Aug 05 2006
Review: Sony Ericsson P990
Posted by: Vlad Balan in Sony Ericsson
Highly awaited as it is, Sony Ericsson P990 is going to be the flagship of the Sony Ericsson product line.
Equipped with every possible current connectivity features, an autofocus 2 megapixel camera, a second video calls camera, a conventional keypad and a QWERTY keyboard, Memory Stick slot, FM radio with RDS, the latest Symbian 9.1 OS, and last, but not least with a large 2.76" TFT touchscreen with a QVGA (240x320 pixels) resolution it surely made the news for many impatiently waiting fans when it finally hit the market. The handset has a lot to offer, our job is to see if it's got what it takes to become a bestseller among the sophisticated smartphones which are now offered on the mobile market.
GsmArena made a review of this fantastic phone and here are some ideas: The camera used in Sony Ericsson P990 offers autofocus, a LED flash, a dedicated macro mode and image stabilizer for video recording. It's supposed to produce the same quality pictures as those by Sony Ericsson K750 which has one of the best cameras in the 2 megapixel class. Unfortunately, it seems that the testing unit we've got had some issues since the autofocus just didn't seem to work well over distances longer than several meters. Otherwise the macro shots produce nice and crisp images with great focus.
The camera interface reminds a lot the interface of the latest Sony Ericsson phones. It has a rather similar graphics and functions but is completely redesigned. The highest resolution available is 1600x1200 pixels with three quality levels - Economy, Normal and Fine. The camera has a full automatic exposure control but offers nice manual overexposure control accessible from the main viewfinder interface.
Main advantages
* Autofocus 2 megapixel camera with macro mode and LED flash
* Memory stick Duo/PRO Duo memory card slot (hot-swap)
* Walkman MP3 player and stereo FM radio with RDS
* 3G support with video calls, GPRS and HSCSD
* Wi-Fi 812.11b support
* Touchpad TFT display with a QVGA (240x320 pixels) resolution
* Stereo Bluetooth 2.0, Infrared port and USB 2.0 support
* Conventional keypad on a removable flip along with a QWERTY keyboard
* Internal 128MB flash memory and 64MB RAM
* Symbian 9.1 OS with the UIQ 3.0 user interface
Main disadvantages
* Incompatible with older Symbian UIQ applications
* No EDGE support
* Records video with a QVGA 320x240 pixels resolution
* Display not very legible under direct sun light
* User interface is not always user-friendly






Sony Ericsson released this phone a few months ago, billing it as the phone to take advantage of the 'capture and share' mentality we apparently now all have towards our photography. TechDigest reviewed the Sony Ericsson K510i and here are some of their conclusions:
Over the past couple of years, Sony Ericsson has been something of an enigma in the cell phone world. Not only has it introduced far fewer phones into the U.S market than many of its rivals, but it doesn't let the absence of a carrier sway it from rolling out new models. More important, the company has shunned the industry's major trend--skinny phones--in favor of high-featured, well-performing models. Both the Sony Ericsson W800 and W600i fit this bill, and the company now introduces America to its third Walkman phone, the W810i. Encased in an eye-catching black, the W810i offers all its predecessors' high-end, powerful features, such as a high-resolution camera, Bluetooth, and a media player, while making a number of design changes. Overall, it's a quality phone despite some minor performance issues, but it's not a huge upgrade over the W800i. No carrier has selected the Sony Ericsson W810i yet, so it will run you close to $600.
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