all Smartphones, the only thing I can say is that the
virtual keys themselves could do with being a bit bigger. Those with rather fat
fingers might find it difficult to press the screen in exactly the right places.
Heaven help you if you try to dial this phone while driving.
Display: The display is designed primarily for data
usage, but that means it’s large and can display a great amount of data.
However, because this is a CE device, the menus that are common to many phones
just aren’t there. Finding what seems to be obvious options (like changing the
backlight screen brightness or ringtones) can be very confusing. From a phone
user’s point of view, the menu system in this phone is horrible. However, it is
standard Windows CE.
The display can be seen in direct sunlight, but not awfully well. The backlight
and/or reflectivity of the backing just aren’t up to the task when the sun is
shining. I found it necessary to look closely at the display or shield it from
the bright light with my hand to really read some of the smaller bits of text.
Pressing the phone button at the bottom of the unit brings up the phone
application, but it doesn’t seem to turn on the backlight, which made making
phone calls extremely frustrating.
Conclusions
I found myself really disappointed with this device when used as a phone. Sure
the data side of things can be fun, especially because the unit includes
802.11B WiFi capabilities. That means you can bypass the enormously
expensive 1X data charges by using your own wireless connection to the Internet.
As a phone however, which is after all what I test, the 6700 falls short on
virtually every important category except for RF performance. For those users
who need a PDA first-and-foremost and a phone as a secondary consideration,
perhaps this device is good enough. For those who want a quality phone with PDA
capabilities however, I believe they should look elsewhere.
