The Asus P535 is the new pocket pc manufactured by ASUSTek. ASUStek is a large company, which mainly produces products for Personal Computers, Laptops, motherboards etc. Besides that the company also produces a range of pocket pc devices, the most important and well know are the ASUS MyPAL A636 (Pocket PC with built in GPS), ASUS MyPAL A639 (Pocket PC with built in GPS and 1GB of RAM), ASUS P525 (Pocket PC Phone with a normal number pad keyboard on front) and last but for sure not least the ASUS P535, a pocket pc phone with built in GPS, Wi-FI, Bluetooth and much more. In general the products we have seen manufactured by ASUS are excellent in design, quality and performance.

Before the release of the ASUS P535, (will be available for sale in the next couple of months at a price of aprx 750 USD), we tried to do a comparison with a pocket pc similar to P535 the ETEN X500. During that comparison review we noted that the specifications alone suggested that the ASUS P535 would be a very strong competitor for both the ETEN X500 and the HTC P3300 (Artemis). We already posted a review of HTC P3300 and we noted that the device is sometimes slow, we will post a review for ETEN X500 in the next few days where we note some problems identified with the Bluetooth connections. In this review we will try to give an overview of what to expect from the ASUS P535.

ASUS P535 REVIEW - DESIGN

The dimensions of the ASUS P535 are 58 x 105 x 18 mm. It is a device that has a compact and stylish design. It may not be the thinnest pocket pc device in the market (it is 3mm thicker than ETEN X500!) but still its size and weight (140g) place the ASUS P535 among the smallest pocket pc devices around, especially with the set of connectivity options offered by the ASUS P535.

The ergonomics of the device is very good. The 2.8-inch QVGA display (240 X 320 Resolution) is positioned on top of a set of buttons and a very handy navigation pad. The navigation pad used on the ASUS P535 is much better than the HTC Roll you can find on the HTC P3300. It is a solid component unlike the roll of the HTC P3300, which sometimes gives you the feeling that it is broken and very loose. On the left and right of the navpad you can find in a rectangular form the Windows Mobile keys on top and two buttons on the bottom. In the middle of the navpad there is the OK button. On top of the screen there is the multicolour activity indicator for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and charging. This setup allows you to easily control the device using only one hand and under different conditions. For example in the dark the keys are illuminated and they are easily distinguished and accessed.

On the left of the device there is the dedicated camera button and the volume control. On the right hand side there is the HOLD button, a button for the voice volume and at the top the stylus placeholder. On the top of the device there is the miniSD expansion slot and the power button. On the bottom there is the miniUSB port that is used for charging and for connecting your pocket pc with a PC and the standard 2.5mm stereo headphone connector. Finally on the back of the device you can find the 2.0 mega pixel camera and a plug that can be used to attach an external antenna. The SIM Card is located beneath the battery.

ASUS P535 REVIEW – PERFORMANCE

This of course does not mean that the performance of ETEN X500 is bad or not adequate for the demanding pocket pc user but simply that the performance of ASUS P535 both in benchmark tests and real situations is better.

ASUS P535 REVIEW – FEATURES

ASUS P535 GPS:

The ASUS P535 has a built in GPS (SiRFStar III chipset). There is not much to say about the GPS, it works as expected. The GPS Software bundled is TomTom navigator and the user experience depends on the availability of maps and map functionality depending on the region the user is located.

ASUS P535 CAMERA:

The camera of the device is at 2.0 mega-pixels with Auto Focus and flash. It can be used to record both images and video. There are a number of options available for both images and video. For example you can select whether or not to include audio when recording video, you can adjust the brightness level, output format, etc.

ASUS P535 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi:

The ASUS P535 has support for Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi (802.11b, 802.11g, 54Mbit/s). The Bluetooth profiles available on the ASUS P535 can be used to:

Connect to a hands free device
To Bluetooth headphones or stereo speakers
To connect to activesync
To browse files on a remote device (such as a PC)
To Connect to a network
To join a personal network (connection between two Bluetooth devices)
To exchange business cards with other Bluetooth phones
To connect and explore another bluetooth device
To connect a Bluetooth keyboard.

ASUS P535 SOFTWARE:

The ASUS P535 is bundled with a set of useful utilities over and above the standard software included in a Windows Mobile 5.0 (AKU 3.2) pocket pc. The most important are:

WordCard Mobile: WordCard mobile is an application that is used to store, index and retrieve business cards scanned by the camera of ASUS P535.

Profiler: With Profiler you can select which profile to use. You can select between normal – meeting – silent – automatic (based on calendar).

Voice Commander: This is an application by Cyberon .It is similar to Microsoft Voice Command and can be used to ‘give’ voice to your device. There are a number of options to configure and you can use voice commander to give oral instructions to your device to make calls or hear your calendar and tasks. A very nice utility and it is good that it comes bundled with the device.

ASUS Status: It is a utility that can be used to display information about the cpu speed, usb, brightness, battery, storage on the today screen.

Mode Switcher: Mode switcher has two nodes, Mode Switcher or Task switcher. With mode switcher you can select up-to four programs, which you can create shortcuts for them for easy access. Task switcher is the equivalent to ALT – TAB functionality you find on a PC. You can use task switcher to switch between running programs.

Remote Presenter: You can use remote presenter to deliver powerpoint presentations directly from your device.

Wireless Manager: You can switch on/off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Phone.

ASUS P535: In the box

When you buy an ASUS P535 you can expect the following items in the box:

1. ASUS P535 Pocket PC
2. USB Cable
3. Car Charger
4. Hands free
5. AC/DC Charger
6. Carrying case

ASUS P535 Review – Conclusion

The ASUS P535 is a device with a rich set of connectivity options and a powerful combination of processing power and memory. It is a device with a compact and stylish design in a well-built and rigid structure. Other competitive devices for the ASUS P535 we have seen so far are the ETEN X500 and HTC P3300.

The ‘prons’ of ASUS P535 are the fast INTEL processor, the built in GPS and compact design. The ‘cons’ are the lack of support for EDGE and the not so good battery life. We believe that once the ASUS P535 is officially released to the general public it will be one of the best and most successful devices around. Our opinion is based on what we believe is important for a pocket pc device, others may have different opinions and this is normal and desired. The final choice is on the pocket pc user.