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13 terrible Windows Mobile smartphones from yesterday

posted by John V. / Apr 10, 2013, 1:23 PM

13 terrible Windows Mobile smartphones from yesterday

Recently, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and picked up one of the earliest Windows Mobile devices to come out for dirt cheap online – the Motorola MPx220. For those of you that don’t have a clue about it, the MPx220 was Moto’s first quad-band Windows Mobile smartphones, but looking at it, you’d be hard pressed to believe that it’s indeed a smartphone by its clamshell form factor. Back then when it was released for AT&T, I marveled by the fact that it was an actual phone with Windows Mobile on it, and from then on, I simply fell in love with the platform.

Through the years, I’ve been fortunate to check out and review some wonderful smartphones. From today’s flagship Android devices, to the venerable iPhone, and even the handful of great Windows Phones out there, there’s a wealth of choice to pick and choose from to call your own. Despite the rich offerings, there are always some terrible ones that make us cringe in pain by their total package. However, the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking about some of the terrible smartphones from yesterday – the Windows Mobile days to be exact.

Below, I’ve complied some of the Windows Mobile smartphones we’ve collectively reviewed through the years, and uncovered some of the lowest scored devices. Some of them, I’ve personally reviewed several years ago, such as the abysmal LG Incite, but the handful of others were done by other fellow PhoneArena colleagues. Above all, it’s surprising to see that there was a rich mix between form factors with Windows Mobile devices – such as QWERTY devices, which are becoming rare occurrences nowadays. Anyway folks, here are 13 terrible Windows Mobile smartphones from yesterday.

13 terrible Windows Mobile smartphones from yesterday

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41 Comments

1. ProblemSolver15

Posts: 372; Member since: Jun 14, 2010

I had the Verizon variant of the HTC Mogul. XV6800 if I remember correctly. For its time it was okay in terms of hardware. Ultimately, I ended up using it as a block to change my tire as the thing was a huge brick. I went through about 5 of them. The software was atrocious.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 1:37 PM 4

6. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

I loved the XV6800 & its many variants. I owned the previous 6700 model for Sprint, then the updated HTC Tilt.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:40 PM 0

34. shreyas.s666

Posts: 83; Member since: Aug 24, 2012

@ John.V why don't you people block/ban this kind of bots from phonearena?

posted on Apr 11, 2013, 1:12 AM 0

2. xmusicianguy

Posts: 96; Member since: Jul 13, 2011

How bout the Motorola Q9m or the Samsung Omnia 1 both CDMA. The Omnia atleast had WiFi and a good camera. The touch screen was horrible. The Motorola had neither. I have em both and never use them. Instead I use my Razr Maxx HD and Bionic.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 1:54 PM 0

7. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

Yeah, I didn't lthat the Q9m and the Q9h were bulkier than the previous Moto Q. Then again, I liked its keyboard more. Still, it was a shame that it didn't have Wi-Fi (Q9m).

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:41 PM 1

3. US_Eminem

Posts: 12; Member since: Sep 06, 2012

O2 was an absolute innovative company at that time ........still in love with O2 atom exec....with IR keyboard :p

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:06 PM 0

4. cdgoin

Posts: 614; Member since: Jul 28, 2010

How about a review of the best Windows Mobile phones that were released BEFORE iPhone and Android even existed ? The HTC Universal was my fave for a long time followed by the Dash and the Dash 3G, then the HD2 (although the HD2 was post iPhone). The Diamond touch I also really liked. Come to think of it HTC made some awesome phones back then, and was innovative as well.. Hopefully they can get thier mojo back.. BTW anyone else notice the HTC one seems to be more a mix of the Windows Mobile version of HTC sense with Windows Phone almost more than the Android its based on.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:21 PM 8

8. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

The Dash 3G (GSM HTC Snap I believe) was one of my favorite portrait QWERTY WinMo phones, behind the Samsung Blackjack, Moto Q, & Palm Treo Pro. HTC definitely dominated the scene back then.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:43 PM 1

9. TA700

Posts: 83; Member since: Mar 29, 2013

I'd like a review of the best Windows Mobile phones too, much more meaningful, good to see how far the tech has improved.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:43 PM 0

12. ˇಠ_ಠˇ

Posts: 40; Member since: Aug 29, 2012

phonearena.com/news/10-of-the-greatest-Windows-Mobile-smartphones-ever_id28911 Your welcome.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:15 PM 1

18. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

Nailed it! HTC HD2 is my personal choice.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 5:06 PM 0

38. Nathan_ingx

Posts: 4769; Member since: Mar 07, 2012

John, Why is the Toshiba TG01 in the worst list while it also made it to the list of the greatest??????

