If you have been researching this phone you are likely to have come across a lot of negitive reviews comparing it to the iPhone. I must admit that if Verizon had the iPhone I might have chosen it over this (at least until RIM releases a software patch or two). But as it is AT&T service is horrible, so the iPhone os not an option for me and those who prefer Verizon's service. If you want to stay with Verizon this is a great phone. Let me give a run down of its pros and cons.
PROS:
-It has great reception (the most important feature seeing as its a phone).
-Its a touch screen, which can be a pro or con depending on whether you can get used to a touch screen or not.
-Decent internet speed, even indoors.
-Good MP3 and video playing capabilities, on par with the iPhone I tried.
-A great camera as far as phones go. Obviously not a replacement for a stand alone camera, but no phone camera is.
-Unlike my old Curve you can use the built in GPS without paying for VZNavigator.
-Bright, clear screen that is much better looking than the iPhone I tried.
-Sleek look.
-Its a Blackberry, previous and current BB users will find a lot of familier features here.
-Does not require iTunes, but it supports it if you wish to use it.
CONS:
-Its slow. It often freezes while doing the simplest things like turning or switching menus. On the bright side this seems like it could be fixed with a software upgrade.
-Its a touch screen, which can be a pro or con depending on whether you can get used to a touch screen or not.
-Like the iPhone (and any other touchscreen phone), the on screen keyboard can take some getting used to. In this case the SureType feature in particular.
-Typicall early adobter syndrom. If you buy this you know that it is likely an improved version will be released in a year or two. Also as of right now accessories are hard to come by along with apps taylored to the Storm (luckely most Blackberry aps work on it). The last two issues will likely dissapear when the stores stock more accessories and the App Store launches next year (along with more 3rd parties supporting the Storm).
All in all I'd say if you want a an iPhone, without switching to AT&T and their lousy service you won't regret getting a Storm. I love it, and its likely to only get better through software updates. As for the price its basically $30 or $45 (depending on whether you need/want corperate e-mail or not) on top of your regular Voice plan charges, as is the case with all Blackberry devices.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot C905a 8.1 MP Camera Phone, Silver (AT&T)
I have been an avid user of Nokia N-Series phones for a while now, including the N95, N85, and most recently the N97. These phones have everything and the kitchen sink as far as specs and features go, and I had simply grown too accustomed to using them for just about everything in life. "Decent" camera with flash? Check. GPS turn-by-turn directions? Check. Organizer? Check. Personal e-mail? Check. Work e-mail and calendar sync? Check. Tethering to share its data connection while on the road? Check. Multitasking? Check. Music player, FM Tuner, Podcasting, Internet Radio? Check, Check, Check, Check. Then there are the more esoteric features, such as Nokia Sports Tracker (to record your route, speed, distance etc as you go jogging, biking, etc), TV-Out cable and Bluetooth keyboard support (to use it for basic Internet access from your living room), Speech Synthesis to read your messages and e-mail out loud while driving, and so on. I simply could not see myself "downgrading" to anything else.
I had also tried out a Sony Ericsson k850i in the mix, but despite the Xenon flash, I was unimpressed by the overall picture quality. It performed no better than my N95 as a camera phone, and was lacking in every other aspect. (No GPS, no WiFi, not very many useful applications, etc).
That was then, and this is now. I recently sent in my N97 for service (the camera had started malfunctioning - that's another topic), and go the C905a merely as a "stop gap" in the mean time. Since this is also by far the most interesting phone AT&T have had in some time, I figured it was worth a new 2-year commitment, and that I would hang onto it as a "back up" phone. Also, I did know a thing or two about its features and capabilites -- for instance I knew that it supports FM Radio, WiFi, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and any standard/personal POP3/IMAP e-mail setup - but also that AT&T had disabled all of these features. So, the first thing I did once I got it was to "de-brand" the phone. I used the DaVinci tool for this, another one is WotanServer; or you can even do it for free with the "A2 Uploader" tool and a little bit more reading beforehand. While I was at it I got it unlocked to, so that I can use non-AT&T SIMs (e.g. get a local pre-paid card while traveling abroad to avoid the exorbitant roaming fees to AT&T).
I have been absolutely blown away by this phone! It may not have every single feature that the Nokias do - but pretty close. More to the point, Sony Ericsson pay a lot more attention to the small design and implementation details, and so things generally feel more polished and complete, less quirky and buggy compared to the Nokias. The main thing it is missing is a "Smartphone" operating system (like Symbian/S60 in the case of Nokia); other than that it is in many ways more capable than even many high-end smartphones. More on that later.
