Sony Ericsson P990i review roundup

by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 6th 2006 at 9:36PM

Impressive -- just six short months have elapsed from our initial hands-on of Sony Ericsson's latest superphone to the first set of honest-to-goodness reviews rolling in. Obviously, we kid; most every UIQ fan east of the Atlantic has been clamoring for this thing for a while now, but only recently have production units begun finding their way into loving homes. Delays aside, All About Symbian and phoneArena were more than happy to take delivery of the shiny new handsets in the name of putting them through their proper paces. All About Symbian seems to have come away with the more positive impression of the two, suggesting that the device is among the best PDA / phone combos currently on the market; phoneArena liked the keyboard and camera less, but thanks to freezes and crashes aplenty, both sites agreed that the P990 could've used a couple extra firmware revisions before getting pushed out the door.

Read - All About Symbian
Read - phoneArena

Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Tags: ericsson, p990, p990i, review, review roundup, ReviewRoundup, roundup, sony, sony ericsson, SonyEricsson, symbian, uiq

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

paolo @ Oct 7th 2006 1:23AM

probably the most versitile phone with a great OS as well

Neutral

PEZ @ Oct 7th 2006 8:26AM

Sony, with all their bawlls.. needs to come up with a sideways slider, or something a bit more usable than their MYLO. Now, if the Mylo had a 3G or even EDGE capabilities, along with its current VOIP stuff, it would probably clean up against people sick of the Sidekick, Treos and so on. Especially that god aweful Verizon LG thing. Ew.

Neutral

Anthony @ Oct 7th 2006 4:26PM

No 850. It's simply a deal breaker for me. I can't figure out why Sony would put out the quad W810i or the Z520i & not include 4 bands w/ all their phones (M600i looks great too, but again no 850).

Neutral

Cody Bruce @ Oct 7th 2006 5:42PM

I bought the p990i about a month ago, and I have to say it was one of the worst smartphones I have ever purchased. There is so much that can be said about this phone, but I'll let you guys read the reviews for yourself. I dropped $725 when it first came out, and I believe I'll shop smarter next time. :0(

Highly Ranked

mrT @ Oct 7th 2006 7:55PM

I also got the P990i and I think its one of the most versatile smart phones out there. Its a quite capable device that answers to all my needs. I havent experienced any of those random shutdowns or lagg discussed here (knock on wood). It fits perfectly in my hand and the build quality is superb(not like the squeeky Nokias that rattles like toys). The camera takes awsome pics and hasnt let me down yet.

The Nokia web experience is better, there no denying that, but to check you dayly dose of sites (like this one) P990 and opera works ok.

The mp3 player is excellent. Complaining about the included phones is bs. Every device I ever bought has had shitty phones (PSP, iPod, zen vision:m) I just picked up a walkman handsfree/headset for 15 dollars and its an awsome sound.

Neutral

Brian C @ Oct 8th 2006 2:55AM

I disagree that it is the most versatile phone. Featurewise, the Windows Mobile 5 offers lots more. Some PDA phones these days also include GPS functions. That said, this phone would appeal to Sony fans.

Neutral

mrT @ Oct 8th 2006 6:18AM

Brian, I didnt say that it is "the _most_ versatile phone", I said that it is _one_ of the most versatile smartphones. The HTC TyTn is for example a very strong competitor, but from a price point of view, in Sweden the Tytn costs about 200 dollars more. Im no Sony fanboy and if money were no object I would definitely go for that one just for the OS alone. But I feel Sony has done a great job with this phone also. I have no regrets. If GPS is an important function for you, then granted, this phone is not for you. But I dont have a car, and I have great trust in the public transportation system and that they will find the way ;)

Neutral

Nikolas @ Oct 8th 2006 9:01AM

Whether it is possible on mine Symbian Nokia 7610 to put last version?

Neutral

mrT @ Oct 8th 2006 8:09PM

Video review of the Sony Ericsson P990i:
http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss16.html

Neutral

John @ Oct 9th 2006 7:05AM

not much of a review round up if you failed to spot
www.esato.com
and
www.howardforums.com

Neutral

Plato @ Nov 9th 2006 6:21AM

I like this phone for simple reasons of having a decent and appropriate size, easy to operate, and friendliness with other applications.
I use zyb.com backup my phone data online. It took me less than 5 mins to sync 300+ contacts.
The 2 Mega pixel camera, 3G and WiFi has given it a longer life i.e. it will take its sweet time to get obsolete.

Neutral

Nate @ Dec 18th 2006 1:21AM

Just got this phone last night from my wife for christmast gift. I have P800 (I know it's an old one) and it served me good for these 3 years. Not too play too much with this new baby, however, camera and video are awesome, big..big improvement of my p800.. ;-) but it's slower to switch between apps and crash a couple time while viewer video/images. The note synch. only takes notes from phone not the other way around. Basically great smart phone, won't have any other phone, but waiting for next upgrade on firmware from SE.

Neutral

J K Silva @ Dec 22nd 2006 8:33PM

Will this p990i work on the cingular network?

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