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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 166 reviews
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Product summary
The good: Solid camera features; large, vibrant display; one-click access to key functions; world phone; strong call quality and battery life; IR port.
The bad: Bulky; uses DoJa instead of J2ME for games.
The bottom line: If you're looking for a quality camera phone that can do more than snap pictures, consider the NEC 525 HDM from AT&T Wireless.
Specifications: Carrier: Cingular Wireless ; Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) ; Talk time: Up to 320 min ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 02/19/2004
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| For a flip phone, the NEC 525 is on the bulky side. |
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| The camera lens is above the external LCD, which serves as the viewfinder when the phone is closed. |
Through a single click, two soft keys permit access to messaging functions (e-mail, SMS, and MMS), mMode, and a list of games and applications. In addition, the four-way navigation toggle directs you to the modes menu, voice memos, and the list of missed and received calls. Finally, instead of an OK button, a key in the middle of the toggle launches the mobile's camera function, while a Menu button does double duty as the entrance point for the main menu and the options page for whichever screen you're currently viewing. There's also a dedicated control for the NEC 525's phone book. On the downside, the recessed dial-pad keys are close together, and the green backlighting is quite dim, though the menu buttons are well spaced.
The one significant improvement over the 515's design is the addition of a square external LCD, which gives you access to caller ID (when available), time, date, battery life, and network signal without opening the cover. Although the 1-inch, 4,096-color display is rather small and not terribly bright, it's better than no screen at all. Like the Sanyo SCP-5300's, the NEC 525's external screen functions as the camera viewfinder when you take a self-portrait. Also on the front of the phone are the camera's lens; a seven-color LED light; and a two-way button that controls volume, works the camera shutter, and activates the ring silencer.
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 We liked the NEC's picture quality. |
The features for the NEC's 100,000-pixel camera include a 2X zoom mode; a brightness-level adjustment; and a selection of Normal, Fine, and Superfine image-quality modes. There's no option for image size, however, so all shots come out as 352x288 images. The upside: Even photos taken in Superfine mode are small, typically about 8K, so it takes little time to send a picture message. The phone dedicates 1MB of shared memory for pictures, phone book entries, and ring tones, so you should have ample storage space for your photos. Other goodies include a self-timer to let you get in on the action and a selection of six decorative frames for your shots, which can be snapped in your choice of monochrome or sepia tones.
If you'd like to send photos via e-mail or MMS immediately after taking them, it's simple: just click one of the soft keys and enter the appropriate contact manually or from the phone book. Sending stored photos, however, requires you to get through the messaging menu. It would be nice to be able to send previously stored shots while in camera mode.
Finally, this handset features two processors: one for phone functions and one for DoJa apps, which allows for faster game loading and simultaneous key-presses. The 525 comes with three games: Blackjack, Star Diversion, and Bowling. Unfortunately, the phone supports only DoJa (DoComo Java), so your selections are limited, and existing J2ME games won't work with this model.We tested the quad-band (GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900) world phone in the Chicago area using AT&T Wireless service. Call quality was generally strong, and callers frequently commented that they couldn't tell we were using a cell phone.
Battery life was excellent, as well. We coaxed about 5 hours of talk time, in range of NEC's maximum rating of 5.4 hours, and managed 7 days of standby time, compared with the company's claims of 6.25 days.
 Road warriors will appreciate the included travel charger. |
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- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 166 reviews
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