====================
The Best Cameraphone
====================
The main feature of the phone is the camera -- and the C905a has the best camera of any phone on the market, period. Especially for indoor/party pictures, it - quite literally - shines above the competition. There are only a handful of other phones available that have real Xenon flash: The Sony Ericsson k850i, the Nokia N82, the Motorola Zine ZN5, and the LG Renoir - but the C905a flash illuminates better than any of these. Also image quality is better overall - i.e. more optical resolution, dynamic range, and so on. PhoneArena and GSMArena have done extensive reviews and camera comparisons if you want more information.
The camera interface and features are also quite extensive. For instance, it supports face recognition, which if enabled will put a square around every face it detects in the viewfinder, and use these for autofocus. The one thing it lacks is manual ISO control - though it does have several "scene modes", and usually picks a good ISO setting on its own. (Sometimes a bit conservative/low, choosing instead to rely on the flash for illumination. The good news is that means less grainy pictures).
As far as video recording - well - that's another story. While competitors - notably Nokia - have standardized on VGA resolution (640x480 pixels) at 30 frames per second ever since the N95, Sony Ericsson STILL stick to their QVGA (320x240) resolution video mode. Well - at least - each pixel seems to count a bit more now than it did with the k850i; in terms of "real" (optical) resolution I'd say videos from this phone may actually be - just about - comparable to those from the N95/N96/N85/N97.
I don't have any knowledge about other phones' performance in this area; however if you are interested in a good camera that also has good video recording capabilities, you may wish to check out the Samsung OmniaHD (i8910). This is another 8MP camera phone that supports HD video recording (720p), and which otherwise has an operating system and feature set very similar to the Nokia N97. (But beware that it lacks support for one of the 3G bands that AT&T use, so your 3G coverage will be more limited).
========================
The Smartest "Dumbphone"
========================
Once debranded, the C905a has virtually all the features and capabilities that you would expect from ANY phone, smart or not:
- GPS, with included applications for turn-by-turn directions (WayFinder; subscription required), Google Maps, and location tagging of pictures taken by the camera. The GPS works pretty well: Where some of my Nokia phones and in particular the N97 would constantly lose and re-gain the GPS fix, and as a result Nokia Maps would constantly be recalculating directions and getting things completely mixed up, the C905a with WayFinder has been rock solid. It may not be quite as full-featured; for instance I don't see a place to change the default UK English voice, endearing as she is; nor does there seem to be a way to store maps/data directly on your device, so you will depend on a data plan. Overall I am very happy with the GPS though.
- Wireless LAN (WiFi). Unlike the Nokias, when you setup a WLAN access point you can also chose to share your phone's filesystem over the network, as if it were a Windows file server.
- Bluetooth with nearly every profile in existence. HSP/HFP for handsfree calling (obviously), A2DP/AVRCP for stereo audio streaming/control, DUN/PAN for internet connection tethering, GOEP/OBEX (so you can send/receive files, Contacts/vCards, browse the phone's filesystem, etc), PBAP/SP (to transfer/synchronize your contacts with compatible devices such as your car stereo). One thing that's missing compared to the Nokias is support for a Bluetooth keyboard - but then again, that's pretty esoteric anyway.
- E-mail reader with support for standard IMAP/POP3 setups as well as Microsoft Exchange. It is nicely done - much more polished and userfriendly than the Symbian/S60 reader in Nokia smartphones, and in some ways works better too. For instance, the only way to get the S60 reader to persistently update your mailbox without having to keep the Messaging application open is to set it to poll at specified intervals; but in this case it insists on indexing ALL e-mails in your inbox. Since I have about 9000 messages in my Inbox, it would simply not work (it would become slow and eventually crash). Not so with the C905a - it autodetects IMAP IDLE support on my mail server, and consequently gives me "push" mail (without the need for any third party service such as Nokia Messaging, BlackBerry Connect or MobileMe). More to the point, it just works -- right out of the box. NOTE: To set up a Microsoft Exchange account via Outlook Web Access, you need to go into Settings -> Connectivity (the right-most tab) -> Synchronization.
- There is a built-in IM application, which supports the standard Open Mobile Alliance IMPS protocol. In the branded version, there are predefined settings for MSN, AIM and Yahoo! (using AT&T's IM service). Unfortunately, after debranding, these are not available; however you can bring them back by uploading a customization file into the phone's filesystem via "A2 Uploader" or similar. More info in the comments. Alternatively, you may be able to use one of the several open IMPS gateways that exist - a free one is MobJab (look them up).
- The unbranded image also comes with a YouTube player preinstalled; however it does not work correctly on AT&T's network (it simply hangs when you try to play videos). Again, there is a simple "customize_upgrade.xml" hack that fixes this - also included in the comments below.
