Sony Ericsson P1i review

Sony Ericsson P1i - a new device of the firm's business series. The model replaced the functional P990i, but outwardly resembles the M600i, for this reason the owners of both devices will like it. Let's figure out whether it's worth taking a smartphone now.

Appearance

The manufacturer did not come up with something conceptually new, but made the P1i on the basis of the very successful M600i, eliminating the design flaws of the latter and refining the software.

The body of the novelty has received the most current glossy and metal inserts. This one, by the way, may not be to the liking of the target audience, since the P1i looks less conservative than the M600i. Due to the rounded edges, the case looks thick. However, the feeling of incredible dimensions, as in the episode with the P990i, is absent.

The middle filling is plastic. Its back side is coated with Soft Touch coating. The front side and the perimeter of the case are lacquered. Undoubtedly, fingerprints remain on them, but the marks are not visible as much as on other devices with lacquered panels.

Metal inserts make up the outer frame of the case - now it does not creak even under strong compression. In general, the smartphone rests flawlessly in the hand, all the controls are in the right places. The only exception is the lace attachment located at the top of the left end. The detail does not catch on to anything, but simply interferes with the eye, looks useless. You just want to unscrew it.

However, other innovations in the design are only positive. The photo memory card slot is now completely convenient. It opens easily, and the card is easily inserted and removed. A review of the M600i said the M2 is too expensive for now. Now the 2 GB card is sold at a very affordable price. If the device will be used as an audio player, then the 512 MB photo memory card from the kit can be replaced with a rather capacious one.

The JOGDIAL wheel, to the disappointment of fans of classic smartphones of the Swedish-Japanese manufacturer, inherited from the M600i, those that are available shift a total of 3, not 5 degrees of freedom: "up", "down" and "push". It has become a little tougher and less, but not worse.

The back key and soft key are positioned on opposite sides just like they were in the M600i. They are recessed into the body, they are pressed smoothly.

At the top there is a power button and an IrDA window. The latter may still be in demand in the business sector, but next year, most likely, it will leave these decisions as well.

The stylus is housed in a cramped holder where it is stored securely and will not fall out even if it hits your clothes or your finger. However, it is comfortable to take it out. The size of the pen is close to its own counterparts from the world of Windows phones. It became longer and thicker. Different owners of M600i will like this fact.

Let's take a look at the bottom end. It houses a microphone and a backlit system connector that only functions when the device's keyboard is unlocked.

The multimedia speaker is shielded by a metal partition. It rises above the body, but does not touch the table area, so the call melody is almost not muffled. The sound quality and volume are just above average, the differences from the M600i are almost invisible. The voice speaker also cannot be called too loud. It functions well, the voice of the interlocutor is not distorted.

The screen is recessed into the body and covered with a protective film layer. It is durable, however, and slightly soiled scratch protection. The film is placed at some distance from the display, so when you touch it with a stylus or even a finger, you can feel tactile contact.Naturally, it cannot be compared with pressing a hardware button, but using the touch input is still more pleasant.

The screen shifts wide viewing angles in any plane, behaves tolerantly in the sun and is equipped with bright backlighting. In the M600i, in the horizontal state, fonts became angular, images were divided into pixels, but in P1i this is absent. Excellent display with excellent picture quality.

The most interesting filling of the case is a compact QWERTY keyboard. Sony Ericsson used it for the first time in the M600i. In practice, most people still prefer the least conceptual solution like Nokia E61 or Sony Ericsson P990i.

The keyboard is made up of paired concave buttons. The sign carries out the selection depending on the pressed 1/2 key. The recruitment process in this situation requires getting used to (usually one evening is enough). Such a keyboard allows you to easily type texts up to 1000 characters long with your fingers. M600i owners will agree that this is a real trade-off between size, usability and functionality.

