i-mate JAM

A gem in both scale and value, the i-mate JAM ($640 street, as low as $540 with contract) is the world's smallest Pocket PC PDA/phone. It's also the only Pocket PC phone that feels truly comfortable in the hand, making it a good (if expensive) choice for folks who desire a phone that runs Microsoft's OS. Its lack of high-speed networking, though, makes it a poor choice for those who also need on-the-run Internet access.

At 5.4 ounces and only 4.5 by 2.3 by 0.7 inches (HWD), the aluminum-clad i-mate JAM is svelte. A particular design and engineering choice we approve of is the unit's use of a four-way rocker in place of the usual overabundance of Pocket PC buttons. Surrounding the rocker—without crowding it—are intuitive phone pick-up and hang-up buttons, as well as a calendar and contacts button. Side buttons let you jump to the camera or voice recorder. The small screen (2.8-inch, QVGA) is sharp, though glare becomes a serious problem if you're trying to watch videos in Windows Media Player 10.

Because of its relatively compact size and small screen, the i-mate JAM makes the most of the 1.2-Ah battery (larger screens require more backlighting and run the battery down faster). Our test results bore this out, as we got a very good 5 hours 43 minutes of PDA usage with the backlight cranked up, and a very usable 10:56 of phone talk time. One problem is that the i-mate JAM's lack of a hold switch makes turning the device on accidentally and thus draining the battery rather easy.

As a phone, the i-mate JAM suffers from a case of the whispers. The headset volume is fine, if not very loud; but the speakerphone is so quiet as to be useless. That's especially strange because ringtones, MP3s, and videos can all blare out at high volume. Reception was acceptable, though at times the i-mate JAM was a bar behind Motorola phones we tried on the same networks. The 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera is poor, however, with washed-out colors and an incredible amount of color noise in low-light situations.

We also encountered some software quirks. Our Bluetooth mysteriously turned itself on every once in a while, and the "dial from phone off" function, on the other hand, would occasionally not turn the phone on as it should have. Our i-mate JAM also underreported its signal strength, showing only two bars when a 73 percent signal rating warranted more (this percentage rating was acquired using the third-party download, the Phone Dashboard application from Hudson Mobile, www.hudsonmobile.com, $15 street).

For data traffic, you get Class 8/10 GPRS and Bluetooth, but no high-speed wireless LAN or WAN connectivity. On Cingular's network, we achieved 16- to 34-Kbps data rates with the device—barely enough for e-mail, and downright painful for Web browsing (EDGE devices like the palmOne Treo 650 manage five to ten times that throughput). The i-mate JAM paired easily with a Nokia Bluetooth headset and sounded very good, and it can be used as a Bluetooth modem for a PC as well. We were also able to transfer files via Bluetooth to and from a PC using the device's Beam command.

On our Pocket PC performance tests, the 416-MHz i-mate JAM scored about 8 percent slower than the 400-MHz Sprint PCS Vision PPC-6601, Audiovox XV-6600, and Siemens SX66 Pocket PC phones, scoring especially low on file-system access. But it's a good 60 percent faster than the HP iPAQ h6315. We didn't feel any noticeable slowness in Pocket PC applications, and the i-mate JAM played music and video synced from a Media Center PC without skipping. The i-mate JAM's 64MB of RAM (57.4MB available) and 7.6MB of flash ROM aren't enough for media files, but the SD slot can handle cards up to 2GB.

The i-mate JAM is the only Pocket PC phone as small as the palmOne Treo 650. That will attract many handheld aficionados who are turned off by the heft of most PDA/phones, and it can certainly carry the weight of average use. But you give up some power and speed for the size, and we still prefer the Treo for its faster networking, better voice quality, and integrated keyboard.

No major carrier has picked up the i-mate JAM, but it's available from independent retailer Expansys (www.expansys-usa.com) in two models: an 850/1,800/1,900-MHz version for Cingular subscribers and a 900/1,800/1,900-MHz version for T-Mobile users. You can provide your own SIM card or get a T-Mobile plan through Expansys.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Phone Edition
• Screen Size: 2.8 inches
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS