Big review of ASUS P525

January 31, 2007 | Pavel Koza | format - Other (ar.) | viewed - 527x
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Big review of ASUS P525

AsusTEK is one of established manufacturers of pocket computers with an operating system from Microsoft. However, it has been almost a year since the last review of an Asus device on this server (Asus MyPal A636/A632), so it is high time to introduce a newcomer to the market, an ASUS P525. I would like to thank Sunnysoft, a mobile solutions vendor in the Czech Republic, for lending me a specimen for this review.

NB: The tested device had an English ROM version V3.35.0 CSY (ROM) / V.4.6.0 (radio). It was a Czech ROM so all screenshots are in the language you won't probably understand - sorry for that but there is no chance getting ASUS with an English ROM in my country. A 2-GB microSD A-Data memory card was inserted, and the device was connected to an Asus S6F laptop PC. All parameters, benchmarks, applications, and screenshots herein pertain to that version of the system and may vary from other versions or configurations.

What is in the box

The device ships in a very small box together with a usual set of accessories.

ASUS P525
Battery
Stylus
Case
Stereo headset
Synchronisation USB cable
AC adapter
3x CD-ROM
User manual
Quick-start guide
Warranty card

Let's leave the device for now and start with the accessories. The stylus is completely made of black plastic. It is 92 millimetres long, 3.5 millimetres thick and weighs 4 grams. It is comfortable to use, I would only appreciate if it were slightly thicker.

The case is made of black leather (or leatherette). It appears to be designed for maximum comfort and ease of use rather than maximum protection. In particular, corners of the device are left vulnerable. The case consists of a front and back piece, joined together on the sides by strips of the same material to form a pocket. The back part flips over the front and secures the device inside by two magnetic buckles. Unfortunately, it does not have a clip but can only be fixed on the belt. This solution is safer than a clip (the case won't fall off) but less convenient, because not everyone uses a belt.

The bundled headset features a standard 2.5 mm jack, as opposed to a proprietary connector in the latest HTC devices. Attached to the cable is a collar clip. A remote control includes a call make/break button, microphone and a volume control. The in-ear earphones are more comfortable and fit in the ear better than other types thanks to a rubber "bubble".

The AC adapter (output parameters 5V/1A) is very small. At the end of its 150-cm long cable is a standard miniUSB connector. The bundled USB-miniUSB synchronization cable is rather short, only 60 centimetres. It is not a problem to replace it with a longer one, though.

The box contains also there 3 CD-ROMs with bonus applications, two manuals and a warranty card.

Design

The ASUS P525 looks rather unusual, like a cross-breed between a smartphone and a touch-screen Pocket PC. We have seen Pocket PCs with an integrated QWERTY keyboard (HP iPAQ hw6915, HTC P4350 aka Herald), but none with a numeric keypad. The keypad makes the device rather bulky. It measures 4.57 x 2.32 x 0.75 inches / 116.8 x 59 x 19 millimetres and weighs 5.73 ounces / 162 grams (including battery and SIM card). See table below for comparison with other devices.

Pocket PC	Dimensions (mm/in)	Weight (g/oz)
ASUS P525	116,8 x 59 x 19 4.57 x 2.32 x 0.75	162 5.73
E-TEN M600	111,7 x 60,7 x 22 4.40 x 2.39 x 0.87	165 5.82
E-TEN Glofiish X500	113 x 59,5 x 15,5 4.45 x 2.34 x 0.61	146 5.15
HP iPAQ hw6915	118 x 71 x 18 4.65 x 2.80 x 0.71	178 6.28
HP iPAQ rw6815	102 x 58 x 19,5 4.02 x 2.28 x 0.77	149 5.26
HTC P3300 (HTC Artemis)	108 x 58 x 16,8 4.25 x 2.28 x 0.63	130 4.59
HTC P4350 (HTC Herald)	109 x 59 x 17 4.29 x 2.32 x 0.67	168 5.92
HTC TyTN (HTC Hermes)	112,5 x 58 x 22 4.41 x 2.28 x 0.87	149 5.26
Qtek 9100	109 x 58 x 23,7 4.29 x 2.28 x 0.91	160 5.64
T-Mobile MDA Compact	108 x 58 x 18 4.25 x 2.28 x 0.71	150 5.29

