4WinMobile have been very fortunate to have the i-mate Ultimate 8150 offered for review by i-mate themselves. Following on from the decision to move away from re-branded HTC units i-Mate have been actively pursuing their own designs and the Ultimate 8150 is one of the first fruits of that process.
The Ultimate 8150 is aimed towards the more functional, higher quality end of the market for users looking for a well specified device in a (relatively) compact form factor. It is certainly hard to categorise the device. Is it a Smartphone with a touchscreen or is it a standard PDA with a keypad? My personal opinion is the latter. It is an excellent Touchscreen device (so runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional) with the added flexibility of a keypad for quick alphanumeric input.
This is a bold move from i-mate who are obviously trying to separate themselves out from the HTC crowd with intriguing design and innovative features and for that they should be commended. The question then arises -
have they succeeded? Better read on to find out!
Our thanks go to Bridgett Botha at i-mate for the loan of the Ultimate 8150.
As always in the hardware section of the review all images shown are thumbnails which may be clicked upon to load a larger more detailed image.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: i-mate
Supplier: Various International Vendors - e.g. Expansys (Europe & USA), Clove Technology (UK)
Product Name: Ultimate 8150
Price: Varies depending on market - UK price £479.99 inclusive of VAT. US price $809.95 (both prices from Expansys) Clove Technology £468.82 inclusive
Lets begin with a detailed look at the technical aspects of the device....
There are some interesting items to highlight at the outset. Firstly i-mate have managed to fit a relatively small 2.6" (about 65mm) screen on the device but with full VGA resolution - yes a full 480x640 pixel screen in an LCD with 262K colours. It really is glorious to view and superbly clear even given its relatively small physical dimensions.
Next up is a pretty snappy Intel PXA270 processor running at 520MHz, a pretty healthy dollop of both ROM (256MB) and RAM (128MB) putting it right up there with recent HTC devices such as the Kaiser and a VGA out port for use on external display devices such as monitors and projectors!
That's not a bad start for any device....
SYSTEM INFORMATION
Processor: Intel PXA270 @ 520MHz
Memory: ROM : 256 MB / RAM : 128 MB SDRAM
(Figures are the total ROM and RAM memory available for use and storage. Since the memory is shared by the Operating System, applications, and data, the actual available memory is less than shown and detailed below).
Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
POWER
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery, 1530 mAh
Charging Time: 2.5 - 3 hours
Battery Life (estimates):
- Standby time:Up to 150 hours for GSM/UMTS
- Talk time: Up to 4 hours for GSM/UMTS
- Up to 2.5 hours for video call (video telephony)
- Media playback time:
- Up to 8 hours (WMV);
- Up to 12 hours (WMA)
AC Adapter:
- Voltage range/frequency: 100 - 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
- DC output: 5V and 1A
DISPLAY
LCD Type: 2.6" (65mm) transflective TFT-LCD with backlight LEDs, touch sensitive screen
Resolution: 480 x 640 with 262K colours
Alignment: Portrait and Landscape
GRAPHICS SUB-SYSTEM
NVIDIA GoForce 5500 Graphics Accelerator
HSDPA (Cat 6)/ UMTS (Tri-Band)/ GSM (Quad-Band) / GPRS (Class 10) / EDGE (Quad-Band) Module
Functionality:
- HSDPA/UMTS: 2100MHz for Europe, 850/1900MHz for USA.
