I’ve been working with the new Cingular 8525 for three and a half days now, and it’s been through two (very) full work days at client sites etc.. So far, so good. It is performing up to expectations, and in some cases exceeding expectations.

The availability of the 3G data network has been one *very* pleasant surprise so far.  I am seeing the U symbol indicating UMTS / 3G in use more often than not so far. It is available in and around my house, which is in a "used to be woods back there 10 minutes ago" part of town, and at a client site that is infamous for being in a bit of a valley and where it’s tough to get phone signal.  I’m in Austin, Texas – and so far that UMTS availability looks great!

The highest speed test result I’ve seen so far is right around 800k (didn’t screencap that one sadly) – and have seen results ranging from around 250k – 800k, depending on how the signal strength was at the time it seems.

A couple more quick Day 3.5 thoughts after the jump …

I’m a very ham-fisted camera operator, no matter how good or bad the camera itself is – but for what it’s worth, here’s a couple quick snaps from the 8525:

Have been asked a couple of specific questions on other forums about the 8525, so here’s some of those answers:

When using the keyboard, YES there are on-screen indicators for when CAPS are in use and the Shift key.

Call quality and reception – both ends – seems very good so far, including speakerphone use.

Battery life is OK thus far – about equal to the 8125, definitely not seeing better than the 8125, and probably a little worse when making use of the UMTS data. Will get some numbers together soon for this.

Will look to get a full review of the 8525 done soon. In the meantime, happy to answers any questions you all have …

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