Windows Phone Thoughts: Mitac Mio Digiwalker 168 Review

Sound and Vision
For a Pocket PC to be useful as a mapping solution it needs a screen that works well outdoors and a speaker that can be heard above normal driving conditions. The Mio 168 excels on both points.


Figure 23: (left to right) Viewsonic V37, Mitac Mio 168, and an HP iPAQ h2215, all at full brightness in a lit room. The Mio 168 has one of the brightest screens available in a Pocket PC.

With a screen that is at least as bright as the Viewsonic V37 and far brighter than the HP iPAQ h2215, the Mio 168 map display can easily be seen on the brightest of days. Even tooling around in my convertible on a bright summer day was no problem for the Mio 168's vivid display. Likewise, the 168 has the loudest speaker I have ever heard on a Pocket PC. Listening to music with the headphones on required me to set the volume to the lowest level for it to be comfortable. I would have preferred for the volume to have a broader range of settings instead of simply being really loud for every setting but one. However, for the mapping software's driving directions the extreme volume is a plus. Even on the tiny built-in speaker (which is, thankfully, on the front of the device) the directions are remarkably loud and clear. I had no trouble hearing and understanding the directions while driving with the windows down, with the radio on, and even with the convertible top down.