Customer Reviews

Cingular 2125 (Cingular)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This phone is fantastic. Cant believe that it is now free with rebates from Amazon, I paid $[...] for it just 3 months ago but it is still great!!!

I was using a treo 600 earlier and now use this. As long as you dont need a full fledged keyboard (T9 input is great), then this is the phone for you. If you need one occasionally, get a bluetooth keyboard or Moto Q.

Pros:

1) Looks great
2) Highly functional - replaced my treo 600 which crashed all the time. Also it retains everthing even if the battery dies unlike the treo.
3) Easy to use
4) Great multimedia functions, you can even load your Audible content onto this phone. I got a miniSD card and I have my music on it as well
5) Easy to take voice notes (for quick reminders)
6) Easy sync with Outlook. I sync using mini USB at home and bluetooth at work and it works flawlessly.
7) Get gmail and internet on the go (i have the unlimited data plan for 20 bucks)
8) decent camera (no flash though) for quick photos/video
9) Excellent software add-ons


Tips
To get the best out of this phone:
1) Get Facade and Papyrus - it improves the calender/task function a great deal (it is like datebook/agendus for palm, similar cost)
2) Google local for mobile (a java app you download) - you have to use it just once and you are hooked, it is like google maps/local search combined. you can enter your location,then type pizza(gas) to see all the revelent searches on the screen and can even call the location for you. Outstanding and free.
Saved me a few times (found directions once when I got lost)
3)Audible player : if you have audible
4)Configure your mail: any pop3/imap will work
5)Try One Note Beta : Incredible, you can take pics/audio notes and sync it with one note, a great app. This is beta and a trial version is available from Microsoft. (I am not affiliated with them or Google in anyway)
6)Power button - easy to use once you know how, pull down dont push
7) Keypad lock - press the call hang up button (red phone icon) a little longer
8) Set phone setting to automatic mode, this automatically sets your phone to vibrate for meetings set in your calender. You can do a quick settings change using the power button see 6


Future addition:
1)GPS over bluetooth - I am getting Copilot live - will test that. too bad tomtom doesnt sell the smartphone version in US
2) Bluetooth headphone - for music and handsfree



Cant go wrong with this phone.

Saif

I've been a long-time Treo user (300, 600 and 650) and while I always liked the capabilities it bugged me carrying around what essentially was a small laptop on my belt.

The 2125 is exactly what I wanted - a PHONE with most of the Treo's capabilities - in a much smaller form factor.

Interface has some quirks and takes a bit of getting-used-to, but once you're familiar with it the software - both operating system and applications - work very well. The T9 text entry software works well too - I really don't miss the full keyboard (and I certainly don't miss the space it took). Overall, the unit hasn't crashed yet (all of my Treos crashed regularly). The hardware build quality is very solid too.

Just remember - it's a smartPHONE, not a full-fledged PDA - but if that's what you're looking for this is a great unit. Highly recommended.

This is my first "smartphone". I am not a business person, so I don't need a lot of applications road-warriors may. However, I'm an email addict and don't always have access to a computer throughout the day. I have been happy with it overall. For perspective, I am switching from an extremely basic Nokia phone which was with Verizon. I've had the phone for about 8 weeks.

Pros:
1. Pocket-sized. Very important for me. I'm a woman who often doesn't carry a purse, and my phone needs to fit in my pocket.
2. Reception is better than any phone I've had. I get reception where other Cingular customers do not.
3. Easy access to email. I program the phone to check for new emails every 15 minutes.
4. Screen has excellent resolution and color.
5. Best of all, Cingular's "smartphone" unlimited data plan is only $20, whereas for Blackberry, Palm, etc, it's $49/ month.
6. 2G memory card-compatible, for files, music, etc.
7. Battery life fairly good for such a small phone.
8. Very easy to import my contacts/address book from SBC Yahoo and to add new contacts.
9. Love the toggle (mouse equivalent). Makes searching quick.
10. Phone was FREE through Amazon w/2-year new activation (purchased in June 2006).


Cons:
1. Easy to use up memory. Because of the windows-based platform, you need to remember to "clean up" and close open applications to free up memory.
2. EDGE is very slow, if you're used to broadband.
3. Easy to make unintended calls if you don't always lock the keypad (which is easy to do).
4. Ringtones could be louder. No "standard" ring.
5. No QWERTY, but it's the price you pay for small size.T9's adequate for the short emails I send, but it's cumbersome for sending longer messages.

