Sony Ericsson P990 Review

ali.tayyab 09-06-2007, 10:07 AM

Rating: (1 votes - 5.00 average)

An american friend of mine was surprised when i told him people in Pakistan spend more than $500 easy on cell phones. His reply was $500, just to say hello
SE P990 was introduced at a price closer to $800, but market dynamics coupled with the immenent release of P1 (P990+more sys RAM + 3.2MP camera) the P990 has hit the 20,000 mark!
If one looks carefully one can easily find this handset for that amount here in Pakistan!, The 'retail' price (as comapared to the 'street' price of 20,000) is 22,500.

I'll keep this review as tech free as possible, and only use techno-lingo when absolutely necessary. So here goes..

Also the phone mics arent mine, dont have a good camera to take pics. As all the P990s are of the same color, I'll just use 'generic' ones

1.The Phone





SE P990 is a PDA based on Symbian OS V9.1 UIQ 3. The last 4 characters indicate a mobile device with multiple ways of entering data, which i'll get back to later. The other specs are:

1. Size: 114x57x25

2. Weight: 155gm with Battery & Flip

3. Network Compatability:
a. E-GSM 900
b. GSM 1800
c. GSM 1900
d. UMTS 2100

4. System RAM: 128MB Flash, 60MB Available to user as Storage, about 7 meg of free System RAM (depends on FW)

5. Expansion: Memory Stick Pro Duo; 64MB card included.
Prices: 1GB =1050; others: http://www.pakgsm.com/mobile_memory_card_rates.html

6. Connectivity:
a. Cable, USB 12Mpbs
b. Bluetoohs: Complies with Spec 2.0 (Stereo Bluetooth Headset Support)
c. Wireless LAN: 802.11b
d. Infrared: Standard
**No Edge**

7. Imaging:
*2 MP autofocus camera with Flash
*Formats: BMP, JPEG, MBM, PNG, GIF, WMBMP

8. Video:
*Formats: 3GPP, MP4
*Recording: QVGA (320*240)
*Playback: Can playback 1000kbps videos (not listed, what can be done)

9. Audio:
*Walkman Style Media Player.

10. Input:
* Full QWERTY Keyboard
* Stylus based Hand writing
* Flip

11. Display:
Resolution: 320*240
Dimensions: 41x56mm
Colors: 262k
Screen: Touchscreen, TFT

12. CPU: ARM @208 Mhz
GPU: Power VR based core running at 80mhz! 1.25 million flat polys per second

13. Whats in the box
a. The handset
b. The Stereo Wired headset
c. Data Cable (USB)
d. Desk Charger
e. Adapter
f. CD-ROM
g. Manuals
h. Mem Stick, 64MB (Pathetic)

13. Firmware:
Out of the Box: R9E
Flashed to: R9F11


As u can see this handset packs quite a punch for a 20k(ish) device!
The inclusion of a Desk charger was a surprise! It is nice and has a green led at it's base.

2. The Display
The display is big, boasts a QVGA resolution. The size is 56x41 (vertical longer). With the flip down the area increases, when the flip is closed the screen resizes itself.
The display is gorgeous. It is as good as the 16million color display on my 6131. The dotpitch (pixel element) obviously is more on the SE cuz the screen is larger, But there is minimal to no font jaggies (aliasing). This has to be the largest screen cell phone that i've had. the only other cell phone that i've owned with gigantic screens is the D820 Samsung. There was no protective covering on the screening. This was obvious as the stylus wont work over a protective layer.
The display does fade in direct sunlight, if u tilt it a bit, it is still legible.



As u can see the image is resized as the flip is opened.

It is possible to Change themes. Themes change the background and ringtones, Font size and color. Icons stay the same (all the themes i've used)

3. MENUS & NAVIGATION
There are 2 ways via which u could navigate the phone (infact there are 3)

1. The Numeric Keypad on the Flip
With the flip closed u can use the 'Navigation keys' in the center to move about. Pressing the central button selects the highlighted option. However not all menu options are available with the flip closed. These include:
a. Video Playback
b. Control Panel & Device Management options under "Tools"


In the Standby mode the phone displays the short cuts assigned to the nav. key. These can be customized.
Pressing the Direction keys will take u to the selected short cut directly. The main menu can also be accessed from here.

