This review was originally slated to be published on MobileBurn, but scheduling difficulties meant we had to pass it over. It could be of use for some though, and it is a pretty great device, so I thought I would publish it here. Read on for all the details. Note: Click on the photos to enlarge. When I get a chance, I will add a few more live shots.

After reviewing the original i-mate JAQ back in November last year, I did not have particularly high hopes for the JAQ3. The original JAQ was i-mate’s first handset after parting ways with HTC, who designed and manufactured its handsets for some time, and was flawed in many ways. The JAQ did show promise though, and I am happy to report that virtually everything that was wrong about the JAQ has been remedied with the JAQ3. Manufactured by Chinese OEM TechFaith Wireless and sold in some markets as the UBiQUiO 501, the i-mate JAQ3 is a Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition device, and comes packed with connectivity features and a thin, albeit wide, design.

Physical Aspects

Unlike most Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, the i-mate JAQ3 has a front facing QWERTY keyboard instead of a sideways slide-out design. This has plusses and minuses, as it increases one-handed usability though adds quite a bit of width to the device. This design does allow the device to come in at just 14.5mm (0.57”) thick, making it the thinnest touch-screen Windows Mobile phone around currently. Length and width measure up at 126mm x 67.5mm (4.96″ x 2.65″) respectively, and a weight of 160g (5.64oz) is a little on the hefty side, but not overly so.

The back and sides of the i-mate JAQ3 are covered in a soft-touch rubber compound, with the front and bottom a slightly glossy hard plastic. Thankfully, it is not glossy enough to attract mass amounts of fingerprints, which is somewhat of a pet hate of mine. Decked out in black, the device looks quite classy, and will look right at home coming out of a briefcase or suit pocket. The right side of the device holds the 2.5mm headset jack, miniUSB port, and power button, with the three-way jog wheel, OK button, and camera key taking residence on the left. The 2.0 megapixel camera is the sole item on the back of the JAQ3, positioned above the easy to release yet firmly attached battery cover, itself hiding a 1250mAh battery. A covered microSD memory card slot sits atop the JAQ3, with the hard to release extendable stylus held in a silo the bottom, though it did get easier to get out over time.

I will make somewhat of a big proclamation now: the i-mate JAQ3 has the best QWERTY keypad I have ever used on a phone. With the exception of the space key, every key has great tactile feedback, adequate spacing that is accentuated with a convex shape, and is just about the perfect size. The only thing I can fault is that while there is only one space ‘key,’ it has a pressure point at either side, which caused me to occasionally get two spaces when I hit the key plumb in the middle. Even the special characters, accessed with the Fn key, are intelligently placed. Big softkeys, call and end keys, the OK and Start button, and shortcut keys for Pocket IE and the Messaging application surround a very large 5-way directional pad. Unfortunately, the same level of quality found on the keyboard isn’t shared with the jog wheel, which has a terrible feel when pressed to select items. I also wish the keyboard backlight stayed on a little longer, or better yet, had a setting to control the time it stayed on.

The i-mate JAQ3 has a bright, relatively clear QVGA resolution touch screen, though its landscape 2.4” screen is smaller than most other Pocket PC phones. This is further perceptible due to the handset’s size. Other than the size, there is not a lot to complain about, with the screen accurately detecting taps with the stylus, and having adequate readability even in bright sunlight.