As smart phones go, the h6365 is quite large and bulky, at 119 by 75 by 18.7mm and 190g. If you forget to bring the included headphone set with you, you'll certainly feel its presence next to your ear. Physically it's definitely been designed with that distinctive iPAQ look, which lends it a certain quality of familiarity (if you're au fait with the existing line), although by the standards of most phones, including smart phones, it's a touch on the visually pedestrian side. The unit ships with a clip-on keyboard for those who can't stand entering data onscreen; the only real catches with this are its small size -- but that's understandable for a keyboard unit of its dimensions -- and the fact that when it's clipped on, it covers the USB and power connectors for the PDA. The supplied cradle is likewise physically functional, but visually unexciting.
Features
Aside from its quad-band GSM phone performance, the real standout part of the h6365's feature set is that it's equipped with WiFi (802.11b), Bluetooth and GPRS connectivity, and will seamlessly hop onto the fastest available connection. Indeed, depending on how you configure it, it could tread all over other people's wireless space, if it isn't secured.
From the end-user point of view, though, that makes it a solid business tool, and its visual style really backs this up -- this is a tool designed to look impressive in a professional pocket, rather than a cool gadget to impress all down the pub with.
Now, the presence of a camera on the back of the unit might make you wary of the theory that this is a business tool, were it not for the fact that the camera within the h6365 is an entirely unremarkable VGA quality unit. In our testing, we found it blurred easily and had large problems dealing with any dark photos, which makes it a less than appealing option for those post-pub photos that you'll regret anyway. Maybe that's a good thing, on reflection.
Performance
As a phone, the h6365 is essentially unremarkable; in our testing it worked well enough, aside from the as-noted problem that it's a bit of a solid beast to use -- but that's a criticism that can be levelled at most smart phones on the market today. Certainly, the addition of Bluetooth makes it possible to link it up to a suitable Bluetooth headset, and unless the phone portion is merely an adjunct to how you plan to use the h6365, we'd suggest that it would be smart to invest in one, pronto.
With regards to its wireless performance, we did encounter some problems getting the h6365 to talk to a home wireless network. In some instances it'd seamlessly work, while at other times it'd search around blankly for a network to connect to. To its credit, it's easy enough to work out when different connectivity modes are in play; the h6365 ships with an integrated wireless configuration utility (iPAQ Wireless) that makes configuration easy. Different coloured indicators on the top left hand side of the phone indicate phone, Bluetooth and wireless activity, with discrete lights for connected or disconnected status.
In PDA terms, the iPAQ h6365 does what most other iPAQs do, albeit that this one is running Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition, rather than the standard Pocket PC OS. It's laid out a little differently than most PDAs -- with the most notable difference being the SD/MMC card being on the side of the unit, rather than the top -- but with a total of 55MB of user-accessible memory, and the usual suite of Microsoft software on board, it's a perfectly capable unit.
In terms of battery life, it's very hard to judge the h6365. HP claims a talk time of greater than three hours, and a standby time of more than 100 hours, but in every instance we could envisage where the h6365 made sense, you'd be using the wireless connections -- possibly concurrently -- and once you start using wireless connections, you can expect the performance of the phone to plummet considerably.
The iPAQ brand is a fairly strong one in the PDA space, especially amongst the professional crowd, and it's clear to see that the h6365 series iPAQs don't stray too far from this at all. It's a solid smart phone, albeit one that lacks the flash styling that makes other smart phones, such as O2's Xda IIs, arguably sexier gadgets. That factor alone will probably decide for you whether the h6365 is for you. If you need a reliable and solid business tool, it fits the bill nicely, but if you want a phone with a little more visual flair, you may do better to look elsewhere.
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syed
06/01/2008, 09:44 AM
rating
5/10
i was planning to get one hp mobile phone but i think i should think more before getting one.........
howevr i still want to know the best offers regarding hp pda phones
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Thomas
16/12/2007, 10:42 PM
rating
7/10
am so impressed with phone,command respect
Pros: the size
Cons: no comment just want to know the price and freightof hp ipaq pocket pc h6365 imagine
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ANNOYED
09/12/2007, 07:01 AM
rating
3/10
GREAT PDA / CRAP PHONE
I WILL NEVER NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING MADE BY HEWLETT PACKARD AGAIN - ESPECIALLY HORRENDOUS CUSTMOER SERVICE
Pros: GREAT PDA FUNCTIONALITY
Cons: LOUSY PHONE FUNCTIONALITY DOESN'T EVEN APPPROACH CHEAPER MOBILE PHONES. ALWAYS CRASHES REQUIRING HARD REBOOT AND RE-INSTALLATION OF DATA. DATA IS LOST UNLESS BACKED UP MANUALLY.
