Great SMART phone -- $$ but you get what you pay for

After several weeks of research online, comparing this phone to 8125, Blackberry Curve/Pearl & various Treos, I found this to be the best PDA phone on the market today. It's got a huge 2.8" QVGA screen slide out qwerty keyboard (blue backlight) and runs Windows mobile 5 (full version not the smartphone edition). The operating system will soon be updated to Windows Mobile 6. It offers all the high speed conections available so it will run at broadband speeds (though the data plans are expensive).

Like everything if you don't understand the product you will not get great results, so this product does have a bit of a learning curve. I'm coming to it from Dell Axim (see previous review), which also runs Windows Mobile, so it wasn't too bad.

The phone comes with literally every possible feature, in fact maybe too many for some people to handle. Several important ones include: voice command, WiFi and 3G wireless connectivity, bluetooth for speakers/headsets, 3 ok buttons, speakerphone, software, including but not limited to Microsoft documents editors (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), windows mobile organization software (to-do list, calendar for appointments), tons of shortcut buttons, full (& blue-light blacklit) QWERTY keyboard which flips out (to minimize space), 64MB memory expandable to over 2GB via microSD slot, infrared beaming, 2Mega pixel camera with flash and portrait/landscape mode, windows media-player for MP3s, etc, etc.

Some of the other qualities of this phone I've noticed in about 3 weeks of heavy use are also excellent battery life (we will see about this one -- I'll write an update, as batteries tend to loose their holding power after several months/a year), exellent signal strength, vibrant large screen (though prone to scratches, so get a case or at least a screen protector). My major qualms with this phone are the syncing & propriatary cables for headphones & charger. Also WiFi connection speed on this phone is very dependent on where you connect. At work & most unsecured hotspots (like coffeeshops) the connection is decent, especially with mobile sites like yahoo or msn. At home, with my crappy, self-installed & optimized (more like NON-optimized) wireless router, it's painfully slow. Still, it is nice to sit at home watching sportscenter & check stock quotes, weather or looking up a number for food delivery without turning on your computer.


A few comments I wanted to address that come up with reviews of this phone: unlike mentioned on CNET, in my experience this phone is NOT very heavy. It's similar size & weight to a typical candy-bar Nokia phone - ie solid enough to feel in your pocket but not so heavy that it weighs you down. Another factor is the microSD card; if you're like most people you already have a ton of miniSD cards and getting microSD is an extra expense, no doubt about it. Still the cards have been on the market for a while, are cheap and constantly coming down in price & the storage space expands all the time. Also, the headphones that come with the device are pretty cheap... and you do have to get a special adapter (also not too expensive), if you're a real audiophile and use brands like Shure. Still, if you're a real audiophile you'll likely have a dedicated music player, right??? Camera on this phone is also pretty low res, with only borderline usable prints... but name a phone for which that's not true? Well, that was a trick question, Nokia N95 with 5Megapixel camera probably makes the cut. Still, typically, if you want great pictures get a camera, not a phone...

Bottom line: Great phone, lots of features, great for business or tech-savy student, anyone who wants to stay organized and on top of their stuff on the go. Not so great for someone who's intimidated by technology or doesn't want to put in the effort to learn the software and wants JUST A PHONE. Buyer beware.