Mobility Site Reviews Cingular's 8525

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobilitysite.com/articles/link.php?id=378' target='_blank'>http://www.mobilitysite.com/article...link.php?id=378</a><br /><br /></div><i>"After much hype and waiting, the Cingular 8525 is finally here! I have spent hours reading all of the speculation, added or removed features, and possible release dates. I had tested the 8525's little brother, the 8125 (HTC Wizard) and fell in love with the concept of a "converged device". I especially liked the idea of having to carry just one device that would satisfy all of my needs. The 8125 had everything I needed, but was definitely lacking in processor speed and camera capabilities. However, it did start the ball rolling for Cingular, and with it's success, paved the way for the 8525. The Cingular 8525 is kin to the HTC code named "Hermes", and then the later released HTC branded name "TyTN". So will the Cingular 8525 live up to all the hype? Read on to find out more!"</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20061129-MobilitySiteCingular8525.jpg" /><br /><br />This review on Mobility Site focuses on the device hardware. While the pictures are a bit dark, the review is extensive and you may want to check it out if you're considering picking up an 8525.

[DaleReeck]

I recently got an 8525 and, as the review remarked, it has sone of the best phone signal capability I've ever seen in a PDA phone. My office is in an older 70's built building that was a fallout shelter and I could never get a GSM phone to get a signal. And CDMA was barely a bar, maybe two on a good day. But I got two-three solid bars on the 8525 and rarely see it dip below three anywhere else. And I live in Buffalo, not NYC, so it's not like we have perfect signal everywhere I go. So, I don't know what they did, but the 8525 gets amazing reception.

The only unusual thing I've noticed is that this device tends to get warmer than on average. All PDA phones get warm in certain circumstances, like heavy data download or intense processor use. But I've noticed the battery sometimes (not all the time) get warmer than it should while charging. I had it's cousin, a Sprint 6700, and never had that issue. I checked for errant apps and processes running the processor and that sort of thing, but nothing and all radios are off. I also swear (though I'm not sure now as I have been unable to recreate it after several days) but it also got warm when not charging - it was just sitting there, with no activity. But now I'm not sure about that. But just for giggles, I swapped the battery out, but same thing with charging - maybe it happens once every day or two (I usually have it on a charger or USB charging a decent portion of the day). A minor issue, but I never saw this before.

But otherwise a great converged device.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

At a guess, I'd say it's because your signal strength is low - 3G signals require more power than standard GSM to pull in. I get the same thing from my (non-WM) phone.

[DaleReeck]

At a guess, I'd say it's because your signal strength is low - 3G signals require more power than standard GSM to pull in. I get the same thing from my (non-WM) phone.

Normally, you are right, but this happens when the radios, including the phone, are completely off. Besides, even when the phone is on, I get great signals. So it's definitely not that. Someone mentioned offhand on XDA Developers forum that the Tytn (non-US version of the 8525) has a "heat problem", suggesting it's some deisgn/BIOS issue. But I can't get any details.

[Brutalba]

My 8525 gets warm also when im charging, but only when I turn on my device while I'm charging. The only problem I noticed is sometimes my 8525 turns on itself.I can't figure out the reason for that. Anyone?

[Hosidax]

I've had mine a week now (couldn't wait till Christmas!) and am finding the same thing with it getting warm. The other day I pulled it out of my coat pocket, it had apparently turned on and it was almost a warm as my Apple Laptop!

Another issue that has bothered me (I hope I can explain this right):
Sometimes when the device is off the screen turns on with the keys unlocked if I initiate a bluetooth phone call - and it stays on in my pocket after I hang up. I feel if the device was not "on" to begin with it should just activate the phone function internally without turning on the whole device, and it certainly should not stay on when the call is ended.

On the other hand, sometimes it shuts down and locks up after I hang up from a bluetooth call if I am running WMP when the call is initiated or answered. I must reset the device to get it to respond again.

Both problems only occur about half the time so I don't have a sense if there is some other common operation that causes these issues...

I consider these three problems to be extremely minor considering how powerful this PPC Phone is.

Other than that, I love this device! It's so cool to listen to internet radio in the car on the way to work!

[DaleReeck]

I don't think I've noticed it turn on by itself. Even when I get mail (I use MS Exchange Push eMail) it stays off, which is the way it should be. Unlike my Sprint 6700, which turned itself on when the wind blew too hard. Battery life was horrible because of that. Also, a notorious problem with the Sprint/Verizon model was the black screen of death, which was caused by keeping the miniSD card in the unit and have it randomly lock up. No lockups on the 8525 - the microSD card can stay permanently in the slot :) Also, the battery on the 8525 is excellent.

So, I agree, the warm thing is minor and I am quite happy with it.

[beq]

I can't wait for Clinton's review here as well...

I too got the 8525 last month from a Cingular store. It's my first 3G Win Mobile 5 PPC Phone, so please bear with all my questions.

Since I don't yet qualify for a Cingular phone upgrade, I had to pay full price at the store. The full price at all the local stores were $605, but one was willing to price match the Cingular.com online full price of $550 since I brought in a printout. There's also a $50 mail-in rebate but the store rep says it requires a new activation or contract extension (as well as a PDA Connect plan), so I can't use it.

I added the PDA Connect plan anyways for $40/month, but I noticed that the store rep actually added two services:
- PDACnctUntlAdd
- UMTS Compatible

I assume the 2nd item enables 3G UMTS usage? Is there a separate Cingular item to enable HSDPA??

I ask because my 8525 top taskbar shows either a GPRS 'G' icon or a UMTS 'U' icon. Should there be an HSDPA 'H' icon, or is it lumped with UMTS? I'm in Houston, TX where there's supposed to be ample HSDPA/UMTS coverage.

Then again, I never see an EDGE 'E' icon either (probably lumped with GPRS) :)

[beq]

I'm also curious about the correct Cingular settings. My 8525 came preconfigured with two different Internet networks:

My ISP

My ISP GPRS connection
- Modem: Cellular Line (GPRS, 3G)
- APN: wap.cingular
- Username: [email protected]

No ProxyMEdia Net

Cingular GPRS connection
- Modem: Cellular Line (GPRS, 3G)
- APN: wap.cingular
- Username: [email protected]

Proxy Settings
- HTTP: wireless.cingular.com:80
- WAP:
- Secure WAP:
- Socks4: localhost:1080Which network should I select for programs that connect to the Internet? A Cingular rep thinks that the MEdia Net network profile on the 8525 is for WAP only, so I assume I should use the My ISP profile with PDA Connect?

I read elsewhere that the MEdia Net plan only provides an internal WAP APN, whereas PDA Connect provides both a WAP APN and an external HTTP APN (required for VPN). But then why is the My ISP network profile preconfigured with the APN wap.cingular instead of isp.cingular?? I tried changing the APN to isp.cingular (with username [email protected]), but the connection actually seemed to get slower, strange!

[brian5s]

I cannot for the life of me get MediaNet to work with the 8525.

I've gone through the configuration a million times, and was on the phone for an hour with a Cingular Rep (Tier 2) and we couldn't get it working.

I have the PDA Connect plan. Internet works fine with My ISP.

If anyone has the same plan and phone and has Media Net working, please post their config settings.

Your help is greatly appreciated!
Brian