Alright, we know Moto had some mild success with this "
RAZR" phone of theirs, but we're pretty much done with comparisons already.
Sony Ericsson is prepping a thin new candybar phone for March of next year, the 9.4mm thick "Ai," and while stock holders and rumor mongers might like tossing the "RAZR rival" spiel around, we're just not seeing it. What we are seeing is a pretty sexy sounding phone from a company on the rise -- Sony Ericsson recently overtook LG to slide back into fourth position. The phone, which hasn't actually been confirmed by SE yet, but which seems to be a fairly open secret by now, will be coming in silver and black editions, and purportedly will be positioned as a high-end Walkman camera phone. We'll be sure to keep an eye of out for spy shots of a handset that looks absolutely nothing like Motorola's flagship offering.
posted Nov 17th 2006 10:13PM
I've dropped my SLVR like 15 - 20 times and once had a kid throw it down hard... its yet like it was.... fragile? No way...
Sexy. My plan is set to end in February, and though i'm not a fan of many things Sony, even I can't deny that their phones are top-notch. I was planning to get the w810i, but now my plans are prolly gonna change.
Actually, it would be more accurate to compare this to the SLVR, seeing as its a candybar, not a clamshell.
I'm probably in the minority here but I think that SonyEricsson has one of the nicest phone OS's on the market. It's a simple, straightforward UI with a lot of nice touches. It's kept me buying SE phones for the last six years actually. So I'm interested in seeing this newest one.
DonCarcharo, you are definitely not the only one here with this oponion. SE are simply one of the best thought out and designed phones out there. Ever since I've picked my first Sony Ericsson, I've decided that this is what I'm going to stick to from now on (unless I get my hand on one of them FOMA phones...) Currently i have 5 SE's on my desk, don't ask why, and just got my beautiful new m600i. Couldn't be more happy. Cant wait for the thin version.
I like SE software MUCH better than the Motorola. Its more sleek and less ugly. LG's is also good, not as much as SE, but it does have a few nice features, like password protection when in standby.
SE's newer phones have password protection while on standby also.
Their UI is hands down the most intuitive, comprehensive, and beautiful out of any other manufacturer. I even prefer the base UI over Nokia's Symbian UI.
Until you've used the latest phones from Sony Ericsson (e.g. W810, K790) you don't know what you're missing out on. And they're well built and reliable also.
If you think I'm a fanboy, you're right. There is no reason not to be.
On a side note though. Why not just talk about the Ai. If you don't want to compare it to the Moto, don't. No one is forcing you to mention it in your article.
Well, to be accurate, Sony Ericsson does make a couple of FOMA phones, for example, http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/product/foma/902i/so902iwp/features.html (waterproof phone) and http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/foma/903i/so903i/index.html (walkman phone on steroids- Memory Stick AND SD and 1GB internal memory if you don't have either, 3-inch BRAVIA screen, 3.2MP camera, basically everything the walkman phone should have been here- also this supports international roaming so it has a chance of being unlocked). It's obvious that they have been shortchanging every country except Japan if you look at what they're selling there. (also- they gave up on the US CDMA market, but look at the Japanese CDMA phones they're selling, especially the Japanese Walkman phone)
Yep, me too. Won't switch from an SE phone. UNLESS, Apple comes out with something that just blows me away.
exst,
What's your M600i like? I really fancy one, but can't find it in the shops anywhere. Please can you compare it in size to the other SE phones that you have - especially if you have a T610.
Thanks..!!
I have an m600i and save for the lack of any sort of US-compatible high-speed data support (no EDGE, European spec 3G), it's an absolutely amazing business phone. The form factor is amazingly elegant and simple, the UIQ interface is the best phone UI I've ever used - I prefer it to Series 60 and it can do more than SE's stock UI - and the screen and QWERTY board are great. If it had a camera and M2 memory were cheaper, it'd be my favorite phone period, as it has a great media player as well.
Alas, nothing's perfect. And now I'm in love with the Nokia N73.
Sammy,
Comparing m600i to T610, m600 is about a cantimeter taller, cm wider but a few milimiters thiner. As for the phone itself, its a little laggy (unless you upen up video player and then minimize it, giving a phone a boost), however its very comfortable and solid and the UIQ is great, along with a bright screen. The lack of camera and the high price of M2, as Noah Kravitz noted, are a few of the phones problems. Btw, Noah Kravitz , my m600 works on Cingular EDGE and 3G (in Manhattan only). It will take years before US is up the speed with their 3G or HSDPA.... but it probably won't happen cuz there is practicaly no deman for this service here. People here are too busy buying RAZRs from Verizon and getting the cheapest services.
For comparison the Motorola SLVR is 11.5mm in thickness and the RAZR is 14mm, this new SE is only 9.4mm.
Which is insanely thin, might cut your hand on it. . .
I use to be a motohead for years....until a couple of years ago, I was looking to switch from the old AT&T phone to a Cingular phone. The rep showed me the S710a and I haven't even considered a moto again. The HUGE screen was the first thing, but when I got to using the UI of the phone it just made more sense. I upgraded that phone with an unlocked W810i and there isn't any way I would purchase anything but a SE phone.
apart from their 'joysticks' going wonky after dust build-up (presumably), SE have generally been making solid products, in my experience.
That said, you would hope they have fixed that.
In unrelated news:
Candybar gets my nomination as the worst name to describe a form-factor for a technical device, ever.
Honestly, the RAZR phone family never really impressed me. I tried to like them (SLVR, RAZR, KRZR), but the overall usage experience wasn't there.
I recently bought the Ericsson w300i, and I think this is the spiffiest phone I've ever used. It's highly customizable; you can set the center D-pad to other functions that exist on the phone. The Bluetooth works great for headsets and file transfers back and forth. The MP3 player is very nicely done, and the M2 memory card for the phone isn't all that expensive ($50 for the 1GB). The camera is passable for video and pics; nd I have used the voice recorder and that works great.
EXST -- Your m600i works over GRPS data ... It's not compatible with Cingular's 3G or EDGE - the radio works on a diff't frequency than what Cingular broadcasts. You can use it to browse the Web, get email, etc using GRPS, but it's much slower than EDGE or 3G.
I have had both SE and Moto phones and I will always go back to the SE. I drop kicked the annoyingly useless RAZR for the w810 and was so happy...only to drop the w810 (well give it to my wife) and get the w950i...I think I will only buy the w950 line of phones from now on. I have 800 songs on it and can now convert TV and movies to watch on it. Who the hell needs an iPhone or even an iPod for that matter...this thing has handwriting recognition, 4GB of flash, an outstanding screen and a great walkman music player...it really is a good piece of sexy...