The casing of the ASUS P525 is made of silvery plastic that successfully imitates metal. It is assembled very well with all parts fitting tight, including a battery compartment cover. The only minor imperfection is occasional squeaking sound the device produces when pressed hard or treated harshly. It is neither serious nor systematic, fortunately. The device holds nicely thanks to rounded edges; the relatively large size is not a problem.

In most Pocket PCs, you can say that the front panel is dominated by a display (10). Not so much in the ASUS P525, whose numeric keypad - occupying the lower third of the front panel - attracts equal attention. We shall deal with the keyboard in detail in the following chapter. Part of the keyboard is a miniature five-way joystick (15) located between the keys 2 and 5. It recognises the four main directions and press for action and supports also diagonal directions. It does not stick above the surrounding keys very much and needs some training to master. However, once you get used to it, you will hardly find a better control for classic arcade games, such as Sky Force and Resco Guardians. A phone speaker (8) is located under a decorative strip above the display. A multi-colour LED indicator (9) is integrated in the strip on the right. It notifies of system events and wireless activity.

On the back of the device, we can see a large cover of the battery compartment (24) which also host a SIM card slot, a camera lens (22), large LED flash (21), and system speaker grid (23). And yes, the "AF" inscription above the camera does mean auto focus. But more on that later.

The top and bottom sides are not very rich with features. The top side hosts an opening for the stylus (1), a miniSD card slot (2), and an inconspicuous infrared port (3). On the bottom side is a miniUSB connector (28) for the power or USB synchronisation cable, a headphones connector (29) and a microphone pinhole (27).

In the upper part of the left flank are several buttons: the topmost one is the camera shutter release button (4). When you press it halfway down, the camera will focus and when you press it fully down, the shutter will be released. More on the camera in a separate chapter below. The other button (5) is user-definable. By default, it launches a sound recording application. The last control there is a volume rocker (6). In the lower half of the left side is only a small submerged soft-reset button (7).

The upper button on the right side is a power switch (25). If you hold it down longer, it will send the device into the hibernation mode (the device is completely off and the battery will last for up to several weeks). A little lower is a HOLD switch (26) which is invaluable in devices with an integrated keyboard, in particular. When you switch it on, the device will enter the sleep mode while the phone module remains active. The device will not respond to presses of any buttons or other attempts to wake it up until you switch the HOLD again. However, you can accept phone calls all the time. In the next chapter, we'll take a closer look at the keyboard.

Integrated numeric keypad

As I wrote at the beginning, an integrated numeric keypad is quite rare in Pocket PC devices. One of the few exceptions was - coincidentally - another Asus model, ASUS P505, whose keypad was located on a flip.

The Asus P525's keypad comprises 20 buttons of different size (four rows with five buttons each). The three columns in the middle serve as standard numeric keys (16), whereas the two on the sides include special and system buttons. The topmost pair of buttons (11, 17) are standard Windows Mobile 5 softkeys allowing you to control the system without the stylus. The other pair accepts a phone call (12) and hangs up (18), respectively. The third pair represents standard Windows Mobile system actions: Start menu (13), and confirm/close window (19). Unlike in devices from HTC (Herald, Artemis), these keys are not configurable. The user can redefine only the bottom left button (14), which launches a task manager by default; the corresponding button on the opposite side (20) deletes text.

The keypad is backlit, as is the case with most hardware keyboards. The backlight is white and the user cannot customise either the timeout or intensity. When you press a button, the backlight comes up, and fades out again after approximately 7 seconds of inactivity.