posted on Apr 11, 2013, 4:20 AM 1

5. lallolu

Posts: 734; Member since: Sep 18, 2012

This is a summary of why windows Mobile OS failed at that time; it was mainly bad hardware. Microsoft was trying to put a powerful OS on a non-powerful hardware. It was a similar thing that almost killed Nokia. They kept on using s**tty hardware which was not adequate for their phones. I think Microsoft learnt from this which was why they gave manufacturers basic hardware requirements at the advent of windows phone 7 because people will only complaint about the software not mentioning the hardware.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:23 PM 1

14. TechBizJP08

Posts: 495; Member since: Mar 25, 2013

Back in the day you will say, oh I love this phone, but now that you have the most powerful phone, you can diss the old ones. But those were the ones that created the innovation we are having now. It may failed but it gave us the Idea to run a PC like operating system in such a small cramp hardware such as phone. Bottom line, the one who created the future was the past..

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:30 PM 0

31. sprockkets

Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012

ah yes, nothing about the software, no USB driver issues, no horrible syncing issues where activesync would stop for no reason when people had hundreds of contacts to sync, no issues with EAS never syncing on its own, no issues with WM5 and their brain dead decision to move syncing to a network card, so as to have every winsock and firewall program stop it from working, no issues requiring full wipes to fix no ring when calls come in, charging not working No, nothing wrong with the software at all.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 10:51 PM 0

10. Tsepz_GP

Posts: 1226; Member since: Apr 12, 2012

What was wrong with the Toshiba TG01??? If I'm not mistaken it was one of the 1st phones with a +4.0inch display and 1GHz CPU.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:43 PM 0

11. SleepingOz unregistered

Ah windows mobile, I can't believe I've been using that for a while. lol Horrible UI with microscopic icons everywhere.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 2:49 PM 2

13. ZeroCide

Posts: 818; Member since: Jan 09, 2013

All of them still better than the iPhone!

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:28 PM 5

15. TechBizJP08

Posts: 495; Member since: Mar 25, 2013

Before we have the powerful OS running a less and not so good hardware. The one who is catching up with the OS was the hardware. But now, its the other way around. Its the hardware playing the catch up. You can see the most powerful hardware, for the software still not there yet. Maybe the gap maybe closer in the near future..

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:34 PM 0

16. Jurdiales

Posts: 138; Member since: Oct 10, 2012

I always wanted a Moto Q, I never had a Windows Mobile phone, but I like it because it was a Motorola and I wanted to try it... how good was it on their days?

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:40 PM 0

19. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

I owned it soon after it was released. Obviously, I was just blown away by its thin profile, which was the complete opposite of my HTC Apache. It lost its aura the moment the Samsung BlackJack arrived.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 5:09 PM 0

17. darac

Posts: 2156; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

So John, by your standards a 6.5 out of 10 is terrible. Isnt that like a spit in the face to your own credibility?

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 3:56 PM 0

21. papss unregistered

Lol I had the blackjack, I had it until it died. Really a all around good phone then.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 5:43 PM 0

22. RORYREVOLUTION

Posts: 3131; Member since: Jan 12, 2010

lol wow thanks John V. for taking us way back. I completely forgot about the old WM devices.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 5:46 PM 0

28. John.V

Posts: 99; Member since: May 27, 2011

No problem!

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 7:36 PM 0

23. ahhxd717

Posts: 332; Member since: Dec 08, 2011

Ahh.. Windows Mobile. Such a love/hate relationship. So customizable, but buggy and slow. My TMobile Dash was stable and not really slow though. I loved that phone

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 6:07 PM 0

24. tiara6918

Posts: 2263; Member since: Apr 26, 2012

PA should have included the omnia2(which is somewhere hidden and forgotten in my house)the combination of windows mobile 6.5 and touchwiz2 was a complete failure. That phone was totally laggy. There are also a bunch of useless buttons on the phone.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 6:21 PM 0

27. tedkord

Posts: 17512; Member since: Jun 17, 2009

I've still got mine, too. But with a custom rom and SPB Mobile Shell, it wasn't really laggy. TouchWIZ was the problem. And the resistive touch screen was bad.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 7:13 PM 1

42. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

I was gonna say the Omnia 1. Glad I didnt hold on to it or try to get the 2.

posted on Apr 12, 2013, 1:34 AM 0

25. KennethP4V

Posts: 33; Member since: Mar 15, 2013

hahah i used to have the LG Incite, i thought it looked kool, but it was crappy in term of quality. The screen scratches easily and then the software was a piece of crap too. The caller id basically worked whenever it felt like it and doesnt when it doesn feel like it. Sometimes when ppl call i would be able to see who it is, sometimes it doesnt even show.

posted on Apr 10, 2013, 6:31 PM 0

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