- Music player with support for most common media types (MP3, AAC/M4A, WMA, etc). FM Tuner with RDS. RSS feeds with support for embedded media (e.g. podcasts). You can set these up for automatic update (over "Local connections"/WiFi only or over the air as well). Feeds can be displayed on your main screen if you choose. Included "TrackID" application to let you sample music from internal or external sources (via microphone), upload the sample to a service, and get the track information sent back via SMS.
- A couple of sports-oriented applications: Tracker (uses the GPS to record your track/speed/distance etc and allows you view the data later), and WalkMate (which uses the built-in accelerometer to count steps).
- Organizer functions are also very well implemented. Obviously the Calendar, Tasks and Contacts can be synchronized (via Exhcange/ActiveSync, SyncML or via Bluetooth from your computer). There is a stopwatch and timer application (I'm mentioning this because these are notably absent from Nokias). The built-in calculator is fairly basic, but has "Converter" functions for length, mass, temperature, area, and volume. There is a standard Notes application as well as a "Code Memo", the latter allows to to create an encrypted and password-protected note. Lastly, there is a standard File Manager to allow you to browse through your filesystem.
- It does not have a secondary rear-facing camera for video calling, but video calling is still supported via the front-facing camera.
- Real multitasking - so you can run several applications at the same time, whether they are native/built-in or third-party Java/J2ME apps (MIDlets). So you can run Opera Mini (an excellent and very fast web browser), AccuWeather (included in the unbranded version), the Audible audiobook reader, Google Maps and WayFinder navigator -- all simultaneously. In contrast, some "smartphones" such as the Motorola A1200 MING (in fact, about all Motorolas) can only multi-task between native apps, while others such as the iPhone cannot multitask at all!
So why is it not classified as a smartphone? Well - the most commonly accepted definition of a smartphone is one that runs a recognized operating system and native application environment. The latter basically boils down what type of applications you can get for the phone. While most phones (with the notable exception of the iPhone and the Palm Pre) are able to run standard Java 2 Micro-Edition (J2ME) applications, smartphones can additionally run applications that are built natively for their specific operating system, and that can integrate with the phone in a tighter way. For instance, Nokia smartphones can run either J2ME or Symbian/S60 applications; there are several third-party mail readers available for Symbian/S60 that offer significant advantages over the default one, while still being integrated into the various areas of the phone user interface (home screen notifications, visibility in various "Send" menus throughout, e.g. in the photo browser, and so on).
You could argue that if the native functions of the phone is designed well, there is not really a need for third party applications to gain access to such low-level OS/hardware capabilities. For instance, if the default S60 mail reader had been done better, then maybe there would not be as many third party readers needed. At least, that seems to be the Apple philosophy (you cannot get third party web browsers, e-mail readers, or even GPS voice-guided apps for the iPhone, for instance). That, really, is more of a philosophical/value question.
Now, not having the "smartphone" label is not all bad - especially in the case of AT&T. An unlimited data plan for this phone is $15/month (or $10/month if you also have unlimited messaging). In contrast, all of the "smart phones" (per AT&T's definition) in their lineup are subject to data plans at $30/month or higher. The difference is $360 or $480 over your two-year contract term. Moreover, for the iPhone their $30/month data plan is MANDATORY, so that they can offset the $400 or so subsidy that they provide for the phone -- for the C905a, you can add or remove the data feature at any time.
I should also note that by AT&T's definition, most of the Nokia N-Series phones also do not "qualify" as smartphones, since they are missing the QWERTY keypad.
====================
The Classiest Design
====================
Sony Ericsson have always had a reputation for well designed, classy devices; this label is quite well deserved for this phone as well. Although the phone exterior is actually made of plastic (belying its "brushed metal" color), it feels in a way more "high quality" than some of the competition.
One thing you will notice when you look at the phone is that it has a little bit of a girth. Well, OK, it's fat, and perhaps a little sensitive about it, OK!? I'm quite willing to forgive it for this, given the reason: The camera optics. It is simply not possible to get good pictures once the focal length becomes too short. If you think of it as a pocket camera, not a phone, it is actually very tiny. It is also very pocketable, still.
As far as user interface and functionality goes, it is a pure pleasure. Everything seems to be well thought out in a way that you don't see in phones from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, etc. A few examples:
- To select someone from our contacts list you can just start spelling their name from the main screen (e.g. to get "Jeff Bezos" you would start by typing 5-3-3 for J-E-F).
- If you have stored the birthday of your contacts, then you will get automatic reminders as that day approaches.
- In the call log, you will see an icon next to each person that called you indicating which number they called from (i.e. home, work, cell).
- Your SMS/MMS inbox has a "Conversation" view, where you see each of your message threads as a series of iPhone-esque "cutish" little bubbles.
- The message composer window has handy little shortcuts for attaching files, pictures, contacts etc (in which case it will be sent as MMS rather than SMS).
- Last, but not least, all of the UI transitions are very smooth and pleasing (they are based on Adobe Flash).
