The P526 is an affordable PDA phone that goes head-to-head with the Sony Ericsson P1i and Nokia E61i. The handset’s design is very similar to its high-end sibling, the P750. The  P526 is well-proportioned, and feels more comfortable to hold than Nokia’s E61i. The P526 doesn’t have a joystick, and completely relies on the touch screen for navigation, which isn’t very intuitive. The soft menu buttons and two dedicated buttons are in the form of a small thin strip, and are difficult to operate. The keypad is well spaced, and offers good tactile feedback.The P526 is also comes bundled with the necessary applications-Mobile Word, Excel and Powerpoint. PIM functions include a Meeting Time Planner, Remote Presenter, Voice commander, business card recognition and Java support. The phone also includes GPS, but the corresponding software needs to be installed separately. Audio quality is so-so, and can’t match the Nokia E61i or Sony Ericsson P1i. The 2 megapixel camera delivers decent photographs, but only in well-lit rooms. Outdoors, it performs like any other 2 megapixel camera; good exposure and consistent colour accuracy. The phone comes with 128 MB of internal memory, and that can be increased via the microSD card. Internet browsing on GPRS was slow, but that’s more of a provider issue. No WiFi is a serious shortcoming; the competition has it, and they also have the newer Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, while the P526 just has version 1.2. The ASUS P526 has good signal reception, and  we had no problem with dropped calls or static. Voice clarity was good, and the battery survived for two days on 45 minutes of talk, GPRS usage and tinkering around with GPS. To summarise, the ASUS P526 performs well, comes pre-installed with useful applications and has loads of features but misses out on essentials such as WiFi. If you want an affordable touch screen PDA phone, then the ASUS P256 fits the bill. However, also consider Nokia  E61i and Sony Ericsson P1i as viable options.

The ASUS P750 is top-of-the-line, 3G capable PDA phone that has every possible feature you’d ever want. The design is gorgeous, and the phone looks great in its matt black outfit. Though oriented towards executives, the P750 lacks a QWERTY keypad; it does have touch screen, which in combination with Windows Mobile 6 makes up for the lack. There are five input options available, and the XT9 option works like a charm-it can predict words better than the old T9 dictionary most other cell phones have. The 320 x 240, 2.6-inch touch screen is good; it lacks brilliance (only 65K colours) but it works. The joystick and jog dial have excellent tactile feedback, and they never jump a menu. The alpha-numeric keypad is well spaced out and works out great for typing short messages. The P750 comes loaded with an abundance of pre-installed applications-Microsoft Office 6.1, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Notes and Calendar, is the highlight. The P750 also features GPS, a business card reader, UR time home screen, Remote presenter, Java, ASUS launcher, etc.-this phone is a treasure trove.  The media player supports MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and 3GP. The audio quality is good, considering that this is a business phone. The onboard 3 megapixel camera delivers reasonably good photographs , provided there is adequate light; video recording is passable. The phone comes with 65 MB of memory, which can be augmented to up to 2 GB via the microSDHC slots. Internet browsing was relatively fast, and setting up WiFi network is smooth, without any hiccups. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth, GPRS, HSDPA and USB. ASUS has been generous with the bundle- nice leather pouch, USB cables, adapter, in-car phone cradle, and a box full of manuals. The P750 performed admirably. The signal reception was good; in low reception areas calls weren’t dropped. Voice clarity is great, and the speakerphone is loud and clear. On nominal usage-45 minutes of talking, some Internet access and music-the phone stayed alive for three days.