There's been quite a bit of buzz surrounding the SmartQ 5. This device looks like any other portable media player (PMP), but under the hood it has a Linux operating system (OS) that works very much like the version you see on a desktop computer. One of its biggest draws is the recommended price of US$132, extremely cheap compared with other Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) which serve the same functions. One big difference is the fact that the SmartQ 5 uses an ARM processor more commonly found in smartphones, while other MIDs often come with x86 processors made by chipmakers like Intel. ...

Read first take of the SmartQ 5 »

First Take

There's been quite a bit of buzz surrounding the SmartQ 5. This device looks like any other portable media player (PMP), but under the hood it has a Linux operating system (OS) that works very much like the version you see on a desktop computer. One of its biggest draws is the recommended price of US$132, extremely cheap compared with other Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) which serve the same functions. One big difference is the fact that the SmartQ 5 uses an ARM processor more commonly found in smartphones, while other MIDs often come with x86 processors made by chipmakers like Intel.

Click here for a full gallery of the SmartQ 5.

Design

At 120 x 74 x 14mm and just 160g, the SmartQ 5 is a very compact device. It's about as large as many other PMPs with large displays and just as light. While the use of materials does make this MID feel somewhat plasticky, the simple design appealed to us. It is black throughout with a bit of silver trimming. There's no sign of the brand or company logo on the front--these are neatly painted in white at the back of the device.

The back of the SmartQ 5.
(Click for larger image)

On the right side are two connectors, a mini-USB and a 3.5mm audio jack. When hooked up to a computer using a USB cable, the device is recognized as a mass storage device to copy files to and from an SD card. You can also use a USB On-The-Go (OTG) cable and connect peripherals to this MID. In this case, it acts as a host for other USB devices. Unfortunately, we were not able to test out this feature due to lack of a USB OTG cable.

Along the bottom edge of the device is an SD card slot and a receptacle for plugging in the power adapter. SDHC cards are supported and, according to the specs, you can use cards up to 16GB in capacity. Also found on the bottom is a tiny reset button for instances when the device becomes unresponsive.

At the top are four buttons. The power button turns the device on, but oddly, doesn't turn it off. Instead, it brings up the settings menu when the SmartQ 5 is powered on. Another button controls the windows within the Linux OS. When you press and hold on to the button, you will be able to drag and move windows to where you want them to be. The remaining two are for volume control.

The screen measures 4.3 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. We viewed some images on this display and found it to be very sharp with good colors. This touchscreen display is of the resistive variety, which means you have to use the included stylus or a fingertip to select items--large fleshy digits won't work. This is just as well because icons on the screen are, in general, very small. More on that later.

Features

What makes the SmartQ 5 unique is its use of an ARM-based Ubuntu OS. Navigating the user interface is done entirely by moving the onscreen mouse pointer using the touchscreen. Many of the features you get from a basic installation of Ubuntu are available on the SmartQ. This includes a Web browser, file manager, multi-IM client and document editors. On the top right of the screen are shortcuts to commonly used settings such as volume, brightness, Wi-Fi connection and onscreen keyboard.

The layout of the buttons found on the top of the device.
(Click for larger image)

The similarity to a desktop OS is great for the functionality it provides, but this also causes some problems. For example, menus for certain applications are sometimes too large for the screen. In the Bluetooth settings, we weren't able to tap on Cancel or Accept at the bottom of the window because it was longer than the 480-pixel height of the display. We had to move the window upward to finish applying the settings.

Another problem faced was the size of icons. In the media player application called Audacious, for example, the icons were incredibly tiny. While this is fine for the desktop because monitors are much larger, it made controlling music on the SmartQ 5 very difficult. The use of the stylus becomes a must and the calibration of the screen has to be perfect to avoid tapping on the wrong items.

Outlook

We did not touch much on the performance aspect of this MID because, at this point, the OS is available only in Chinese. This makes it impossible to use for many of us here in Asia Pacific. The English version of the OS is expected to be available later this month, and this non-Chinese language version of the SmartQ 5 will go on sale outside of China only in May.

The Chinese-language OS on the SmartQ 5.
(Click for larger image)

We're excited about the SmartQ 5 because the proposition of a sub-US$200 MID is nothing short of mouth-watering. In its current iteration though, this device doesn't yet deliver the goods because of a slow interface. SmartQ does have a good track record of releasing software upgrades for its MP3 players, so we hope this will hold true for the SmartQ 5 as well.

This is not a full review, but we still think the SmartQ 5 has potential. We'll wait for the English-language firmware before making final judgment. Look out for our full evaluation once SmartQ releases the software.

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vladude: English version of this device available herer for $151 https:...

smartq7: For a reliable source for the SmartQ5 and SmartQ7 go to " www.smartq7.com " estore online. They are currently ...

profeduards: where and how can i buy one? Thank you.

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