There are also drawbacks to this solution. As a rule, on the markets there are devices with a single set of signs. In our episode, this is the Germanic variation of QWERTZ. In smartphones prepared for the CIS countries, the QWERTY keyboard will be installed, on which the location of both letters and signs is modified, since there are more of them in the Russian alphabet. The owners of devices adapted for the local market will either need to always enter text only in Russian, or use the virtual keyboard and handwriting input for the Latin alphabet.

The buttons are made of non-slip rubber-like material. They are slightly smaller than in the M600i, but not very comfortable.

The comfortable and stylish cradle is equipped with anti-slip rubber feet. It makes it possible to immediately connect a charging model, USB-wire and headphones to P1i. It's a nice addition.

The case from the kit is unlikely to be a constant companion of the device. The accessory is slightly cramped, brands, increases the overall dimensions of the device and does not clean the display.

Functionality

The P1i software platform is similar to the P990i and M600i - UIQ3. Modifications are few: new versions of the Opera browser, the Quick Office suite and the desktop, and a number of menu fixes, those that appeared in new firmware for other manufacturer's UIQ3 devices. Thus, the user can disable menu effects, arrange up to 15 icons on the desktop, or disable Active Standby altogether.

The menu contains utilities for functioning with Wi-Fi and a camera, for downloading and purchasing additional. applications. With the help of the latter, it is possible to download a number of free programs and games. Unfortunately, the promised VOIP is not in the lists or in the number of pre-installed applications.

The player and other utilities are similar to those in the M600i. FM radio is made in the same way as in the W950: it requires a wired headset to function, supports RDS, can save up to 20 stations and work as an alarm melody. The antenna sensitivity is significantly higher than that of devices of this type.

The sound quality is excellent, but the volume is slightly insufficient. Some musical devices show the best results, which, in principle, is not strange. The ergonomics and sound of the stereo headset are worse than those of the Walkman accessories, but the existence of a stereo accessory, not a mono accessory, is already a plus.

The processor in the P1i operates at 208 MHz. With intensive use of the Internet or demanding programs, its capabilities are not enough. During typical operation, the menu does not slow down. PDF and office files are shown with high speed and true. Slowdowns appear when transforming the scale or formatting the display of capacious documents.

The amount of RAM increased to 128 megabytes makes it possible to work comfortably with a large number of running applications, switch between them at high speed.Due to lack of RAM, Sony Ericsson's previous smartphones performed an emergency reboot. During the whole period of intensive testing, the P1i worked stably.

The Bluetooth transmitter supports EDR, for this reason, data transmission is carried out at a speed of approximately 150 KB / s. The implementation of the Wi-Fi transmitter is also excellent.

The lithium-polymer battery with intensive use P1i withstands 2 - 3 days, with an average load - 4. With the smallest use it is possible to achieve 5 days. smooth operation. These are great options for a multifunctional machine with an abundance of wireless interfaces.

Camera

The quality of the photos is not far from being rated "excellent" They are not smeared, not grainy, and there are no color or white balance errors. However, there are also obvious oversights: pictures lack clarity, macro mode does not work out in all cases, sometimes autofocus misses.

On a bright sunny day, with proper white balance settings, your photos will be perfect. Indoor photos are also generally good.

The camera interface is very cute. It is informative, not loaded with indicators and configurations. The parameters are normal: simple color effects, white balance, frame sizes, encoding quality, flash, macro, timer, and so on.

The newly captured photo appears in preview modes, where it can be enlarged or erased.

Video is filmed in 320 x 340 resolution. It is very compressed and will suit in the best case for YOUTUBE or such services.

Conclusion

While creating Sony Ericsson P1i the manufacturer took the best from the M600i and the functionality from the P990i. This is a modern model that can become an excellent "pocket" assistant. It lacks a GPS and a VGA display to the point of perfection, but Sony Ericsson is already planning the proper model.

Set:

• Sony Ericsson P1i;

• lithium-polymer battery BST-40 1120 mAh;

• photo memory card M2 512 MEGABYTES;

• YUSB-wire;

• wired stereo headset HPM-62;

• cradle CDS-65;

• charging model CST-70;

• backup stylus;

• protective case;

• management, documentation;

• CD with software.