iPhone vs AT&T 8525 : Which is the Better one?

March 17, 2008

iphone8525.jpg

Recently there are a lot of rumors running around about the Apple iPhone and the AT&T 8525, and people want to know which is the better one. So by that, here is a breif comparison between both cellphones: The 8525 is a business handset with consumer features, while iPhone is a consumer handset with business features. They both converge, yet they end up in very different places. But which one is the better one? iPhone vs 8525? See below more details about them:

Display: iPhone has 3.5 inches vs 2.8 from the 8525;
Menu: iPhone comes with “essential features” at main display; 8525 allows selection of such for “Today” display;
Interface/entry: iPhone has touchscreen control for everything, and vertical qwerty on screen (one and only keying option) which can’t go horizontal and must go elsewhere for symbols or numbers (very inconvenient for texting/emailing) while 8525 has qwerty touchscreen (w/numbers) stylus included, slideout physical qwerty, blackberry roll/punch trackwheel, and directional button similar/common to many cell keypads;
Connectivity: both has Bluetooth 2.0 and wi-fi, together with same data network via AT&T aka Cingular;
Camera: each has 2.0 megapixel but 8525 adds video and more snapshot/shutter options;
Messaging & email: similar at first look, but iPhone has no cut/paste features;
PDF/Word/Excel: iPhone only views, while 8525 creates and edits (just not on pdf’s);
Video/Music: i via itunes (but must sync to manage); 8525 via media player or web interfaces (cellular video, mobitv, mobile xmradio, and others), and relevant to this feature is 4GB on iphone w/o expandability, then 51MB on 8525 expansion card adds 2.0GB ;
Browser: iPhone has an edge here, using the Safari which render true web vs. mobile web you get (as available) on 8525 (haven’t tried non-windows browser on 8525 yet)

Comparison Chart iPhone Vs 8525:

  AT&T 8525 Apple iPhone
Mobile networks GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Unlocks for non-AT&T networks Yes, at AT&T’s discretion
(ask at end of contract)		 Unknown
TCP/IP downstream speed 400-800 Kbps AT&T est. No Apple est. (EDGE ~128 Kbps)
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g 802.11b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 2.0 + extended data rate (EDR)
Camera 2 megapixel w/LED flash 2 megapixel
Platform Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC
(upgrade to WM6 in Q3)		 OS X
Display 2.8″ 320×240 touch (finger/stylus) 3.5″ 320×480 capacitive multi-touch
Keyboard Backlit QWERTY, slide out On-screen QWERTY
Buttons Power, trackwheel, push to talk, nav pad+select, others Power
CPU 32-bit Samsung ARM Intel x86
E-mail Pocket Outlook (Exchange/IMAP/POP), Good, AT&T Xpress Mail Proprietary (IMAP/POP)
Browser Pocket Internet Explorer
Opera opt.		 Safari
Chat/IM Yahoo, AOL (iChat), Windows Live, SMS, MMS SMS
Media player Windows Media 10 Proprietary/QuickTime
Java VM Yes No
Flash Player No No
Dev platform .net Compact Framework JavaScript/Dashboard
Dev tools Visual Studio 2005, $799 TBD (Leopard Dashcode?)
PC Internet gateway/modem Yes,EDGE/3G TBD
Attachment View/Edit Word,Excel,PowerPoint HTML (edit?)
Light sensor Yes Yes
Orientation sensor Keyboard slide-out switches to landscape Yes, accelerometer
Proximity sensor No Yes (answers call)
Voice dialing Yes,in-phone TBD
Voice commands Yes TBD
Sync ActiveSync, MS Direct Push OTA
Contacts,calendar,e-mail,tasks		 iTunes
Contacts,calendar,e-mail,bookmarks
User memory 64 MB internal + add-in SD card (opt) 4 or 8 GB, non-expandable
Talk time 5 hours 8 hours
Standby time 240 hours 250 hours
Size 4.43 x 2.28 x 0.86″ 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46″
Weight 6.2 ounces 4.8 ounces
Price $599 list
$449 w/2 yr contract
 $399/$499 list
8 GB/16 GB RAM
2 yr contract req’d

What is the conclusion?… Who wins? It’s very hard to say. Both can provide a lot for consumers and business users. I live to you the final choice. Feel free to leave any comments about this post “iPhone vs AT&T 8525″ below.

Written by admin · Filed Under iPhone, iPhone Competitors, iPhone vs 8525, iPhone vs Others