O2 has obviously tried to design the Stealth to match its name, but they haven’t done a very good job. Measuring 110mm x 53mm x 22.5 mm and weighing 140g, the Stealth is a fairly standard shape for a smart phone running Windows Mobile 5 and is finished entirely in a matte black plastic. The handset feels flimsy and in particular the sliding mechanism is very clunky. Instead of smoothly sliding up and gliding into place, the Stealth rocks slightly from side to side when slid open or closed. We also weren’t fans of the minimalist look O2 has gone for; it gives the phone an unfinished look that isn’t particularly appealing.

The size of this device is 110 x 53 x 22.5 mm. This is slightly bigger (smaller in width) compared to O2 Atom Exec but smaller than the HTC TyTN. The weight is 140g, which is the same as O2 Atom Exec but lighter than HTC TyTN (176g) and ASUS P525 (160g).The display is 2.4 inch, with 320X240 resolution. On the front and below the touch panel, there are the selection buttons, calling buttons and a four way directional pad with a small enter key in the middle. When you slide open the phone you will see the keypad with the dialing buttons set in the standard way, the same as you find on all regular phones. At the bottom of the phone there is a USB socket used for PC synchronization and for charging. Next to the USB you can find the stylus.

On the smartphone front, the Xda Stealth runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, with capabilities for push e-mail, office document viewing, Web browsing and, of course, playing Bubble Breaker. One nice add-on feature that the Xda Stealth includes is a virtual answering machine, designed to save fees on mobile phone voicemail services. When activated, it’ll automatically intercept all incoming calls, play a user-recorded file and then save the calls as Windows Media Audio files, rather than leaving them with your telco. It’s a nice software addition that we could see annoying plenty of telcos if the idea spreads.

On the Windows Mobile front we were mostly satisfied with the Stealth, but never entirely happy. On the plus side, while its offering of applications isn’t that much different from any other smartphone, they all worked reasonably quickly and well. On the minus side, as with other touchscreen specific smartphones, long text entry is still something of a chore. We also quickly found it prudent to keep the Stealth locked at all times, as it had the disconcerting habit of launching applications while it was sitting flat on a desk. Hopefully a future firmware upgrade will fix that particular quirk.