Hands-on with the i-mate 8502 and 9502

We saw these fellas announced this morning so thought it only reasonable to get down to i-mate's booth here at CTIA and get some shots of the 8502 and 9502. First thing we noticed about these handsets was the top shelf build quality and high-end heft factor -- if you're not feeling it both of these look and feel like a million bucks. The booth was positively swarming with curious onlookers peeking at the video out demonstration that these two were putting on and to their credit, both handsets looked grand on big plasma screens. Check the gallery for some more i-mate candy.

Gallery: Hands-on with the i-mate 8502 and 9502

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[Preston @ Oct 23rd 2007 4:28PM]

They look pretty ugly, especially sitting next to the one that shall not be named.

[Daren @ Oct 23rd 2007 4:41PM]

To each their own i suppose.

I think it looks a lot better than the other phone your referring to.
Plus, it has a real keyboard, which is THE selling point over apple's offering.

Anyone know which carrier(s) this is coming to?

[Preston @ Oct 23rd 2007 4:43PM]

I agree about the lack of keyboard on the "other" phone, but in terms of visual appeal, it's better to me. The 9502 looks like a Sidekick with WinMo.

[Panq @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:44PM]

Total agreement with the "Ugly" comments. HTC has made some very nice looking phones (Kaiser, for example), and some with rather nice specs (9502). I would rather like to see them make a device which both looks nice AND isn't underpowered...

[nikster @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:13PM]

Shall not be named but is pictured in the gallery - heh. I have one but I think the 8502 here doesn't look half bad. The bezel around the screen is too fat and the i-mate logo right in the center is a bad design decision - surely the device could have been designed to either make it smaller, make the screen bigger, or otherwise use the space taken up by the logo for something useful.

The rest - looks very professional + coming out just when Nokia is fixated on that unnamed device.

Shame for Win Mobile though - it sucks, yet the manufacturers of nice hardware like this don't have a choice. Choosing the lesser of two evils between symbian and WinMobile and since Symbian is more or less controlled by Nokia and SE, it's not a real choice at all.

[Ipaq3115 @ Oct 23rd 2007 10:17PM]

They look awesome next to that crappy iPhone!!!



Did I just say what I thought I said?

Oh well...

[Jon @ Oct 23rd 2007 4:37PM]

The 8502 here looks better and smaller than the press pictures. Or maybe Engadget has big hands.

But what a weird location to put that navigation stick...

[dugbug @ Oct 23rd 2007 4:45PM]

Looks very nice... I don't get the same reaction at all as Preston.

Thinking the placement of the nav stick is ideal for the thumb of a right-hander like myself.

[boe @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:01PM]

I'd like to know what people who actually used them thought of the screen - the first thing I notice about the iPhone is how much crisper the screen is. If I could go WM6 in VGA I think that would be a huge step forward over the HTC phones. Not that HTC doesn't have laptop sized VGA phones but the mogul is such a dismal dissapointment, I would love to try a small VGA WM6 phone from another manufacturer.

[Vagrant @ Oct 23rd 2007 5:30PM]

I just purchased the ATT Tilt, but I'd spring for the 9502 when it comes out as well. While the screen size is the same at 2.8", I do like VGA and VGA out feature. Also the HSDPA/HSUPA is nice and while the U.S. networks play catch-up, this device will work well in Japan today. (I'd love for this thing to release ASAP, as I head to Japan in December, for several months, with only my Tilt in tow.)

One question though...will it be under $1,000?

[stewart @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:08PM]

@Daren, apparently i-Mate will be selling these unlocked on their own on-line store. They're GSM phones, so you could use them on Rogers or Fido in Canada, and AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.

[Sam Zebian @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:40PM]

I'm wondering if this will be on verizon... It looks nice, i'd probably get the 8502, idk, depends on if it's too thick to fit in my pockets, if not, then I'll be getting the verizon xv6800.

[brokenkeyboard @ Oct 23rd 2007 9:31PM]

they're gsm, so no verizon

[Data @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:47PM]

I want one.

Right now, please.

[drsilverworm @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:27PM]

Don't get your hopes up. I-Mate's products announced back in February still have not been launched, and half of them were cancelled.

Personally, I've come to accept that their potentially amazing products are nothing more than vaporware.

[saq @ Oct 23rd 2007 9:35PM]

A Kaiser with VGA? The force is strong with this one.
Are we seeing the formation of a potential up and coming HTC rival? Nobody else really makes handsets that are of the same quality / feature density that HTC does, and still look desirable. This is an interesting development indeed.

[Ipaq3115 @ Oct 23rd 2007 10:18PM]

HOW MUCH!!!
I want one...

[Christian @ Oct 23rd 2007 11:40PM]

at first I thought this was a Sony Ericsson M600i black version til I relook and resquinted.
they sure do look a like... kind of...

[boe @ Oct 24th 2007 10:29AM]

If they offered one in CDMA - I'd trade in my mogul for the 6150 in a heartbeat.

[sakasune @ Oct 25th 2007 9:47AM]

Correct me I'm wrong, but is that the X11 icon - under Live Search but above Device Unlocked there is a row of 6 icons (4th from the left)

[Northerner @ Apr 9th 2008 6:31PM]

@sakasune - err, no, that's the X icon for Pocket Excel. Like the W is for Pocket Word.