This brings us to the screen which is the crowning achievement of this phone.  It is a 64k color screen, and although that sounds less than optimum, the colors are startlingly crisp.  The screen has the same resolution (176x220 pixels) as the i860, but it has been shrunk creating a higher pixel density.  What does that mean?  The screen is sharp!  It is extremely clear and pretty much everything I have seen on it has looked fantastic and easy to read.  I have seen many screens throughout my years in cellular, but I can say without hesitation that this is the best that I have seen.

The sound quality is amazing.  From the speakerphone, to the internal speaker, to my rock ringtones singing out my next phone call or e-mail, all is clear and sharp.  Nextel has always been a very good sounding phone, but the only way that I can describe this is to use some terms that video files will appreciate.  It’s like going from a top of the line TV to a HDTV.  Your old TV was great but HDTV is even better.  The same analogy rings true (Get it?  Rings?  Like a phone does?  OK, I’ll stop now…) of the i850’s sound quality.  Nextel was great before, but now it’s even better.

The downfalls of the phone aren’t many.  First off, it is fat.  The length and width are fine, but to incorporate the camera, larger battery, speakerphone as well as GPS and Walkie Talkie the phone is thicker than I would like.  For the longest time I had an i830, and as those familiar with that Nextel phone it is super slim and just slides in your pocket.  The i850, although it will still fit in your pocket, it will bulge quite considerably.  With the exception of the i830 of the Nextel line I have had to get used to having the phone on the outside of my pocket, and looks like I have to go back to that with the i850.  The camera is more than I expected.  Although it cannot do video like the i860 (A major downfall in my opinion) the pictures are sharp and clear.  Until you zoom in that is.  Then they become quite pixilated and impossible to make out any detail.  One thing that I just don’t understand about Nextel is why they don’t include Bluetooth technology.  These phones are billed as phones for the business market, and yet they don’t have the ability to have a wireless headset?  Well, I got around that little problem by affixing a Jabra Bluetooth converter to the phone, which is small and convenient enough so that I don’t notice it, and viola!  I have my Bluetooth.  The only other thing that annoys me about the phone is that they have switched my buttons again adding a camera button where I am used to the power button being.  The power button has been relocated to the bottom of the keypad.  But that is just whining and something I need to get used to with the new line of phones.  Otherwise, the phone is great and I am sure this is going to be “my new favorite Nextel phone.”  At least until the i870 comes out.