There are literally hundreds of little things like this that makes up for a much nicer/smoother experience than my previous phones.
===================
Unlocking its power
===================
As mentioned earlier, many of the features I have described here are available only in the original/unbranded firmware, but are disabled in the AT&T flavor. Most notably, support for WiFi, SIP (Internet Telphony), Exchange/ActiveSync, and the standard mail client.
I did not have leave the AT&T firmware on long enough to get a good sense of its merits, if any; suffice it to say that most of the AT&T specific software that was preloaded was geared towards getting you to spend money in their "MEdia Mall". For instance, the center navigation key normally brings up the main menu, but in the AT&T version it brings up the "MEdia Mall" web page, where they will nickel & dime you for ring tones, "AT&T Navigator", klunky old Java apps, etc.
There are several "de-branding" services available; there are even some articles and how-tos describing how to do this for free (albeit in a bit more manual way). I highly recommend that you do this first, before investing any time or data into the "crippled" product. There are several unbranded firmware images available; if you speak a language besides English you may wish to chose one that supports that language. In my case, that was the "Nordic" flavor, which gives me predictive text input etc. in Norwegian.
UPDATE: As it turns out, you might want to choose an "Americas" flavored firmware, even if you want to support other languages. That's because AT&T's "Cellular Video" service will only work if the "User-Agent:" string sent by your web browser includes the string "SonyEricssonC905a" (with the "a" at the end), rather than "SonyEricssonC905". You can still add support for specific languages back manually; more details in the comments below.
====================
Working with the Mac
====================
The phone comes with a Sony Ericsson PC Suite, but no software for the Mac in the box.
That said, overall the phone works well with your Mac. Out of the box, without any third party software, you can pair your phone with your Mac over Bluetooth to:
- Send/receive files, browse the phone's filesystem from your Mac
- Connect to the internet using your cell phone data plan (tethering)
- Manually send/receive contacts as vCards (export/import to the Mac Address Book)
- Use the device as an input device for your computer (basically there is a "remote control" app on the phone which can be used to give mouse/arrow key input)
Also, you can it in via the USB cable in "Mass Storage" mode (power off the phone, then plug it in), in which case your phone's filesystem will be available as desktop icons on your Mac. Any photos will automatically be imported into iPhoto.
You will likely want to get some additional software for extra functionality though:
- First, be sure to download and install the iSync plugins from Sony Ericsson's web site. If you had already paired your phone with your Mac before installing, you can now go to System Preferences -> Bluetooth, highlight your phone, and then click on the little "wheel" icon at the bottom to select "Configure this device..." - this way you get the option to "Set up iSync to transfer contacts and events".
- Also from the SE website, be sure to get "Sony Ericsson Media Sync" - this will allow you to synchronize iTunes playlists with your phone via USB. It works similar to Nokia Multimedia Transfer if you are familiar with that, except that when you plug your phone into your Mac, you need to choose "Media Transfer" mode; it also does not synchronize or import Pictures, nor does it "transcode" videos that are not playable on your phone, so you need to make sure you have them in the correct format beforehand. As an alternative, you can get Salling Media sync (from Salling dot Com), though this costs money, and I found that the music once transferred to the phone is not indexed the same way -- it takes longer to load long playlists, for instance.
- Salling Clicker - a more sophisticated Bluetooth remote control application. For instance, you can open PowerPoint or Keynote presentations (you'll see the slide outlines on your phone) and hold a slideshow; you can control media playback in iTunes and Front Row; you can control your system volume, or even do basic mouse emulation.
==========
The issues
==========
OK, now for the more interesting portion of this review. I always find that I learn more from reading about flaws and annoyances than just pure praise. And - sure enough - there are some.
- For starters, Sony Ericsson are perhaps the most stubborn company in the world, sans Apple perhaps, when it comes to insisting on proprietary connectors and interfaces. While the world at large has moved to the miniUSB and more recently µUSB standard for charging and data transfer, SE keeps their klunky old "fast port" interface. This means you need a special SE cable to connect it to a computer or to charge it; a USB cable and a wall charger (but no car charger) is included in the box. This same port is also used for wired sound, though this AT&T retail unit does NOT include any headset. You'll need to purchase a Sony Ericsson compatible or Bluetooth headset on your own.
- Likewise, they STILL use their proprietary M2 (micro) memory stick interface; again, one is NOT included in the AT&T flavor of this unit. Moreover, these are more expensive than standard µSD/µSDHC cards that you would get for other phones. Currently, the largest size available is 16GB, and that will run you nearly a hundred.
- As mentioned, video recording is limited to 320x240 pixels at 30fps.
