SCI-Tech Today Reviews Cingular 2125

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=41843' target='_blank'>http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=41843</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The Cingular 2125 is the first Cingular-branded smartphone that features Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Packed with features, the 2125 is designed to cater to road warriors who want to be productive while on the go. Measuring 4.6 x 1.8 x 0.7 inches and tipping the scales at 3.7 ounces, the pocket-sized Cingular 2125 adds an eye-catching metallic blue-and-silver finish to the otherwise standard candy-bar format."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20060302-CingularReview.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Here's another review of the Cingular 2125. This one lists the lack of a QWERTY keyboard and WiFi as "cons". Now, I can understand being upset that the phone doesn't have them. However, it's hardly a "con" when most other Smartphones don't even have these! I'm sure that the writer must be comparing this to the Treo's and the BlackBerry's of the world. And those phones are not the competition for this device. When will the main stream media learn? :(

[Pete Teoh]

I view the lack of a QWERTY thumbboard as a "pro". It's much easier to one-handedly touch type with T9 than with a QWERTY thumbboard. :)

[supbro]

I see lack of WiFi as a "con" for this phone in particular, when the T-Mobile branded version of the exact same phone DOES have WiFi. I would also say that a lack of dedicated media player keys is a "con".

[wshwe]

The lack of a keyboard is defintely a con, particularly in the US. US customers have overwhelmingly chosen smartphone solutions with keyboards over those without. The leading examples are Blackberries and Treos. It's taken MS and Nokia far too long to realize this.

[supbro]

I would say the ability to use this phone easily with one hand is overwhelmingly a "pro". Depends on what your main purpose is. I use my phone as a phone and display device first, and IM and PIM and input device occasionally. I wouldn't say you could easily use a blackberry or treo with one hand.

[Mike Temporale]

The lack of a keyboard is defintely a con, particularly in the US. US customers have overwhelmingly chosen smartphone solutions with keyboards over those without. The leading examples are Blackberries and Treos. It's taken MS and Nokia far too long to realize this.

Treo's and BlackBerry's are not the competition for this Smartphone. Data-centric devices are very different market that Phone-centric devices. :wink:

[tobiasfunke]

Having used the 2125 for a couple of weeks, I have to say that it is a fabulous telephone, and FAR better than the T-Mobile SDA, which I also had for a bit before I couldn't take the terrible service in my area. While the T-Mobile has dedicated media buttons and built-in Wi-Fi, it suffers from a fatal flaw: The keypad is so small it is nearly impossible to use. The 2125 has small keys, but the SDAs are so tiny that dialing a number usually requires multiple tries, and my hands are on the smallish side.

The 2125 is exactly what it purports to be, which is a cellular telephone with a wonderfully small form factor that operates on WM5. There is a market for people who want to be able to sync their contacts list with Outlook, read their e-mail, and browse the web casually, and the 2125 is the perfect vehicle for doing this. While it would be nice to have a QWERTY keyboard, that would come at the expense of size and weight. If you're a power user who needs to compose long e-mail replies, be on IM, and doing advanced web browsing, it's a sacrifice worth making. For the more casual user like myself, the 2125 is a terrific device; an unobtrusive cellphone that happens to have some PDA features, not vice versa.

I'd prefer to have a flip phone; I occasionally mute people by accident with the 2125 when it's in my jacket pocket, and the display is bound to get scratched. I wish LG, Verizon and Microsoft could get together and replace the OS in my LG VX8100 with WM5, as I find it to be a better telephone. However, I'd be happy just to see VZW come out with something like the 2125 - if you want WM5 and Verizon service your options as of 3/1/06 are the Palm 700, Starcom 6700, or Samsung i730. All three are largish to large PDAs that happen to function as a telephone and cannot just be tossed in a shirt pocket and forgotten about. In the Detroit suburbs where I live, I have found Cingular's service to be wanting, and have dropped more calls in two weeks with the 2125 than I have on Verizon's network in the last five years combined. Of course, that's not the 2125's fault. If Cingular is good in your area, and you want the convenience of POP e-mail retrieval, Outlook sync-ability, and web browsing, get this phone immediately.

[randalllewis]

If Cingular is good in your area, and you want the convenience of POP e-mail retrieval, Outlook sync-ability, and web browsing, get this phone immediately.

As another 2125 fan, I share your enthusiasm; although I've tried two Windows Mobile flip phones and both were poor. Maybe HTC's new entry will be the savior of that form factor for WM.

In the Puget Sound area of Washington, Cingular service far surpasses Verizon and the 2125 finds signals everywhere.

The only dropped calls I've experienced with the 2125 have been when I travel past a local military post. At one particular spot, calls will drop and I've had that happen with Cingular, Verizon and Sprint at the same location so I suspect some technological reason.