Asus P535 vs E-TEN glofiish X500: GPS smart phones

By Andrew Lim on 06 November 2006, 12:30pm

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It seems that the entire smart phone geek fraternity is going crazy over the E-TEN glofiish X500, and so they should be. It runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, it has a built-in GPS receiver and Wi-Fi connectivity and a 2-megapixel camera -- and it's only 16mm thick.

It's not the only compact PDA with a built-in GPS receiver running on Windows Mobile, however. There's another smart phone company getting in on the action and it's none other than Asus, with a device called the P535.

Not only does the Asus P535 have a GPS receiver and Wi-Fi connectivity, but it also features a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus. It measures 19mm thick, so it's a little chunkier than the glofiish, but from the front it's the same size.

The other main differences between the two are the different processors: the glofiish runs on a Samsung SC3 2442 400MHz processor with 128MB flash ROM, whereas the P535 runs on a 520MHz Intel XScale with 256MB NAND flash memory. The glofiish is also quad-band whereas the P535 is only tri-band, and the glofiish's camera doesn't have autofocus, whereas the P535's does.

The downside is that neither device has HSDPA connectivity -- but who cares when you can leave those HSDPA users in the dust while you drive off with your sat-nav phone?

The E-TEN glofiish will be available some time before Christmas at eXpansys and the black version of the Asus P535 is set to come out at the end of the year or early 2007. Pricing for the two devices has yet to be announced, but we suspect they will cost around £400 to £500. -AL

Update: We now have a full review of the E-TEN glofiish X500 live in our Reviews channel.