Pharos Traveler GPS 127 Cell Phone Review

The smartphone space has become really competitive, especially in the past year, and it’s packed with a wide variety of great devices. However, as far as GPS-enabled smartphones go, Pharos is trying to outdo the competition by including navigation software on the handset, so you’re not required to sign up for a subscription-based service or rely on a cellular connection to access maps. The Pharos Traveler 127 is one of three recent models (along with the Pharos Traveler 137 and the Pharos Traveler 117) released by the company and while the Windows Mobile smartphone proved to be a reliable navigator, it takes a while to get there. The handset is extremely sluggish, and the included Smart Navigator software isn’t the easiest to use. At around $530 unlocked, we’d much rather spend the money on the HTC Touch Cruise and get both accurate navigation and snappier performance.

Design
Like the BlackBerry Tour and the HTC Snap, the Pharos Traveler 127 features a slate QWERTY design, but it’s quite a bit thicker and heavier than the others at 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick and 5.1 ounces. The smartphone also has a boxier shape and looks more industrial rather than sexy and sleek, so it’s not going to win any beauty contests. On the positive side, it’s got quite a sturdy construction that looks like it can take a beating (though, of course, not recommended) and a soft-touch finish covers most of the device to give the handset extra durability.

On front, a 2.5-inch TFT touch screen occupies the top half of the smartphone. It displays 65,000 colors at a 320×240-pixel resolution, so images, text, and maps looked bright and clear. However, like a lot of phones, the display tends to wash out in sunlight and its smaller size sometimes made it hard to read street names while using the Traveler 127 as a navigation device. The user interface will be familiar to previous Windows Mobile users, though our review unit also came with a 15-day trial version of the Spb Mobile Shell, which presents more information in an attractive interface, but it can all look a bit cramped on the Traveler 127′s smaller screen. It’s much more useful and appealing on the Pharos Traveler 137, which has a 3.5-inch display, and in the end, we reverted back to the traditional Windows Today screen.

The Traveler 127′s touch screen is responsive and registered our commands with no problem. The included stylus comes in handy since some of the menu items can be cramped. Aside from the touch screen, there are numerous controls to help you navigate the phone, including Talk and End keys, an OK button, a Start menu key, and a trackball navigator just below the display. Along the left side, there’s a volume rocker and a voice recorder button while on the right, you get a shortcut to the navigation app, another OK button, and a camera activation/capture key. Note that you can reassign these controls to launch other apps or perform other tasks under Settings > Personal > Buttons. The only thing we missed was the back button, since there’s no way to go up a level or return to the previous screen.

For text entry, the smartphone offers a full QWERTY keyboard with good size buttons. (You also get onscreen methods, such as a soft keyboard, Block Recognizer, and so forth.) The keys have a bit of a curved shape to them, which is better than flat keys, but they also felt a bit wobbly. Still, we didn’t have any major problems typing messages. The number keys are also easy to identify since they’re highlighted in white, but it was a bit annoying that you still had to hold down the function key for dialing numbers in the phone. Sure, you can use the onscreen dialpad but we’ve seen other smartphones automatically switch to number mode when using the keyboard so we know it’s possible.

Some final pieces of the Traveler 127 include a lock/power switch and a 2.5mm headset jack on top of the device. On the bottom, there’s a mini USB port and the battery cover release button. There’s a microSD expansion slot on the left that’s protected by an attached cap but there’s no easy way to remove it so you have to take the battery cover off to access it, which is annoying. The smartphone’s 2-megapixel camera is located on the back, and there’s a 0.3-megapixel camera on front that you can use for self-portraits or video conferencing.

The Pharos Traveler 127 comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset, a software CD, and reference material. For more add ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ring tones, and help page.

Features
Of course, the main attraction of the Pharos Traveler 127 is the smartphone’s GPS and navigation abilities. While a good number of smartphones today include GPS radios, you often have to get a location-based service to get voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, which requires a subscription fee and a cellular connection for maps. However, with the Traveler 127, you don’t have to hassle with any of this since it comes with a microSD card preloaded with Ostia Smart Navigator software so you always have access to maps.

Smart Navigator also provides voice- and text-based directions, multiple routing options, points of interest (POI) database, and a trip recorder. You can even get real-time traffic updates, gas prices, movie listings, and weather information for your location. The only notable omission is text-to-speech functionality, so you can hear specific street names rather than more generic instructions during route guidance.