- HSDPA: Up to 384kbps for upload and 3.6Mbps for download;
- UMTS: Up to 384kbps for upload and download
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, and 1900)
Internal Antenna: Yes
PHYSICAL
Dimensions: 118.5 mm (L) x 60.5 mm (W) x 15.5 mm (T)
Weight: 152 g (with battery)
| CAMERA MODULE
Type Main camera: 2.0 Megapixel colour CMOS camera
Second camera: Color CMOS CIF camera
Resolution Photo: 1600x1200 (UXGA), 1280x960 (SXGA), 640x480 (VGA), 320x240 (QVGA), 160x120 (QQVGA)
Resolution Video: 320x240, 176x144
Digital Zoom: Up to 8X
CONNECTIONS
I/O Port: Mini-USB V1.1. Used for Power and Audio functions
Wireless Connections: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, A2DP, AVRCP, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/e/i) Infrared (Specification not listed)
Expansion Slots: Card Slot: microSD (NOT SDHC compatible)
AUDIO
Audio Controller: AGC
Microphone/Speaker: Built-in/Dual, Hands-free
FM Radio: Yes
Ring tone:
- 40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
- MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV, and AMR-NB
Windows Media Player: MP3, WMA, MID, AMR, AWB, M4A
CONTROLS AND LIGHTS
Buttons:
- 5-way NAVIGATION Control
- Jog Wheel
- Two phone functions : TALK and END
- Three program buttons : OK (LH Side), Comm Manager and Camera
- START button
- OK (Front) button
- Two SOFT KEYs
- POWER button
- RESET button
Hardware Keypad: Yes, T9 compatible
LEDs:
- Two tri-colour units denoting status for Phone, Notifications, Wi-fi, Bluetooth and battery status |
EXTERNALS AND HARDWARE
 | WHAT'S IN THE BOX
i-mate kindly supplied the full retail packaging to 4Winmobile which is our preferred choice as it allows us to comment on the packaging and security of the device for shipping.
The review package received contained:
 Ultimate 8150
Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery, 1530 mAh
Belt case
USB Power supply
USB to PC sync cable
Headphones
AC Power Adaptor
i-mate Getting Started CD (Electronic versions of Manual, ActiveSync V4.5 and Windows Mobile Device Centre (for Vista users) No additional third party software.
Spare Stylus
VGA Cable (for external connection to monitor/projector)
Full set of manuals and quick start guides
The packaging itself securely protects all the components and I would have no concerns about the shipping of such a device in this packaging. |
 | THE CASE
The case is very basic and functional without any bells and whistles. It is constructed of leather effect PVC, cushioned felt-like material and inner nylon support straps.
The sides of the case seem to be padded with thick soft cardboard, which will serve to withstand medium force impacts, but the peripheral edges give little protection at all as apart from the four support straps the case is open to the atmosphere.
Closure is made by a large flap which contains a magnetic disc which forms a strong bond with a similar disc on the upper portion of the side of the case. This give a reasonably positive closure but means that one does have to apply a firm grip to open the case.
The belt clip is essentially a strong piece of spring steel covered with the leather/ PVC material that has been stitched into the case body itself. The force needed to open the loop and place the case onto the belt is not excessive but when in place it is held reasonably securely. Even if the case is opened to withdraw the Stellar quite quickly there is no movement of the case away from the belt.
The case therefore can be considered sufficient for use and purpose, but it's no Piel Frama! |
 | THE HEADSET
For a device aiming at the upper end of the market the headset supplied with the Ultimate 8150 is a great disappointment! Compared to those offered with other recent HTC models it's probably not really any worse - it just doesn't fit in with the overall quality of the actual device. It basically comprises an elongated cable with a clip for attaching to clothing and a basic plastic control module containing the volume control, microphone and action button which is chromed (well chrome effect!) Continuing on from the control module is the Earphone component - this is the fairly typical assymetrical design whereby the left cable is much shorter than the right for round the back of the head wearing.
The Earphone pieces are quite long at about 45mm and the review unit didn't come with felt pads so felt uncomfortable in the ear too. The lack of felt may have been a packaging oversight and I would expect them to be in sealed retail units shipped to purchasers.
That said the actual quality of sound from them is pretty good. Music sounded full with plenty of bass response, treble frequencies weren't harsh and speech on calls was fine with little sibilance.
The connection to the i-mate Ultimate 8150 is via a mini-USB connector and this one is at a right angle to the body of the device.
