T-Mobile Wing Takes Flight (1/3)
T-Mobile Wing with WM6 Professional
INTRODUCTION
Today T-Mobile USA has
announced the successor to their successful MDA
Pocket PC Phone with a slide-out keyboard. The
T-Mobile Wing brings a few very welcome improvements
as well as the bragging rights for being the first
Windows Mobile 6 Professional device available in
North America. As you may have heard, T-Mobile
already released the first Windows Mobile 6 Standard
device as a ROM upgrade to their popular
Dash smartphone. Kudos go to T-Mobile for being the first
to support the new operating system.
The T-Mobile Wing is actually based on HTC's "Atlas" design which is very similar to their "Herald" design and HTC's own P4350. Read on to see if this will be your next phone.
WHAT'S HOT
In terms of the T-Mobile Wing as a
replacement to the T-Moble MDA (i-mate K-JAM),
the biggest advantage is the size. The Wing is about
1/3 thinner which brings it down to about the size
of the original HTC Magician (i-mate JAM).
This is great news as generally the Pocket PC Phones
with sliding keyboards have been very thick. The
second biggest advantage is the new software. As for its
specifications, it's got Bluetooth 2.0, 201Mhz TI
850 OMAP
CPU, 128Mb ROM, 64Mb RAM, Windows Mobile 6
Professional, 2.8" 240x320px 64K color screen, Quadband GSM/EDGE, 802.11b/g, and a
2MP camera.
Device (no cover) |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams |
ounces) |
T-Mobile Wing |
4.29" x 2.32" x 0.67 |
168 | 5.92 |
3.99" x 1.96" x 0.69" |
140 | 4.93 |
|
|
|
4.96" x 2.65" x 0.57" |
160 | 6.40 |
|
|
4.62" x 2.34" x 0.77" |
165 | 5.82 |
4.40" x 2.50" x 0.50" |
120 | 4.20 |
|
4.37" x 2.28" x 0.87" |
154 | 5.40 |
|
4.40" x 2.30" x 0.90" |
180 | 6.40 |
|
4.44" x 2.34" x 0.61" |
146 | 5.14 |
|
4.33" x 2.52" x 0.45" |
115 | 4.05 |
|
4.80" x 2.79" x 0.86" |
160 | 6.40 |
|
|
|
4.37" x 2.28" x 0.86" |
154 | 5.40 |
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.25" x
2.28"
x 0.64" |
127 | 4.48 |
|
4.80" x 2.88" x 0.76" |
186 | 6.56 |
|
4.60" x 2.79" x 0.82" |
165 | 5.82 |
|
4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" |
160 | 5.64 |
|
4.92" x 2.81" x
0.71" |
210 | 7.40 |
|
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.70" x 2.90" x 0.70" |
175 | 6.20 |
|
4.60" x 3.21" x 0.58" |
138 | 4.80 |
|
5.17" x 3.03" x 0.59" |
187 | 6.60 |
|
4.50" x 2.80" x 0.64" |
158 | 5.57 |
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The T-Mobile Wing comes with all the usual
suspects: a USB sync cable, AC
adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, stereo headphone/power Y-cable adapter, belt clip case,
screen protector, software CD including ActiveSync
and a trial version of Microsoft Outlook 2007,
extensive
manual, Getting Started guide, Tips & Tricks
pamphlet, and extra stylus. I was very impressed
that T-Mobile included the Y adapter and an adhesive
screen protector. I would have listed those as
essential accessories had they not been included. It
was a bit disappointing to see only a trial version
of Outlook 2007 on the included CD however. Then
again, who doesn't already have Outlook installed?
(all images link to higher resolution)
THE DEVICE
One thing you'll notice right away when
you pick up the T-Mobile Wing is the soft, smooth,
rubbery body. This type of covering was originally
introduced with the HTC Prophet (i-mate
JAMin), and has found its way into many of the
newer HTC devices including
T-Mobile's Dash. It really feels great in your
hand; it doesn't feel like cheap plastic or cold
metal. It just feels comfortable, and that's good.
Don't be surprised if you find yourself petting it.
In addition to sharing the "soft touch" body skin with the T-Mobile Dash, The Wing is also built to be quite sturdy. While I wouldn't call it "rugged", this device feels like it could take a fall without splitting at its seams. It doesn't feel like any part of this could become loose or flimsy over time.
If you look closely at the paint job on the T-Mobile Wing (click above photo to look closely), you'll see that it's actually two tones consisting of blue and black flakes. This makes for an interesting effect reminiscent of Chromaflair paint... meaning in certain lighting conditions the device may appear closer to a matte black with blue highlights, while other times it may appear bright blue. The coloring is similar to what was on the back of the Treo 750. I actually wished for a similar type of two-tone coloring design in my UDA article in 2003.
The sliding keyboard has large buttons that are very easy to use. There are also two soft keys at the top underneath the screen. On the MDA, these buttons were spaced out more. While here they're closer to the screen positions they represent, they're smaller and more difficult to find and press with your thumbs without looking at the keyboard.
Unlike the HTC Herald P4350, the T-Mobile Wing has a circular concave directional pad which you can easily feel for proper button presses.
The keyboard now includes Cap and Alt indicator LEDs making it easier to tell when you'll be typing letters or symbols or capital letters.
On the left side, there's a camera button, a volume slider, a soft-reset hole, and a rubber cover for the MicroSD slot. The tip of the rubber cover sticks out a bit so that you can open it, but I don't like it there since it impairs the smoothness of the sides.
At the bottom, you'll see the ExtUSB connector, a microphone hole, and the stylus slot on the right. The ExtUSB connector is used for everything including Audio, Charging, and Syncing. If you want to charge the device while also playing music a Y-splitter adapter has been included. The ExtUSB connector is also covered by a rubber plug. I understand this is to keep dirt and moisture out, but I really hate having to open this up every time I want to plug the device into the car or computer.
The right side includes an email button and Voice Command button. You can also see the end of the stylus on the bottom.
The top end of the T-Mobile Wing only has a power button.
On the back is the 2 Megapixel camera, along with the reflection mirror and speaker grill. The black rubber area on the left covers a plug for an external GSM antenna. Note the "MyFaves" icon indicating this is a MyFaves compatible phone.
The entire back plate of the device slides of with some pressure to reveal the SIM card slot and battery. While the SIM card is not underneath the battery, the battery needs to be removed in order for you to switch the latch that keeps the SIM card secure.
The MicroSD card slot can be accessed without having to open the back and remove the battery.
The T-Mobile Wing is a worthy replacement to the T-Mobile MDA.
Here you'll see from left to right, the i-mate K-JAM, i-mate JAMin, HTC P3300, and T-Mobile Wing.
Here you can see a comparison of the thickness. On top is the T-Mobile Wing, then the i-mate JAMin (HTC Prophet), and i-mate K-JAM (HTC Wizard).
Here's another thickness comparison with the HTC P3300 (middle) and the Qtek 8500 (top).
