If you want an inexpensive, compact Windows Mobile device, there are not too many options. The HTC Touch would be the de facto choice for most as it costs next to nothing when bought with an operator subsidy and is a great-looking handheld which is very pocket-friendly. At almost the same size, the S$545 Asus P320 is another option for the budget-conscious. It even has a bonus feature--GPS navigation.

Design

You can't really tell from the pictures, but the P320 is tiny. Its dimensions are smaller than the HTC Touch and it is marginally lighter at 105g. It will fit into most small hands comfortably. The front of the P320 has a glossy plastic finish. The side is metallic, while the back has a soft touch feel to it. This combination of materials fits well together and in no way does the design make you feel like Asus is trying to overdo it. The use of a glossy black plastic on the front does invite smudges, especially since this is the part that will touch your face. So those with oily complexions may need to wipe it down frequently.

The buttons and shortcut keys on this handheld are pretty standard for a Windows Mobile device. There's a directional pad below the display, two softkeys, an OK key for exiting menus and some other shortcuts along the sides for quick access to certain applications. One thing that stood out was the Hold switch. This is found on the right side and locks the touchscreen and all buttons when activated, much like what you see on an MP3 player. This makes it very convenient to turn the device on and off because you do not have to use the default Lock feature in Windows Mobile, which can be quite unintuitive and inconsistent.

One thing we didn't like about the design of the P320 was that both the microSD card slot and port for connecting an external GPS antenna are difficult to access. Without long nails, it's hard to gain access to them, which is especially annoying for the microSD slot as some people may need to swap cards frequently.

Charging and syncing use a single mini-USB port at the base of the P320. There is no separate audio jack for connecting a wired headset so that is done using this same mini-USB port, too. Asus provides a stereo wired headset in the standard sales package, but if you want to use your own headphones a third-party mini-USB-to-3.5mm audio jack will have to be bought separately.

Features

There's not much to shout about when it comes to features. The P320 does not have 3G, so your data connection will go up to only EDGE speeds if your operator supports that. You do get Bluetooth and also Wi-Fi for connecting at hotspots.

For navigation, a SiRF star III chip has been built into the P320. It also has an application called the GPS Catcher which uses downloaded satellite data to help you get a GPS lock more quickly. The bad news is that Asus does not provide GPS navigation software with the P320. This was most probably done to keep the price down, so if you intend to use the P320 for turn-by-turn navigation, you'll have to go out and purchase maps. We did manage to try out the GPS feature using Google Maps and found getting a lock to be very fast when assisted by the GPS Catcher.

Instead of the standard Windows Mobile 6.1 Home screen, Asus has put a custom one on this PDA-phone. This shows a large digital clock with onscreen shortcuts to applications like messaging, calendar and even RSS feeds. Aside from this, the P320 doesn't have much in the area of bundled software. There's a remote calendar which syncs with Google Calendar, some custom software in the Settings page for themes and better memory management, and that's about it.

The camera found on the P320 is a 2-megapixel one with autofocus though there is not LED light for illuminating subjects in low-light conditions.

Performance

The P320 isn't the fastest WM6.1 device out there. In our experience with the special Today screen, we noticed the digital clock displayed the time from the last time we turned it on and only switched to the current, correct time after a few seconds. Switching between tabs was also sluggish in the Settings page. These could possibly be attributed to the slow 200MHz TI processor found in the device. It also has a basic amount of RAM, just 64MB. In comparison, the HTC Touch has 128MB.

What it lacks in speed, the P320 makes up for in battery performance. We managed about three days of use with a single charge. As usual, we will say that this varies between users, but most likely you'll get by a whole day without having to worry about it giving up on you. Asus rates the P320 for 4 hours of talktime. In our use, we had no issues with reception and voices came through clearly every time.