The keypad can work in several modes. In the standard mode, it behaves as a numeric keypad and when you press a button, a corresponding number will appear on the display. Another mode is T9 for fast text input as we know it from mobile phones. It can be activated by a long press of the asterisk. The T9 mode has three sub-modes: "123" for entering numbers (the same as the standard mode), "abc" for entering characters the slow way, i.e. by repeated presses of buttons. The third way of entering text is the T9 technology where you press each button only once and the appropriate word is looked up in a dictionary based on relevance and (probably) frequency of use.

However innovative it is to integrate a numeric keypad in a Pocket PC device, I was not very satisfied with it as a user. First of all, it is the uneven size of the keys. With the smallest keys at the lower edge, I was constantly worried that my thumb might slip and I would drop the device. Placement of the tiny joystick between the "2" and "5" keys is not a very fortunate solution, either. It was getting in the way quite often, and the key "2" is strangely elevated because of the joystick. All that plus a painful lack of a smart dialling utility, it is no wonder that I found myself using the keypad very rarely. I would therefore consider carefully whether a device with a numeric keypad is the right option. However, I did not have similar problems with integrated alphanumeric keyboards or sliding keyboards in other devices.

Parameters

When you look at the specs, you will see some standard features as well as those that go beyond the standard among phone-enabled Pocket PCs. The device also offers a great set of configuration tools that make it possible to squeeze maximum performance of the hardware.

The device runs an Intel Bulverde PXA270 processor, which is good news for those who would never consider a device with an OMAP processor:). The processor provides great computing power leveraged by the by now highly-optimised Windows Mobile 5 code, as well as an option to lower the clock speed to prolong the time on battery. You can select from three processor speeds or let the device adjust automatically to the actual workload. According to Pocket Hack Master, the preset levels are 416, 312, and 208 MHz. However, if you choose the automatic adjustment, the processor speed may drop as low as 104 MHz, implying maximum power saving. The automatic adjustment reacts swiftly to changes of the workload and except for tests, I had no reason to use other than the automatic mode.

Speaking figures and statistics, here are test results for the ASUS at different performance settings and their comparison with close competitors. As you can see, the ASUS P525 is a top performer. This applies not only to the processor but also memory and the graphics system. The benchmarks indicate three interesting facts: firstly, the OMAP and XScale processors score virtually the same at the same frequency. Secondly, the memory test (RAM) clearly shows that the highest and medium performance settings differ only in processor speed, but the economy mode halves the memory speed as well. Finally, it has proved that system optimisation plays a crucial role in the overall performance. I did not include it in the charts because it would be rather misleading, but the ASUS P525 outperformed Mio DigiWalker A701 in every aspect except the sheer processor speed. The latter device runs a faster processor (520 MHz) but due to the fact that the benchmarks were performed on one of the first versions of the Windows Mobile 5 system, its results are substantially worse that the ASUS'.

Results of test of both types of internal memory were also highly satisfactory. A super fast processor would be useless if it were not supplied with data fast enough, which is a task for the RAM. It feeds the processor at a speed of 118 MB/s, which is excellent. A fast FlashROM memory is important whenever you work with the device, too, as it stores all permanent information, from the operating system files to your personal data. Its 22 MB/s for read and 2137 KB/s for write operations should not slow you down in any way. Out of the total of 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of FlashROM, the user can actually access 34.50 MB of RAM and 72.50 MB of FlashROM. In case something goes terribly wrong, a tiny utility called Default Settings will restore the device to its virgin status.

The device's graphics chip is not a particularly strong one. That implies that the bulk of the workload will be handled by the CPU. As opposed to OMAP processors, it does not pose the slightest problem for the Intel chip. Be it games or full-size video playback, the ASUS P525 performs great. So, if the aforementioned activities are you favourite pastimes, you will surely be satisfied. At the medium performance setting, full-size video plays smoothly with the exception of very dynamic scenes. Videos downscaled to 320x240 pixels will run absolutely seamlessly even at the lowest performance setting.

