Lightning Review: i-Mate Ultimate 8502

8502_front.jpg

The gadget: The i-Mate Ultimate 8502, the company’s new entry-level workhorse touchscreen and keyboard smartphone which is making its local debut on Telstra’s Next G network.
The price: $999
The verdict: It’s a nice enough phone and the network is speedy, but the BlackBerry gang don’t need to get too worried just yet.

On sale this week, the 8502 (and its keyboard-sprouting sibling the
9502) are making their global debut on Telstra’s impressively quick
(and impressively pricey) Next G network. According to i-Mate, an
increasing number of these devices are finding their way into consumer
hands — but despite that claim,
the main target audience remains business users who would otherwise
probably be sporting a BlackBerry.
There’s some nice features — remote locking via a website if you lose
the phone and the ability to build a custom internet presence for
managing it — and the overall design is a logical successor to
previous models. All the Windows Mobile apps are present and correct,
and call quality is good. But given the choice between this and a
BlackBerry, we’d still be feeling fruity.
A big part of the problem is the reliance on Windows Mobile, which is
still far more Windows than Mobile and lacks the really integrated feel
delivered by RIM. Tellingly, despite the full keyboard, there are some
features you can only access using the stylus, which is pretty much
useless for one-handed operation. Typing on the keyboard is adequate,
but even our rather thin fingers slipped up fairly often.
By far the worst feature is the battery life. We used a fully charged
device for half an hour or so’s light web browsing one day — no calls
or high-power activities — and the thing was dead by breakfast the
next morning.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.