CNET Reviews the Cingular 2125 and the T-Mobile SDA Smartphones

[Kris Kumar]

Bonnie Cha over at CNET has reviewed both the Cingular 2125 (http://reviews.cnet.com/Cingular_2125/4505-6452_7-31640638.html) and the T-Mobile SDA. (http://reviews.cnet.com/T_Mobile_SDA/4505-6452_7-31678157.html) As expected the SDA inspite of its cramped keypad scored more than the 2125, it received 8.0 out of 10. The Cingular 2125 could only score 7.3 because it lacks Wi-Fi. Interestingly Bonnie also found the 2125 to be weak when it comes to voice quality. :?

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-Feb06-CNETSDA2125.jpg

What are your thoughts, which one is better between the two?

[Sven Johannsen]

Hard to judge between two phones I don't have.

I have a bit of a problem with marking down a phone for not having WiFi at this point. Maybe I'm out of touch, but how many phones (that you can actually buy) do? Is the majority? The majority of Smartphones? I don't think so. To me it's like a kid not getting an A in the class because they didn't do the Extra Credit.

For the phone, having it should be a plus. Not having it shouldn't be a ding...at least at this point.

[Rocco Augusto]

i own the 2125 and i went in to purchase the SDA on Wednesday. I didnt gt the SDA because both phones that were in stock had really bright screens, a lot brighter than my 2125. it looked like someone turned the brightness up on them and forgot to turn it down. it didnt look that good at all.

when i look at the screen of the 2125 my first impression is "wow". when i looked at the screens on the SDA my first impression was "ew". im not sure if it was just the phones they had in stock or if they are all like that but wifi or not i cant use a phone where the screen is to bright, it annoys me

[shindullin]

I have a 2125 but think that a phone with more features packed into the same form factor should get more credit. If all the other features are just as well implemented (ie. discounting the fact that the 2125 has no screen dust issues while the SDA might and knowing nothing about the relative screen brightness issue mentioned above), the SDA should get the nod. It's silly for cingular to have removed it. They probably don't want us using skype etc., and want us dependent on their data plans but it still makes for a "weaker" phone.

[randalllewis]

I agree with Sven, the 2125 shouldn't be dinged in points for not having a feature that isn't very common to begin with. I, for one, don't need WiFi, but I understand that some folks want it. I take exception to Bonnie's review about "weak" voice signals. That seems rather subjective and is uncharacteristic of the 2125 in my experience. Also, Bonnie's original review (since corrected) dinged the 2125 for lacking a speakerphone, which was a clear error. I wonder if the score still reflects her mistake.

[Kris Kumar]

Also, Bonnie's original review (since corrected) dinged the 2125 for lacking a speakerphone, which was a clear error. I wonder if the score still reflects her mistake.

Didn't know about that.

[Kris Kumar]

I have a bit of a problem with marking down a phone for not having WiFi at this point. Maybe I'm out of touch, but how many phones (that you can actually buy) do? Is the majority? The majority of Smartphones? I don't think so. To me it's like a kid not getting an A in the class because they didn't do the Extra Credit.

I totally agree, I would even say that it is not apples to apples comparison.

[Kris Kumar]

They probably don't want us using skype etc., and want us dependent on their data plans but it still makes for a "weaker" phone.

The SDA and 2125 are too under-powered for running Skype. Not sure if you have seen this test report. (http://smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10003)

[Mark Larson]

I saw both the SDA and the 2125 today, back-to-back at the Mall of America. I vastly preferred the looks of the SDA, and it felt much faster and smoother than the 2125, even though it shouldn't have.

The SDA's hump is much less pronounced and it looks more like an extension of the back of the phone than the 2125's hump. The mass of silver also looked horrible on the 2125, whereas I was a fan of that color scheme in the SMT-5600. Add the fact that the SDA has wifi, and the choice is clear.

I also saw the MDA, but that's for another post on another site. :lol:

[Mike Temporale]

I saw both of these devices side by each a couple months back and I'm not sure which one has better looks. ( http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9811 ) Overall, I like the look without antenna better.

[xultar]

Wifi on a phone is stoopid unless you have 100% wifi coverage. I think it is dumb to mark the same device down because it lacks wifi. Wifi on the t-mobile device is only intended to raise revenue for t-mobile. it isn't for convienencefor the customer.

I have wifi on my pocket pc and I never used it. Why would I use wifi on my tiny ppc when I can use it on my laptop?

Overall dumb reviews. I give cnet a 5.3 and I quit reading their stuff years ago.

[Islanti]

Is no one else happy we have a choice of a good smartphone from the US carriers? I imported my last Smartphone from Europe for 2x the price of either of these phones.

[Jerry Raia]

WiFi is a pain anyway, looking for hotspots is just silly these days. No question the 2125 is better. :mrgreen:

[Mark Larson]

WiFi is a pain anyway, looking for hotspots is just silly these days. No question the 2125 is better. :mrgreen: I don't see how having wifi makes the SDA worse? :?

[Pete Paxton]

I personally chose the SDA because it does have wifi. I love having wifi on my phone. I go to pocketpclinks.com and use those bookmarks because they are already are formatted for small devices. I really like both phones. If you don't want wifi - I think the 2125 is a great choice but the SDA suits me better. Other than that, I think they are both great choices. Does anyone else agree that they are both great phones? I really don't see that one is better than the other.