Overall, this phone is perfect for my needs in terms of size, reception, and capability.

These are some initial impressions after running it through most of its paces. My previous phone is the Nokia 3650, so the opinion is based on having had Nokia bricks (not flips).

The phone is about average size. The included holster with belt clip is a definite plus (although sometimes the scroll button gets randomly pressed because it sticks out). The screen is bright and crisp. The speaker is loud enough and can be adjusted via a toggle switch on the side (a nice feature) (unfortunately, the ring tones provided are pretty average... and don't really take advantage of the speaker).

Initially the interface seemed ungainly and unnecessarily clunky, but once you're used to it, it's not a problem. A major portion of the menus and screens can be navigated by number buttons, although the scroll button does become necessary at times, and apparently is difficult to use for some people (as is the power button... which looks like it should push but doesn't... it has to be slid towards the screen). A nice touch for navigation is the "voice tags". I can now access my Calendar by holding the volume button down and saying "Calendar" instead of going through menus. Voice tags can be set for contacts and just about any program on the phone...

Syncing was difficult on my computer (partially disabling the Antivirus and setting permissions in the firewall is required on my computer). I found Cingular's installation software a little on the glitchy side. Once syncing was achieved, all my contacts, tasks, etc moved over to the phone just fine. Files can be moved on and off the phone via a Windows Explorer interface, and the download/upload is pretty fast via USB.

I'm really enjoying the Windows Media Player. With a larger mini-SD card than the one provided (512 Mb... and compressing my files a bit), I've been able to put quite a bit of music/videos/poscasts on the phone, put it in the belt clip, attach the head phones and use it like a personal music player. Music videos, etc play well on the phone. However, full-screen video is hard to achieve (most videos just won't play full-screen)... The only foolproof way I've found to get full-screen video is to compress using Windows Movie Maker, using the new Windows Media Profile Editor (installs with their new codec - WM-9) to tweak compression settings (320*480, 15 or 30fps, etc.).

ClearVue works pretty well... Although it's frozen up on larger files (7mb+) (just ClearVue... not the phone)... possibly because of photos in the document... I haven't explored this quirk further.

The "to do" list is pretty basic, but the calendar has many of the nice features you expect from Outlook. When creating a contact, you can specify all sorts of phone #'s (even their assistant's phone # if they have one), 3 e-mail addresses, 3 IM names, home and business address, website, company/title, birthday, anniversary, spouse/children... It's pretty robust. You can group contacts by several categories (ex. "Business" or "Personal"), and you can also have the phone list contacts by company. Basically, it's got some great functionality for keeping organized. Typing on the number pad is a bit ungainly... but when there's lots to be entered (contacts, tasks, etc.), it can be done via Outlook, and then synced into the device.

For me, as a designer, this device will be useful because I can reference my documents on-the-go (all my design notes), look at photo reference (or take pictures of things that inspire me... or props that I want...), be able to show video (or picture slideshow) of previous work during an interview or whenever else extra visuals are needed... As an added plus, podcasts are easy to compress and port over to the device for listening when waiting in long lines at the DMV (or even for long drives...since the speakerphone is adequate).

This phone has some limitations (storage space and processor)... that make it less of a media phone. But for those who need a little help getting organized, this could be a nice help. It's solidly designed, with a pretty good interface, wonderful screen and nice functionality. Reportedly, document-writing software and Bluetooth keyboards can be added to the phone to make it even more useful. Overall, I feel rather spoiled by this phone, and look forward to adding data/internet at a future time. In the meantime, this will be a step in the right direction for keeping me (with my ADD-tendencies) on track every day. It's nice to have gentle visual/auditory reminders of when and where to be...

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Update (having had phone for 5 months):

I still like the Windows Media Player capabilities. Being iPod-less, it's nice to have a device that can play my music (once the music is in the right audio format). Video watching runs the battery down pretty well, though...

Most dropped calls (Orlando) I've had were related to being in large stores (e.g. Target, Whole Foods). Volume is kindof weird to control if you're in Windows Media Player listening with the handsfree (there's three separate controls that can be modified: on the handsfree earbud, in Windows Media and on the side of the phone). For a day or so, I thought Windows Media was busted... until I realized the toggle button had been pressed accidently and had muted the volume control for that program. Silly, I know...

It's nice to have appointments viewable on the default screen... although... the appointments disappear once the appointment time has passed... so if you miss something, hopefully you remember to look at the Calendar link so that you know you missed it...

