The Cingular 8525 (a.k.a. HTC Hermes) has generated its fair share of buzz in recent months and with good reason. It's the carrier's first 3G-enabled smart phone, and it's fast. Check out the photos here.
The Cingular 8525 is the carrier's first HSDPA/UMTS smart phone, so you should enjoy broadband-like connection speeds on this device. In other words, it's fast.
... but it's also a phone. The Cingular 8525 is a full-featured smart phone running Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition and sports a 2.8-inch touch screen.
Pocket PC phones have a tendency to be clunky and unwieldy, but the Cingular 8525 is actually quite manageable. It has a solid construction and feels comfortable to hold.
At 6.2 ounces, the Cingular 8525 is on the heftier side, so it'll add some weight to your bag. The smart phone also comes packaged with a belt holster.
The Cingular 8525 boasts a fairly spacious QWERTY keyboard with tactile buttons for easy messaging. However, the two soft keys above it are a bit too close to the slide-up cover.
The smart phone features a handy scroll wheel (a la BlackBerry), so you can easily navigate the 8525 with one hand. Nice. There's also a push-to-talk key, but this feature won't be activated until early 2007.
The Cingular 8252 one-ups its predecessor, the Cingular 8125, with its 2-megapixel camera. There's also a built-in flash, a self-portrait mirror, and a lever to switch to macro mode for close-up shots.