The D810 is a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), tri-band 3G (850/1900/2100), GPRS and 3.5G HSDPA capable smart phone. It performs quite well for voice calls, with reasonable in-call quality, but we found the volume is too soft, even at the maximum level. We also noted a slight echo at full volume. As with most smart phones the D810 isn’t as loud or clear as regular mobile phones. In particular, it is difficult to hold a conversation with background noise, such as busy city traffic. The D810 is equipped with plenty of standard phone functions including a hands-free speakerphone, speed dialling, call history, and a 1000 entry phone book. Being a 3G handset, the D810 is also capable of video calling thanks to a front mounted VGA camera.

Running the popular Windows Mobile 5 operating system, the D810 naturally has mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 10 and Pocket MSN. Both the built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and the GPRS/EDGE wireless functionality make the D810 an excellent email device. The standard Windows Mobile messaging application supports push email from a Microsoft Exchange mail server, as well as standard POP3 and IMAP email accounts such as Hotmail, GMail and Yahoo! Mail. Also standard is infrared (IrDa) and Bluetooth 2.0, with support for Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), meaning users can wirelessly stream music to a compatible pair of Bluetooth headphones.

Running the Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Edition operating system on a 400MHz Samsung CPU, the D810 is reasonably powerful. Out of the 128MB of flash ROM and 64MB of SD-RAM, the user has approximately 58MB of storage space available out of the box.

My personal favourite feature of the Dopod D810 is the wide range of connectivity options. Dopod have covered every base in long- and short-range connectivity. Starting with the long-range options, every type of 2G and 3G network is supported: GSM 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz and WCDMA/HSDPA 850, 1900, and 2100MHz. On the GSM networks GPRS and EDGE data protocols can be used, and on 3G networks the high-speed HSDPA protocol is supported. WCDMA is used if HSDPA is not available.

WiFi, Bluetooth, infrared, and USB keep you connected to local devices for synchronization and data transfer. The sales package includes a USB data-cable, which charges the handset while transferring data! The D810 uses the lightweight ActiveSync application on Windows machines for data transfer; except on Windows Vista where the software is part of the operating system.

Major features

• 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz connectivity
• 3G: WCDMA/HSDPA 850/1900/2100MHz connectivity
• WiFi 802.11b/g WLAN connectivity
• 65,536 colour touch screen TFT LCD @ 240 x 320 pixels
• 360° scroll wheel
• Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition
• Samsung SC2442 400MHz processor
• 128MB Flash ROM and 64MB SD-RAM
• MiniSD memory card support
• 2mpx digital camera
• Bluetooth version 2.0, infrared, and USB version 2.0 connectivity
• SMS/EMS, MMS, and (push) e-mail support
• Bundled functionality/PIM applications