For me, the text prediction software is pretty good most of the time, and I appreciate being able to add words to the dictionary for things that are important in my little world. I also have actually appreciated the fact that it still lets me answer the phone when the keys are locked. It also mutes the Windows Media Player when you answer the phone.

I haven't had any real problems with the phone. It's only annoyance factor for me is the little blinky lights near the antennae, which I can't figure out how to disable (imagine being in the dark, trying to sleep... you open your eyes, and you keep seeing this flashing light illuminating the room...blink...blink...yeah...)... That, and the battery case, which is so smoothly integrated into the cell phone shape that it can prove very difficult to open the phone up as needed (ex. you drop the phone in water and need to remove the battery immediately). But for a cell phone, those are pretty minimal complaints. It's overall been really solid... no problems... pretty darn functional.

It has many more features than my Razr and much more stability than my Treo 650. The 2125 is just about the right balance of features/size/convenience for me.

I'm glad I got it and I will certainly be looking at future HTC Windows Mobile Smartphone devices as they're released.

Compared to the Treo 650:
- It works! The Treo crashed all the time. Not only that, but you have to take off the back cover, remove the stylus, and push a tiny little button next to the battery to reset it. I used Palms for 7 years and the Treo was a real disappointment.
- Expected features are included. You can assign distinct MP3 ringtones to contacts. Any basic cellphone has this feature, but you need 3rd party software to do it on a Palm.
- The Contacts/Dialing page is much better laid out. Again, you need 3rd party software, like TAKEphONE to make the Palm workable.
- The screen is much smaller. This is a tradeoff of having a pocketable device. It's a very, very nice, bright, hi-res screen. Just have to stare closer at it to read sometimes.
- Telephone keypad instead of QWERTY keyboard. Another size tradeoff. I use a bluetooth Freedom Mini Keyboard to get around this (still waiting for better WM5 drivers on the keyboard though).
- The software selection is VERY limited. Palm's biggest advantage is their huge library of very good software. It doesn't run standard PocketPC software. I hope this situation improves.
- Activesync is much faster and convenient than Palm's hotsync.

Compared to a standard phone:
- No comparison. Unlike the Treo, this has every feature of a standard phone plus much much more. And it's smaller than many cell phones.

Software:
- More software is needed for WMS platform.
- I use Facade & Papyrus to replace Agendus for Palm.
- SplashID is an excellent app which is now ported from Palm to WMS. I moved all my data over quite easily. Hopefully, they'll port the entire SplashWallet suite.
- CityTime Alarms is great.
- I sorely miss PocketQuicken. I'm really hoping Landware ports it. Other financial packages seem primitive and useless compared to PQ.
- A nice outliner is needed. Something like Bonsai for Palm.
- I never saw any need for Office documents on a handheld, so I don't miss that feature at all. If you want to carry them with you, you can easily copy them to the MiniSD card on this phone.
- Some apps require .NET framework 2. This is a very serious problem; if you can even install it, this pig swallows all your available memory. Microsoft REALLY needs to fix this situation. Like install it to the MiniSD card. Most SP devices won't work with .NET CF2 as is.
- WMS tends to splatter files all over the place. Sometimes it takes a while to locate a specific sound or picture you're looking for.

Other:
- I don't care much about the camera. If you want a good camera, use a digital camera. The one included suites me fine.
- The button nub is annoying, but it works 85% of the time once you get used to it. You just have to ask, why would anyone design it this way? Is it just too convenient for users to incorporate a 4-way button like the Razr?
- Before making this purchase, I was worried about the stability. After a couple of months with it, I'm very happy with it. Lockups are extremely rare and usually caused by Activesync.

This phone/smartphone is truly that, it was designed as a phone first unlike Blackberries that have horrible reception but great PDA functionality. The reception on this phone is remarkable, proof is in the reception, I live in Atlanta and my wife and I were about 60 miles outside the city, she received a call on her Sprint phone and couldn't hear the other person due to static, she used my phone and it was crystal clear, for those curious about her phone it's the $500.00 Samsung PDA/Phone combo. Now back to the 2125 it offers everything that I need for now, ability to sync with my Exchange Server and Gmail accounts. I can view calendar entries, read emails (I don't often reply on the phone, if it's that important I'll call the person). The added bonus which I wasn't expecting is the capability to store several hundred songs or up to 3 movies by using a 1GB expansion card. This has proven to be great as I use Rhapsody and I can download as many songs as the device will hold thus eliminating the need for an iPod, and the best part is that I have access to millions of songs for $14.95 a month. There are several other features that I rarely use, camera, web browser, voice notes, etc. it's nice to know they are there if I ever need them. Oh, another thing is that Bluetooth syncing with my PC is quick and easy. Some of you are probably thinking that I work for Cingular but that's not the case, I just dig this phone. The only issue I have is that before this phone I carried a flip-phone and never worried about accidentally calling someone, now I often forget to lock the 2125 thus sticking it in my pocket and calling someone by accident has happened more than once, an auto key lock feature would be great, say if I haven't used the phone for more than 30 seconds it would auto lock. Well I hope this review helps your decision.

