I received one of the T-Mobile Wing phones a few months ago from T-Mobile to test out. It’s actually the reworked version of their older MDA touchscreen smart phone that was released a few years ago. I thought I’d let you guys know what I think of it.
The Wing is one of T-Mobile’s smartphones; a phone that has a number of applications like Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft Office programs, games, camera, video recording and playback, voice recording, email, instant messaging, and real web browsing. The phone comes with a fairly large screen that is touch-sensitive so you can use the built in stylus to navigate the phone or while browsing webpages with Internet Explorer. The phone is also a slider that allows you to pull out a full qwerty keyboard to quickly type out emails and messages.
Being that it’s a smartphone, the Wing is a little big and bulky, however, smaller in length and width than a standard iPod and about as thick as a deck of playing cards. It fits easily into my pocket in both jeans and slacks. It’s covered with a non-slip rubber coating (like a Rhino lining) that prevents the phone from slipping out of your pocket or off of various surfaces easily.
The web browsing features on the phone have proven to be pretty useful. You can check email on the go, look for directions on Google maps, or find a lot of quick info through any search engine you choose. The large screen allows you to see most websites the same as if you were looking at a larger desktop monitor. The unlimited wireless internet access via EDGE network provided by T-Mobile runs about $30 per month in addition to whatever you pay for your standard phone service.
The built in camera is 2 mega-pixel and takes some decent photos. Various modes allow for twilight photos or even fast motion burst photos. Connection your phone to the computer via USB cable allows for quick downloading of whatever photos and video you have.
The memory on the phone is pretty small to begin with, but my phone came with a 2 gig storage card. Once that was installed, the was more room for photos, videos, and applications that I knew what to do with.
Pros: The Wing is a pretty cool looking phone. The full keyboard is larger than the ones you’d find on the blackberry or treo phones and allows for quick and easy typing. Web browsing looks like what you’d normally see on your regular desktop computer.
Cons: when typing on the qwerty keyboard the send button is located a little too close to the quick send button; you need to be careful you don’t send out a half typed message. The phone is a little slow on opening and closing programs (not instantaneously). When holding the phone up to your ear the touchscreen has a tendency to hit buttons and open programs.
Overall: If you spend a lot of time on the go, or if you have lots of down time, this is a great phone. The internet, email, and messaging access alone can keep you busy for hours. So far, the phone seems to be pretty sturdy and has decent qualities as a phone. It’s fairly easy to use but still has enough features to be cool. It’s about half the price of an iPhone with pretty similar capabilities but probably better usability. If you want to get one of these, check out pricing here.