Spb Benchmark - 5280 points (416MHz), 4764 points (312MHz), 3226 points (208MHz)
GXmark - 2088 points
VSbenchmark 2006 - 1068 points
Dynamix 3D Benchmark - 85,95 FPS
Red Sector 2112 (game) - 13-17 FPS (highest level of detail, shadows on)
Z-Raid (game) - 60 FPS
OpenJazz (game) - 85-88 FPS
TCPMP - 129,87% (416MHz), 107,89% (312MHz), 65,19% (208MHz)

The screen is a usual transflexive TFT display with a 2.8 inch diagonal (73 millimetres), 240x320 pixel (QVGA) resolution, and support for up to 65 thousand colours simultaneously. Its very well balanced white backlight offers eight levels of intensity, adjustable separately for the mains and battery operation. Whereas the lowest setting will turn the backlight off, the second lowest glows softly for pleasant work in the dark. At the opposite end of the scale, the display shines like a lantern. The touch layer just works the way it should. In short, the display is great.

As for audio capabilities, let me start on a subjective note. I dare declare the integrated loudspeaker one of the best-playing built-in speakers I have heard over quite some time. It is not only that it plays very loudly at the maximum volume but also very clearly. Obviously, one needs to compare the comparable - it is an excellent loudspeaker among current Pocket PCs. The headphones output is not as amazing as the loudspeaker yet it does a good job, too. You can adjust not only the volume but also left/right balance, trebles and basses as well as to apply a pseudo 3D effect to you taste. In reality, it does not make much difference and the equaliser appears to distort the sound more than usual (the trebles in particular). It plays quite loud at the maximum volume but not enough for a really noisy environment. Anyhow, the earphones feel very comfortable thanks to rubber "bubbles" on them. Unfortunately, the connector is a small 2.5 mm jack. The least satisfactory of the audio capabilities was recording over the built-in microphone. You can adjust the recoding volume manually or use automatic volume control, but the latter option produces poor results. The main problem was a more or less intensive noise present in all recordings. If you switch to the manual mode and decrease the volume, the quality of the recording will deteriorate, decreasing further with the distance. You can listen to some sample recordings here [651KB].

The ASUS P525 is a very well connected device. The most basic interface is USB with a miniUSB connector at the bottom of the device. Like in almost all Windows Mobile 5 devices, you can choose from two USB modes for ActiveSync (for details see Big review of HP iPAQ rw6815). There is a huge difference in speed between them: 738KB/s upload and 378KB/s download versus 446KB/s upload and 275KB/s download. It is therefore advisable to choose the faster mode and resort to the slower one only when you need to resolve problems with the connection. Unlike most other devices, the ASUS can turn into a rather expensive card reader, making the memory card accessible from the desktop PC as a mass storage device, i.e. as if it were connected directly; ActiveSync is not needed. To test data transfer speed, I saved a 121 MB video file on the card. Copying the file from the card to the PC using a USB card reader took 1 minute and 17 seconds. When the card was inserted in the pocket device, copying the same file over ActiveSync took 10 minutes and 45 seconds, and 5 minutes and 45 seconds using the special USB mode. As we can see, ActiveSync is highly inefficient for copying large files and it always pays to switch to the Mass Storage Mode, if you do not possess a card reader. An infrared port is present in the device, too.

As far as Bluetooth is concerned, the device integrates a version 2.0 module. ASUS is one of the last few Pocket PC manufacturers who have remained faithful to more sophisticated albeit more expensive drivers from Broadcomm. I carried out a series of tests with highly satisfactory results. Synchronisation with an Asus S6F laptop PC was flawless at first attempt. Two-way transfer of files between the laptop and the pocket device worked perfectly, so did exchange of data between the ASUS P525 and the following devices: HTC P4350 (Herald), HTC P3300 (Artemis), HP iPAQ hw6915, E-TEN Glofiish M700, and Qtek 8500. Pairing with a BT stereo headphones did not pose a problem, either. The playback was smooth, clear and loud (within a 10-metre distance). I noticed that the volume control in the device did not affect loudness of the sound, and volume could only be adjusted on the headphones - I am not sure if this is a standard behaviour or not. A BT headset worked well, too, but more on that in the following chapter on the device's phone capabilities. GPS module is not present, so if you want to use the device for navigation when driving, you need to use an external receiver. I successfully tested Navilock BT-338. The BT driver from Broadcomm - unlike Microsoft's - supports the PAN profile, which means you can connect the device to the Internet over a Bluetooth access point or another computer. I tried connecting over D-Link DBT-900AP and guess what happened - everything worked with no problems at all. I also tried pairing the device with several peripherals at the same time. Some interference occurred but it was only noticeable when I listened to music over the BT headphones. All in all, it is nothing but praise for the Bluetooth implementation in the ASUS P525.

