Windows Phone Thoughts: The Cingular 8525 Reviewed

Finally! A Camera that Rocks!
One of my biggest complaints about the HTC devices has been the down right poor quality of the built-in, low megapixel cameras. I appreciate the fact that I'm not going to get Nikon D100 quality out of a Windows Mobile device, but some quality is expected. One of the worst camera's I ever reviewed was on the HTC Wizard (Cingular 8125 and QTEK 9100) and I must admit I was not expecting much of an improvement in the 8525.

Thankfully I was wrong.

The 2MP digital camera is much improved over previous HTC-based devices and offers still images, rapid-fire still images, photo contact-sized still images, MMS video and video recording. For fun, you can also have a picture frame of a magazine cover added to an image! The camera also sports a manual macro mode which does a fair job although is a bit tricky to determine exactly how close or far away you need to be from an object.

Like most built-in cameras, the one in the 8525 is still not outstanding but is a substantial step forward in quality.


Figure 4: Unedited 2MP image from the Cingular 8525's built-in Digital Camera. (Click for Larger Image)


Figure 5: Unedited image from the Cingular 8525's built-in Digital Camera in Macro mode. (Click for Larger Image)

Conclusions
For the power user, the 8525 should be on the short list of devices to investigate. The battery life, device feel and look, easy-of-use and much improved keyboard and digital camera make it one of the more well-rounded devices I've reviewed recently. Even if you you aren't a power user or frequently traveler, the 8525 could be a good choice for many of the same reasons. It is a solid, well designed device with a lot of potential now and in the future as Cingular adds features via ROM updates. With Push-to-Talk coming in early 2007 and 3G support already included, the 8525 could become Cingular's Flagship device.

Clinton Fitch is a Microsoft MVP in Mobile Devices and lives in the Dallas, Texas area. He is a member of the DFW Mobile Device User Group and is active in the Microsoft public newsgroups. Clinton owns and operates Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! and HPC:Factor. He has been writing reviews on Windows-based mobile devices since 1999 and has been published many times in Smartphone & PocketPC magazine.