Review : Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard)
Posted by Chris Leckness on 02/12/06 in Mobilitysite Reviews, PocketPC, Smart Phones
This is a nice phone, check out our review, I think you will like it.
Building on the success of the success of the HTC Magician, HTC adds a slide out keyboard to this version. The Cingular 8125 is a version of the HTC Wizard, which has two different releases, one that is slight boxy and one that is rounded off. The I-Mate Kjam and Tmobile MDA are examples of the rounded version and the Cingular 8125 and Dopod 838 are examples of the boxier version. See a comparison of the two looks here. It’s great to see Cingular release this phone and step up in the converged device game, which would make sense considering they are the largest Cellular provider in the US.
I really like this device. Other than GPS, which I only use on occasion, this thing is the complete package. It has good data speeds, a great sounding phone, and a built in Pocket PC that ain’t too shabby. The slide out keyboard makes web browsing (lots of forum posting) a snap. The camera is useless, but who uses a camera on a phone anyway? The Cingular 8165 has a great form factor that is a tad thick, but very pocketable. With the mini SD card, I can load this device up with all the mindless games I like to play. If I had to pick one device I have tested to carry for an extended period of time, it would be a toss up between this and the iPAQ 6515, with the 8165 winning out due to its superb battery life.
Written by Chris Leckness · Filed Under Mobilitysite Reviews, PocketPC, Smart Phones
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Nice review, Chris. Why is that some devices like these don’t have cradles?
Great review Chris! This looks like a really nice device. I like my Smartphone for the small size, but would love at some point to pick up a PPC Phone like this… then I could just pop my SIM card into it on days that I could use a more full-featured device.
Don’t know why, but for some reason many HTC phone devices haven’t come with cradles. My Universal (JasJar) and Kjam did not either.
Great review Chris! First guy on the block! Now let the Jone’s try to catch up!!!
Very nice review, and great pics too! I’ve been thinking about that HTC Wizard a lot, as well as the Treo 700w - and especially wondering how the Wizard would match up to the Treo 650’s one-handed ease of use etc. I like a lot of how that sounds, just not so sure about the much less one-handed operation of it.
thanks for the great review, nice comparisons…
I recently received my 8125, and I’m both impressed and disappointed.
I’m impressed because I have a PDA and phone combo. I’m disappointed because it doesn’t do either function well.
Also a note: I have been unable to sync this baby up with my laptop. Doing some checks around the net, it would appear that the fix for the issue is to uninstall and then reinstall outlook. (It’s apparently a bug [er, undocumented feature] from Microsoft.)
While I’m disappointed that it isn’t as powerful a PDA as my HP iPAQ HX4705, nor as sleek or futuristic looking as my Motorola RAZR V3, I haven’t had it long enough to decide if it is enough of a bother to get rid of it yet.
Like Chris said, it’d be nice if it had built-in GPS. But then, having a separate unit that I can use with the phone and also with my laptop isn’t so bad an idea. (Though I don’t know enough about which combo [maps and bluetooth GPS] is the right one to get.)
One final thing: When I first got the phone, I thought maybe it had been a little cheaply built. It looked that way any way. But it seems better after some use, and the only other complaint is that it comes with a cheapish belt holder with a [sigh] magnetic clip.
It also would have been nice if Cingular or HTC had included either a car charger, or at least an adapter plug into which the home charger could be plugged. But the Cellular companies haven’t been doing that for a while now, have they!
Will try to post again later after I’ve used it a bit to let everyone know if I like it enough to keep it, or if I decide to send it back.
L8R!
Well, it’s been a little more than a week with the 8125. I’ve noticed that with my unit, there is a noticeable bend when I touch the stylus to the screen. At first it evoked thoughts of cheapness, but despite my misgivings, the unit has been flawless.
I’ve been spoiled by having had the iPAQ HX4705 and it’s big VGA screen.
I recently acquired an iBlue GPS module, and when it works, it’s great. I also have iGuidance (2.1.3), and it seems to be pretty good.
Either the iBlue or the 4705 doesn’t seem to be able to maintain the bluetooth connection. That could be a problem!!!