Another wireless module the ASUS integrates is WiFi. Unfortunately, it supports only the basic 802.11b standard. It is regrettable not because of the speed - 11 MBps is more than enough for a pocket computer - but because its inability to connect to access points that do not support other than the newer 802.11g standard. Supported are only the WPA, WEP and TKIP protocols. Nevertheless, the device successfully connected to a D-Link DSL-G684T access point as well as an ASUS WL-566gM access point which was configured for communication over the latest WPA2 and WPA2-PSK protocols. Sensitivity to signal seemed better than average; the ASUS detected access points I had not known about before. There are several options to conserve battery power: adjustment of the transmitter output (50 %, 100 %), power consumption control, and an option to switch off the WiFi module after a certain period of inactivity. Considered the overall performance of the device, it is hardly surprising that Skype worked without any problems. The only downside is that there is a software block preventing simultaneous use of the WiFi and GSM. When you are using one way of communication, the other will be unavailable.

The ASUS lacks a centralised control of all the wireless modules such as that we can see in devices from HTC. Controlling the modules is therefore rather clumsy, with two buttons on the Today screen and an informative module. For instance, if you want to switch off all wireless communication and leave only the WiFi on, you have to switch to the "Airplane" mode which shuts off all the modules, and then manually launch the WiFi. Likewise, (de-)activation of PUSH email is quite complicated, too. It is not a major issue but certainly a room for improvement.

The device is powered by a replaceable 1300-mAh Li-Ion battery. The device's power management is amazing. In most cases, it achieved better results than e.g. HTC P3300 (Artemis) which has a slow and power-efficient OMAP processor (the clock speed was set at the highest level). Real-life experience confirmed the results: I used the device quite intensively and had to recharge every two days. If you desperately need to conserve power for later use, you can switch the device off completely by holding down the main switch for a few seconds. A low-battery warning starts nagging you as soon as the battery is half empty according to the indicator, which is rather premature, in my opinion.

Standard test of common usage, maximum backlight - 4h 40min
Video playback, maximum backlight - 6h 25min
MP3 playback, display off - 19h 45min
Active GPRS, maximum backlight, no workload - 9h 25min
Active Bluetooth, maximum backlight, no workload - 7h 10min
Active WiFi, maximum backlight, no workload - 3h 43min

NB :: Due to a bug in Spb Benchmark, the standard test keeps the device busy opening an extremely large Word document all the time. This reduces significance of the test because it is far from typical usage of a PDA. Tests with active WiFi did not appear very realistic, either. I therefore decided to run PING to the default network gateway as part of the test. This places some workload on the processor and keeps WiFi transmission alive, with a dramatic impact on the test results.

The device having a standard miniUSB, I tried to charge it using a universal AC adapter (for an HTC device) that lies my desk permanently. However, after a hour of charging, the battery reached only 3 % of its capacity and when I switched the device on, it would not run because of insufficient power. The adapter provides standard voltage and amperage, which made me think of a hardware problem. When I used the adapter supplied with the ASUS, the battery reached 30 % in half an hour. I have no idea what the problem may be but it behaved the same in several trials. On the contrary, charging over the USB cable from the desktop PC worked without any problems even with a "universal" cable.