Another point to remember is they serve as the antenna for the in-built FM radio so must be used if listening to FM stations. As the Ultimate's Bluetooth profile contains an A2DP facility, I would recommend that route unless FM is of particular importance to you. Unfortunately this adds to the cost. |
 | FIRST LOOKS AND FRONT
When opening the package (always a time of excitement!) the first thing that you see is not the device at all but the case and manuals - so they immediately get put to one side for later inspection.
Once you get under the cardboard separator then things really liven up with the 8150 sitting in all it's glory on the right hand side. On picking it up, the first thing that strikes you is the lightness of the device, then you realise the battery is elsewhere in the box! A quick scrabble around and it's found and inserted and the 8150 is still light! Very welcome on a device of such high value.
The unit is very nicely balanced and even without switching it on the quality is apparent. The build is excellent - very high quality in fact. The ergonomics are not normally something that strikes you immediately but they do on this device if you hold it in your left hand (as most right-handed people would) as your thumb naturally sits on the jog switch with the OK button just below and easily operable.
The other striking features are the fact it has a number/keypad with joystick for quick input (more later) and the rather obvious front camera for video calling in the upper right corner.
Another welcome detail is the case is a mixture of plastic and aluminium rather than just plastic. Again at this price point probably expected but it certainly helps with the superior quality 'feel' of the device.
Lastly the two LEDs are noticeable above the screen and they have sufficient width between them (due to the earpiece speaker) to avoid any confusion on a quick glance at the device.
The Keypad is a welcome addition at this level as it negates the need to pull out the stylus to make a phone call or add text into an SMS. It uses the XT9 method of text prediction and corrects for close keys too. The example given is typing 'm-o-o-b' (6662), the T9 system realises moob isn't a valid word but moon would be and as the letter b is on the '2' key which is one of the keys adjacent to the '6' key (for the letter n), it corrects automatically.
The joystick is similar to those found on WM Smartphones and other mobiles and again is a quick way of navigating the screen without having to dig out the stylus.
So a good showing from the 8150 on first contact. |
 | THE TOP EDGE
As you can see from the picture - not much to report here!
Power Button - used to obviously power up the device or put it into Sleep and/or Off states.
Infrared window for added flexibility in beaming. The only thing is the specification of the IR port is not mentioned in any of the material or the manual! Hardly an oversight as IR is becoming less and less important as a transfer/connection medium. |
 | THE LEFT HAND SIDE
This is where things start to become more interesting!
Right at the very top is the stylus housing. The stylus is talked about below but the housing relies on friction to keep the stylus in place. It's nice and tight so is unlikely to wear over time and as the stylus is housed in the top of the device rather than the bottom as in some HTC devices there shouldn't be any lost stylus instances as is commonplace on designs such as the HTC Wizard (O2 MiniS).
Jog Dial - this serves to allow the user to navigate through menus and applications and is of the up/down variety rather than full rotation. This never caused me any concerns or inconvenience and I found it gave me total control over the selection of items as you have to repeated flick or hold the jog wheel in any direction to keep the selection moving. This ensures smoothness of navigation as you are unlikely to go whizzing past your preferred item with this system. Some people prefer the HTC rotating wheel method but it's one of those things that you will have a preference for one way or the other.
During a phone call (or when playing music) the jog dial can be used to alter the volume level of the call in progress too.
Another feature of the Jog Dial is the ability to push it in to select the item meaning you don't have to move your thumb to the OK button just below. It all adds to the very ergonomic design of the 8150 with some clear thought having been applied.
OK button which works in exactly the same way as the OK button you would see on the screen. That is it confirms data entry or minimises the current application.
Note The OK button on the front of the device has a slightly different role - it has a dual function of short tap is Backspace and long hold is traditional OK function.
The Jog Dial and OK Button therefore allow the user to perform almost 100% of navigation around the touch screen interface without the need to start using the stylus. Invaluable for such actions as reviewing incoming E-mails or quickly accessing information.
MicroSD Card Slot - spring design with no cover. To insert a card push in until it clicks. To remove - push in until it pops out. Simple and effective with easy access for those that change cards regularly for a variety of reasons. I had no issues with cards sticking as has been found on some recent HTC designs.
