Windows Phone Thoughts: The Cingular 8525 Reviewed

Plenty of Power in a Nice Package
The 8525 is the next generation of Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone available from Cingular and replaces the HTC-Wizard based 8125. The differences between these two devices is nothing short of impressive. First, the 8525 sports a 400MHz Samsung processor, a full 200MHz faster than the 8125's Texas Instruments processor. This difference in speed is noticeable immediately and cuts down on the lag that the 8125 seemed to suffer from when using multiple applications at once. It would have been nice to see an increase in available memory and ROM size with the increase in processor performance. Like the 8125, the 8525 has a 128MB ROM with 64MB of SDRAM. Of the 128MB ROM, 51MB of it is available for persistent storage. From a size perspective, the 8525 is 4.4" (L) x 2.28" (W) x .86" (D) and weighs in at 176g. Those dimension change, however, when the built-in QWERTY keyboard is slid out, which is why the device is somewhat deeper and heavier than other Windows Mobile devices on the market.

The front of the device is mostly occupied by the QVGA display with the traditional Send and End phone buttons. In addition to this, the 8525 has six additional buttons which can control the Windows Mobile 5.0 softkeys, a Start and OK button as well as open Messaging and Pocket Internet Explorer (the keys above the display). By adding these additional keys, the 8525 can be used with minimal stylus input, something that is very handy while traveling or in a hurry.

On the left-hand side of the device is the trackwheel which is an oustanding addition. Using this blackberry-like wheel allows you to scroll through any document, Start Menu or Today screen with ease. You can also press the wheel in to launch an application or make a selection. Additionally, you will find an OK button to be used in landscape mode (although it functions in portrait as well) and the Cingular Push-to-Talk button. Push-to-Talk, or PTT, will not be enabled on the 8525 until Spring 2007 and will be done with a ROM update to the device. This will be a great addition to an already well-rounded device. Lastly at the bottom of the left-hand side is the MicroSD expansion slot.

On the right-hand side of the 8525 you will find the power button and Comm Manager button which allows you to select the communication methods you want enabled such as Bluetooth and WiFi. The camera button is located towards the bottom of the right side. The back of the 8525 is slightly textured for more grip while holding the device with a locking battery and SIM card door as well as a 2.0 megapixel digital camera with macro function. On the bottom of the device is the mini-USB port for power and synchronization, battery door lock and infrared port. Finally, the case has a brushed gun metal look to it which hides fingerprints and smudges well.


Figure 1: Cingular 8525.


Figure 2: The 8525 with the QWERTY keyboard extended (click for larger image).

The QWERTY keyboard itself is easy to use especially compared to the 8125. The 8125 hand round button-like keys while the 8525 has flat larger keys which are backlit blue in low light. I found these keys to be easier to use and have a better feel than the 8125, although I did find that it had to be very dark for the backlight to turn on.

One aspect of the 8125 that was good but has been further improved in the 8525, is the battery life. The standby time on the 8525 is an impressive 10 days according to Cingular and in my testing is dead-on accurate. Further, the talk time is listed at five hours while my experience was just shy of that. As with all Windows Mobile devices, the standby and talk times are greatly impacted by other things you're doing with the device, especially data connectivity. Still, these marks are great and regular business travelers should not have to worry much about the device dying on them after a day or two.

Under the Hood
As with all Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, the 8525 has a built-in complement of applications. These applications include Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile and Pocket MSN. The Mobile office applications in Windows Mobile 5.0 have greatly improved over previous versions of the applications and function closer to their desktop counterparts than ever before. For a complete list of the features and functions of the standard applications in Windows Mobile 5.0, visit the Microsoft Windows Mobile site at http://www.windowsmobile.com. In addition, several customized applications such as ClearVue PDF Reader, Voice Speed Dial and the standard ZIP application from HTC. Cingular added MobiTV and TeleNav to the package with TeleNav being a $9.95 per month service that is a navigation and mapping application. Because the 8525 is geared to work with the Cingular network, the settings for the Cingular phone and data networks are pre-configured. This makes the 8525 essentially ready to go out of the box.


Figure 3: The Comm Manager in the Cingular 8525.

Glorious Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity, the 8525 hits the mark. First, the radio stack is improved and voice clarity is terrific. In the testing I did with the device I had no voice issues or signal issues here in the Dallas area. This was a significant change from my testing of the 8125 and the QTEK 9100 (another HTC Wizard variant) where I would drop signal for no apparent reason while in the same location. Secondly, the Bluetooth and Wireless connectivity work equally as well. The 8525 has Bluetooth v2.0 installed which makes for quick connections to your PC for file transfers or ActiveSync while the 802.11g WiFi makes Web browsing quick when on the road or at home.

The mother of all connectivity though comes from the UMTS/HSDPA high speed wireless data network support. With download speeds ranging from 800-900Kbps, it is blazing fast compared to the 8125s 160Kbps average on the Cingular EDGE network. In my testing I found that in some cases it was faster using Cingular's 3G network than it was the available WiFi (especially in a crowded Starbucks)! When you first use the 3G connectivity it will be shocking how fast it is compared to other devices.

Two key things to keep in mind when it comes to the 3G/HSDPA connectivity. First, it's not everywhere. I live about 40 miles north of Dallas, Texas and it was not available here (despite a new Cingular tower being less than a mile away from me). Interestingly, Lisa Gade (owner of MobileTechReview.com) lives just five miles south of me and had no problems getting onto the 3G network. The point is it's still a bit spotty, but Cingular is rapidly ramping up their coverage and it should be more uniform in coverage soon.

Secondly, bandwidth does come with a price when it comes to battery life. When using the 3G network it will draw more on the 1350mAh battery than GPRS or EDGE connectivity. However, the 8525 does a great job of power management and it should not be too much of an issue. Still, if you know you are going to need your phone for a lot of calls, you may want to watch how much of the 3G network you consume.