Sony Ericsson W900i. Live pictures
Package:
Handset
Battery
Stereo headset HPM-80 with built in radio and board
Manual
USB-cable
Software
Charger
MS Duo 64 MB
Strap for hand
Model W900i was named Sakura in a stage of its development. The initial idea was to present the model having the maximal functionality among usual phones and introducing new elements in the field of the interface at the European market. One of such elements should have become Navigating key created on the basis of SO505i (a rotating circle) but the manufacturer has refused from this idea. W900i was not considered to be a mass model in the company thereof it was possible to carry out experiments on this phone. The model has received index W by chance, the phone was not prepared to be the musical device, it was changed at last moment to correspond common strategy and emphasize on music.
The S700 became a basis for the model which was the first device preaching idea of two interfaces - on one hand it was a phone and on the other hand it was a camera. The strongest advantage of this model was one of the best 1.3 mega pixels camera, absence of competitors, large screen and unusual form-factor. The sizes of the device were not tiny, but a lot of users ran away from this fact for the sake of pictures quality.
Model W900i has the size of 109๕49๕24 mm while S700 was 107.5๕49๕24.5 mm. It is very difficult to notice any difference in sizes with the naked eye. Bigger featheriness of S700 is caused by the silver color and rounded form. In case of W900i forms are more rectangular, that results in the effect of greater volume. The device’s weight is 148 grams (earlier it was 137 grams).
The device looks rather big in hands and it is really so. The size which is pardonable for smartphones with touch screen or QWERTY-keypad, becomes a lack here. There was not any reason to create the device of such sizes. The explanation about the increased screen’s resolution is not forcible; look at Nokia 7370 which has the QVGA-resolution or Samsung D600, the physical size of the screen is less.
The model is issued in two color solutions - black and white. Box’s decor is similar to Sony Ericsson W800i; it has transparent blister with orange inserts. Considerable weight of W900i is explained by other screen, mechanism of automatic disclosing, occurrence of UMTS and the second camera. Let’s discuss all innovations in course to understand everything.
The Jack-Knife mechanism of auto disclosing. W900i has a rotate form - factor whose founder became Motorola with its v70. While S700 could be opened only manually, here this is performed automatically (as Motorola v80). You should shift a cover to the left or to the right and the panel will turn on 180 degrees automatically. If you hold the device having the screen turned to you after disclosing, it will be inversed and you will have to turn the phone. Almost all models presented at the market except Motorola v80 have such disadvantage. In general it is necessary to note, that Motorola has best results in this area; what the company created some years ago in the worse fashion is offered by competitors only today.
Closing of the device is possible only in one direction; in S700 there was the same realization of stopper. It is supposed, that the user practices certain directions of disclosing more often and gets used to work in such way.
It is not problematic to open the device using one hand while it is practically impossible to close it in the same manner. Owners of the big hands can make such focus having fair skill and training. There is no practical value in the mechanism of disclosing because you may talk when it is closed. The sizes of the phone cross out the presence of this mechanism, function is often useless. Comparing Sony Ericsson W900i and Nokia 7370, I thought that small device with some help in disclosing is more convenient.
Video sample demonstrating Jack-Knife (682 KB, AFS)
The display. Many people assume the screen of W900i to be its unconditional plus, especially when they do not compare it with the similar products by other manufacturers. Technical characteristics of the screen are quite good, its resolution is 240๕320 pixels (31๕40 mm), it displays up to 262000 colors (TFT). Picture is bright, the interface looks well, and that creates an impression of excellent color reproduction. If you look at the interface’s pictures in S700 and W900 you will find out that the last one looks obviously more preferably (despite icons do not differ strongly at these two models).
But let’s set an image from W900 with resolution of 240๕320 pixels on screen of S700. The most curious things start here. The screen of S700 is not so bright, but the picture is dense, well presenting colors transmitting transitions. Subjectively it looks more advantageously, as was confirmed by our interrogations of usual users, the majority squinted toward S700.
The comical situation turns out, when the new model is not so good when you know its characteristics, as it seemed to be. In comparison with Sony Ericsson K750i the screen wins due to larger diagonal, brightness and resolution.
Let’s take one more device with the QVGA-screen, Samsung D600. The smaller diagonal of the screen provides more precise reproduction of separate sites, their high brightness. The saturation of a picture appears at a good level, it is more attractive.
After studying the screen of Sony Ericsson W900i the following conclusion can be done. The model is experimental to kick the interface and graphic accelerator with resolution QVGA; next models will receive QVGA-screens with a smaller diagonal and better representation of images.
One of the features of the interface of W900i is that the time or some other information is not displayed on the screen in a stand by mode; it is always required to activate the display to see last events.
Managing elements. Following elements are available in closed condition: the navigating key, the button of browser’s start, key to switch video call and Activity menu. Besides there are standard call and a reject buttons. It is possible to set automatic keys blocking in the menu, but by default an exit from a stand by mode is possible only by the return button. On the other hand the button of a browser’s start is pressed frequently in a pocket, in my case it occurred repeatedly.
