Reviewer : Chris Leckness
Vendor : Cingular
Price : $149.99

Edit : Removed references to Bluetooth 2.0, this was a typo on my pre-release marketing info from Cingular. Cingular apologizes for this incovience it may have cause anyone.

Here we are again with another Windows Mobile Smartphone review.

When the Motorola RAZR( see comparison photos ) came out a couple years ago, I loved the form factor, but I was already married to Windows Mobile PPC Phones, so it made no sense to grab one for myself. I have always been envious of the RAZR's looks and thin profile. When the HTC Star Trek was announced, I was very happy to see a Windows Mobile phone with a similar look and feel. I had an opportunity to pick up the Qtek 8500 for a discounted rate a few months ago, but missed the boat, so I was elated to get my hands on this Cingular 3125. I am going to sound like a broken record to those that read my reviews, but I have never really liked using a Windows Mobile Smartphone because of the T9 text input method, but I am learning. The Motorola Q gave me an chance to enjoy a Windows Mobile Smartphone while not having to deal with T9, but I am learning to use T9 more efficiently. Despite my addiction to Pocket PC Phones, I am starting to enjoy the usability and performance of a Windows Mobile Smartphone. I find that these devices focus more on phone functionality with "added" features of email, document viewing, and PIM functions instead of these "added" features being first and phone second on Pocket PC Phones.

The Cingular 3125 is a re branded HTC Star Trek (Star100). The hardware has been re branded by several other companies already, but this one has some added ROM and updated drivers. The Dopod S300, Qtek 8500, Orange SPV F600, and the i-mate Smartflip all have 64mb RAM and 64mb ROM, where the Cingular 3125 has 64mb RAM and 128mb ROM.

What do you get? (check out the 1st Look here)

• Cingular 3125
• Software and Manuals
• Sync Cable
• Charging Cable
• Headphones

SPECIFICATIONS

• Processor : 200mhz TI OMAP 850
• OS : Windows Mobile 5
• Screen : 2.2" 240 x 320 LCD Internal / 1.2" 128 x 128 LCD External
• Memory : 64 MB RAM; 128 MB flash ROM
• Expansion : micro SD slot
• Battery : 1100 maH Lithium Ion battery
• Size : 98.5mm x 51.4mm x 16.3 mm
• Weight : 108.5g
• Phone : Quad-Band 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE

THE DESIGN
The slim "RAZR-LIKE" form factor is amazing. I haven't used a flip phone since the Motorola MPx220, so this has taken some getting used to. The 3125 is just hair over 1mm thicker than the RAZR, but remember that it packs one heck of a punch with that extra width.

The device itself feels bulletproof. I have had the Cingular 3125 for about two weeks now and I haven't put a scratch on it. (not to mention, I have yet to drop it) The upper portion of the front and back of the phone have horizontal ridges that from a distance looks flat and the lower 1/3 of the 3125 has a rubber-like finish. It looks very stylish, but I am sure that it was engineered to help us keep a grip on it.

Something that Cingular doesn't appear to be making any fuss over is the 1100mah battery. The previous HTC Star Trek models have come with a wimpy 700mah battery, but still kept a good battery life span. The drawback to the extra 400mah is that there is a hump on the rear that adds a touch of thickness over the previous re brands.

The left side houses a lanyard loop on the far left in the fold as well as the voice dialing activation button (single button furthest left) and the volume up and down buttons.


On the right side, you have the proprietary USB connector that I think is horrible. The lone button on this side is the camera button. When the 3125 is closed, the camera faces towards you, so you can snap your own picture! When it is closed, it faces away from you.

You can see from this photo that the Cingular 3125 is extremely thin!

As you can see above, the micro SD card fits into the metal housing that is tilted up to the right. When it lowered, you place the SIMM card above it by sliding across the micro SD housing to the left.

Comparison Shots

From left to right ( Motorola Q, Cingular 3125, and the T-Mobile SDA )

From left to right ( Motorola Q, Cingular 3125, and the T-Mobile SDA )

Palm Treo 700w and the Cingular 3125 (left) - i-mate Kjam and the Cingular 3125 (right)

Motorola MPx220 and the Cingular 3125

Motorola Q and the Cingular 3125 (left) - T-Mobile SDA and the Cingular 3125 (right)

Cingular 3125 Features
The 3125 is a Windows Mobile Smartphone, so is it smart? Sure it is.

