Smartphone Thoughts: Fast & Powerful: The Mio 8390 Smartphone Reviewed

Is That a Phone in Your Pocket?
The 8390 measures in at 51.5mm x 28.5mm x 97mm and weighs 135 grams, fitting very nicely into my pocket. When folded up, it was a little thicker than I expected. In comparison to the Tanager, it's a little thicker when closed. However, the phone's length and weight seemed just right for my pockets, unlike the Tanager.


Figure 4: That's the Mio 8390 on the right. :wink: Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (2.0MB).


Figure 5: From this angle, you can't see the Tanager hiding behind the Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (745KB).


Figure 6: This clearly shows the Mio 8390 trying to hide behind the Tanager, but failing. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (639KB).


Figure 7: The Mio slims down a lot once you open it up. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (752KB).

The external display was a very nice touch. It displays the time, signal strength, message indicator, battery life indicator, and a profile indicator. All of this is very handy information that I'm always looking at my phone for. It was very nice to have it displayed right there on the front so I didn't have to waste my time flipping it open to check if I'd received an email.

On the down-side, the external screen is a little too small, in my opinon. It's perfect for the various tasks I mentioned above, but that's about it. When the phone rings, it will display only the caller's phone number, and not their name or picture. On its own, that isn't a problem. The problem is how it displays the number. A phone call from +1 (416) 555-1212 is displayed as 14165551212 without all the extra brackets and hyphens. This can be a little hard to read at a quick glance. On top of that, the number is too long for the display, so it gets wrapped. You end up looking at 141655 on the first line followed by 51212 on the second line of the display, which is very annoying and hard to read. :(


Figure 8: Top view of Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (613KB).


Figure 9: Bottom view of Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (474KB).


Figure 10: Left side of Mio 8390 with volume and SD slot. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (718KB).


Figure 11: Right side view of Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (793KB).


Figure 12: Front view of Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (1.1MB).


Figure 13: Back view of Mio 8390. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (1.0MB).


Figure 14: Mio 8390 flipped open and shinning bright. Click on the image for a higher resolution image. (1.1MB).