The digital keypad is latent on the internal side, buttons are of average size and are well spread. Keys backlight is of white color, it is well visible in full darkness. In the street keys designations are read well due to the muffled illumination, they do not merge in spite of small size.
On the right lateral face there is a camera button, it is possible to activate a shooting mode by its long pressing, preliminary having woken the phone by pressing Return. On same side there is a coupled key of volume control which is also responsible for zoom in a shooting mode. Here IrDA is situated.
On the left lateral face Music Button is located. While the built-in radio is not present Music Button’s behavior is not adjusted (always starts mp3 player). You can manage the player with the help of navigating key, here appropriate symbols are assigned. The minus of the device is that it is possible to work with player only in a full screen mode; fast rewind is inaccessible in a background mode, it is possible only to jump between compositions using lateral key.
On the same side there is a toddler for the keypad blocking or flash activation in a shooting mode. The service indicator and a socket for memory cards MS Duo (up to 4 Gb) are also situated here.
At the bottom end face there is an aperture for a strap and Fast Port closed by a rubber cover. A lot of people say that the fixed variant of a cover is inconvenient, but in my opinion they lay colors too thickly. Optionally you may tear off an elastic band. That fact that it is required to connect the headset with a large tip to the Fast Port makes the device not too convenient. And taking into account, that the socket appears under the top part when the device is opened, makes it twice inconvenient (sometimes there is a mess in wires).
On the back panel there is 2-megapixels camera lens, it fully complies the camera in Sony Ericsson K750i/W800i (we shall talk about video separately). As against these models here the lens has no protective shutter. Such change of the design tells that photographic part of W900i did not interested developers too much. They did not try to emphasize somehow distinctive features in comparison with previous models.
Battery. The battery is lithium-polymeric; its capacity is 900 mภh. According to the manufacturer it works for 370 hours in the standby mode and up to 8.4 hours in the talk mode. In Moscow the device worked for about 2 days in case of 60 minutes of talks and 60 minutes of other functions usage. We did not find any considerable differences from Sony Ericsson K750i operating time. Devices are comparable by this parameter and behave in the similar way. Full recharging takes about 1 hour 40 minutes.
The headset HPM-80. There is no hardware radio in the device, but we receive it when we use stereo headset HPM-80 included in the standard kit. This decision to expanse the functionality is elegant and used at a number of markets only by Motorola. Having taken out additional functionality outside, there is an economy of a place in the device. As far as the user receives the headset in the standard kit there is no need to spent money for its purchase.
What looks well on paper is not absolutely the same in real life. The first trouble appears, when you need to use RDS, it is not present in this model. The device cannot broadcast the data from the connected headset to the screen; stations choice, switching between them and their search is performed only by a control panel of the headset. When connecting the headset, an appropriate icon of radio appears on the screen.
The management block located at the headset allows switching between m๐3 player and radio, jump through compositions and to quickly choose stations. We failed to find a way for stations saving in the headset’s memory. Indirect attributes specify that there is an opportunity to save 5 stations, but it is not clear how to do this.
The headset’s screen has a backlight of orange color; frequency of the successor or information about the current event is displayed on it. During a call it shows CALL, the phone number is not displayed. The headset is extremely simple and does not cause any delight, next models are considerably more interesting (even by displays and information shown on them).
Lack of the clothespin or other clip on the case of the board does not allow attaching it comfortably to clothes. You should lower standard holder to the block and hang it so. It is not convenient, as the wire at a standard socket also requires a clip. It is an obvious defect of the design, it is not thought over.
Quality of m๐3 compositions reproduction is good; the headphones which are included in the standard kit coincide with Sony Ericsson W800i, have replaceable nozzles and provide good sound insulation. Radio works worse than in ส750i/W800i, reception in problem zones is complicated, when wires are retorted noises and crashes are audible.
For those who not only listens m๐3, but likes to listen to the radio this model will absolutely suit. Sometimes fastening of the headset become weak in the pocket of clothes due to massiveness of its construction, contact and then connection is lost (music vanishes, that irritates).
Many people discussed, whether it is possible to connect HPM-80 to other models by Sony Ericsson, as far as the interface sockets are the same. Really, physical connection is possible, but models having built-in radio will not work with the given accessory, phones write that it is not compatible.
Menu
Differences from Sony Ericsson K750i
The phone’s interface has not undergone significant changes; all of them have evolutionary character and will become accessible in late versions of modern devices. Appearance icons in the Messages menu (answer to the message, redirect and so on) is one of the obvious differences. The manufacturer tried to approximate the device with modern organizers at the personal computers, in particular, MS Outlook. Such icons look unusual for the first time, but then you will find them useful, especially when communicating with several persons.
The second serious change is appearance of bookmarks for working with the phone’s memory and with the memory card. I shall explain in terms of images. In the Image menu you see the first bookmark automatically on which all files associated with the given category are displayed. Such representation is typical of all phones by Sony Ericsson, when highlighting some record in the status bar, an icon showing where the file is stored (phone’s memory or memory card) appears. But in W900i two separate bookmarks each demonstrating phone’s memory or memory card appear. It is convenient sometimes, for example when searching, viewing and editing information.
