MWg Zinc II

The Zinc II is the latest MWg device to be released in the U.S. market following the Atom Life earlier this year. With its flush face touch screen, black rubberized finish, and simple button layout, it is a pleasure to hold and use.


The Zinc II's major features include a horizontal slide-out keyboard, built-in GPS, a 2.0 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, unlocked UMTS tri-band, and GSM quad-band phone functionality. It measures 4.3 x 2.3 x .7 inches, weighs 6.5 ounces, and has a 240 x 320 resolution 2.8-inch QVGA touch screen. Sporting a 500 MHz Samsung processor, it only has 64 MB of RAM along with 256 MB of ROM and a microSD card slot. The battery capacity is respectable at 1,530 mAh.


The Zinc II is a productive device right out of the box. Pre-installed software includes Microsoft Outlook, Windows Live, Internet Explorer, Media Player 10, ActiveSync, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, GPS Viewer, MMS client, Wireless Manager, Photo Editor, Streaming Player, Voice Recorder, MWg Quick Menu, and AutoConfig.


In the well-designed packaging, comes the Zinc II, a battery, AC adapter, stereo headset, mini-USB cable, stylus, Getting Started CD, and printed manual, but unfortunately no cradle and no case.


Built-in GPS, Quick Menu, and other features


There are a few Windows Mobile smartphones with faster processors, but the Zinc II's 500 MHz Samsung processor is reasonably fast. I was surprised that the Zinc only has 64 MB RAM. Most of the current batch of touch screen devices come with twice as much. This deficiency became noticeable when I loaded multiple applications. 


I really appreciate the built-in GPS—it works great with Google Maps and Windows Live Search and is also worked well with CoPilot Live. 


Another great feature is the custom Quick Menu, which is invoked by a button on the left side of the device. Quick Menu displays a grid menu with launch icons for Media Player Mobile, Pictures & Videos, Camera, and the Games folder. If you swipe the screen from left to right, it will pull up another menu that includes icons for Messaging, Internet Explorer Mobile, Calendar, File Manager, Notes, Calendar, and the Settings and Connectivity screens. Swipe again, and you're rewarded with an empty 15-cell menu that you are free to fill with your favorite applications. A final swipe presents you with 15 more cells for filling with your favorite contacts. At the top, there are three icons for family, friends, and business contacts—tap any one to bring up another 15 cells to fill as you please.


The stereo earphones connect to the device through the mini-USB port on the bottom of the Zink II. This is a major concern to me because it means that, while you are using the earphones, you cannot charge the device, navigate with GPS, or connect to external speakers. I was also surprised that the Zinc II has a 2 mega-pixel camera instead of the 3 MP camera found on many current devices. In addition, the camera has no flash feature. 


The keyboard slides out smoothly, and the screen instantly switches from portrait to landscape orientation. The QWERTY keyboard is flat and quite attractive in its presentation with backlit squares around each key when you depress them. But as attractive as it is, I found the keyboard difficult to use because of the lack of key definition and tactile feedback, and having to use the function key for so many characters and punctuation marks is annoying and slows down typing.


Note that MWg seems to be struggling to institute support for the U.S. market. There is no phone number to call for technical support, and I could never get an e-mail response. The MWg Auto Configuration application does not have a setup for the U.S., but I understand that one will soon be available. Also, the GPS utility lacks proper U.S. units. MWg tells me they are in the process of remedying these issues.