QTEK 8500 Reviews

Geek.com reviews the QTEK 8500 (HTC Star Trek), and finds it slim and ergonomic. About the phone’s display: “When the QTEK 8500 opens it is actually quite long, but that works well when holding it up to your head and talking on it. The display and speaker are on the top flap and the display is bright and beautiful. It is a high resolution QVGA (240×320) model like the i-mate SP5m I also have.” Link.

The Unwired reviews the Qtek 8500, and concludes, “Just from the regular user point of view, it is mass-market ready (as I said before - only hardcore Windows Mobile phone fans might miss some features) since it looks attractive (and even more important) state-of-the-art, has all state-of-the-art features (like megapixel camera) on board and can do even more, thanks to the Windows Mobile operating system.” Link.

Trusted Reviews reviews the Qtek 8500 and concludes, “It is nice to see Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone break away from the candy bar format, and there is nothing amiss with the software itself which stacks up to its appearances in other hardware well. Indeed the inclusion of the ClearVue suite could be quite an advantage for some. … But there are plenty of alternatives to choose from in the Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone camp, and unless you are a flip phone fan not a great deal to recommend this variant over one of the others.” Link.

TechWorld has a review up of the QTEK 8500 and writes, “It seems that this phone doesn’t really know what it is. It’s not intuitive enough to rival a mass market handset like a Sony Ericsson W700i, despite having the credentials there in theory (different colours, MP3 player externally, 1.3 megapixel camera). On the other hand, the lack of QWERTY keyboard and awkward controls makes it hard to make the most of what Windows Mobile can offer. It seems like it will appeal to those who occasionally want email and internet access, but won’t be bothered with the lack of easy shortcuts you’d normally expect from a similar looking phone.” Link.

IT Reviews has a review up of the Qtek 8500 and writes, “If you are a frequent texter you may not like the number pad. Certainly I found it less easy to text at speed using it than I do when using a more tactile numberpad made up from separate keys. … The Qtek 8500 is an eye-catching handset and it is nice to see Windows Mobile 5.0 in a flip format. It is probably not going to suit those wanting long battery life or having the need to do a lot of fast texting, but it is small and light and does what you’d expect a Windows Mobile 5.0 handset to do.” Link.

MobileTechReview has a review up of the Qtek 8500 and writes, “The Smartphone is a phone first then a PDA so the list is shorter than Pocket PC. There’s no Word/Excel/PowerPoint but there is Email, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks plus Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer and Pocket MSN. QTEK and i-mate add the HTC applications for Camera and Video Camera though the output is viewed on Microsoft’s integrated Pictures and Videos app. System tools include an HTC File Manager but no Registry Editor. i-mate also adds document viewer suite too. … I’ve dragged this out as long as I could in the hope that there would be a resolution to the radio problem. This is a great phone; performance, design, feel; it’s all top notch but what if you want to use it as a phone; if so it’s a sub-par device with weak reception. All-in-all I have to move on, pass over, leave behind… well, until the reception fix is released. Or go for the i-mate Smartflip instead. One last word; Cingular in the US has released their version (Sept. 13, 2006) and big carriers don’t usually make big mistakes so I eagerly await their version of this otherwise excellent Smartphone.” Link.

TechDigest has a review of the QTEK 8500 and concludes, “It seems that this phone doesn’t really know what it is. It’s not intuitive enough to rival a mass market handset like a Sony Ericsson W700i, despite having the credentials there in theory (different colours, MP3 player externally, 1.3 megapixel camera). On the other hand, the lack of QWERTY keyboard and awkward controls makes it hard to make the most of what Windows Mobile can offer. It seems like it will appeal to those who occasionally want email and internet access, but won’t be bothered with the lack of easy shortcuts you’d normally expect from a similar looking phone. It’s available for £305 SIM free, or free on certain O2 contracts.” Link. Link.