Review: Cingular/AT&T 8525

I had a chance to get hands-on with the Cingular/AT&T 8525 phone and while it is far from a new item I thought I would write up a little about my experience with the device.  The phone itself was released late last year but there are several similar offerings from the phone maker, HTC.

The 8525 is a great, great PDA (personal digital assistant). It is literally a pocket-sized computer and a powerful one at that, packing a 400 MHz processor and generous memory - 128 MB of ROM and 64 MB of RAM.  Some may laugh at the generous term but unless you are looking to add tons of big applications this memory is more than you need.  An expansion slot welcomes MicroSD cards for more memory if necessary.  The big selling point for the 8525 is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard.  The keyboard is roomy and easy to use but does require two hands to operate.  Sliding out the keyboard toggles the screen display from Portrait (when its just the candybar-shaped phone) to Landscape (with the keyboard out).  I did not see any noticeable lags with the screen changes on the 8525 - but I have in similar phones, namely in the T-Mobile Wing (an HTC cousin of this phone).  The 8525 runs Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 but there is a ROM update to bring it to WM 6. 

Additional features include Bluetooth 2.0 support, which I found to be inconsistent with several devices tested.  A built-in 2.0 megapixel camera was OK, but not as great as other reviews have claimed.  The 8525’s other big feature is wireless, which allows the phone to surf the web on AT&T’s 3G network or wireless signals (where available).  The phone will pick the the best & fastest signal for data transfer.  Pages load fast and the data features of the phone are outstanding.

All of the normal Windows Mobile features are here as well with pocket versions or Outlook, Word and Excel.  Sync was a snap with Microsoft ActiveSync.  I have been a longtime PocketPC user, having just retired an eight year old iPaq PPC (it served me very, very well) so moving within the 8525 screens and applications was second nature. 

Unfortunately the 8525 has shortcomings as a phone.  Just getting to your contacts and phone numbers can be a chore.  If you are unaccustomed to Windows Mobile or uncomfortable using the jog dial (on the side of the phone - a super convenience tool) you will be working even harder.  I have read a lot of reviews where reviewers claim you need to slide out the keyboard to make calls - this is not true, but you need to know your way around a PPC - tapping the screen or using the jog dial will get you to a phone number quick.  That said the Today screen is poorly organized.  It was never much of an issue when I used a stand-alone PPC, but with the phone features added I expected much more.  Palm users have some great convenience and shortcut items added to the Today screen that enhance the phone experience.

8525 users must go out and get those enhancements.  I found a great posting online that listed several such tips & tricks.  Some will cost money to add the extra software.  It is also worth checking out Handango, or similar mobile software sites - look for a few useful Today screen changes from Spb. I came across a site that has a number of free applications for the 8525 as well.

One recommended change is to update the phone operating system, currently Windows Mobile 5 to Windows Mobile 6.  October is the AT&T official release date for the update, but it is available now from HTC.  This should flush out some of the operating system bugs. It may be worth your while to see some user feedback regarding the update over at xda Developers Forum and Pocket PC Addict.

Overall it is a fantastic device and perhaps the best WM phone available now designed for the heavy data user who needs the functionality of a Windows Mobile device.  The slide out keyboard is great for people who reply to a lot of email or send a lot of text messages.  It does have its shortcomings as a phone, so heavy talkers may want to look elsewhere.

This entry was posted on August 22, 2007 at 10:30 pm and is filed under Phone/PDA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.