Verizon's EV-DO + Audiovox XV6600 = Mobile Nirvana

Michael Gartenberg | January 25, 2005, 10:52 AM

I've been using the XV6600 from Verizon for just a few days and it's pretty amazing. The phone is based on the HTC Blue Angel reference design and is a pretty nice PocketPC with Bluetooth and a slide out keyboard. What separates this phone from the competition is that it uses Verizon's EV-DO network which means high speed access. REALLY high speed access. Downloading email is swift, even when loaded with attachments. UsingOrb Networks on this is a delight, the video is crisp and clear and runs flawlessly. Music streams at high quality and the fast connection means you're not bogged down by the web UI. Everyone who I showed this to was just blown away by both the speed and quality.

For fun, I managed to pair it to my laptop via Bluetooth. Speeds were limited to around 200k or so, more a limitation of Bluetooth connection speeds than anything else. Still it was enough to check email and stream video at a nice clip. Only issue so far is battery life just isn't good enough because unlike other mobile devices, you actually want to use this on a regular basis. I'll be posting more about this going forward. It's going to be hard to go back to using GPRS after this.