- Although the e-mail reader is overall quite nice, it has a couple of issues, too. First, it does not render HTML mail. Second, if you have more than one e-mail account (e.g. a personal POP3/IMAP account plus an Exchange/OWA account for work), then you have to make only one of them "active" at any one time. Only that one will be synchronized, until you switch back. I also seem to have an issue or two with Exchange Push working reliably - invariably it switches to "Sync Inactive".
- Exchange support is limited to basic synchronization; there is no "Company Directory" or "Global Address List" support, nor can you respond to meeting invites (Accept, Reject) directly on the phone. (But once you respond via your computer, the phone calendar is automatically updated).
- I had one issue with Exchange, which I believe to be very unique. It would fail to communicate with our Exchange 2007 servers at work. After some diagnostics involving the UNIX "wget" utility and a web proxy server, I determined that the issue was that the Exchange servers would reject all the requests from the C905a because of the "User-Agent:" string that identifies the software in the web client. Whereas most browsers and web clients include the word "Mozilla" in their "User-Agent:" string (e.g. "Mozilla/5.0 (Compatible; MSIE blah blah blah)"), including those in mobile phones from Nokia, Apple, Samsung, etc, those sent by Sony Ericsson phones such as the C905a do not. However, as I said, I BELIEVE this issue is unique to my company's setup, and I managed to get around it by pointing to a different Outlook Web Server address.
- Likewise, although the phone has an option for "WPA Enterprise" security (802.1x/EAP) in the WiFi settings, I am not able to get this working -- there seems to be no place to enter the EAP settings such as username/password, inner/outer authentication protocol, etc. So, mainly, I get WiFi at home, but not at work.
- There is no support for PDF or Microsoft Office documents in the device, nor Adobe Flash (e.g. in the web browser). I guess that's another reason/outcome of this not being a "smartphone".
- When playing music, the phone is at times quite unresponsive, whether you try pressing keys on the phone itself or control playback via Bluetooth AVRCP (e.g. using steering wheel controls in your car). At one point, I was switching from one playlist (about 300 songs) to another (about 900 songs), and it continued to play on the first for about 1 1/2 more songs until finally switching.
UPDATE: It turns out this had to do with how the playlists were created/indexed - in my case by Salling Media Sync from my Mac. Now Sony Ericsson have their own Sync utility for the Mac; once I switched to this one, the playlists load instantly!
- Any browser sessions in the native web browser does not show up on the tasklist! This means that if you switch to or launch another task while browsing, there is no way to return to the page you were viewing (Launching the browser via the menu will return to the home page). This is just yet another reason to download and use Opera Mini instead.
- The 2.4" screen is a little "small-ish", even compared to the likes of the N85, N95, etc. That said, it is very crisp, and also easily legible outdoors in direct sunlight.
- There is no quick way to turn the phone "Offline" (i.e. airplane mode). You have to enable the "Flight Menu" option at startup, then restart your phone to get this prompt. I like to keep my phone offline while at home (especially because I use it as an alarm, and don't like to have this much EMR/RF close to my two young children at night); the least painful way of doing this is to simply turn it off.
- The battery life is nothing to brag about. Obviously this will be more true if you use the Xenon flash a lot, or if you leave it continuously connected via WiFi. On the other hand, the battery life and signal indicators are a bit more "honest" in this phone than in the Nokias, Motorolas etc I have owned (which would show Full until just about 1/4 charge was left, then rapidly decrease).
===========
The Verdict
===========
Overall I am very pleased with this phone. In particular since the camera, GPS and e-mail reader all works significantly better on this device than on my N97, I will probably sell the latter once it comes back from repair.
It does have some limitations; it does not claim to be a replacement for your netbook or mobile computer the same way that Nokia (sometimes a bit arrogantly) does. For the price, though, you could not possibly expect more.
I had also tried out a Sony Ericsson k850i in the mix, but despite the Xenon flash, I was unimpressed by the overall picture quality. It performed no better than my N95 as a camera phone, and was lacking in every other aspect. (No GPS, no WiFi, not very many useful applications, etc).
That was then, and this is now. I recently sent in my N97 for service (the camera had started malfunctioning - that's another topic), and go the C905a merely as a "stop gap" in the mean time. Since this is also by far the most interesting phone AT&T have had in some time, I figured it was worth a new 2-year commitment, and that I would hang onto it as a "back up" phone. Also, I did know a thing or two about its features and capabilites -- for instance I knew that it supports FM Radio, WiFi, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and any standard/personal POP3/IMAP e-mail setup - but also that AT&T had disabled all of these features. So, the first thing I did once I got it was to "de-brand" the phone. I used the DaVinci tool for this, another one is WotanServer; or you can even do it for free with the "A2 Uploader" tool and a little bit more reading beforehand. While I was at it I got it unlocked to, so that I can use non-AT&T SIMs (e.g. get a local pre-paid card while traveling abroad to avoid the exorbitant roaming fees to AT&T).