ASUS P525 as a cell phone

The ASUS P525 integrates a quad-band GSM/GPRS module supporting the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies. Unfortunately, the manufacturer is not keeping up to date and omitted 3G networks as well as EDGE! Whereas the need for 3G is disputable, the failure to implement support for EDGE is a major drawback, especially in a device aimed at business users.

As a cell phone, the device does not stand out from the crowd. It supports standard voice services, including second call, call redirect, blocking of certain types of calls, ID presentation/restriction (CLIP/CLIR), restriction of numbers that can be dialled to a defined group (requires PIN2), voice mail, as well as text messaging (SMS) and multimedia messaging (MMS). Phone calls can be made the usual way with the device at the ear, with loud handsfree, using a wired headset or a Bluetooth headset. I tried all the options and encountered absolutely no problems with the volume or performance. The headphones output could have perhaps been a little louder, and the loudspeaker sometimes produces a high-pitched noise but neither poses a major problem. The phone module was reliable, swift in responses, and sufficiently sensitive to the signal.

ASUS decided not to go mainstream with an MMS application: instead of the popular MMS Composer from ArcSoft, it opted for JMMS from Jataaju Software. I am not much experienced in composing MMS messages, having created just a few when reviewing various devices. Nevertheless, I liked the latter application better than the ArcSoft's as it is richer in features and more comfortable to use. Check the screenshots below to see what it looks like.

While the device offers the current standard in GSM voice and messaging services, data communication would have been called the latest technology in 2002. The only available data transmission technology is GPRS, which is quite regrettable. In addition, the GPRS connection was rather unstable. I was using PUSH email all the time but the GPRS connection stalled quite often (it looked as if it were active but no data flew in either direction) - about once a day and required a reset of the device to connect again. In particular, it disliked prolonged periods without signal (e.g. in the subway) but sometimes came to an irrecoverable halt with no apparent reason. Two latest upgrades of the radio have improved the overall stability but it is still far from perfect. I tried using the ASUS as a modem for the laptop - it worked but the connection was very slow, obviously.

Profiles is a very basic utility enabling you to quickly adapt the phone's behaviour to different conditions. It offers three profiles (Normal, Meeting and Quiet) with different overall volume and ringing volume. You can switch between them from the Today screen or in the Settings. What I badly missed was some tool for easy dialling of phone numbers from the contacts database or from the list of most recently dialled numbers. The P525 uses standard Microsoft interfaces which are desperately unsophisticated in comparison e.g. with HTC's Smart Dialling, to say nothing about one-handed dialling.

Besides phone tools, the ASUS offers also several other applications. A very useful one is Network settings, where you choose your operator and the utility will automatically configure all its services, saving you a lot of time (and often nerves, too). Another utility is called Ring tones and will add your favourite song or sound to the list of ring tones in the Phone settings. Users of JAVA MIDlets will welcome Esmertec Java, which you can use to comfortably and quickly control your Google GMail account, for instance. Another utility is SIM Manager that manages contacts stored on the SIM card. The last phone-related application is SIM Toolkit. I have been a heavy user of SIM Toolkit services lately but this application disappointed me. The fact that it was apparently designed for an older version of the system is not as serious as its instability, failure to notify of incoming messages by sound or a graphic symbol, and occasional loss of important messages, which was particularly painful in GSM banking transactions.

ASUS P525 as a digital camera

I could not wait to try the ASUS P525's camera as it is one of the first Windows Mobile devices with autofocus. Although rather primitive, it was a promise of better-quality, sharper images than those produced by integrated cameras lacking this feature.

The camera uses a 2-megapixel chip and produces JPEG images in 6 resolutions, from 80x60 to 1600x1200 pixels, and video in the 3GP format (up to 176x144 pixels) and MPEG4 (up to 320x240 pixels). Files can be saved either to a memory card or the device's internal memory. You can choose from three levels of image quality (Normal, Fine and Extra fine) and three exposure modes (Auto, Night, Sport). The autofocus allows you to shoot at a very close range (from approximately 8 centimetres). If you switch to the Macro mode, the focus will be fixed at around five centimetres. However, images suffer from an extremely shallow depth of field (as you can see in the image of the yellow building below). Other features include digital zoom (only for images in a lower than the maximum resolution), self-timer (5 and 10 seconds), serial shooting (4 and 9 shots in quick succession), decorative frame (for 320x240 images), and various effects (greyscale, negative, sepia).