There are two minor downsides though - the slot is NOT SDHC capable so the maximum card capacity is 2GB and there is no cover over the slot. In theory dust or other items could get in via the open nature of the slot.
Wireless (Comm) Manager Button - giving instant access to wireless activation via the Comm Manager application. You don't realise how useful this is until it's there! |
 | THE RIGHT HAND SIDE
This side isn't as busy as the left hand side!
Wi-Fi external antenna port with rubber cover.
Mini-USB connector - for data synchronisation, earpiece/headset and mains charging. Slightly strange place for a mini-usb connector as they are commonly on the bottom edge of the devices.
VGA Output port - the supplied VGA/audio cable plugs in here and is explained in further detail below. Comes with a rubber plug to keep everything clean and clear.
Camera button - first press launches the camera application and then it takes on a dual role - if slowly depressed it serves to set the focus of the camera, and if held in this position the focus will be locked at that point. When fully depressed the actual photograph will be taken.
External GSM/UMTS Antenna Port - sealed with a rubber cover. |
 | THE BACK FACE, CAMERA
The rear panel on the 8150 contains from left to right: -
Video Microphone for recording sound when recording videos with the camera.
White LED strobe flash for camera usage
2 Megapixel CMOS camera lens
Below these is the battery compartment cover. This is metal and hides the 1530mAH battery and SIM card slot as shown in the picture below (Hardware Conclusions). |
 | STYLUS
The Stylus that comes with the 8150 is a nice comfortable design that is extendable. The 8150 comes with a spare too. The picture shows the stylus in it's shortened and extended forms. It forms a nice snug fit into the stylus housing and shows no potential wear problems with other styli and housing designs from other manufacturers. |
SIZE MATTERS
 | 
The i-mate Ultimate 8150 is a difficult device to categorise. From the table above a number of points will become evident: -
The table shows devices listed in order of lightest to heaviest and the 8150 is very light at 152g. This is very welcome as it can easily slip into a jacket pocket without pulling the jacket down.
It's also remarkably thin - thinner than an HTC Artemis (O2 XDA Orbit) but longer than all but the ageing HTC devices up to the HTC Universal (O2 XDA Exec)
This makes for a supremely comfortable device to use for long periods as the weight puts no strain on the wrist muscles and the length allows for it to sit nicely in the hand for sustained use. Add to this the jog dial and OK button on the left hand side and you have a device than can almost be used single handedly.
It is clear this device has undergone some significant design and development effort and i-mate are to be applauded for this. Having made the move away from HTC they needed to stamp some authority on the market now dominated by HTC. The 8150 (and subsequent devices) have made it clear i-mate are majoring on the ergonomics, design and build quality of their devices to differentiate themselves. This has to be applauded. |
 | THAT GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS SCREEN!
It's not until you switch the device on do you notice the screen! It's quite small at 2.6 inches (65mm) but what a screen!!!
On a device of this size with a screen of these dimensions you would expect the screen to be QVGA (240x320 pixels) but how wrong you would be! Here is a small VGA (480x640pixels) screen that is simply of amazing quality. Colours are bright and deep with text and images looking crisp and superbly defined.
The screen has a nice even backlighting with no evident 'hot-spots'. The only slight disappointment is bright sunlight can make things a little difficult to read due to reflections rather than screen quality. A real winner!
The screen grab is from Pixar's Cars and it looks absolutely superb on the screen. The graphics processor helps keep things on an even keel too with no noticeable frame drops or screen tear from fast moving video. Ebook reading is also an absolute pleasure on this device too due to the crispness of the text even on such a small screen. |
 | EXTERNAL SCREEN SUPPORT!
This is where i-mate are making this device a work horse for business people, particularly international travellers.
Not only is there that glorious VGA screen on the device but you can hook it up to external displays for presentations. The included cable contains both VGA and 3.5mm audio outputs.
The picture to the left shows the output on my 26" LCD TV. As you can see the quality is excellent and the increase in screen real estate is very noticeable.
