Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Why I bought the BenQ E72

Well - this phone caught my eye already a long time ago, i.e. when it was announced early 2007. At that time I just had bought my Tornado (O2 XDA Phone) and the E72 did not offer much more - ecpecially with the price tag it had at that time.
Then, September 2008, the phone hit Expansys.UK for just 100GBP - and I was really tempted to buy one. As I found an even cheaper option on ebay then (69GBP) I could no longer resist and bought one. Still some days after I bought it - the promised wired headset is not there, despite the vendor has promised to deliver one (as announced in the advertisment) - sigh... if that does not come finally I will have to return the device and buy one from Expansys.

OK - what does it offer more than the Tornado?
  • thinner, lighter (not really smaller)
  • less energy consumption in wireless modes (Bluetooth and WIFI)
  • can read micro-SDHC cards (after installation of a small CAB)
  • micro-SD cards are hot-plugable
  • much better sound from the speaker
  • better camera (2 instead of 1,3 MP + better options: Emuzed HipCam)
  • better JAVA (JBlend)
  • Nice MMS Client (from Jataayu)
  • Active Sync via Bluetooth is a snap now :-)
What is worse (yes there is!) than the Tornado?
  • Battery level indication is crap (dedicated post will follow)
  • no 3.rd party wired headsets or adapters available (dedicated post will follow)
  • only English language installed in my BT-Fusion branded device
  • smaller LCD (2" vs 2,2") and Battery (900 vs 1150 mAh)
  • no big support community (yet)
Specialties I do not care much about:
  • "Redial" option when calls are busy
  • automatic Key-Lock (on Home Screen Settings)
  • Facade HomeScreens (limited)
  • MunduIM
  • BeetzStream RSS
What still works with this device:
  • WM5storage (check the LED options - you can choose any, including vibrate)
  • TomTom 5 - just like any other application after application unlock
...and what does not any longer:
  • omapclock, special Tornado related tools

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