I have been absolutely blown away by this phone! It may not have every single feature that the Nokias do - but pretty close. More to the point, Sony Ericsson pay a lot more attention to the small design and implementation details, and so things generally feel more polished and complete, less quirky and buggy compared to the Nokias. The main thing it is missing is a "Smartphone" operating system (like Symbian/S60 in the case of Nokia); other than that it is in many ways more capable than even many high-end smartphones. More on that later.
====================
The Best Cameraphone
====================
The main feature of the phone is the camera -- and the C905a has the best camera of any phone on the market, period. Especially for indoor/party pictures, it - quite literally - shines above the competition. There are only a handful of other phones available that have real Xenon flash: The Sony Ericsson k850i, the Nokia N82, the Motorola Zine ZN5, and the LG Renoir - but the C905a flash illuminates better than any of these. Also image quality is better overall - i.e. more optical resolution, dynamic range, and so on. PhoneArena and GSMArena have done extensive reviews and camera comparisons if you want more information.
The camera interface and features are also quite extensive. For instance, it supports face recognition, which if enabled will put a square around every face it detects in the viewfinder, and use these for autofocus. The one thing it lacks is manual ISO control - though it does have several "scene modes", and usually picks a good ISO setting on its own. (Sometimes a bit conservative/low, choosing instead to rely on the flash for illumination. The good news is that means less grainy pictures).
As far as video recording - well - that's another story. While competitors - notably Nokia - have standardized on VGA resolution (640x480 pixels) at 30 frames per second ever since the N95, Sony Ericsson STILL stick to their QVGA (320x240) resolution video mode. Well - at least - each pixel seems to count a bit more now than it did with the k850i; in terms of "real" (optical) resolution I'd say videos from this phone may actually be - just about - comparable to those from the N95/N96/N85/N97.
I don't have any knowledge about other phones' performance in this area; however if you are interested in a good camera that also has good video recording capabilities, you may wish to check out the Samsung OmniaHD (i8910). This is another 8MP camera phone that supports HD video recording (720p), and which otherwise has an operating system and feature set very similar to the Nokia N97. (But beware that it lacks support for one of the 3G bands that AT&T use, so your 3G coverage will be more limited).
========================
The Smartest "Dumbphone"
========================
Once debranded, the C905a has virtually all the features and capabilities that you would expect from ANY phone, smart or not:
- GPS, with included applications for turn-by-turn directions (WayFinder; subscription required), Google Maps, and location tagging of pictures taken by the camera. The GPS works pretty well: Where some of my Nokia phones and in particular the N97 would constantly lose and re-gain the GPS fix, and as a result Nokia Maps would constantly be recalculating directions and getting things completely mixed up, the C905a with WayFinder has been rock solid. It may not be quite as full-featured; for instance I don't see a place to change the default UK English voice, endearing as she is; nor does there seem to be a way to store maps/data directly on your device, so you will depend on a data plan. Overall I am very happy with the GPS though.
- Wireless LAN (WiFi). Unlike the Nokias, when you setup a WLAN access point you can also chose to share your phone's filesystem over the network, as if it were a Windows file server.
- Bluetooth with nearly every profile in existence. HSP/HFP for handsfree calling (obviously), A2DP/AVRCP for stereo audio streaming/control, DUN/PAN for internet connection tethering, GOEP/OBEX (so you can send/receive files, Contacts/vCards, browse the phone's filesystem, etc), PBAP/SP (to transfer/synchronize your contacts with compatible devices such as your car stereo). One thing that's missing compared to the Nokias is support for a Bluetooth keyboard - but then again, that's pretty esoteric anyway.
- E-mail reader with support for standard IMAP/POP3 setups as well as Microsoft Exchange. It is nicely done - much more polished and userfriendly than the Symbian/S60 reader in Nokia smartphones, and in some ways works better too. For instance, the only way to get the S60 reader to persistently update your mailbox without having to keep the Messaging application open is to set it to poll at specified intervals; but in this case it insists on indexing ALL e-mails in your inbox. Since I have about 9000 messages in my Inbox, it would simply not work (it would become slow and eventually crash). Not so with the C905a - it autodetects IMAP IDLE support on my mail server, and consequently gives me "push" mail (without the need for any third party service such as Nokia Messaging, BlackBerry Connect or MobileMe). More to the point, it just works -- right out of the box. NOTE: To set up a Microsoft Exchange account via Outlook Web Access, you need to go into Settings -> Connectivity (the right-most tab) -> Synchronization.