The other point to be aware of is the stylus then acts as a mouse on the i-mate itself which translates to a mouse cursor on the screen. I could imagine someone doing a basic business presentation from this device very successfully. |
HARDWARE CONCLUSIONS
 | The world wondered if i-mate could survive after the relationship with HTC ended. On this form I would say they have a future if they can get the devices into the big markets of USA, Europe and the Far East. They will need to back this up with good support - especially on a range of obviously more up-market devices such as the Ultimate 8150. The build quality on this device is excellent, potentially one of the best on the market today! Design hasn't been left out either. The 8150 is long, thin and light with everything to hand for single-handed and/or prolonged use. It has an absolutely glorious screen that can be passed out to either a monitor or projector. It will be a wrench sending it back to i-mate! It has its foibles but they are limited in their impact. These are explored to a greater extent in the conclusions and summary section. |
INTERNALS AND APPLICATIONS
In this next section I will considering the usability of the i-mate Ultimate 8150. How it's set up and what customisation and value-add is provided....
 | APPLICATIONS
The Ultimate 8150 comes with Windows Mobile® 6 Professional so all the usual programs are in situ.
I make reference to a few of the highlights as Windows Mobile 6 has been out for a while now and the build is well known. In addition I will highlight the i-mate customisations and what they provide by way of extra value or convenience.
Standard highlights include:
ClearVue PDF - for reading PDF files.
Windows Live Messenger.
Remote Desktop - for the more adventurous and SysAdmins out there.
Streaming Media application.
Java - for running small Java applets.
SIM Manager - allows you to copy contacts between the SIM card and the 8150.
System Info - application displaying free memory, BT status and battery charge.
Windows Live - various services from the Windows Live Mobile stable.
In all a fairly comprehensive set of applications.
i-mate have added some customisations but they are not earth shattering when compared to how HTC is now writing applications purely for it's devices such as HTC Cube and HTC Home. They are somewhat useful, however....
Club i-mate E-mail - which allows you to register the device and obtain an e-mail address.
Device Customisation - allows you to set up various aspects of the device regarding Regional prefs etc.
Enhanced Support - Allows you to register the device with i-mate for enhanced services. (As this was a review device I couldn't establish whether these carried any extra charges).
Enterprise Activation - allows configuration for enhanced network and security features for connections to corporate networks.
External Toggle - this is for the activation of the external VGA port.
FM Radio - obviously i-mate's radio application.
i-mate Configurator - this is to configure the device with the Carrier's settings (SMS/WAP/GPRS etc.).
All in, that's not a lot of enhanced functionality but then i-mate is a small company and software development can be a costly exercise. |
 | COMMUNICATIONS
This screen will be unfamiliar to most users and is i-mate's Wireless Manager (Comm Manager from HTC land).
It can take a bit of getting used to but is soon familiar with buttons for: -
Wireless Lan, GPRS (Data), Bluetooth, Phone (Radio) and All On/Off (Flight Mode).
You will notice 'Push E-mail' is conspicuous by it's absence. This is a double edged affair as you enable Data and then go to ActiveSync and do a sync from there to turn it on depending on your schedule. A little clumsy compared to HTC's effort in this area. |
SETTINGS
 |  | The settings section on the Ultimate 8150 is very much Windows Mobile 'default' with a few extras sneaked in to enhance the machine. These are: -
Cell Broadcast - which has limited implementation across UK carriers but is more common outside the UK.
Factory Setting - this is the 'Hard Reset' application, commonly called 'Clear Storage' in most WM6 implementations.
Profile Controller - the Ultimate 8150 has a profile switcher plug-in on the Today Screen, the settings are dealt with here. It's not as fully functional as some third party (i.e. commercial) applications but a welcome addition for most users. |
 | ROM AND MEMORY
Due to the extra RAM/ROM, the Ultimate 8150 is not lacking in usable internal memory for programs and storage. It can always be enhanced by the use of a MicroSD storage card of capacity up to 2GB - remember the 8150 cannot take an SDHC card which may be addressed in a future ROM release, we'll see.
