HTC 3125 / Smartflip / 8500 (Star Trek)
Average Ratings
Great phone! (warning: only had it for a few hours so far)
I just bought this phone a few hours ago. I may do a post-mortem later on after I've had it a while, but here's what I have so far (since there are very few reviews here, as of yet):
- Windows Mobile. Nice. Very usable.
- Syncing with Windows Media Player works fine. I hate Windows Media Player, but other than that, fine.
- Memory. It comes with 64MB. Not bad at all (of course I'll be picking up a MicroSD soon).
- Camera seems to do a good job. Haven't played with the video recorder yet.
- Accessories. Very nice. The setup CD does a good job, it comes with headphones (proprietary USB connector), and the USB connector for the computer. I had an MP3 playing in 5 minutes.
- Outside display is crazy nice. Does a good job. It can be a bit slow on the response, but other than that, very cool.
- Buttons. Similar to the RAZR, but I think easier to press/nagivate without looking.
- Reception. Seems good. I'd say probably 4/5 here (nothing spectacular, but definitely not bad).
- Volume. Really nice. Especially for music (the speaker on the phone is really quite nice).
I guess that's all I got for now. You can get this at Cingular's store online for $150, no rebate. If you go into the store, just show them you can get it for that at one of their kiosk's, and they'll give it to you for that price, no rebate. They'll make you take a data plan, so you'll have to pay for that for a month, after which you can cancel it.
Really nice phone. I gave it a 4.5 out of 5 only because it is missing wi-fi. If it had wi-fi, it would be (in my opinion), the perfect phone.
What are you waiting for?! Go buy one! :)
GREAT phone! Finally a solid flip style smart phone
It all started several years ago when I was looking for a flip phone that would sync w/ my outlook. Sounds easy, right? NOT! After 1.5 years w/ the i600 (WORST phone on the market)I found this phone on a different provider (and gave me a GREAT way to get away from Ver@%@#n UGH!). I hate the PDA type phone, like flip. Best of both world here.
Pros:
SMALL yet large enough display and GREAT keypad. Slides easily into your pocket
Sync's w/ outlook with NO ISSUES at all.
GREAT interface and easy to get to what you need quickly once you look around a bit (I'm a guy that never reads the manual). Such as if you press the call button, all prior calls come up, highlight who you want and you can text them w/ one button.
Texting is good if you use it a lot (the T9 'learns' what you type in and will take new words and remember them... Im not a big texter but if you are, this would thrill you)
Loud ring if you want!
Great front screen for time and last call stuff.
Reception has been, for the most part, great. Cingular in my area is semi-spotty but it's been good to me.
Cons:
after 6 months with it im finding that the back plate is poorly designed and will come off sometimes causing your phone to turn off.
Ring tones suck for the most part
if you're someone to imported pictures as your home screen and download new ringtones, this phone will give you problems. It has a low ram and will get bogged down w/ extra stuff causing the ring not to ring right, long pauses between screens etc. I spoke to Cingular about this and the best thing you can do is NOT put a bunch of extra stuff on it and do a hard reset every few days (take the back plate off while the phone is on.. this will happen naturally anyway as i said earlier.)
DONT buy this phone for the camera.. its not a great one but it does the job for quick shots. If a camera is very important to you, this is not your camera.
All in all, if you're looking for a slick smartphone to sync w/ your PC- get this phone! I love it
Microphone sound quality not good enough
I would really like to keep this phone but I'm sending it back to Cingular.
I have been using a V3 that has recently developed the infamous buzzing sound that often is loud enough to make it difficult to carry on a conversation. As soon as I saw the 3125, I figured it would be a great replacement and a great way to get away from Motorola's lack of reliability.
Unfortunately, the sound quality is just not the same as the V3 for those whom I am calling. I even called my own home voice mail and left messages with both the 3125 and the V3. The V3 clearly sounded better and more like a landline phone. The 3125 sounded muffled. People I call on a daily basis can tell I have changed to a different phone, but unfortunately, it's not because the new phone sounds better.
Great Phone
I used a Qtek 8500 for several weeks and am now using an i-Mate Smartflip. Nearly the same but i-Mate offers better support including their "Club i-Mate". There may be a software patch to fix some bugs with the Qtek but I haven't been able to get it and the dealer I purchased it from is unresponsive. I have a negative recto not buy from smart-mobile-gadgets.com. I'm now using an i-Mate that I got from from R & D Marketing, LLC. Their sales/delivery service was good and I don't need anything more from them because i-Mate supports the products sold by R&D, whereas Qtek doesn't support the products sold by "smart-mobile-gadgets" - the smg guy told me that he would provide the support but he didn't/doesn't.
Anyway, to the phone:
PROS:
Slim form factor, slips easily into a front dress pant pocket like a Moto Razr would.
