Since the initial release of the glossy black O2 XDA Atom back in late 2005, many complaints were generated on various forums regarding the buggy operating
system, slow performance and plastic case quality. After a number of ROM upgrades, O2 finally released a stable operating system in April 2006, which fixed
many of the problems users were facing. Two months later in May 2006, O2 released the XDA Atom Pure which addressed the issues regarding the quality of the
case.
The O2 XDA Atom Pure is a small, lightweight and attractive device running the latest Windows Mobile 5 Operating System that includes the Messaging and
Security Feature Pack and Microsoft Push Email technology.
O2 AutoInstaller
And all other available applications for the Xda Atom
Case
The major improvement on this device is the case build and quality. The stark white is a contrast against the previous glossy black Atom case and doesn't
show up fingerprints. While fingerprints do not show, clothing fibers stand out but are easier to wipe off. The case feels nice and solid and joins meet up
perfectly. The battery cover is a little firmer than earlier models although no improvement has been made where the battery sits as there is still a little
play.
The front of the device houses the 2.7" screen, Phone Talk and End buttons, Windows Start Menu button, O2 Media Plus button and the Directional Pad in the
centre. The rear of the device houses the battery and battery cover, 2 mega-pixel camera lens, White LED Flash and Self Portrait Mirror.
Along the left edge of the device is the Carry Strap Holder, Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. The right edge of the device houses the Stylus and Stylus
Slot, IR Port, Notes and Camera buttons. All buttons are slightly recessed to avoid accidental activation but are still easy to locate. The battery cover
doesn't quite line up perfectly like the other pieces do and is easy to see in these edge photo's.
Along the top edge of the device we can see the Stylus, Power button and Mini-SD Card slot. The sides of the Atom Pure are curved inwards at the top to match
the curve of the finger tips for a comfortable grip. The bottom edge of the device accommodates the Mini USB Connector, 2.5mm Stereo Headset Jack and Reset
button.
The screen is nice and bright, crisp and clear. It is easy enough to see in bright sunlight provided the screen is angled to minimize any reflections. Whilst
discussing the display, it would have been a nice feature to include a control panel applet to adjust the contrast, as the colors tend to appear a little
washed out when viewing front on. Tilting the device slightly downward makes the colors appear more vivid.
This review unit did come with a slight manufacturing imperfection that can just be seen in the picture above. On the case near the lower left of the screen
there is a small blemish that almost looks like a chip - but I wouldn't describe it as a chip - just an imperfection of sorts.
Performance
Over the six weeks or so that I have had this unit, it has performed quite well for a 416 MHz WM5.0 device. I have found I get better performance with
minimal Today Screen applications running as opposed to having a lot running. For example, on this device I have had Spb Weather 1.6, O2 Plus Wireless, O2
Plus Profiles and SBSH Pocket Breeze running. I did have SBSH Contact Breeze running as another tab in Pocket Breeze but found the performance started to
lag as I have 200+ contacts. I also have WEBIS Pocket Informant Pro installed as the default PIM. When opening Pocket Informant for the first time after a
reset, load times of around 4 - 6 seconds are normal. If Pocket Informant is left running in the background and the calendar or contacts are activated,
Pocket Informant opens in around 1 - 2 seconds which is quite good.
Other software loaded into main memory include Microsoft Voice Command 1.5 and Skype. Microsoft Voice Command works very well on the Atom Pure - I haven't
had to repeat commands for it to understand. It picks up what I am asking it to do first time. I haven't tried this in a noisy environment such as a 4WD or
equipment rooms and the like, just around home and in the workshop where I work I haven't used the included Voice Dial application on the Atom as I prefer
Microsoft Voice Command. Personally, I don't have the time to set up a voice tag for each of my contacts. Voice tags also take up valuable memory -
something I am reluctant to do.
Skype is a program I couldn't get running on the earlier Atom (using an earlier ROM) but it works a treat on this device. All VoIP calls I have made to and
from family and friends have been surprisingly clear. The occasional echo can be heard but this is due to VoIP and my internet connection (same thing
happens with my computer from time to time). It is a neat feeling to be chatting to family and paying only 2.2 cents per minute for the call. Walking
around the house using WiFi and Skype on the Atom Pure just seems like you are making mobile calls but heaps cheaper.
I have a lot of large PDF documents stored on the Mini-SD Card for quick reference while I am in the field such as radio service manuals, schematic diagrams
and cabling diagrams. I prefer to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Pocket PC as this handles PDF documents more efficiently than the included ClearView PDF
Viewer. However, I decided to stay with ClearView just to see the difference. The performance of ClearView with small PDF documents (100kB) is nice and
quick but large documents I work with (4MB+) is just too slow. Adobe Acrobat Reader works well with larger documents but is still slower than I would like.
Regarding speaker volume and ring tones I have found the standard ring tones to be fairly quiet in noisy environments. I have to rely on the vibrate feature
to alert me to an incoming call or SMS. My Wife has the JAMin which is no louder than the Atom and her work around was to edit a portion of her favourite
song to make it louder and use that as her ring tone. I haven't tried that as yet but think it would be a good idea.
