Handhelds designers have traditionally had to balance screen size against portability. Some devices(e.g. Palm’s now-legendary IIIc) were built around a huge screen, but were rather unportable. Other handhelds sacrificed screen size in exchange for portability. HP’s 4inch boxen have always been the quarterpounders of handhelds…but how big is the 214?
Our first contender is the 214’s distant sibling, an ipaq 37xx(thanks to Sir Bernd Mayr from MasterTrails for providing the device). The 214 is bigger…:
Palm’s widescreen handhelds also are smaller(T3 on the left, TX on the right):
The Treo 680 is considered a rather large handset - HP’s Goliath box definitely corrects that:
Apple’s iPod touch is so thin that it can be barely seen next to the 214:
HP’s baby ipaq appears truly minuscule to the 214 - the entire box seems to be smaller than the VGA screen alone:
Finally, here are comparison shots next to a few smartphones(Nokia N71, QTek 8500):
In the end, the 214 is the largest handheld/smartphone I have ever reviewed. This may sound shocking - but it fit into all of my trouser pockets. And once its in there, size and weight constraints become secondary - for me, the difference between a 100g and a 400g handheld is negligeable(just think of your wallet+keys)….