Posted by Mia in 
RoverPC Company continues to delight us with its novelties. This time we have a Communicator called RoverPC S7. This is a new model of the brand and will be sold at very interesting price.
Design and ergonomics
At first impression RoverPC S7 is very nice. First, the optimal dimensions of the shell plus the small thickness which is not only convenient to hold while talking, but also put the S7 in the pocket of jeans.
The shell itself is made of plastic covered with Soft Touch, i.e. when you take the communicator in your hand, you think that the plastic shell is like velvet – at the expense of this, the device does not sneak out of the hands, especially if your hands are wet.
The screen with diagonal of 2.8 inches is placed on the front panel and has the resolution of 320×240 pixels. Settings are quite standard for such screens.
The screen, by the way, is placed on a level with the front panel. In terms of design, it is positive, because the mobile phone looks more solid and coherent, but slightly sunk into the body of the screen seems to be still a little better protected from scratches and damage. But, of course, a high quality glass and neat owner protects your screen from scratches. The disadvantage of the S7 is that the fingerprints and any other contaminants are visible on the glass screen and the glossy cover buttons, so the owner has to wipe RoverPC S7 very often. However, it is typical to many modern devices.
The control of S7 is simple and clear – they are two rocker buttons and scroll wheel with confirmation button in the center.
Spinning key is not only convenient, but also pressed in four directions – thus, it can be considered somewhat a copy of the Apple. The idea of using the wheel as control, of course, is good, but its realization is not quite good. First, the wheel is almost impossible to use while walking or driving, and second, the plastic from which the wheel is made is very slippery. Because of these seemingly small things, the use of Communicator requires some practice and concentration. On the left end is the key, which is responsible for adjusting the speaker volume, as well as a nearly invisible reset button.
The place of the stylus may seem a bit unusual. It is also removed from the upper left corner. It is small and not very well balanced.
Right end is equipped with a connector for microSD memory cards, which is carefully covered with rubber plug, and behind the plug there is also a non-standard USB connector.
As there is no set of wires to work in the device you can’t use it as a navigator. And what should you do? Go to a special shop and buy the cable.
Technical Features
The first thing you will notice about the RoverPC S7 is that it uses a slow processor Texas Instruments with the frequency 200 MHz.
However, the lack of speed is offset by relatively low energy consumption, that, first, allowed establishing a compact battery with the capacity of 1150 mA•h, and second, increasing the duration of the communicator.
The battery is enough for 2 days. If you include the navigation, it will need recharging every 3-4 hours. Therefore, when GPS-receiver works, there is a possibility of the emergency care charges.
By the way, from a technical standpoint Communicator is equipped with GPS, Bluetooth and a well-functioning Wi-Fi.
When using S7 as a phone or an MP3 player the processor’s drawbacks remain unnoticed, but if you use navigation or for viewing a video, there may be some problems. For smooth video it is best to encode a lighter format. So if you want to watch video on RoverPC S7, it is essential that the picture does not exceed 320 x 240 pixels.
Communicator is equipped with a 64 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash memory, but only about 130 MB is available to user.
Sound of S7 is loud but the vibration is weaker. In the pocket of a jacket it is practically unfelt. If you use the device as a phone, you can fault the quality of sound during a telephone conversation – the voice of the other person is distorted very badly, it seems that he sits in a large iron drum. Well, this happens not always, but only occasionally.
GPS receiver uses the popular SirfStar III chip, the navigation “catches” satellites very quickly – 15-20 seconds in the “hot” mode. The set comes with navigation program “Navitel Navigator”.
The device runs Windows Mobile 6; however, the developers added the application called Touch Lens, which allows you to control Communicator without the stylus, i.e. with fingers. However, it should be remembered that this is the first implementation of this kind of application for RoverPC.
We’d like to mention two indicators on the front surface. The first is made in the form of telephone handset, and signals about missed calls, and the other is about discharge of the battery. This seemingly simple innovation simplifies life – because if the communicators have only one indicator, you have to remember what the color of the indicator and what is responsible for what, and guess – whether you have an SMS or the battery is discharged.
Now a few words about camera (2 MP) – it is rather slow, and switching to “Landscape” mode takes more time, so if you want to make a snapshot, it is better to prepare beforehand.
Camera control is realized through the TouchScreen interface, i.e. all settings are performed by pressing a finger on the corresponding icon on the screen.
Conclusions
In general, this is a concept device, but there are a lot of things that need refining. It is desirable to refine the mounting of the battery cover as taking the communicator out from the pocket; you can have only the lid of the battery.
Advantages: reasonable price, stylish design, small size, high quality screen, navigation program in the set.
Disadvantages: slow processor, the wheel of control, the lack of a standard miniUSB-connector.