I’ve just received my 2GB mini-SD card, so I now have storage capacity for the maps for the 8125, so I’ll see if it maintains a connection.
If it turns out to be the iBlue, then I can return it. If it’s the 4705, then it’s still underwarranty, and I’ll get HP to fix it.
I may still keep the 8125. It isn’t a workhorse PDA, that’s for sure. But it does integrate mobile phone and PDA, and I’m sure future models will get better.
Will keep you all posted.
PS- Thanx to Chris for his excellent reviews on both the iBlue and iGuidance as well as the 8125.
Yup. It’s not a workhorse, but the trade off for an all in one is worth it, right?
Glad you enjoyed the review. Lisa Gade just posted her review the other day on mobiletechreview.com.
Is 2gigs the max mini sd the 8125 can hold? I was thinking of buying one, but if it can hold more, i’d wait for a larger card to be produced. Any help would be great.
peace.
Well, I’ve been using the 8125 for the better part of two weekws now, and I have found the unit growing on me. I’d still prefer a bigger screen, but I’m not carrying a brick on my belt!
I have a work cell, and I can’t manage very well with a personal cell and a PDA also being there when they’re separate units. The 8125 is not much larger than my RAZR, and it has the benefit of actually listing my contacts once. Motorola missed the boat when they went from multiple numbers for a contact to one number per.
I’m staying with the 8125. And even though I’m not up for an upgrade with Cingular for 2 years, I’ll certainly be looking for future smartphones from HTC in a year or so.
Internet connections seem to be slow, but that may not be the 8125. And any way, I don’t find that Pocket IE works like its desktop cousin does. Most web pages seem to overwhelm it, so I may drop the data service.
The i-Blue and iGuidance work a charm. The connection issue was a port configuration problem, and once I fixed that, it’s flawless, even choosing routes I wouldn’t have that shave 10 minutes off a 45-minute commute!
If you buy this combo, be warned that WM5 will tell you it may not work because it was made for the previous versions of the OS, but I have seen no impairment in functionality at all.
I’m currently working at a customer site, and one of the people at the site has the Sprint 6700. His unit does go faster, but not by too much, and he paid $200 more for it, and pays about the same amount for service that I do. He shakes his head at me over it a couple of times a day.
I don’t usually gush for products, but I couldn’t agree more with Chris’s review of the 8125. if you weren’t sure, this works well, and WM5 does offer some slight improvements over previous PPC OS’s, so it’s worth it.
The Other Chris
The 8125 is going to go up on eBay. GPRS doesn’t work well enough, and Cingular is so spotty where I live that it either can’t make/take calls, or it drops them constantly.
I’m disappointed to find out that in the GPRS settings Cingular has the proxy set (port 8125), and the only purpose (according to an HTC tech support consultant I spoke with after Cingular couldn;t get me connected with GPRS) is so you can quickly download ring tones and other content from Cingular. (He said the Wizard lets you copy/synch snippets any way, so why pay for the ring tone.)
The HTC tech also informed me that the Wi-Fi radio in the unit probably won’t like a hybrid B/G wireless router, and it can’t do better than 64-bit encryption. (I have my router set to 128-bit WEP, and I have a hybrid mode so my roommate can connect with his B-mode PC, and I can connect with my G-mode PC.)
The iPAQ HX4705 had the same problem, which is disappointing since it’s an otherwise great PDA.
I’m going to be ordering the Moto Q from Verizon Wireless. It’s not my first choice, but since it’s the cheapest Broadband phone VW sells, and I’m also picking up a Samsung Q1 (Origami/UMPC), it’ll work for mobile Internet access. And the cost for monthly service will be similar to what I’m paying with Cingular.
Hope my experience for 3 months was unique…
The Other Chris
I have returned the phone after 2 days for 1 simple reason, no 128 bit wep key support. email from Jose at Data support says “The device does support 128 bit WEP encryption. When you are typing your key and it looks like you are running out of space, just keep typing, the text box will scroll over and let you continue typing rest of key”. Well perhaps it did but key was re-entered multiple times and I was not able to connect to my Cisco based wireless network. If I could I would have kept the device. Has anyone made it work on a Cisco based WLAN with 128 bit keys?
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