T-Mobile Shadow – UMA support for calls over Wi-Fi
Thumbs Up:
UMA (unlicensed mobile access) support for making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi; easy-to-use interface; Windows Mobile 6.1 OS and its preinstalled applications
Thumbs Down:
Cheap and ugly keypad; sluggish performance; no 3G support; average picture quality; weak speakerphone volume
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: GSM
Band: Quad-band of GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone Design: Slider
Caller ID: Yes
Other Features: Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, PDF reader, File Explorer,
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The T-Mobile Shadow is powered with 260MHz processor. It has 100MB internal memory and micro-SD expansion slot that accepts up to 8GB cards. The operating system is Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition.
1.6-inch LCD display has 240×320 pixels resolution that supports 16-bit (65,000) colors. 2-megapixel camera features self-timer and video recording.
The additional features are Internet Explore Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, EDGE, GPRS, Mobile Email, Microsoft Direct Push Technology, and Microsoft Office Mobile Suite.
1100mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 420 minutes talk time and 168 hours standby time. The accessories supplied in the package include user manual, a software disc, a carrying case, an audio adapter, a wired headset, a USB cable, and a travel charger.
Razzle Dazzle:
The T-Mobile Shadow is 2 inches wide, 4 inches tall, and 0.6 inch deep and weighs 5.3 ounces. It features curved edges, new paint job and shinier face. The smartphone is available in mint and white color as well as in black and burgundy. The T-Mobile Shadow looks like a toy while holding in hands.
Inside Dope:
The T-Mobile Shadow for Windows Mobile has new features and fresh look. It costs $149.99 with two-year T-Mobile contract. It looks like the more modern version of previous Shadow phone. We appreciate its advanced features like UMA support to make calls over Wi-Fi network, integrated GPS, 3G support and 2-megapixel camera. The Windows Mobile smartphone is a nice choice for T-Mobile customers. It offers simple user interface and gives a feel of regular cell phone. The smartphone looks quite attractive and eye-catching when it slowly transforms its body color. However, the T-Mobile Shadow suffers with some issues also like cheap dial-pad and sluggish performance. If you need a stylish smartphone from T-Mobile, then go for T-Mobile Shadow.
2.6 inches LCD display of the T-Mobile Shadow has 320×240 pixels (QVGA) resolution that supports 64,000 colors. The user interface casts animated effects and organizes all the applications in eight categories including personal, Outlook, text, multimedia, and more. These categories are arranged in one section at Today screen. You can scroll through this section and directly access them from Today screen. Actually, it makes very easy to understand the Windows Mobile operating system, especially for first time users.
The navigation array is located beneath the display and includes two soft key, navigation wheel, Home and Call key on left side, and Back key with End button on the right side. We like that you can spin the wheel clockwise and counterclockwise for scrolling through pictures, lists, emails, and so forth. It can also be used as four-way keypad for pressing left, right, up and down. It is important to mention here that the toggle feels a bit cheap and plastic, but works smoothly.
You can slide down the T-Mobile Shadow to access the alphanumeric SureType 20 button keypad. The keys are flush inside the surface, while the sliding mechanism is strong and locks the screens securely in place. The complete phone looks smart, whereas its keypad looks a bit ugly. It is a great surprise that HTC has manufactured such a disappointing cell phone. We will prefer the manufacturer to improve the keypad design.
You will find the camera activation/capture button and a customizable shortcut key on the right side, while the micro-SD card slot and the volume rocker are on the left side. The power button sits on the top and headset/power connector is on the bottom. We will prefer to have a standard 3.5mm headset jack and a mini-USB port. The camera lens is located on the back.
The T-Mobile Shadow runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition and features threaded text messaging, pan in/out abilities in Internet Explorer Mobile, and robust Windows Live features. You will also find the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for only viewing the PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents. The preinstalled Windows Media Player 10 Mobile supports WMA, WAV, MP3, and AAC audio formats as well as WMV and MPEG4 video files. The File Explorer will help to locate the files on media card and inbuilt memory.
The other features are an alarm clock, a calculator, a task manager, a voice recorder, PDF reader, and so forth. You can also download and use the third-party applications. The Microsoft Direct Push Technology allows real-time message delivery and auto-sync with Outlook contacts, tasks, and calendar through Exchange Server. The T-Mobile Shadow also provides access to POP3/IMAP4 email accounts and setup wizard for some email clients including Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Mail, Gmail, and AOL mail. The preloaded messengers are Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, and AIM.
It is great to have the UMA (unlicensed mobile access) support in the T-Mobile Shadow. It allows making and receiving calls through wireless network using inbuilt Wi-Fi. The call charges will not be decreased from the cellular plan, which means that you will get unlimited number of calls as long as you are in range of hot-spot wireless network. However, you have to sign up Unlimited HotSpot Calling service plan with T-Mobile that starts from $9.99 per month. We will recommend you to go for this plan if you are buying the T-Mobile Shadow.
The advanced highlights are quad-band world roaming, Bluetooth, inbuilt Wi-Fi, voice dialing, a speakerphone, and support for T-Mobile MyFave service for unlimited calls on five contacts at $39.99 per month. The T-Mobile Shadow can store contacts limited to available memory. Each entry can store multiple phone numbers, IM screen names, email addresses, work addresses, and home addresses. You can categorize the contacts into caller groups and pair them with a group ID, ring-tone, and a photo for caller ID. The onboard Bluetooth supports dial-up networking, phonebook access, object push, stereo and mono wireless headsets, and so forth. We are disappointed that it does not support 3G network of the T-Mobile.
The 2-megapixel camera of the T-Mobile Shadow features self-timer, and video recording. The still capture options are zoom, effects, a timestamp, brightness control, white balance, four quality settings, and five resolutions. The camcorder options are brightness, white balance settings, effect, and three resolutions. The overall picture quality was average.
We made few calls through the T-Mobile Shadow via T-Mobile service for testing. The overall call quality was good. We received clear and loud sound at our end with a bit background hiss and warbled tones. The callers received clear, but digitized sound at their end. They could tell we were calling via a cell phone. The speakerphone call quality was average. Both of us received hollow and soft sound with low volume. The Bluetooth headsets calls were fine.
The Windows Mobile smartphone has better 260MHz processor than 200MHz of the original Shadow. However, it still performed sluggish while testing. There was few seconds delay in launching some applications and performing multitasking. The CDMAcellulars.com loaded in 20 seconds in the browser.
The T-Mobile Shadow has a battery life of 7 hours talk time and 7 days of idle standby time. Its digital SAR is 1.38watts per kg in accordance with FCC radiation tests.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need an eye-catching smartphone that can make calls over Wi-Fi and can overcome an ugly keypad, then it is better to select – T-Mobile Shadow. Please remember that it does not support 3G network.
