INTRODUCTION
The Qtek 8500 is another
branding of the first flip phone made by HTC
codenamed the HTC StrTrk or Star Trek or Star100
depending on who you ask. You'll find the same phone
available as the i-mate Smartflip and Dopod S300 at
this time, but it's sure to be re-branded when
picked up by other mobile carriers.
When I bought the Qtek 8500 from Smart Mobile Gadgets, I was very excited about this breakthrough form-factor... not to mention finally getting to play with the Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile 5. It turns out the Smartphone flavor of Windows Mobile 5 has a lot of differences from the Pocket PC Phone version. As for the Qtek 8500 and it's HTC Star Trek variants, read on for all the details on this beautiful little Smartphone.
I asked Patrick Stewart what he thought about HTC code-naming this phone the "Star Trek" but he wasn't in the mood to answer 'stupid questions.'
WHAT'S HOT
The Qtek 8500's most impressive features
are it's sleek style and thin body. In terms of it's
specifications, it's got Bluetooth 1.2, 195Mhz TI
850 OMAP
CPU, USB 1.1, 64Mb ROM, 64Mb RAM, Windows Mobile 5 (AKU
2.3), 2.2" 240x320px 64K color screen, 1.2"
128x128px color external screen, Quadband GSM/EDGE and a 1.3MP camera.
(all images link to high resolution)
What's hot about the HTC Star Trek
is that it's not just for geeks...
This phone's got sex appeal.
|
Device (no cover) |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams |
ounces) |
|
Qtek 8500 |
3.88" x 2.02"
x 0.62" |
99 | 3.49 |
|
4.18" x 2.31"
x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
|
4.40" x 2.30" x 0.90" |
180 | 6.40 |
|
|
Motorola Q
|
4.56" x 2.48" x 0.45"
|
115 | 4.05
|
|
4.60" x 2.79" x 0.82"
|
165 | 5.82 |
|
|
4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" |
160 | 5.64 |
|
|
4.92" x 2.81" x
0.71" |
210 | 7.40
|
|
|
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
The HTC Star Trek is still a bit larger than the STNG (Star Trek Next Generation) Communicator... which could be a good code-name for a future HTC phone.
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The Qtek 8500 comes with a USB sync cable, AC
adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, software CD and
manual.
THE DEVICE
The Qtek 8500's design is very stylish, slim, and sexy. Since HTC has crammed a 240x320 pixel screen into a 2.2 inch area, the crispness and color of the display is excellent... except outdoors. If you're outside during the day, this screen gets totally washed out. The shiny plastic covering also helps cause a lot of glare while outdoors.
The Qtek 8500's form-factor can't be beat when closed. The ends of the external cover (opposite the hinge) are black rubber to protect against scratches while the rest of the body is black plastic with tiny ridges. And take a look at that external screen! It's actually a square color screen, but at certain angles the seams blend into the mirrored plastic beautifully.
On the right side you see the proprietary power/sync/audio connector port. On the upper part of the phone is the camera button. Pressing it once starts the camera application. Pressing it again takes a picture.
On the upper part of the left side of the phone you'll see two volume control buttons and a third button which activates the voice tags recognition application. Also notice how thin the phone is when opened.
Inside the hinge is a little loop for a lanyard.
The keypad is very similar to that of the Motorola RAZR. It's smooth flat brushed metal with indentations separating the buttons.
The Qtek 8500 works great with Bluetooth headsets, however the bluetooth reception is more on par with normal HTC phones. In other words it's not nearly as good as the HTC Prophet (imate JAMin).
The imate K-JAM, JAMin, and Qtek 8500 side by side.
In our stack-up, you can see the Qtek 8500 on top is the smallest. The imate JAMin is in the middle followed by the thick imate KJAM on the bottom.
The included stereo headphones plug into the proprietary port on the side of the phone. Don't expect to use you're own headphones. So far there are no adapters for this port either.
If you like to play your music in your car, you'll need an A2DP Stereo Bluetooth Adapter. I use the i.Tech Clip S35 which is basically an A2DP and Handsfree Bluetooth profile receiver with a 3.5mm audio jack. This way all you have to do is plug in a normal car stereo cassette adapter or FM Transmitter and you're good to go.
The MicroSD card slot is located behind the battery cover and underneath the SIM card slot. Don't plan on swapping this out too often. I keep a 1Gb MicroSD card in there.
THE EXTERNAL SCREEN
One of the most interesting features of the Qtek 8500 that
set it apart from other Windows Mobile 5 Smartphones
is the useful external screen.
Missed call notifications, Calendar Appointment notifications, and new mail notifications will appear here. And if you press the camera button, you can use the external screen as a viewfinder as well.
Incoming calls will appear with the Caller ID photo as synchronized from Outlook. You also see two icons in the lower part of the screen which associate with the left and right "skip track" hardware buttons just below. The left one mutes the ringer, while the right one ignores the call.
When nothing's going on, the external screen shows general status icons along with your choice of clock style or background art. The "E" represents EDGE registration. There's a Bluetooth icon meaning Bluetooth is on. Then there's the battery level icon and the GSM reception level icon at the end. The clock style shown here is the "Digital Clock 1" style.
Analog Clock 3
Analog Clock 2
Analog Clock 1
Digital Clock 2
Wallpaper image
The last extremely cool function of the external screen is it's integration with Windows Media Player. While Windows Media Player is active the external screen shows track information and the hardware buttons on the cover will control the music. After the screen goes to sleep mode, you have to press a button once to wake it up and then again to perform its function. So if you're listening to music and want to skip a track, you often have to press the skip button twice in order
