New Phone: k810i - I love it, but I already want a different one

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The k810i is the sexiest, most capable slick little phone I have ever used: Push email, IMAP, Symbian OS, 3.2mp Camera, MP3 player, FM radio. Hot.

I was walking through the airport the other day, listening to the radio and reading my emails. On the same phone. Then I saw a cool sculpture so I snapped a picture of it. It didn’t look right (too many people everywhere), so I took a pic of myself to send to Kari in a text. I stopped just before sending because I realized what a prick I was. I was THAT guy, so I stopped. the point is, I COULD have sent that pic I took with my MP3 playing FM radio with bluetooth, a 3.2mp camera and a cellphone. I love it, and I’m not even Asian.

It has some problems, or I should say, I have some problems: it’s a quad band phone, but it has the wrong bands. It’s a UMTS handset, meaning it’s high-speed line is at 2100mhz. That’s fine int he rest of the world, but the US uses 1900mhz. That means I have 3g capabilities on a crequency that doesn’t exist, and I ignore the US’s 3.5g capabilities because I’m using that band for normal calls. Big f’n deal, I don’t have a 3.5g (those bastards still cal it 3g, and for once they’re being overly humble) plan from Cingular. The reason it’s a big deal is the phone drops two things to be a good UMTS device: EDGE (Cingular’s 2.Xg network) so I have to use regular 2g data transfer (slow), and the 850mhz band. Cingular still uses the 850mhz band, and it’s a good band for reaching into buildings and parking garages, because it’s a lower wave-legnth signal (goes through cement and some metals). Also means that here in Atlanta, where Cingular uses the 850 bad for data, my web browser and stuff doesn’t work so good.

As a side note, people are complaining about the tiny buttons. I ove te tiny buttons. Not only do they look awesome, they’re REALLY easy to find in the dark and when not looking at the phone.-

So, what’s the fix? The k850i supports both HSDPA (Cingular’s fancy 3.5g/3g network) AND EDGE (so I can use the data network when I visit poe-dunk Bellingham), and all 4 US bands. It also has a 5mp digital camera. It costs $400 new, but people are saying it’ll be around $200 with a contract when Cingular wises up.

In short, this phone will more than do until I can get the k850i, it’s the most amazing phone I have ever owned, and will be cherished for as long as I can keep it.