Saad Anas

nice review sir. will buy it one day when the price comes down...

Asad

So... how will you compare it to an N-73, ignoring the QWERTY KB?

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Opening the Flip, Re-organizes the Menu:

Once the flip is open u have to use the stylus or ur fingernails to move around the flip becomes redundant!
The arrow on the bottom is remeniscent of the "Start" button on windows!
From here u can make new call, sms, mms, adjust connection settings etc. Very Handy
The Double arrows next to the batt icon brings up the task manager. From here u can visit ur recently used programs and multitask

Programs can be closed by:
1. Pressing the Close Program buttom (it's like the symbol on the "Enter Key")
2. Pressing the Hard coded button (on the side of the phone)
3. To Multitask, bring up the task manager and choose to open another program

So what's the other way to move around? You see the volume knob on the phone's left side in the first picture? This is the 'jog' dial. It is very nifty. It can used to scroll down lists and select programs by pressing it. It behaves just like a mouse wheel. Very hand when flipping through photos, songs, lists that scroll. I like it very much!

As this is a symbian phone, opening folders and programs does take time. For me to go from standby to Create message took about 5-6 secs! Similarly opening the camera utility takes about 7 secs!

4. ENTERING TEXT
The phone provides atleast 4 ways to enter text

1. The Flip: Behaves like a normal phone's Keypad. You can write messages, make phone calls, write notes etc.

2. The QWERTY Keyboard: Inclusion of a this divided the P9xx community down the line 50-50. Half the people like it, half hate it. Me? I like it. MAybe cuz i've used computer keyboards all my life and am pretty happy typing with my nails! It is pretty useful, esp if u have long notes to type or wanna access pkforums!!

3. The Virtual Keyboard: This brings up a virtual keyboard on the lower half of the screen. You tap on characters to select them. I basically hate it, everyone else loves it!

4. The Stylus: The stylus allows u to write on the screen. It picks up characters on the basis of strokes made. It is very easy and probably the fastest way to enter info into the phone once u get the hang of it! It is not difficult. The manual has a 14 page 'lecture' on this (mostly occupied by Chinese text entry, but includes 'lessons' on latin text entry as well

In all of these mode (except flip closed) , predictive text is available. This is a little different from T9 (I dont think it is T9, as it isnt mentioned in the manual or Copyright credits are given to it's parent!). Partial entry results in possible matches displayed at the top. To select it, press enter, or tap on the work. The phone recoginzed "Ali" and "Islamabad".



By now u would've noticed that the flip basically gets in the way! Menu limitations, no predictive text! So SE did the logical thing. They allow you to remove the flip and attach a face plate. All the tools (screw-driver and screws) are included as well as intructions. Well done SE

ali.tayyab

5. Making Calls, Messaging, Organizing Contacts & files

i. Calls
Calls are made either by dialing in a number, Voice tag or selecting a contact from the phone book.
Voice clarity is good, but the volume is a little low when talking in public places esp. The ringer volume is low, which has more to do with EU regulations (i think).

ii. Messaging
Messages SMS, MMS are located in one place. You get an inbox for ur email and one for ur RSS feed.

[img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t316/alitayyab/7.png[.img]

Again any of the mean described can be used to enter text.

iii. Contacts

The phone has no limits to the number of contacts! This feature I think is present in every symbian phone i've used (7650,7610, P990). The only limit is the amount of user memory available. Just like in an symbian phone u can edit fields, add notes, birthdays, pictures and groups. I dont have extensive business contacts, but I dont think SE left any loop holes here.

Files are managed thorugh the file manager (Tools->File Manager). The Phone and Mem stick are treated as seperate. From here u can manipulate them (copy, move, send etc). This basically looks like SE's File manager present in Non-symbian phones


As u can see the phone is pretty easy to use. It is slower than other (non-symb) phones, but that was already expected!