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tabu...
05/11/2007, 11:56 PM
rating
3/10
i buy my ipaq a year ago & always hang & the signal was lost.
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raxit
30/10/2007, 04:00 PM
rating
2/10
i realy like it so much considering the wifi system,but the problem i have with the hp is that u cant use the mp3 songs as tones and the sound is very low even when the volume is turned high.i realy dont know why?
Pros: Always hang & signal lost. HP poor service. phone usually gets hanged while talking.screen nice but camera resolutaion is dul.
Cons: They should replace another model to Customer Free of Charge.In sort not that much impresive phone. Improvation must. As per price not given Cetisfation.
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xavierorr
22/09/2007, 12:39 PM
rating
10/10
I have been through about 30 PDA's over the years and this HP is the best I have ever owned. My PDA's get used to extremes and usually only ever last 6 months, this PDA has lasted over a year now and I have never had a problem with it, it has survived so many drops and even a 2nd storey plummit. the wireless and bluetooth are excellent, speed is fine even for intensive mathematical use in spacetime, despite the lower processor speed. By far my favourite feature of this phone is battery life, 4 days with wi-fi & bluetooth on is usually unheard of. never had a problem with the phone function, never had bad reception or a call crash, which happens with so many other PDAs. all round an excellent PDA & phone.
Pros: battery life, wi-fi, bluetooth, rugged and reliable, nice screen size
Cons: camera picture quality sucks, doesn't yet support the new windows mobile OS.
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Nagababu
25/03/2007, 10:56 PM
rating
7/10
SMS is a big problem, can anybody help me in this regard
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shawndh
08/02/2007, 04:40 PM
rating
7/10
Not a perfect phone but good PDA, especially for the price they are now. Just using it as a PDA, it feels good in your hand. It's a little heavy but it's a really solid construction. I haven't had all the horrible reset/connectivity problems that other's have posted. This has been a pretty good PPC phone convergence. Occasionally, I will have to reboot it, just like any Windows product, but it's only like a couple times a month. And I've dropped mine so much that I'm suprised that it still works at all. Now, sometimes I can't answer the phone and have to reset. We have to be realistic, this is one of the first PPC phones offered in the US and it has some problems. But the fact is, I've been reading reviews for the past week on all HTC variant phones and others and none are without problems. So overall, it's a great unit if you don't mind the heft.
Concerning the size, I was able to find a horizontal belt clip for a black berry that fit just like a glove for it. Now it's much better to carry it on my hip than with the horrible case that the phone comes with it.
I guess my biggest gripe is no voice dialing. That is absolutlely rediculous to me, to have a PPC phone with no VD. Just plain stupid. And the Bluetooth shuts off with the PPC. This is annoying because my BT Parrot system in my car keeps muting my radio for 10 sec or so looking for the unit. It's very annoying but if you don't have my set-up, this may not affect you. However, when the phone rings, BT wakes up and the system picks up the calls.
So if your on a budge and can pick one up for $150 to $250, I'd do it. But I would have been very pissed off if I had paid like $600 for this thing. You have to keep in mind, unlocked PPC phones are very expensive and even the best of them have problems. So if your just looking for some functionality, this is a good phone if it meets your needs. But it's far from perfect.
Pros: Solid construction, good pda features, wifi, blue tooth, ir, GPRS, can use mulitple radios at the same time, large bright display
Cons: Not a good form factor for a phone but good for a PDA. No voice dialing, sluggish internet, Blue tooth shuts off when PDA is off.
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gazza
25/01/2007, 01:47 AM
rating
7/10
i realy like it so much considering the wifi system,but the problem i have with the hp6315 is tha u cant use the mp3 songs as tones and the sound is very low even when the volume is turned high.i realy dont kno why?
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phillip
06/12/2006, 02:05 PM
rating
10/10
yea u umm sorry but didnt notice u where all so well...umm......... nice
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