I got my 8525 just over a week ago and I give the device a solid 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I’ll keep this simple:

The Goods:

Improved Usability - They added some buttons to launch the start menu and to select the close or OK button. They also replaced the “slider” button on the 8125 with a Blackberry-style scrolling wheel. The wheel has a select function by pressing it, just like on the Blackberry. They also put an OK button there, which I have yet to use, but understand why it’s there.

Speed - This is better in two ways. The phone itself. I have a lot of contacts. Something like 1200 of them. The phone “queries” these contacts when I am looking for a phone number, typing an email or a text message. My 8125 was brutally slow at this. This baby has no problems with them. The second way is the connectivity. I am one those people that actually hit google from the phone every once in a while or lookup and address on Yahoo Yellow Pages. The speed hitting the net is as Cingular claims most of the time… “near broadband” speeds.

Size / Footprint - In a couple of words… it’s smaller. As someone that used (and liked) the 8125 quite a bit, a reduction in size is great. It makes the keyboard a but smaller, but still a great size. I consider it ideal. I had a Treo 650 and the keyboard was my complaint about it. I am not small and neither are my hands, so keyboard sice is important to me.

Camera - It’s a 2 Megapixel and the new Camera software is great. It is actually better than the third-party CoolCamera app that I was using on my 8125.

The Not-So Goods:

Battery - Here’s a retread… In a couple of words, it’s TERRIBLE. I am hoping I have a bad battery. The phone doesn’t last a day for me. Just to give you a sense for my power profile, I do not use Bluetooth, so it’s off, I do use ActiveSync with DirectPush for email. I do not use Wifi, so it is off. I think my screen goes dark after 10 seconds of being idle. I have nothing good to say about the battery life.

“The Dongle” - Instead of simply using miniUSB, like the 8125 did, the power interface into the phone is something different. No idea what it is and I am frankly not that interested in researching it. I hope there is a reason for this additional interface because it sure is a pain. This pain is only made worse by the fact that the battery life is not good. You lose this thing, you can’t charge it.

Windows Mobile 5 - This is not specifically about the device, but I simply wish that the “SmartPhone” features could exist on these devices. I especially loved the fact that my 2125 automagically changed my profile to meeting based on a meeting on my calendar. Bring it to the PPC version Microsoft!

Memory Card - I am cheap. Why change from the MiniSD to the Micro SD? I know why. To sell more memory cards. Just kidding, sort of. I went from a nice 2GB Mini to a 1GB Micro on my 8525. Admittedly, I have less than 100MB on the card, so it’s not a capacity issue for me. The digital camera was an unexpected beneficiary. Merry Christmas Canon Powershot!

I used to say that my 8125 was my favorite of all the devices I have had, and I have had a few. I have a new favorite and it’s this one. The battery issue could potentially be a show-stopper for me, but I plan to check with Cingular on this and see if they can help me.

Here are a few pictures of the 8525. You can see a slideshow with some more here.

If you ever watched TechTV, which is no longer because not enough of us did, you probably remember James Kim making an apperance from time to time. He used to provide really good reviews of all sorts of new gadgets hitting the market. Well, James and his family ran into some trouble over the Thanksgiving holidays and they ended up stuck in a remote area of Southern Oregon. You can read the whole story here.

The long and the short of it is that after realizing that they were stuck, James set out to find help for he and his family (Wife and two daughters). James was found yesterday afternoon deceased in the wilderness of Southern Oregon. James’ wife and two daughters were found on Monday and are doing well. She is said to have nursed her two daughters to keep them alert and well throughout the ordeal.

James Kim did what he had to do to care for his family in a time of need. His wife Kati did the same for their children. James died doing so. Rest in Peace James and best of luck to Kati and their family.

Here are some other links about this story:

CNET News Announcement about finding James

CNET Memorial for James

Statement from the Family and a link to leave a DONATION for them

James’ CNET Profile