All the things you would expect from a Smartphone, except one is all in this tiny, slim, black package. You have a Quad Band, EDGE enabled phone. You have the Windows Mobile OS. You have Push Email, Stereo Bluetooth, Pocket Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, Text Messaging, and on and on. You have WiFi.... Wait, no WiFi. Uh oh. Many debate come up when talking about WiFi and today's Smartphones. Some think WiFi is useless with EDGE and EV-DO networks available most everywhere. What about those that like to sit on the couch and check box scores while watching the game, why pay for a data plan when you have WiFi in your home or office? For a true road warrior, I think a data plan with EDGE or EV-DO is the right choice, but for a casual business user that isn't on the road all the time, sometimes a data plan prices itself out of a job. I personally wouldn't mind WiFi, but its not a deal breaker to me.

Bluetooth
In the time I have had this phone, I have paired a couple standard Bluetooth headsets and the Motorola HT-820 Stereo Bluetooth headset with no troubles at all. The transmission of the data was flawless and the range was great. Nobody complained about my voice quality, so that is a good test considering I spend a considerable amount of time on the phone each day.

Phone
As a phone... Oh my, Something that the Smartphones have that a PocketPC Phone does not, strong communications. Before I jumped up from the Pocket PC and a "regular cell phone" combo, I used to be able to catch a good signal anywhere in my home. (live far out from the city) When I started using Pocket PC Phones and threw out the old faithful, free Nokia, I judged a phone on how many bars I got at home. For example, the i-mate Kjam (my favorite phone that I have owned over the past few years) got 1-2 bars on a good day before the big ROM upgrade. After the upgrade, 2-3 most of the time. On the same network, an unlocked SDA, got me 3-4 bars. The Cingular 6515 was pretty bad at 1-2 bars. The Cingular 3125, I am proud to say, gets 4-5 bars!!! I think it all boils down to where to cut out battery power. Do we lower the reception some to get better battery life or do we cut corners elsewhere?

Bottom line, the Cingular 3125 has been the best Windows Mobile Powered "Phone" I have used to date as a voice calling device.

Camera
Ok, now for the obligatory "camera phone" shots. I will precede this segment by saying that I believe that they make Digital Cameras for taking photos and phones for making calls. I can see the need to take a "I saw the artist formerly know as Prince at the airport" here and there, but I don't put a lot of value in camera operation of a cell phone. The camera is 1.3 Megapixel and has no flash and limited zoom capability. (2x Digital)

Inside 1x (click image for full size)	Inside 2x (click image for full size)
Outside 1x (click image for full size)	Outside 2x (click image for full size)

PERFORMANCE
Hearing that the Cingular 3125 only has a 200mhz TI OMAP 850 processor, a lot of people shun the processor not expecting to see any pep in its step. This is simply not the case here, the 3125 performed well as long as proper care was take to stop all running files. Using the task manager, you can stop all programs running by selecting the file and stop or by stopping all. I can image already that someone is going to run programs and never stop them and eventually the speed will become unbearable and they are going to slam this device. Stop programs, uninstall apps you don't use, and turn the device on/off a couple times a week to keep cache and available memory under control.

Battery Life
This is an important measure for me since I use the phone so much. The battery being bumped up from 750mah to 1100mah from earlier Star Trek variants surely gives the 3125 an edge. My experience was measured in two watched exercises. The typical day is 2-3 hours of talk time, 30-60 minutes of solitaire or other games, 30 min of EDGE web browsing, and 30-60 minutes playing around with settings or letting someone "check it out".

The 1st was to use the phone under normal daily conditions for as long as I could with Bluetooth on. I used for 2 compete days before I was convinced that I wasn't going to get another day out of it.

The 2nd test last 3 days. Using the 3125 as a phone/PIM mainly with Bluetooth off, I was able to get through 3 days.

Software
The Cingular 3125 comes with Windows Mobile 5 and all of the goodies that follow the OS. Former Windows Mobile users from both Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms will have no trouble getting around Windows Mobile 5, but the people dropping their RAZR to give a Window Mobile Powered phone a go will have some growing pains for sure.

The standard apps are here...
Activesync, Windows Media Player 10, Pocket MSN, Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE), etc. Something that is missing is Microsoft Office applications. Instead of leaving us with the task of finding our own solutions, the Cingular 3125 comes with the ClearVue Suite of applications that allow you to at least view any Office Document.