Unfortunately, the file system still does not allow copying folders but only files which are included in them (for example you will not be able to copy some folders with music to the memory of the device, you can copy only files). It is inconvenient because it is necessary to use a computer.
As far as the phone itself has 470 Mb of free space the memory card becomes elective, this will be enough for storage of several music albums, your videos and photos. It is better to copy data to the internal memory using personal computer and USB-cable. Copying by the built-in tools is slow and troublesome process. To copy 100 Mb of music you will need approximately 15-20 minutes. Speed of the phone’s interface is extremely low, it is impossible to correct this. It is pleasant, that the phone is multitasking and you will not miss incoming call and will be able to read message when copying information. But it is rather disturbing that there is no possibility to make copying as a background process, warning will be always on the screen (though you may answer the incoming message immediately). Let’s relate this lack to the fact that the software is in process of constant improvement and changes monthly.
Pleasant addition to a phonebook is an opportunity to save all records at the memory card and to restore them from the backup copy. Such opportunity is not accessible for organizer at the moment, but as in Sony Ericsson P990, it will appear in usual phones for sure.
Connection to the personal computer by a cable does not cause any problems, the device is defined by Windows XP service pack2, and drivers are set automatically. Since W900i the device switches off the radio part and all options in the mode of transferring data that is a disadvantage. So you cannot use the phone and loading data simultaneously. To avoid mistakes of the file system you are specially asked not to disconnect a cable before the transferring will end.
Service of the software automatic updating allows loading all new versions by air. It is much more convenient, than visiting the service centre. This option becomes standard for phones by Sony Ericsson.
Hardware difference from the previous models is that 3D accelerator by Nvidia is used here for the first time. Due to the GoForce 4800 chip the device started writing video of high resolution, supports three-dimensional games with high fps. One of the examples of such game is preinstalled PowerBall Arcade.
Comparison of K750i ่ W900i cameras
The focal distances of lens and matrices are the same in both cases; picture’s quality coincides practically completely in these models. You can compare photos and draw conclusions by yourself.
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W900i
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K750i
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The device is equipped with a CMOS 2 MP camera. Autofocus works for any distance including the Macro mode. The device supports three possible resolutions - 1632×1224, 640×480, 160×120 pixels. Two types of data compression, Normal and Fine, are at your disposal. The photos differ in size almost two times depending on the resolution. Thus a photo in the Normal mode takes about 300 KB when the Fine quality gives 500-600 KB. Saving the photo takes the same time not depending on the case, that is about 1-2 seconds, and that is quite well for such a file size.
The camera settings look the following way:
Shutter sound. You can choose on of the three shutter sounds but not turn the sound off.
Spot photometry. Spot photometry is by the central point.
White balance. A possibility to choose between an automatic mode or Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, Cloudy.
Light. Backlighting activation, also may be turned on by pressing the key on the lateral face.
Effects. Several effects may be applied to the photos, they are Negative, Solarize, Sepia, Black & White.
Timer is activated for a certain time period for self shooting.
Night mode is for shooting in the dark. Noises raise on a photo, exposition is increased (you shouldn’t move the device in order not to get a blurry photo).
Shooting mode. Normal mode, that is taking usual photos. A multiple mode (Burst 4) allows taking four photos for a series. Landscape is a very interesting mode that allows taking rather unordinary photos, has no rivals for the moment. The last mode is taking photos with frames, photo resolution decreases automatically.
Autofocus - an opportunity to switch to Macro mode or to switch off an auto focusing, many people complained for its work and has received the possibility to choose.
In a shooting mode the screen acts as a view-finder, picture’s moving is smooth, everything is well visible.
Video
Due to the 3D accelerator it became possible to get video records of resolution of 240๕320 pixels and frequency of 30 frames per second. Records look well both on the screen of the phone, and on a computer, their quality is quite good. You may check this by yourself:
Sample video at night outdoors (800 KB)
Sample video at night outdoors (29 KB)
Sample video at night outdoors (620 KB)
Sample video in the evening outdoors (1.26 MB)
Sample video in the evening outdoors (276 KB)
Sample video at the daytime outdoorsๅ (309 KB)
Sample video at the daytime outdoors (829 KB)
Productivity. All three versions of test package Jbenchmark were started in the phone.
Results were predicted, it is impossible to expect any increase of operating speed without changes of a platform and, in particular, processor’s speed. In the second version of a package reduction of productivity was almost in two times in comparison with Sony Ericsson K750i/W800i. At the same time the speed of applications loading is rather high and Java works acceptable (but no more than that). In the first version of a package the difference is also almost in two times. In many respects it can be explained by the increased screen size, new circuit of working with it involving the graphic accelerator.
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K750i
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W900i
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| JBenchmark 1 |
3845
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2637
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