HTC 3125 / Smartflip / 8500 (Star Trek)
Average Ratings
The best flip phone available at this time
In my job capacity as a telecommunications analyst for a Fortune 50 company I've reviewed/recommended hundreds of mobile devices over the last 10 years. In my estimation, at this time the 3125 is the best available small form multipurpose mobile phone in existence.
A few of the standout features include:
*Ability to sync with Notes
*Ability to sync with Outlook
*Reasonably quick internet (use www.mini.opera.com for best results - Windows Mobile IE sux).
*Great talk and standby time (remember to fully charge before 1st use and to fully deplete the charge before recharging the first three cycles)
*Great screen (while smallish it has great contrast in bright light and acceptable resolution)
*Decent 1.3 MP camera for both pictures and video
*Great tactile response and accurate T9 text input
*Fast sync times with ActiveSync
*Great ergonomics and V3XX-killer style
*Easy USB charging
Just a few cons:
*Propietary charging and headset port
*Hard to find accessories
*Middle button is too small and sometimes up/down, or left/right is punched instead of the center "select" key.
On the whole, this phone is perfect for those who desire a phone first and a PDA second. It performs flawlessly as a phone, with excellent, loud ringtones and a wonderful alarm. As a PDA it is acceptable and is capable of keeping you on time to meetings. The contact functionality is first-rate and you will notice no lag in the GUI interface. I do wish that the USB charge/sync cable was not proprietary, but it is included so that somewhat makes up for it. My model did not come with a headset, but it is easy enough to find on Ebay for $15 USD. Look for a Krussel case on Ebay too for the most functional case. Uploading pictures to blogger or for MMS emails to friends is simple. Most websites load quickly, but, again, I recommend that you point the phone's browser to www.mini.opera.com for the best, most customizable internet experience.
Conclusion:
This phone packs a large punch in a small package. Enjoy!
owned this phone for about 6 months
This is the most underrated phone I've ever seen. At first I wasn't impressed with the size or the looks...but as I compared it to what else was out there offering the same features, it started looking better and better. If you do a side by side comparison, using this site's comparison tool, with the Motorola V3XX, this phone comes out ahead, including lighter weight and longer talk time. Internet speed with AT&T is very fast. I have a 2 GB microSD card in it and listen to all my audiobooks on it (with the help of bluecast software I can use a regular bluetooth headset, don't need stereo). Having windows mobile opens the door to thousands of 3rd party apps. I love my Papyrus and Facade calendar programs. And other programs like alarms and profile switchers make life so much easier! I've dropped this phone 3 times, hard, and it never complained even once. The camera is great, excellent quality. And I can utilize the clamshell design by clipping it to my collar so who needs a case? When I got tired of the looks, I blinged-out the front with acrylic jewels, and I get so many compliments you wouldn't believe it.
I can't even justify dumping it for the iphone.
Pros: really, everything!
Cons: really, I can't think of a thing, even after all these months!
GREAT FLIP SMARTPHONE
THE LAST SMARTPHONE FLIP I HAD WAS MOTO 220
HTC HAS REALLY WORKED HARD TO MAKE FLIP SMARTPHONE..STAND OUT.
PRO'S
NICE KEY PADS
BRIGHT SCREEN AND CLEAR
GREAT SPEAKER
GOOD RECEPTION
BEST 1.3megapixel I'VE SEEN.
MEDIA PLAYER KEYS ON THE OUTSIDE
WM5 HAS BEEN WORKED ON LIL MORE NOT THAT MANY BUGS
BATTERY WILL LAST LONGER THEN OTHER SMARTPHONE I'VE HAD.
CON'S
MEDIA PLAYER KEYS ON OUTSIDE CAN NOT LOCK.
NO FLASH FOR CAMERA
MEMORY CARD HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM UNDER THE BATTERY BUT NOW ITS UNDER THE SIM SLOT..KINDA STUPID.
Nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my first reivew on phone scoop but not by first go round with a smartphone. I have had every device from the Treo 650, Treo 700, Motorola Q, the 8125 and the recent Black Jack.
All I can say is finally. Finally somebody got it right. HTC and Cingular have finally come up with a device that leaves me completly satisfied. Everything from the operating system to bluetooth stero support, simply put this device does it all.
Although it does not have a full qwerty keyboard it is not missed. I just recently gave into T9 and I have no desire for a huge pda for the simple fact that it has a keypad. This device does everything the black jack, the motorola Q, any other device running windows mobile 5.0. If you are using it for word or excel you are stupid. Sorry to say it but its true.
Pros:
Bluetooth connectivity
Battery life (greatest)
ease of use
Video and mp3 playback
can view and edit word, excel & power point
Display (excellent)
form factor (doesn't feel cheap)
Simply put the phone is sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cons:
memory card is behind sim card
no flash for the camera
Great Phone!
I bough the Cingular 3125 phone about 3 weeks ago and I must say I just love this phone. For the past 2 years I have been lugging around both a cell phone and a PDA (Dell Axim) and now I just have to carry my smartphone. The PDA I had would only sync to my work computer through the infrared port due to some issue with the firewall and Activesync 4.2, and the reminders would only work intermittently. This phone lets me sync my contacts and calendar on the phone and the meeting reminders work perfectly. I was able to DL a free movie player (betaplayer) which allows me to watch full length movies on the phone. As a phone the reception is excellent. If your looking for a great flip style cell phone that is able to sync with Outlook this is the phone to get.
3125 better than all Windows phones so far
I have read many posts boasting functions of phones like camera quality etc. However, when I buy a phone I want to know that it works great as an actual phone!
I have tried alot of window based phones leading up to this one from the MPX220 (complete let down on sound quality), the SMT 5600 and the SP3i.
By far the I-Mate SmartFlip phone is the best in sound quality. The ear piece is loud, the call clarity is great and the speaker is also good enough.
After trial and error I thought I would have continued to use my SMT5600 as there was no other windows phone on the market that compared. However, the more I used it the more I was unhappy with its performance as a phone. I realized that the sound quality on the SMT5600 was way too low in ear piece and speaker functions. The SP3i was much better than the SMT5600. However, I didn't like the sensitive toggle switch.
I decided to buy the Smartflip and have been very very happy with it. You will not have any issues with it as a good functioning phone!
Please be aware that there are supposedly some problems with the "QTEK 8500" brand in missing calls and not detecting incoming calls after a period of stand by time.
My I-Mate Smartflip is fine with none of these problems. I also have not heard any problems with the 3125.
Do your home work on the model, but all in all you will be happy with this phone.
Very good phone
Some previous reviews are completely absurd and I find it hard to believe that ANY phone could be so bad as to give it a 1 out of 5 rating. That's simply unfair and way off base. This phone has the largest keypad of any flip phone currently on the market. If anything, the keypad is almost too roomy. I would imagine a gorilla could even use it. The flashing lights are probably no more bothersome than any other phone as most newer phones have lights for a variety of reasons. Unless you sleep with your eyes open, I can't even imagine how this could be an issue. Also, not sure why anyone needs the external display always lit, if you look at the clock that often, go buy a watch. If the display was always lit, you'd have terrible battery life. Build quality is excellent. Fit and finish is top notch. Some people are just impossible to please. This is by far the best Windows Smartphone produced to date and HTC puts out some very good quality products. It's a well thought out and well designed business tool, it's not a toy and it syncs perfectly with Outlook so all your information is always at your fingertips. Reception and sound quality is excellent and I've not had any issues making or receiving a call even when I have no bars. Buildings can be troublesome for any carrier and Cingular is no exception. That issue should not be pinned on the phone. Like I said earlier, you just cannot please everyone. I give this phone a 4.5 because I think there's always room for improvement. I would not hesitate to recommend this phone if you're looking for a compact Windows 5.0 device.
