I finally got my 8525 and I think I can compare and contrast the two phones for you all. I have had the i730 since July of 2005 and have been using WM5 as part of the Friendly User Testing program.

Factory OS build is AKU 2.3 although a previous build before release it had 2.6 which can be installed on it. The radio also does support UMTS 2100 for European broadband.

What do I like over the i730

-Clean Lines, Internal Antenna, thinner (barely)

-Battery lasts longer then extended battery of i730
-This is actually a complaint with many Hermes users but coming from the i730 with Exchange ActiveSync this has been a noticeable improvement.

-USB sync and charge

-Phone dialer can use phone pad to look up contacts and 4 way rocker is used to look up call history and bring up speed dial. The latter is accomplished on the i730 with Dimension's phonehelper. However, the smart dialer might be available as a downloadable cab somewhere. This really gives the PPC a phone like feature that was missing from the PPCs that I have used. I thought I was going to miss the horizontal slider when it came to searching for contacts and dialing but I found that the dialer in the 8525 makes it even easier to use as a phone.

-Processor scaling works

-Native A2DP

-Native Tethering

-No crashing; I used to reboot 3 times a day, missed alarms, etc. I always thought it was phonealarm. However, I have my whole suite of apps stuffed in the 8525 and have not had to reboot once since Friday, that to me is amazing.

-Coverage is actually better for me. I commute from the burbs of Philly to Center City and had 4 areas where I had drop outs without coverage. None with Cingular. Amazing, since I thought I was going to be losing coverage instead I gained.

-International capability

-Army of hacker/developers at XDA forums


What I dislike about the Hermes/8525 or miss from the i730

-Dislike the cramped buttons near the four way and mail and email buttons at the top.

-Miss the software: Picsel browser, launcher/taskmanager, and Remote Control

-Miss the magnetic slide and solid feel, although the 8525 feels slightly better then the Wizard/8125

-Miss the multitude of programmable buttons, including 2ndary function for long press

-Miss the slider waking the phone from sleep mode

-Miss 4GB SD card, must buy 2GB microSD

-Miss Volume Control (i am sure the wheel can do something)

-I like the i730 stlyus

-The IRDA is on the bottom bad for remote control apps


That's about it. In a nutshell, I really do prefer the 8525 over the i730 now that I got used to the sideways slider, which does help with the typing. Phone functionality is so much better that I would recommend it over a WM Smartphone. Almost got a Blackjack, but I like the ability to do Skype. The button support is very weak which can be fixed with another app. Now I have a camera. Which makes for watching the Iversonless Sixers game from the floor seats more fun, especially when the dancers come out. Not that the pictures are great but it is a nice to have when you have something to snap. If you have any questions that I might be able to answer let me know. Who knows hopefully somebody will get Crossbow working on the Hermes then that will make it another plus.