In the extended textual settings, you can choose the video format, reset automatic numbering of images, adjust the colours including white balance in six manual modes and an automatic one (Auto, Light bulb, Halogen, Fluorescent tube, Twilight, Sunny, and Cloudy), and choose the metering mode. There are three metering modes to choose from (Normal, Centre, Background) but although I spent a lot of time trying them out, there were negligible differences between them (for instance, when the sky was white, the resulting images were very dark in all the three modes).

The camera application is very well designed. Unfortunately, I could not make any screenshots because all screen capturing utilities I tried failed to capture the menu. The application starts in the landscape mode with the keyboard on the left. Most options are available in a graphic on-screen menu, the rest is in the extended settings. The top row includes available options, such as shooting mode, image quality, flash, macro, resolution, storage place, and available space on the memory card and in the internal memory. The application takes around 5 seconds to launch, metering and focusing takes 1 to 4 seconds depending on the scene, exposure and saving of a photo in the highest resolution and quality to the memory card takes another 5-7 seconds. The times are not very impressive yet tolerable. The shooting process is simple and resembles standalone digital cameras due to the autofocus. You aim the camera and press the shutter release button half-way down. A white frame appears in the middle of the viewer and the camera will attempt to focus. If successful, the frame will turn green and you can press the button all the way down, which will process the image and save it to the memory. You can bypass the autofocus if you press the navigation button instead of the shutter release button. One-handed shooting is possible but the edge above the display provides poor support for the thumb - meaning unsure grip. I was therefore often worried I might drop the device.

Below are some sample photos. I expected better results, I must confess. Original sharpened full-size images are available for download here [9067KB]. Two sample videos can be downloaded here [1546KB].

The camera couples with a powerful flash. It works in three modes (permanently on, off, automatic) and can dramatically improve quality of images. See below three photos of the same place: the first one on the left was shot in the Standard mode without flash, the middle one was taken in the Night mode without flash, and the last one was taken with flash. Quite good, isn't it?

In summary, the camera did not quite live up to my expectations: I had expected a camera with auto focus to perform somewhat better. It is fair to say though, that the results are not bad at all, and features like a powerful flash, focus range starting at a couple of centimetres, and a 2-megapixel resolution make it an acceptable choice.

Expandability

Expandability of the device is rather limited, as has been the case with most PDAs lately. The only way to beef up the P525 is to insert a miniSD memory card (my 2GB Pretec worked without any problems) and connect some Bluetooth accessories. Not much, eh?

Pre-installed and bonus software

The ASUS P525 comes with pre-installed Windows Mobile 5 Phone Edition with the AKU2.3 service pack, which is not the very latest version at this moment. The system includes a package of productivity software from Microsoft, such as Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, a suite of personal information management applications Office Mobile (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes), Terminal Services Client, Explorer, etc. Besides those, there are several bonus applications, some of which we have dealt with earlier and the rest of them is described below.

Biz Card Recognition is a very interesting utility for digitization of business cards. The process is simple - you obtain a business card, take a picture of it and send it to the BCR application, which will attempt to transform the image to text, create a new contact and apply some artificial intelligence to distribute the text to the appropriate fields. However great an idea it may look, it is more of a lottery in real life. First of all, successfulness of the character recognition is close to zero for accented letters. Although there is a setting for European languages, it does not affect the results very much. Also, keywords that help the application sort the information must be in English. Last but not least, the result depends on the graphic layout of the business card, type of font used etc. I tried scanning ten or so business cards with very mixed results. Sometimes, the application did not recognize anything, sometimes, 80 percent of information was correct. BCR is relatively god at recognizing numbers, the worst results were for addresses. As I say, good idea but unusable on a regular basis due to low reliability.