Seems to be well made.
For me the Win Mobile 5 software is a must - I don't care how nice another phone is I want a smartphone.
CONS:
Memory card is a new format - the micro SD instead of mini SD so new cards have to be purchased. Worse, the location is under the SIM card under the battery so you won't likely want to have to change it much if at all which somewhat reduces the value of the cool music/video player with external controls.
USB connector is a weird new proprietary type used by nothing else as yet that I'm aware of so none of our existing mini usb devices will work. Can't use my Bose headphones or anything like that.
Bottom line:
Win Mobile 5 software in a convenient package - if you want Win Mob in a small flip phone, this is the number. If you're an early adopter will to buy an unsubsidized price, what are you waiting for :-).
I also have another HTC-made phone I'm currently using, the K-Jam/MDA. I use it when willing to carry a larger unit and it is terrific with the full keyboard and bigger screen, etc. Just wish both products could use the same accessories as they well should - boo on HTC for that :-).
Not what was expected
Phones are such a fickle thing. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. The new Cingular 3125 is a very noble try but does not promote the smartphone ideology like I had hoped it would. Not only are smartphones hard to make right but it seems that clamshell smartphones have an even harder time making it work well as they should.
The good: The phone is WM5 and as a good QVGA screen with sharp colors. The unit is very thin and rivals the RAZR easily. I was impressed with the size, weight and feel of the phone. The external LCD looked very nice and the buttons underneath it were a nice touch. The price is very reasonable for a smartphone.
The bad: The flat keypad buttons in the phone were tactile but the directional pad and call/end buttons were too small and dificult to get comfortable with. I felt that the main LCD could have been larger and easier to read. The Cingular 2125 has an easier to read screen than this phone does.
The ugly: The buttons are so small it makes you wonder who they designed the phone for. The volume & camera buttons are so flush to the side of the phone they were almost impossible to feel when using it. The connectivity was changed to a proprietary USB interface which seemed strange considering the mini USB plug used on most HTC phones is a defacto standard.
Conclusion: If you need a flip phone that runs WM5 and has a good entry level price, this is the only game in town. If you can deal with another form factor, it would be worthwhile to seek out another capable phone running Windows Mobile.
Nice but complicated for basic users
Owned this phone for a very short time before i ended up reselling it. It was a good phone, but the operating system was very difficult for me. I thought I would get used to it since I am very proficient with Windows based computers, but Windows Mobile was just too much challenge for me. I'm sure if you learn new systems easily, it's a great phone. My husband is into tech stuff and has really used the features this phone has to offer, but I couldn't grasp it enough to enjoy it. It was just too much work for me. Call quality is adequate, but not the best sounding. The hinge seems a bit weak and the back cover of the phone likes to fall off after a while, but otherwise seems to be a decent phone with a nice screen and many features for those who enjoy them, but I would not recommend this phone for those looking for only the basics. This phone is for the experts... and that's not me. I ended up going back to my Nokia phones- love them. so easy to use!
WAS a great phone.
At first I really loved this phone. I love that it's a smartphone that's also a flip phone, which makes texting easy when you're doing something else. But then it started to restart when I received messages occasionally and I couldn't get those messages anymore. My phone borke and then I used insurance to get a new one and the new one did the same thing. Only now, it restarts often when I touch any button, sometimes it'll just completely turn off for no reason. It's ridiculous. I lose all kinds of messages and numbers when it does this. It's great if you can afford a new phone after 6 months.
Pros:
Predictive Text makes for easy texting while driving
Smartphone
Light weight
Lots of memory
Cons:
Restarts randomly
Loses message
SD card often won't read
Worst Phone Ev-ER
Pros:
It looks cool. Love the clock on the front screen.
Cons:
When you send a call, it takes about 10 or so seconds for the phone to even start ringing.
Slow Internet service.
Starts "acting up" after a certain amount of time.
Essentially, I went through four of these phones in less than a year. After about 7 months (it did it with two of the phones), the phone would shut itself on and off for no reason, even if it was stationary. AT&T actually removed this phone from its stores.
I don't know why I ever left Samsung. I've gone back to it now with their Slim Phone. Easy. Simple. Reliable.
Great Phone!
Pros
- Great sound quality
- Camcorder feature can record in both AVI and QUICKTIME, easy to edit and or share online
- looks cool, very slick and professional
- Windows Mobile is amazing compared to any other phone interface (better than a blackberry)
- High resolution screen, very clear, easy to see in bright daylight
- Great reception everywhere
Cons
- Weird shape, thin but wide
- Proprietary connector port is impossible to find accesories for
- My battery cover broke after 6 months of use
- Don't crash while snowboarding on a 65 foot jump with this phone in your pocket or the screen will crack (getting a new one in the mail tomorrow)
