BenQ P30 is the fifth UIQ based Symbian OS device from a third manufacturer. Being a GSM/GPRS phone, the P30 can be considered a strong competitor to Sony Ericsson Pxxx range of UIQ phones.

1. Hardware

First of all, BenQ P30 is a very stylish phone with compact and elegant design - it won the iF design award. It is slightly lighter than the P900 and both thinner and narrower - 118 mm (or 138 mm with the antenna) x 52 mm x 17-19 mm. The casing is very solid - no cracking sounds, no fragile plastic elements - it looks and feels like a piece of aluminium.

P30 is equipped with typical UIQ screen (208x320 pixels, transflective TFT), but it is 18-bit, 262 k colors and its physical dimensions are slightly smaller than of the P900's screen: 39x59 mm. This is mainly because the inactive area (black bars surrounding the screen) is thinner and also because of slightly smaller dot size, which makes the display quality even better. Like in all UIQ phones, the screen is touch sensitive.

The P30 has a built-in phone keypad. Unlike in the P900, you don't have to open the flip to access full screen - it is always available along with the hardware keypad. You can choose between operating the phone in one-hand mode using the keypad or in two-hand mode using the stylus and the touchscreen. Keys 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 are distinguished with built-in green LED diodes and they serve as arrow keys with OK key (5) in the centre. The keypad also contains the usual green and red buttons and a dual function key that can be used to switch between applications or to select options in dialogs. The phone also has a browser button (above the screen) and a camera button (left side). The built-in hardware keypad not only allows using the phone and PDA in one-hand mode but it can be also considered a great news for gamers and emulator fans as it provides much better controls for full screen games. The keys work very good - they are very solid and with good tactile feedback.

BenQ P30 is equipped with SD card slot, compatible with both SecureDigital and MMC cards. Enhancing the storage memory with MMC/SD card is especially important with this phone as it only offers about 4 MB of internal storage memory, which means that it relies on external storage. Good news is that the P30 offers more free RAM memory than the P900 - 8-9 MB. The device uses Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor running at 144 MHz. Even though the clock speed is lower than P900's, the device works noticeably faster.

The P30 uses Lithium-Polymer 1050 mAh battery. It provides up to 200 hours of standby time and up to 3-5 hours of talk time. The battery is "smart" - its electronics monitors cells' temperature and shows remaining power (percentage) as well as remaining time in hours and minutes.

The stylus is retractable. You can make it longer or shorter according to your preferences. It will fit its hole (on the bottom of the phone) in the phone casing in both states.

BenQ P30 generates stereo sound and is equipped with stereo mini-jack connector. It also supports loudspeaker mode and the sound is clear and loud.

Bottom part of the phone is occupied by charger and USB cable connectors. Infrared port is located on the top of the device.

P30 is a triband phone (EGSM 900 MHz / GSM 1800/1900 MHz). It supports GPRS (class 10, class B) and CSD data transmission and Bluetooth connectivity. Supported Bluetooth profiles include: DUN-GW (Dial-Up Networking), GAP (Generic Access Profile), Generic Object Exchange, HandsFree-AG, Headset-AG, OPP-Client (Object Push), OPP-Server, SDP (Serial Device Profile), Serial-DevA, Serial-DevB.

The BenQ is equipped with VGA (640x480) camera. It supports both still images and videorecording with audio and 6x digital zoom. Small mirror on the back of the phone allows making self-portraits.

The P30 makes great use of its two color diodes. Their combinations show status of missed calls, unread messages, network coverage, low battery etc.