HTC S710 review: Windows Mobile 6 (See all reviews)

Web browsing on the HTC S710 is real pleasure. Thanks to its Operating System the handset comes with Internet Explorer preloaded. You can access this from the homescreen or through the programs menu. It's undergone some changes since Windows Mobile 5 and seems to render pages quicker.

You'll also notice the lack of an address bar and the integration of Windows Live Search as a start screen. You can still enter websites manually by clicking the Menu option, however the home page also integrates your Favourites and your History using drop-down menus for fast browsing.

Each page shows up as “one column”, but this can also be changed to “fit to screen”, or “desktop view”. The text size and the ability to disable images are also present to suit your preference.

However, if you do not like MS Internet Explorer, you can always change it for some other alternatives.

Windows Mobile offers several time-management features and all of them can be easily synchronized with MS Outlook. The Calendar is improved in comparison to the one used in Windows Mobile 5 and can offer daily, weekly and monthly view.

Within the calendar you can save your appointments. To each appointment you can add a subject, starting/ending time/all day event, location and notes.

Another improvements in Windows Mobile 6 include the added MS Office suite that allows you to view and edit MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Editing is fairly basic in Word and Excel, and there's little you can change in a PowerPoint presentation, but it's much better than nothing.

The strange thing here is that you can edit documents but you can't create new ones. In order to get around this limitation you’ll just have to copy and keep a blank document on the device.

The Office applications run very well and it is no problem to visualize complex files, like a rich excel sheet. It doesn’t show the CPU isn’t powerful enough and the handset operates quite well.

So, to conclude this, there's plenty to like with the HTC S710. It has a stylish and compact design, yet it manages to include a full Qwerty keyboard that's excellent for tapping out text messages or emails. The large display makes it ideal for surfing the Web while on the move and the battery life is impressive.

The lack of 3G support and the slow CPU sometimes are the major disappointments. Nevertheless, you should weigh these drawbacks against a good looking phone that packs WiFi, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, 2MP camera, microSD support, Office Mobile and spring-loaded keyboard. If you’d ask us, we think this is a seriously impressive Windows smart phone that is ideal for those of you who need to stay connected while out and about.