HTC 2125 / 2100 (Faraday)
Average Ratings
Kills SIM cards, buggy/laggy MS UI
I'm an IT professional, I'm used to getting down and nerdy with my toys, and I usually love new gadgets. That said, this phone has been the biggest pain in the [...] since I got it 3 months ago.
Within the first 30 days a problem came up that I now have come to find is a known issue. The phone will display "searching..." for carrier, although it has a perfectly good signal - up to 5 bars. Basically what this means is, although the phone should work great it's rendered useless - can't dial in, can't receive calls, no data connection, etc. If you go into cingular and force them to replace the SIM card it'll start working again, with no guarantee for how long. They'll likely try to get out of it saying that's not what the problem is, but be persistant - *that's what the problem is* ;) This happened *twice* over my thanksgiving weekend - thanksgiving day it was down and out for about 8 hours but managed to come back around 10pm (it usually won't ever come back.) Today it finished what it started thursday. For more info on this issue see here: http://smartphonethoughts.com/forums/printview.php?t=10344&start=0&
I can't have my phone non-op, I rely heavily on it for work, personal, and emergencies (I have no home phone.) So I finally caved in and did a ROM update tonight, the supposed fix for this problem. It worked for about an hour without showing "searching...", but now my phone won't even boot, it gets stuck at the cingular splash screen.
Other problems with this phone: WM5 is a laggy piece of [...] - If you txt quickly, this will most definately screw that up for you. Hit '4' 3x to get an "I", and you'll probably get a 4. This is *not* because the hardware keys weren't pressed well, too much, or consistantly enough, trust me. The whole UI in general is very laggy, and tries to be *too* "smart", putting things in inconsistant locations, making it impossible to operate without constantly checking what it's registering. Do not want.
Ed. note: removed inappropriate language
Great Phone
This is a great phone. The INTERNET is pretty fast and the screen is nice and large with a great resolution. The only thing i didn't like about the phone was that the speaker phone was not loud at all, battery life was great and the reception was incredible, i got more service with this phone than any other phone. Great Phone!!
2125
When I first ordered this phone I was extremely excited about it. Everyone that I knew that had had one said what a great phone it was. I never bothered to ask why they no longer had it. I enjoyed the screen and the MSN mobile thing...That was about it. I only had the phone for 2 days but I knew it wasnt for me or my line of work.
PROS
Beautiful screen
Easy manuvering
CONS
Buttons are WAAAAAY too small for someone with not so skinny fingers. I kept hitting random buttons.
Couldnt get the bluetooth to pair with ANY bluetooth item i owned
VERY limited space for downloading like... anything
Did I mention the buttons?
I give it a 2.5 but nothing more. I enjoyed it for the most part but the buttons were a definate problem.
Decent Phone, after 7 months
I have found that most phone reviews are made soon after the phone is purchased/acquired and the "newness/excitability" puts a bias in the review. I have been using this phone for the last 7 months. This is what I find:
Good phone, but on the expensive side:
Phone can be slow to respond. I recommend rebooting your 2125 often. Also go to Task Manager and "stop all" applications. Do this twice, since it will display more free memory on the second time.
Many people who I am talking to have reported not hearing me clearly. I have never been told this when using other devices. I believe the sensitivity of the mic and how I naturally position the phone is the culprit
Text and email message alerts cannot be interrupted by pressing a key. This may be more of my lack of knowledge, but I have not been able to find a way to resolve this. Example: setting the alert/ring tone for a text message and email to a 30 sec tone, the phone will play the full tone, you cannot interrupt it by pressing a key.
Dropped the phone and now the 7 button is hard to press
Dreadful Joystick...otherwise great
Make sure you test the jostick use thoroughly before buying.
PROS:
Screen
Build Quality
Size
Sound Clarity
Speakerphone decent for size
CONS:
Joystick
Joystick
Joystick
HTC Faraday 2125 Best Phone
Excellent Phone!
Pros:
Has number Buttons.
Light and thin compared to the 8125
Bright Screen
Excellent Coverage (Cingular) Better then my Razor.
Excellent Battery Life.
Cons:
Speaker phone is a little quiet.
Can only read Excel Docs, not edit them.
No Wifi.
This is still a very good phone and would recommend it to everyone.
Some good, some bad
This is my first smartphone after years and years of Nokias. In comparison to the phone it's replacing, the Nokia 6230, in many ways it's not much of an upgrade. Nokia gives away free software that syncs outlook contacts and calendars much as this phone does..just this is REAL Outlook...frankly, I don't notice the difference. The only nice thing (when it works) is Cingular XPressMail. You set it up on your desktop and it forwards mail to your device. I had mixed results with this app. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't do anything. First time it actually worked, I was like "Oh...this what everyone talks about (getting email on your phone)"
It sounds like I don't like this phone, but I do...it's just that comparing a Microsoft Smartphone with a Series 40 Nokia is in some ways not fair. The Nokia is made to be a phone above all, where this 2125 is made to do a lot of things. Windows on a phone is still a little clunky...it takes extra clicks to do basic things. My basic issues with this phone is that maybe I'm not used to a phone trying to be so many things that aren't calling related.
If you like smartphones...I'd say this is the one for you..it's got it all. I on the other hand am beginning to discover that I DON'T like smartphones. Just personal preference, not the phone's fault.
Pros: great screen, small size, small weight. Good reception. Pocket Outlook, Pocket MSN, Cingular XPressMail (when it works) service and bluetooth status lights.
Cons: center joystick is very touchy, small buttons, not as intuitive as Nokia. very slight background hiss on calls, speakerphone not that loud. Cingular XPressMail(isn't all that reliable)
Cingular 2125, A Problem for me.
I have owned this phone for 6 days.
I am having a hard time turning off and on. I have tried to set up voice connect with Cingular with no luck. After being on the phone with them for 3 hours they told me they had changed the website address and my password and to wait for a text msg telling me my new password. That was 3 hours ago and I am still waiting!
The CD that comes with the phone experienced problems and The Cingular store told me to shut it down so I don't know all the ins and outs of the phone. I could not use the Active Sync on the CD either. I have read a lot of pros on this phone but so far that is all I know about it. Any ideas?
Pros
I own a phone
Cons
You know what I think
Lovely size and has it all...
I just got the 2125 after having my Siemens SX66 for more then a year. I love the great speaker-phone and the edge on the 2125. And size does matter a bunch. The SX66 was way to big. I don't have to worry about loosing the darn pen anymore.
So far the 2125 has been a great phone with no cons.
This Phone is Pimp!
I got this phone about 2 months ago and it has proved to be just about everything i expected.
PROS:
-Big and beautiful display screen
-Loud Speakerphone/MP3/video player
-Great Signal Strength/Never drops calls
-EDGE
-Bluetooth
-Active sync
-Windows Mobile 5.0
Only a couple little things i didnt really like.
Cons:
-No Flash on Camera
-Little joystick in the middle makes it a little hard for one hand use.