Today Screen	Program Menu 1	Program Menu 2	Program Menu 3
Program Menu 4	Accessories	Settings Menu Page 1	Settings Menu Page 2
System Information	Camera Application	Camera Application Settings	Photos and Videos
Viewing a photo taken with Camera	Cingular Music Menu	Communications Manager	Bluetooth Settings
Good Technology	Opening a Powerpoint Presentation in ClearVue Presentations	Viewing a Powerpoint Presentation in ClearVue Presentations	Opening an Excel Document in ClearVue Worksheet
Viewing an Excel Document in ClearVue Worksheet	Viewing an Excel Document in ClearVue Worksheet. Zoom Menu	Viewing an Excel Document in ClearVue Worksheet. Zoomed in	Opening an Word Document in ClearVue Document
Viewing an Word Document in ClearVue Document	Dialing a number. You can see that the application attempts to find matches from data input.	Video Camera Mode	Pocket MSN
The Classic, Solitaire	Bubble Breaker

DISPLAY / MULTIMEDIA
The Cingular 3125 has two displays, one external and one internal.

The display inside of the 3125 is a 2.2" TFT LCD at a resolution of 240x320. This is a great size for a Smartphone and keeps the orientation in tact for running existing applications. Some of the other phones out today have odd configs, making some software incompatible. The screen is crystal clear, bright, and vibrant. If someone is coming from a PPC phone to this, it will take some getting used to the smaller size as well as not having a touchscreen. With the Moto Q, I had a hard time trying to resist tapping the screen, with this smaller, more phone-like form factor, my instincts do not take over and force me to tap!

The external display is your friend. The external screen is a 1.2" 128x128 color LCD (my photos below came out looking monochrome, but believe me, it's color). This display can show a ton of info you need without opening the phone. I have take a couple shots of some of the views below, a picture "is" worth a thousand words. It displays 6 different preset clock looks, shows track info for the MP3 player, and shows who is calling, etc.

The images below do not capture the true quality of the external display, they do show the wealth of info that can be accessed with phone still closed.
External Display - Analog Clock 1	External Display - Digital Clock 1	External Display - Media Player
External Display - Incoming Caller	External Display - Missed Call

On the subject of Multimedia, the Cingular 3125 has Windows Media Player 10 built in. WMP 10 can be controlled with the phone open or closed. Opened, you control using a your hard keys with a WMP 10 Default theme. The real fun happens when the 3125 is closed. If you look at the buttons just below the display (below), you will see a forward, reverse, and play button. With display dimmed, you can press once to get the clock screen then on the second press of the play button, you get control of the MP3 player. If you have a play list ready to go, you can press it a third time to "play" the track displayed. If you already have the player running, a single press brings the player up. OK, now its time for even more button trickery... Now, you have the music blaring and you want to cut it off now, what do you do? Pressing the play button once pauses the music, holding it down for 3 seconds shuts WMP10 down.

I did test the Cingular 3125 with the Motorola HT-820 Stereo Bluetooth headset and the sound was amazing over Bluetooth all the functions worked fine, including stopping the music and ringing in my ear when an incoming call comes in..

Conclusion
Although I am not typicaly a Smartphone user since I prefer Pocket PC phones, I did enjoy using this phone. It was surprising how little I desired WiFi and a touchscreen during this time. If you need WiFi on your next phone, this one is not for you. If you are an EDGE power user, go buy now!

Overall, I say this phone is a winner. We have Windows Mobile on a phone that costs less than $200, looks better than the RAZR, and performs well. The shortcomings of the Cingular 3125 fall far behind the positives. For me, no WiFi and poor camera does not affect me much at all. The Proprietary connector is easy to get around as well using Bluetooth headphones. Having a Windows Mobile Smartphone that flat our works is enough.

Pros

• Current Windows Mobile 5 Build including A2DP
• Very appealing and functional form factor
• Upgraded ROM (from 64mb ROM in other Star Trek Variants to 128mb)
• Super useful external screen
• Great Reception
• Price. At $149.99 w/contract, Cingular should sell millions of these!
• Great Battery Life

Cons

• Proprietary Connector
• Micro SD card not able to be swapped out without powering down device and removing SIMM.
• Poor Camera
• No WiFi