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While we weren't impressed by its design, the features of the phone definitely made us sit up and take notice. Not only are there a slew of multimedia options, such as a megapixel camera and a music player, there's also the Boost PTT walkie-talkie service. But first we'll address the basic features. The Motorola i885 comes with a 600-entry phonebook with room for 10 different numbers or e-mail addresses per contact, and the ability to assign each to a group, a picture ID, or a personalized ring tone (only one was provided with the phone, so you'll have to download additional ring tones for more options). Other features include Bluetooth, text and multimedia messaging, the wireless Web, speakerphone, voice dialing, vibrate mode, a datebook, voice recording, and a notepad. What's more, Boost's Nationwide PTT service can be used to send pictures, contact info, and event information. There's also a handy GPS location option that'll help keep you from getting lost.
The 2-megapixel camera on the Motorola i885 takes good photos for a camera phone, definitely better-looking than their 1.3-megapixel and VGA cousins. The camera settings include the choice between Normal and Fine picture quality, seven different picture sizes (the minimum is 96x65 resolution and the maximum is 1,600x1,200), a self-timer, plus 4X digital zoom and flash. There's also a video recorder that can record clips with sound up to a resolution of 176x144. The phone comes with a 64MB MicroSD card, so you can easily store images and videos on it.
One of the best features on the Motorola i885 is the digital audio player. Not only is the user interface well designed, you can access your favorite music easily by artist, album, or genre. Moreover, there's even a separate folder for podcasts. The clean interface reminded us eerily of the iPod's. Sound quality was really fantastic, either when heard through a headset or via the stereo speakers. You upload music to the MicroSD card via the included USB SD card reader.
You can personalize the i885 with a variety of wallpapers, themes, and ring tones. Though the phone itself doesn't come with a lot of options, you can download more of them via the phone's Web browser. The game comes with two Java (J2ME) games (Zuma and a demo of Racing Fever 2), but you can download more.
We tested the (iDEN 850) phone in San Francisco using Boost Mobile's service. Call quality was fantastic on both ends, with callers coming in loud and clear and vice versa. They could hardly tell we were on a cell phone. Speakerphone call quality was also great, with a very loud maximum volume. We paired the phone with the Nokia BH-800 Bluetooth headset successfully, and we made and answered calls without a hitch.
The i885 has a rated talk time of 2.75 hours and a promised standby time of three days. In our tests, we managed to eke out 3 hours of talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Motorola i885 has a digital SAR rating of 1.21 watts per kilogram.
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