- There is a built-in IM application, which supports the standard Open Mobile Alliance IMPS protocol. In the branded version, there are predefined settings for MSN, AIM and Yahoo! (using AT&T's IM service). Unfortunately, after debranding, these are not available; however you can bring them back by uploading a customization file into the phone's filesystem via "A2 Uploader" or similar. More info in the comments. Alternatively, you may be able to use one of the several open IMPS gateways that exist - a free one is MobJab (look them up).
- The unbranded image also comes with a YouTube player preinstalled; however it does not work correctly on AT&T's network (it simply hangs when you try to play videos). Again, there is a simple "customize_upgrade.xml" hack that fixes this - also included in the comments below.
- Music player with support for most common media types (MP3, AAC/M4A, WMA, etc). FM Tuner with RDS. RSS feeds with support for embedded media (e.g. podcasts). You can set these up for automatic update (over "Local connections"/WiFi only or over the air as well). Feeds can be displayed on your main screen if you choose. Included "TrackID" application to let you sample music from internal or external sources (via microphone), upload the sample to a service, and get the track information sent back via SMS.
- A couple of sports-oriented applications: Tracker (uses the GPS to record your track/speed/distance etc and allows you view the data later), and WalkMate (which uses the built-in accelerometer to count steps).
- Organizer functions are also very well implemented. Obviously the Calendar, Tasks and Contacts can be synchronized (via Exhcange/ActiveSync, SyncML or via Bluetooth from your computer). There is a stopwatch and timer application (I'm mentioning this because these are notably absent from Nokias). The built-in calculator is fairly basic, but has "Converter" functions for length, mass, temperature, area, and volume. There is a standard Notes application as well as a "Code Memo", the latter allows to to create an encrypted and password-protected note. Lastly, there is a standard File Manager to allow you to browse through your filesystem.
- It does not have a secondary rear-facing camera for video calling, but video calling is still supported via the front-facing camera.
- Real multitasking - so you can run several applications at the same time, whether they are native/built-in or third-party Java/J2ME apps (MIDlets). So you can run Opera Mini (an excellent and very fast web browser), AccuWeather (included in the unbranded version), the Audible audiobook reader, Google Maps and WayFinder navigator -- all simultaneously. In contrast, some "smartphones" such as the Motorola A1200 MING (in fact, about all Motorolas) can only multi-task between native apps, while others such as the iPhone cannot multitask at all!
So why is it not classified as a smartphone? Well - the most commonly accepted definition of a smartphone is one that runs a recognized operating system and native application environment. The latter basically boils down what type of applications you can get for the phone. While most phones (with the notable exception of the iPhone and the Palm Pre) are able to run standard Java 2 Micro-Edition (J2ME) applications, smartphones can additionally run applications that are built natively for their specific operating system, and that can integrate with the phone in a tighter way. For instance, Nokia smartphones can run either J2ME or Symbian/S60 applications; there are several third-party mail readers available for Symbian/S60 that offer significant advantages over the default one, while still being integrated into the various areas of the phone user interface (home screen notifications, visibility in various "Send" menus throughout, e.g. in the photo browser, and so on).
You could argue that if the native functions of the phone is designed well, there is not really a need for third party applications to gain access to such low-level OS/hardware capabilities. For instance, if the default S60 mail reader had been done better, then maybe there would not be as many third party readers needed. At least, that seems to be the Apple philosophy (you cannot get third party web browsers, e-mail readers, or even GPS voice-guided apps for the iPhone, for instance). That, really, is more of a philosophical/value question.
Now, not having the "smartphone" label is not all bad - especially in the case of AT&T. An unlimited data plan for this phone is $15/month (or $10/month if you also have unlimited messaging). In contrast, all of the "smart phones" (per AT&T's definition) in their lineup are subject to data plans at $30/month or higher. The difference is $360 or $480 over your two-year contract term. Moreover, for the iPhone their $30/month data plan is MANDATORY, so that they can offset the $400 or so subsidy that they provide for the phone -- for the C905a, you can add or remove the data feature at any time.
I should also note that by AT&T's definition, most of the Nokia N-Series phones also do not "qualify" as smartphones, since they are missing the QWERTY keypad.
====================
The Classiest Design
====================
Sony Ericsson have always had a reputation for well designed, classy devices; this label is quite well deserved for this phone as well. Although the phone exterior is actually made of plastic (belying its "brushed metal" color), it feels in a way more "high quality" than some of the competition.
One thing you will notice when you look at the phone is that it has a little bit of a girth. Well, OK, it's fat, and perhaps a little sensitive about it, OK!? I'm quite willing to forgive it for this, given the reason: The camera optics. It is simply not possible to get good pictures once the focal length becomes too short. If you think of it as a pocket camera, not a phone, it is actually very tiny. It is also very pocketable, still.