First thing i wanted is a phone with a great design, and great to use, and this is it.
After getting this smart phone, I'm never going back to the regular phones. I love how easily I can check my emails. Everything is easier with this phone. Voice quality is great! Reception inside the buildings is very good as well. When other people's phones stop getting any reception inside the building, I can still use mine. Its great phone, with a great screen.!

Something about the screen, pictures in this phone look so much better then they do in my Dell laptop. and the screen is big, i love that. I always wanted a phone with a big screen.

I use this phone with a bluetooth head-set, works great, no problems at all. People who see my phone always ask questions about where i got it. One great thing about this phone is that its a smart phone, has a big screend compare to other most phones, and a slim design!

I have bee playing with smartphones for years. Overall this is the best comination of power and practicallity. It is not much bigger than a "normal" phone yet I can connnect with my company's systems so my calendar is always up to date (including meeting information), I can check my emails from work, from y POP account and from my Hotmail account, and I can use other useful tools like weather, maps and directions and web navigation (including google or MSN search).

In addition you can buy additional software from places like Handango. I have a chess game and Pinball which keep me busy at airports. The Wndows Mobile user interface takes a bit to get used to but after a few days you will feel at home.

Highly recommended.

I've had the Cingular 2125 for a little over a month and I haven't had any problems with it. It has the standard hardware specs are the typical smart phone (200 mhz processor and 64 MB of RAM). It does run the Smartphone OS as opposed the PocketPC which has some limited drawbacks (can only view office documents and no touch screen, most of the time not a big deal). You can connect to a pop / imap server for email or an Exchange server through ActiveSync.

I have never had a time where I needed to reboot the phone due to performance (or even received an error message), but have have to turn it off to add / remove a miniSD card for additional storage which is located behind the battery.

I'm surprised with the performance considering that the Windows Mobile 5 OS does not close applications (applications are still in memory even after "exiting" them). In order to kill the applications you can go into the task manager and end the applications. I do this daily and have no problems.

You can use the phone as a wireless modem through either infrared, Bluetooth or USB-tethered; all three ways I consistently get speeds over 240 kbps and haven't had the connection drop yet (even while driving). Cingular offers a smartphone connect plan that is $20 a month and has unlimited data (included all data sent and rec'd from the phone).

Bluetooth works well, able to send / recieve data with pc and other phones (Razr v3); Active Sync over Bluetooth; create virtual COM ports for a Bluetooth connection to a GPS reciever.

Battery time is pretty decent, but the (back-lit) display does suck a lot of power if you use it a lot (it has a high-resolution 2.2" 240 X 320 screen). The camera is a 1.3 megapixel and is basically just another 1 megapixel camera/video phone (colors aren't the best, shutter time is slow to respond, etc).

Call quality / reception is pretty average. The speakerphone has decent volume. Hands free dialing (as well as voice tags that can be added to applications) are pretty accurate.

The only hardware that it does not have compared to other Smartphones is wireless (802.11) built-in, but with the Edge data network that's not a huge deal.

I wanted to switch from my Treo 650 and get a phone that was smaller (I'd sacrifice the keyboard) and that ran on Windows so I could access my e-mail through Outlook. The choices were few, and it quickly narrowed down to the 2125.

The "action button" is a problem. It's not much bigger than the head of a pin. It moves the cursor in the four directions, and it acts as the "enter" key when pressed right in the middle. It's very sensitive and it often takes a while to accomplish your task. It needs to be larger.

You pick the different tasks from a 3-page list of icons using the action button. The problem is that is any kind of sunlight, the screen is hard to read. The color scheme is black letters on a dark blue background. The user can't change the color scheme. It's often a matter of guesswork.

I wish it hard one feature of the Treo 650 -- a simple slide switch that allows the user to easily activate the silent mode for all the meetings I attend.

Great phone!