A good buy
The Cingular 3125 is a great phone. Before I got the Cingular 3125, I had the Motorolla SLVR L6. The L6 got horrible reception in my house so I need to get a new phone. The Cingular 3125 was a great choice for a phone. It has great signal in my house, when it has one bar you can still talk on it, unlike my other phone which you couldnât even talk on 3 bars most of the time.
PROs:
Camera is good for a 1.3 mega pixels
Has great signal
Good speakers
Can do a lot of things with the phone closed(listen to music, take a picture)
Screen is bright
CONs:
No flash on the Camera
Canât see more than one alarm
The memory card is behind the SIM card
So overall this is a great phone.
So Far So Good.
I've had this phone for 4 days now. I got it because the 6682 has failed me in many ways. I opted to get this phone over the Blackjack. I'd really rather have an 8525, but not for that price, ya feel me?!
Pros:
Great Reception. {Many times better than the 6682 [which I wish that I could destroy.]}
1.3 Megapixel camera/video. Truly awesome, to say the least.
Clamshell Smartphone. Not many of these exist in America.
Nice loud ringers and music.
Can accep BOTH mp3 & WMA files! {As my Nokia 6682 can only accept mp3's via Real Player [Sorry, but I'm too cheap and ghetto to pary $14.99 for RP when WMP comes for free.]}
Comes w/ Cingular Music Folder and MobiTV pre installed also.
Bubble Breaker, as all other great Microsoft phones do. It's be best $0 game out there.
Stereo Bluetooth works with it.
Can hear alarm while phone is on silent. My former Treo 700wx was incapable of that.
My email shows up promptly {it's sad that I get my email on Gophone at&t faster than Verizon's broadband network}.
Cons:
No Bluetooth file transfer capability. I can beam, but that's it.
Only MSN IM is pre-installed {both of these things are what makes me almost wanna get a Blackjack}
No flash.
Micro SD slot is UNDER the Sim Card. Supwidat?!
The 3125 is almost perfect. It's what stops me from ordering overseas for one of their phones. It's awesome so far, but I might still get a Blackjack if it's really as good as I hear that it is. I don't care what anyone says, my 3125 is better thna the Iphone, and cheaper too!
Now THIS is a great phone !!!!!
Coming from the Cingular 2125, there wasn't the learning curve for WM5, but it is a lot different that regular cellphones, so bear that in mind when thinking of giving this phone to your mom or tech-challenged signifigant other. If you've used other smartphones before, you'll find this one to be familiar.
Appearance: the phone sports a nice combination of metal, plastic and a rubber grip surface near the tips of the phone. The external Windows Media controls are a great plus, but depending on your case (or lack thereof) you may need to disable them...luckily, you can do that. The internal screen is identical to the 2125 at 240x320 pixels and is very readable, except under sunlight, however few newer color cellphone screens are. The external screen is great and VERY viewable even in sunlight.
Performance: The 200 Mhz TI processor handles most tasks nicely. I have not seen the incredible slowness that others have reported, but this phone is a smartphone running windows...it's not going to be as fast as a Series 40 Nokia for example. That's kind of like comparing DOS to Windows performance on the same PC...more overhead in the case of Windows Mobile is going to do that. RF performance seems to be on par with the 2125, which is to say, VERY GOOD. The only difference I have seen is that I think the signal bars on the 3125 are calibrated differently than the 2125. A low signal area that had 2 bars in the 2125 have maybe one bar on the 3125 now, but the calls on the 3125 seem to go thru quicker and sound less choppy on low signal.
Pros: good reception, slim and sexy like the RAZR (in fact some RAZR cases even fit it). WM5 support for DirectPush email.
Cons: like everyone else has said...the non-standard connector and the microSD slot ender the battery. The microSD isn't really that much of an issue, as I ordered up a 1 GB card from NewEgg.com, and I don't think I'll ever fill it.
