3. Sphere Of Influence

So what can the Mogul do? For starters, it is the first phone in the United States that allows you to use your credit card on the mobile Web browser to complete a purchase. There will be others, but the fact that this is even possible with any form of security is impressive. Previous software versions and other operating systems have not had the security protocols built in to allow for that. The Mogul allows exchange server email, and when doing so, the user can avail themselves of DirectPush, which makes sending and receiving much easier. DirectPush makes it so that when an email comes into the account, it goes to the phone, so the unit isn’t constantly checking at designated times to see if there is new mail. Using DirectPush should save a considerable amount of battery life.

The Mogul supports downloadable content, such as music and videos from the Sprint Music store, and if you subscribe to the Sprint Music Package ($20/month) then downloads go from $2.50/song to $0.99/song. GPS services are enabled but not available until the end of 2007. The Google Maps program works amazingly well, and is a pleasure to use when taking advantage of the touch screen. The phone comes equipped with AudiblePlayer, Windows Media Player, Windows Live, and Windows Live Messenger. The phone has a Zip program, as well as Java capabilities. It also has access to OnDemand from Sprint, using the EVDO service or WiFi. Feature-wise, the phone is capable of using remote desktop services, and there are a host of other programs that can be downloaded for use with it. There have been ROM updates to the Sprint ROM, and custom ROM files that allow the graphical user interface to be customized, or even to look like the Apple iPhone.

Wireless Performance

Call quality on the Mogul is impressive: there is rarely any static, and the audio quality is outstanding. The speakerphone proves that the phone has a healthy speaker set. One major disappointment is that my Bluetooth headset doesn’t perform well with the phone - people have complained to me on several occasions that I seem to be cutting in and out. This only happens when using the headset, which indicates that either the Bluetooth technology in the phone has a problem, or that my Bluetooth headset needs repair or replacement.

Data service is outstanding. Internet pages load quickly; a friend of mine who has used Windows Mobile before was browsing the web and was commenting on how old versions didn’t load the Microsoft webpage. He told me my phone was the first Windows based phone he had seen that did it and displayed it correctly. Coming from a web designer, that’s high praise! My own experience is that the performance of the phone for Internet use is incredible. The screen can be rotated with the opening and closing of the phone, so web pages can be viewed in either portrait or landscape mode. This makes your browsing experience comfortable, letting you do things however you like.

Standard email services are speedy, and when you sync the Mogul to an Outlook email account via a POP3 or IMAP4 server, the phone leaves a copy of the email on the computer. When you delete it on the phone, it doesn’t display on the computer. Reading email on the phone without deleting leaves a copy on your PC, which provides excellent security of your data - you always have a copy. Sprint is offering an update shortly that will bump the Mogul from standard EVDO data speeds to its AirCard speed, which they refer to as EVDO rev. A. No release date for this update has been announced.

After having used the phone for more than a month, I have to say that I found battery life to be deplorable. If Bluetooth is enabled and you’re not making or receiving calls, the phone may die within 12 hours. Using WiFi, I have seen it die in less than 2 hours. There is an extended battery available and it comes with an extended battery door - the price is $69.99 from what I gather. Not exactly cheap. Again, Bluetooth performance is not the best, though it is something I can live with. The phone does have support for Stereo Bluetooth, which allows you to listen to your music wirelessly through a Bluetooth headphone or headset. Not all headsets will support that, though - mine does not.

Conclusions

All in all, I would consider the Sprint Mogul a great phone for the majority of today’s corporate users and high-tech consumers. Some have compared the Mogul to the iPhone in functionality, and berated HTC and Sprint for not providing enough. I can tell you that the Mogul does everything the iPhone can do except for performing as a widescreen iPod. I will say that Sprint’s "baby" is worthy of the name Mogul. I crown the Mogul King of the PDA and Smartphone industry - at least, until the next one.

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