Pharos GPS Phone 600e

Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha Edited by: Kent German Reviewed on 4/9/07 from cnetcom

The good: The Pharos GPS Phone 600e features a slim design and integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It also has a 2-megapixel camera and an FM radio.

The bad: The 600e is expensive and doesn't come with navigation software. Call quality was also subpar.

The bottom line: The Pharos GPS Phone 600e isn't a horrible smart phone, but the lack of navigation software and subpar call quality detracts from its overall appeal. Plus, you can get more for your money with other GPS-enabled smart phones.

We suppose it was only a matter of time before GPS specialists Pharos broke into the smart phone market. The company has produced a number of navigation solutions for cars, laptops, and PDAsalready, so the mobile phone must have seemed like the next natural step. And that is how the Pharos GPS Phone 600 and the Pharos GPS Phone 600e came to be. Both smart phones are equipped with GPS radios for location-based services and feature Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition, integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a 2-megapixel camera. The 600 also ships with maps of the United States and Canada and Pharos's Ostia navigation software. The 600e, on the other hand, doesn't come with any maps and is designed for those who already use and favor other nav applications. Both devices are available now as unlocked phones and carry some hefty price tags; the 600 costs $699.95 while the 600e costs $599.95.

Disappointingly, we received only the Pharos GPS Phone 600e, so we couldn't test the navigation features, which we consider to be the main draw of this device. We should be getting a review unit of the 600 soon, but in the meantime, we thought we'd see how the 600e performed as a smart phone. We liked its thin design, and Pharos includes some nice utilities to differentiate itself from competitors like the HP iPaq hw6900 series. That said, call quality was subpar, and if you're going to plunk down that kind of cash for a smart phone, we think you'd be better served by the HP iPaq hw6900 series, which comes equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard for a better messaging experience.