At a press event the day before the CTIA 2007 show in San Francisco, i-mate gave us some hands on time with their newest smartphones, including the QWERTY-equipped Ultimate. While we lacked first-hand experience with i-mate's phones, we knew of the company by reputation, and were very interested in getting our hands on the new models. When i-mate announced the price points and unique feature sets, we were especially intrigued, and we had some high expectations. So far, we've been fairly impressed.
The Ultimate 8502 has the best keyboard we have ever used on a mobile phone, ever. Nothing else comes close. Remember when you used to jump on your parents' bed? That's the feeling your fingers will have typing on the springy, gripping keys on the 8502's QWERTY keyboard. The pyramid shape, the soft-touch paint, the great travel and the sharp click all helped this keyboard exceed our expectations.
Of course, the 8502 includes the new thin client-like features that i-mate is advancing with their Ultimate line, though we didn't see the desktop in action on this device. In our time with the phone, the hardware gave us the impression of being sturdy and well built. The phone feels a bit dense, but not heavy, as if the materials and guts of the device are solid. The paint is all soft-touch, the expensive stuff we prefer.
Photos don't do the phone justice. In pictures, it may resemble the recent HP iPaq releases, especially the iPaq 900 series, but it feels much more solid, and the keyboard and screen outclass HP's phone by a wide margin. In fact, if AT&T's network facilitates a smooth experience for the thin client features, we see these phones competing more with UMPCs, and perhaps carving out a space in that category that the current manufacturers haven't been able to find.
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