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If you’re looking for a compact clamshell style Windows Mobile-based SmartPhone without too many frills then the Motorola MPx200 is worth considering. It’s available exclusively through Orange at £49.99 for £15 monthly, or ‘free’ on contracts above £25 monthly. It will even be available soon on pay-as-you-go.

Bear in mind that the SPV E200, also on the Orange network is a higher spec SmartPhone running Windows Mobile 2003 instead of version 2002 that the MPx200 uses. The biggest difference is the SPV E200 has a camera and Bluetooth, both sadly lacking in the Motorola.

However in a weight comparison, the MPx200 at 118g is 12g lighter than the SPV E200. Battery life is another area to watch as SmartPhones are power hungry devices and again the MPx200 averages about five hours, beating the SPV E200 by a couple of hours a day talk time.

One point worth mentioning is that a couple of times I found the battery jammed inside the phone, making SIM card removal tricky and forcing me to resort to a screwdriver and brute force to remove it.

A mystery surrounds the Motorola MPx200 in that it’s obviously not well specified but it’s still very popular. That said, when selecting a new phone most people won’t be thinking ‘shall I go for a Windows Mobile 2002 or 2003 SmartPhone or a Symbian Series 60’ for example. The priorities are going to be a balance somewhere between looks, size, features, applications and cost.

For people who want to sync email in a phone sized form factor, the Windows SmartPhone platform currently beats Symbian hands down. That’s discounting the marginal use of SyncML within businesses and Nokia Communicators which don’t strictly qualify as standard phones. The Symbian Nokia 7700 launch will redress matters with email syncing but it’s still some way off.

Getting back to the MPx200, it’s described on Motorola’s web site as Liquorice Back in colour and the shiny dark and chrome clamshell casing is in fact quite a tasteful design with great build quality. However, like so many personal gadgets these days it’s a magnet for fingerprints.

Dimension wise, the MPx200 is quite a chunky device at 89 x 48 and 27mm when closed, however the integrated aerial makes it comfortable to stow in a trouser pocket.

Flip it open it and the colour 176 x 220 pixel TFT screen appears only adequate in both scale and brightness. A quick glance at the dull blue backlit keypad reveals a two piece Nav pad. A hard blue pushable disc sits in the centre surrounded by a metallic four way rocker switch that’s not really ergonomically friendly. On the outside a monochrome two line 96 x 32 pixel exterior screen appears as another cost cutting move instead of a colour display.

Motorola’s USB base is a fairly utilitarian plasticy affair compared to the polished finish of the handset. The handset docks onto a mini USB socket that doubles as the mains power connector.

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