One of the much anticipated features of the Atom is A2DP. This is where a stereo Bluetooth headset is paired with the device so that stereo music can be
listened to over Bluetooth. I have the BlueAnt Wireless X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headphones which I tested on this unit. While stereo music can be streamed from
this device I found that each song had a pause of a second or so somewhere in the middle of the song. This occurred with songs in main memory or on my
storage card. After mentioning this to BlueAnt, they informed me that many Atom users have used the X5 Stereo Headphones with no issues. One user reported
the same problem but after formatting his storage card the problem went away. I also contacted O2 about this and they advised that some A2DP headphones had
problems because of the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack. They are currently looking at resolving this issue with future ROM upgrades (this also applies to the
Atom Exec).
The WiFi on this unit is 802.11b and would have been better if it supported 802.11b and g. I run a wireless network at home and also have access to the
wireless network at work. I haven't had any difficulties connecting to either network. These networks appear unsecured but use MAC Address Access to only
permit access to those devices whose MAC Addresses appear in the router's table. Another network at a different workshop runs a secured network and I had no
problems connecting and accessing the internet through it. WiFi does use a lot of battery power and I have noticed the battery drop from 90% down to 50% in
under two hours of continuous WiFi usage.
Lastly, I use OziExplorer which runs very nicely on this device. While a larger screen would be better for satellite navigation and geospatial data
collection, the size of the Atom Pure makes it easy to clip to a bracket on the dash of the 4WD. I am hopeful that in the future I may be able to test
Destinator on these review devices to see how they perform using voice guided satellite navigation software. At this stage all I have access to is
OziExplorer.
Software
WLAN Manager
 | O2 Auto Configurator
 |
| The new Wireless Manager is an easy way to manage the WiFi, Bluetooth and Phone radios on the Atom Pure. With the older ROM, it was necessary to
navigate to the Control Panel to manage each radio. The Wireless Manager is accessible by tapping the antenna signal meter in the top status bar. | O2
Auto Configurator helps to set the phone and data settings by detecting the service provider from the SIM. If two SIM's are owned with different service
providers, adjusting phone settings is a breeze. |
O2 Media Plus
 | O2 Phone Plus
 |
| O2 Media Plus is an application that provides access to all multimedia files and features on the device. The alarm clock is a feature I use every
morning to wake me up for work. It has proven 100% reliable over the few devices I have used and I prefer using this over the built-in alarm from Microsoft.
Either an alarm tone, FM Radio or music file can be used. If a music file is used, the music file must be either in main memory or on the storage card.
Music files stored more than one folder deep aren't visible on the storage card in O2 Media Plus. | O2 Phone Plus allows smart dialing and the
activation of blocking unwanted numbers. I have never been a fan of smart dialing and have never used the Block List feature. I have only installed it on
the device for review pictures. I prefer to manually dial a number or use Microsoft Voice Command which works very well on this device. |
O2 Plus
 | O2 Connect
 |
| O2 Plus is a nice application used as a task manager. It comes bundled with a number of Today Screen applications displaying last call, battery and
memory meters, shortcuts etc. I have found that loading all these on the Today Screen slows down the performance of the device. I prefer to only use the
task manager and the Profile to quickly adjust the system and phone volume as these features are all that I really use. | O2 Connect is an application
to keep the user in touch with the latest news and applications for the device. Applications such as O2 Plus and O2 Phone Plus are downloaded through O2
Connect. News about latest ROM releases, software upgrades, MMS templates and the like are also available.
|
Camera
The XDA Atom has been plagued with a poor 2 mega-pixel camera. The application was initially very slow to load and didn't take pictures of any real quality.
Later ROM releases saw the camera performance improve and with this release the camera is quite useable. The application and hardware still have a way to
go as it is still fairly slow and good pictures take a little practice. If a camera isn't handy, and it's one of those moments to remember, this camera will
do the job to capture the moment.
Phone
The phone dialer screen is the same as the original Atom and all phone calls made have been clear both ways. Signal reception has been quite good in most
places I venture that have coverage. The one point I would like to mention is that it takes a second or two to pick up signal in weak areas. Sometimes when
I switch it on I notice it has no service, and then after a short time locks onto a cell. This hasn't stopped the phone receiving a call though as I have
received every call made to this device.
Equalizer
The Graphic Equalizer makes a huge difference to how music sounds on this device. Without the Equalizer enabled, music sounds tinny through both the
speakers and earphones. There is only one aspect of the Equalizer that I would like to see improved and that is to make it work through A2DP - Bluetooth. I
suspect the Equalizer is a hardware feature linked to the stereo speaker amplifier though.
FM Radio
The FM Radio is an excellent feature to have in this device. I listen to the radio on the way to and from work while I ride my bicycle which has been fitted
out with an electric motor (thanks to rising fuel prices). Reception of the radio signal is quite good if the headphone cable is completely uncoiled as the
cable forms the FM Radio antenna. The radio can automatically scan for active channels, and later can be renamed as seen above which makes it easy to select
your favourite channel.
Compatible Hardware
Here is a list of hardware that I have tested the XDA Atom Pure with, and proven reliable:
Conclusions
Pro's:
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