Review: Orneta’s Mobile Explorer

Last week I blogged about Orneta releasing Mobile Explorer 2007 and that a review will follow. Here it is, short and concise. I don’t like long reviews.

Windows Mobile users have always complained about the lack of functionality of built-in software on our devices. I take for example Pocket Internet Explorer, Pocket Outlook and even the built in File Explorer. Luckily for us there is a vast library of third party applications available online. Now, I consider this debatable. PIE does indeed lacks much needed feature that one would think to be a default. I’m here referring to its inability to handle JavaScript. On the other hand, I find Pocket Outlook very good and light, therefore fast. There are alternatives that are feature packed but exert a lot of pressure on our CPUs and batteries. Finally, there is File Explorer. It lacks a lot of features too.

The folks at Orneta decided to build their own File Explorer. No big deal you might say. However, if you try it, you will notice that it’s as fast as the default file Explorer and this is where all comparisons end.

One of the main features of Orneta’s Mobile Explorer is Filtering. This is quite self explicit. It’s very nice when you want to locate media files or pictures. However I have not been able to get this to work probably stripped out of the trial version or it just doesn’t work. You can also create your own filter.

When you first start Mobile Explorer, you will most likely notice that the icons and text are slightly bigger than File Explorer. This might seem insignificant, but it’s helpful when using fingers.

By default, file extensions are hidden. It is easily activated through the Settings screen. This should be a basic requirement for all file explorers. But curiously, it is not available in Microsoft’s File Explorer.

These are some of the great features of Mobile Explorer. Now let’s take a look at one missing feature, the lack of a Search tool. Orneta did a great job developing this app but I don’t understand how they could have missed such an essential feature. And they’re asking $14.99 to acquire Mobile Explorer. This is a worthless purchase considering that I use Total Commander, a free solution with all the features you would expect in a file explorer.