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O2 Xda Venn

O2’s longstanding Xda line includes a range of Windows Mobile-based devices. But the Xda Venn adds something new, as it's the first 'dual slider' Xda smartphone.
Written by First Take , Previews blog log-in

O2’s longstanding Xda line includes a range of Windows Mobile-based devices. But the Xda Venn adds something new, as it's the first 'dual slider' Xda smartphone.

Dual sliders are by their nature chunky. The Venn has both a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a slide-out numberpad, letting you, in theory at least, have the best of both worlds. In fact, the chunkiness of the Venn does mean it is a little hefty to pocket, with dimensions of 106mm x 51mm and a generous 21.6mm. It's heavy too, at 151g. Still, even with these dimensions, it doesn’t feel overly cumbersome in the hand.

There’s no touchscreen as the Venn runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard. It's a quad-band GSM device with HSDPA/HSUPA support. It has a 2.4in. screen and GPS, but no Wi-Fi. Wireless networking is pretty much a standard feature on smartphones these days, and its absence is notable.

The Xda Venn has a 2-megpixel camera sits at the back, but there's no front-facing camera for two-way video calling. You get 256MB of built in memory and a microSD card slot for adding more storage. The headset connector is proprietary, unfortunately.

The dual sliding capability is the key selling point for the Xda Venn. If you need this, can live without W-Fi and are hooked on both O2 and Windows Mobile, then it's your only option direct from the network.

Sandra Vogel

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