6. Multimedia

Audio
The player included is like the one in the first walkman phones. I wont write much about it as everyone know's they're probably the best incorporporated in a cell phone!
There were some issues with the music player working in background. I didnt have this problem before or after fw upgrade. the player did turn itself off while recording videos, but once reactivated started the song from where it was left off


Video
The Phone can playback multiple formats as mentioned before. It can record at a max. resolution of QVGA (320*240). I'll upload a couple of videos (nighttime) real soon.
The Playback is pretty good. If u read around the web people had d/l'd entire eps of 24 in .mp4 format at upto 1000kbps and had no issues playing them back!

Camera
The camera is akin to the one on K750, K800. Autofocus, 2MP with flash. Picture speaks louder than words. Capture time is low about a second.

PK Forum Community

 

ali.tayyab

7. Connectivity
There are several ways the phone can be connected to the PC.

a. USB-Cable
b. IR
c. Bluetooh -Can act like LAN.
d. W-LAN

I used the USB cable to access the phone and update the firmware. The total fw download was about 200 mb 106mb d/l'd by the update app which was 24mb prior to starting the update, then another 70 mb was d/l'd. Make sure u have loads of bw in ur account and a full batt on ur phone before venturing out to do a fw upgrade.

Internet
Using my trusty Telenor SIM i decided to surf the WWW! It wasnt pretty. I think telenor's service is topped up. I had trouble even getting into Google's portal. The browser is Opera 8, but many who have used this and nokia's smartphone browser find the latter to be better.


8. Work and Play!

The Phone has a bunch of office apps, which allow u to open Word docs, Excel Spreadsheets, Power Point files and PDF documents.
The camera can be used as a scanner, and the OCR app can 'translate the data' into text. Havent tried this yet...


The phone has 2 games, which use the full screen display.
The first is Qudra-Pop a tetris like game, but with 'funky' objects and a catchy tunes. The scorlling is excellent and pretty smooth. reminds me of the hardware scrolling builtin to the amiga or C=64
The other is Vijay Singh Gold. This is a 3D game, which is played with a stylus! Awesome is the word to describe it. Everyreview i've read loves this! There is a little slowdown, very little. But seeing the golf-ball fly as u hit it reminds me of TigerWoods on the PC. Lovely

The phone supports Symb. and Java Games and Apps. Symb. Version must be OS 9.1 release 3.


9. Impressions
I like this phone period. It is slow, but then that is universal for all symbian phones. If the price were still near 40,000 would I have bought it. Never. But at 22000 it is a steal. The direct competitor is the E70 whose UI is definitely easier to use, doesnt have a touch screen or a autofocus camera. the n80 is another option, with a bigger screen and a 3mp camera, which isnt autofocus and has no proctection, which in pakistan is a must!

The only real gadet which this phone lacks is EDGE, which i guess was left out cuz SE was too busy doing everything else.

People here would draw comparisons with the n73. I dont think that is very fair. The n73 is a everyday use phone, this is a PDA. but for the sake of argument i'll compare the two. I havent spent much time with the n73, here are my impressions
1. Ease of use: N73's interface is easier to use, both of em are equally slow, the n73 is slower to capture pictures
2. Camera: n73, 3.2mp, af
3. Music Player: Similar if u buy good headphones, i guess both will still sound the same
4. Navigation: Both
5. Text entry: SE, manyoptions, handwriting to the screen is cool!

I'm really happy with this phone. it has gone kaput on me yet and it's price was just right. the inclusion of a Desk charger was a deifnite plus.

Please feel free to comment!

ali.tayyab

Pics:
Nighttime Shot, with flash, auto settings:


Macro:

Kashif

hmmm...nice review ali..makes me wanna get this fone :S

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Asad

Nice review. Ali. You should make alitech.com just like anandtech.com.

I, at least, would join it.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't drive fast. I fly low
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