Free memory with the configuration I was using in daily use: -
Storage
Total: 135.09MB
In Use: 26.12MB
Free: 108.97MB
Program
Total: 99.98MB
In Use: 29.20MB
Free: 70.78MB
All this and the snappy processor help the i-mate Ultimate 8150 fly along with few bottlenecks. |
CAMERA
 | THE CAMERA
The camera is one area where spec sheet watchers will probably snigger and move on! It's only a 2MP design they will laugh but they are missing a trick as the camera is not a bad device with a half-decent lens - remember - pixel count means nothing if the lens doesn't let anything in!
The application itself is fairly intuitive to use but nothing to write home about - like most WM camera applications.
The picture on the left was deliberately used as it was a severe test for the lens and metering system with high contrast between the light sky and dark foreground. The metering has retained all the detail in the sky and left the foreground very dark. Manuipulation software may be able to realise some of the detail in the foreground but if the sky had been washed out you would have little ability to salvage the detail and colour. I think it's a better camera than most of HTC's efforts even considering the reduced pixel count. |
PROS AND CONS
Pro
 Fast processor
Large memory
Keypad
3G Quad band
Comfortable in the hand
Superb quality VGA screen
VGA output for monitor/projector
Excellent build quality
Jog dial
Hardware key for Wireless Manager
Good stylus
Good graphics chip built-in | Con
 1530 mAH battery life seems a little short
Keypad can be fiddly - small buttons
Screen only 2.6" even though VGA
Mains adaptor/headset plugs into side not bottom
Few value-add applications/customisations
No SDHC capability so restricted to 2GB Storage Cards
No GPS capability built-in
|
There's an awful lot to like about the i-mate Ultimate 8150 and not a lot to dislike! The screen is small but glorious, the keypad is fiddly but there's a touchscreen anyway. Battery life isn't great but most travellers will have a charger with them. The only thing that can't be avoided is the fact the headset or mains charger plugs into the side of the device and looks a little clumsy....
OVERALL CONCLUSION
The Ultimate is not a device to easily categorise. It doesn't really compete head on with any of the HTC devices. The nearest target market I can see is business users with the need to present or people wanting a truly portable upmarket product.
The build quality on this device is really very good with a mix of plastic and aluminium for the casing. The screen is glorious with bright, even backlighting and, although small at 2.6" (65mm), it is of VGA resolution meaning everything is crisp and clear.
Call quality and signal receptivity was excellent throughout. The multi-band radio allows you take advantage of virtually all types of networks from GPRS to Edge to 3G to HSDPA. The graphics chipset also means the Ultimate 8150 doesn't struggle with videos and has the muscle to output to a monitor or projector! The obvious effort that's gone into the design work has reaped reqards.
Where i-mate's lack of depth and muscle as a company is evident is in the lack of software development and customisations. This is to be expected from a relative minnow compared to the likes of HTC, Fujitsu-Siemens, Toshiba, E-ten and now Sony Ericsson in the game. All far bigger organisations with far deeper pockets. To some extent, the fact i-mate have succeeded in getting these designs to market is testimony to the level of effort extended by them. The success, however, will be in their ability to maintain demand and offer good quality support.
In my eyes, if you have need of the requirements, VGA screen, VGA output, light, pocketable, quad-band then you would struggle to find anything better. The lack of GPS and a 2GB limit on Storage Cards are the only real disappointments and the latter I could probably live with as the card slot is accessible so popping in a different card wouldn't be too much of a hardship. The keypad could be better but it's useable.
So that's a big 4WinMobile thumbs up from me for the i-mate Ultimate 8150 then!
THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS
APPLICATIONS
Of course to make any PDA completely usable each respective owner will install their choice of third party applications to ensure that the device meets more closely their own personal needs.
Here are a few of my essential applications that I always load onto any PDA I use. I can confirm of course that they run well and fast on the Ultimate 8150 with its large memory and fast processor:
Linear Mode
Sponsors
