Camera Phones Plaza

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