My Secrets is an entry-level security utility that helps protect your data against unwanted disclosure. After an initial configuration and setting of password, the utility will create a sub-folder called Secret in the My Documents folder, where you can copy or move files to and from at your will. When you are done, you can lock the folder manually or let it lock automatically after a certain period of inactivity. The application will prevent access to the contents of the folder until you enter the correct password again.

ASUS Status provides a concise review of the device's basic settings as well as memory status, battery status, and other important information. When you tap on an item, the corresponding Settings applet will open.

Mode Switch allows you to easily switch between running applications or tasks. It activates by a press of a button in the bottom left of the keyboard.

Bundled with the device are three bonus CD-ROMs. One of them contains standard applications from Microsoft, such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft ActiveSync. The other carries installation files for Internet telephony application Skype, and the third offers a full version of backup utility Spb Backup. And that's it:)

Pricing

The ASUS P525 currently sells for around $600 USD. In my opinion, it is a little overpriced but let's everyone make their own judgment. You will hardly find a comparable device, but does it justify the price?

[POLL]

Final evaluation

Having tested its various qualities and capabilities, I have rather mixed feelings about the ASUS P525. On the one hand, it is an interesting and unusual device combining a touch-screen Pocket PC with a smart phone with a numeric keyboard. On the other hand, I can see some major drawbacks making the device appear imbalanced.

It is indisputably a good idea to integrate a small numeric keyboard in a Pocket PC. Unfortunately, ASUS' designers did not have a lucky hand when choosing the way to go about it. The integrated keyboard makes the device bulky in comparison with latest phone-enabled Pocket PCs, to say nothing about small and sleek smart phones. This partly offsets the utility of the keyboard, which was supposed to be the device's main triumph. The lack of a T9 dictionary for some languages and the absence of a reasonable dialling application significantly reduce the possibility to control the device quickly and comfortably with one hand., which is a great handicap, considered the device's design and potential. A well-tuned suite of software utilities would make the ASUS P525 a completely different device.

A powerful Intel processor is a nice surprise. Not only does it run significantly faster than the more common OMAP processors but also (for me unexpectedly) boasts an excellent time on battery. This is good news for multimedia users, players of action games and viewers of full-quality video because high performance does not go at the expense of power consumption. This is also due to an advanced automatic performance management. I had not expected such good results, indeed.

The ASUS P525 offers excellent connectivity, beyond the standard. The memory card can be accessed as a Mass Storage Device independently of ActiveSync, which is very useful. So is the presence of an infrared port which is becoming rare. Bluetooth implementation is excellent thanks to top-class drivers. WiFi supports only transmission speeds up to 11 MBit/s; good sensitivity to signal makes up for this disadvantage.

What is the far most serious drawback as regards communication is the device's lack of support for fast mobile data transmission. Whereas usefulness of UMTS is still disputable, EDGE is a must in a high-end device these days. I consider its absence as the main weakness of the device. How many potential customers ASUS lost because of that is anyone's guess. Sadly, the slow GPRS is not very reliable, either. Redeeming is well-implemented voice communication.

Last issue is overall instability of the system. Some applications, such as gwes.exe and device.exe crashed about twice a day, which is far more frequent than I have observed in other devices. On the other hand, the manufacturer deserves praise for patching and updating the ROM and applications continuously, yet there remain more problems than tolerable. Likewise, major effort should be made to improve reliability of the SIM Toolkit, because it sometimes made me consider fixing the bugs with a hammer.

Well, let's end on a more optimistic note. ASUS definitely has a chance to do something about the aforementioned issues. I used the device for 10 days or so and was satisfied on the whole, with none of the problems being so serious as to make me condemn the device once and for all. Except for the EDGE technology, everything else can be fixed by software patches. That means nothing stands in the way for ASUS to turn its P525 model into an excellent gadget and a great companion. Not that it is not a good companion as it is, yet the room for improvement is huge:)