As far as user interface and functionality goes, it is a pure pleasure. Everything seems to be well thought out in a way that you don't see in phones from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, etc. A few examples:
- To select someone from our contacts list you can just start spelling their name from the main screen (e.g. to get "Jeff Bezos" you would start by typing 5-3-3 for J-E-F).
- If you have stored the birthday of your contacts, then you will get automatic reminders as that day approaches.
- In the call log, you will see an icon next to each person that called you indicating which number they called from (i.e. home, work, cell).
- Your SMS/MMS inbox has a "Conversation" view, where you see each of your message threads as a series of iPhone-esque "cutish" little bubbles.
- The message composer window has handy little shortcuts for attaching files, pictures, contacts etc (in which case it will be sent as MMS rather than SMS).
- Last, but not least, all of the UI transitions are very smooth and pleasing (they are based on Adobe Flash).
There are literally hundreds of little things like this that makes up for a much nicer/smoother experience than my previous phones.
===================
Unlocking its power
===================
As mentioned earlier, many of the features I have described here are available only in the original/unbranded firmware, but are disabled in the AT&T flavor. Most notably, support for WiFi, SIP (Internet Telphony), Exchange/ActiveSync, and the standard mail client.
I did not have leave the AT&T firmware on long enough to get a good sense of its merits, if any; suffice it to say that most of the AT&T specific software that was preloaded was geared towards getting you to spend money in their "MEdia Mall". For instance, the center navigation key normally brings up the main menu, but in the AT&T version it brings up the "MEdia Mall" web page, where they will nickel & dime you for ring tones, "AT&T Navigator", klunky old Java apps, etc.
There are several "de-branding" services available; there are even some articles and how-tos describing how to do this for free (albeit in a bit more manual way). I highly recommend that you do this first, before investing any time or data into the "crippled" product. There are several unbranded firmware images available; if you speak a language besides English you may wish to chose one that supports that language. In my case, that was the "Nordic" flavor, which gives me predictive text input etc. in Norwegian.
UPDATE: As it turns out, you might want to choose an "Americas" flavored firmware, even if you want to support other languages. That's because AT&T's "Cellular Video" service will only work if the "User-Agent:" string sent by your web browser includes the string "SonyEricssonC905a" (with the "a" at the end), rather than "SonyEricssonC905". You can still add support for specific languages back manually; more details in the comments below.
====================
Working with the Mac
====================
The phone comes with a Sony Ericsson PC Suite, but no software for the Mac in the box.
That said, overall the phone works well with your Mac. Out of the box, without any third party software, you can pair your phone with your Mac over Bluetooth to:
- Send/receive files, browse the phone's filesystem from your Mac
- Connect to the internet using your cell phone data plan (tethering)
- Manually send/receive contacts as vCards (export/import to the Mac Address Book)
- Use the device as an input device for your computer (basically there is a "remote control" app on the phone which can be used to give mouse/arrow key input)
Also, you can it in via the USB cable in "Mass Storage" mode (power off the phone, then plug it in), in which case your phone's filesystem will be available as desktop icons on your Mac. Any photos will automatically be imported into iPhoto.
You will likely want to get some additional software for extra functionality though:
- First, be sure to download and install the iSync plugins from Sony Ericsson's web site. If you had already paired your phone with your Mac before installing, you can now go to System Preferences -> Bluetooth, highlight your phone, and then click on the little "wheel" icon at the bottom to select "Configure this device..." - this way you get the option to "Set up iSync to transfer contacts and events".
- Also from the SE website, be sure to get "Sony Ericsson Media Sync" - this will allow you to synchronize iTunes playlists with your phone via USB. It works similar to Nokia Multimedia Transfer if you are familiar with that, except that when you plug your phone into your Mac, you need to choose "Media Transfer" mode; it also does not synchronize or import Pictures, nor does it "transcode" videos that are not playable on your phone, so you need to make sure you have them in the correct format beforehand. As an alternative, you can get Salling Media sync (from Salling dot Com), though this costs money, and I found that the music once transferred to the phone is not indexed the same way -- it takes longer to load long playlists, for instance.
- Salling Clicker - a more sophisticated Bluetooth remote control application. For instance, you can open PowerPoint or Keynote presentations (you'll see the slide outlines on your phone) and hold a slideshow; you can control media playback in iTunes and Front Row; you can control your system volume, or even do basic mouse emulation.
==========
The issues
==========
OK, now for the more interesting portion of this review. I always find that I learn more from reading about flaws and annoyances than just pure praise. And - sure enough - there are some.
- For starters, Sony Ericsson are perhaps the most stubborn company in the world, sans Apple perhaps, when it comes to insisting on proprietary connectors and interfaces. While the world at large has moved to the miniUSB and more recently µUSB standard for charging and data transfer, SE keeps their klunky old "fast port" interface. This means you need a special SE cable to connect it to a computer or to charge it; a USB cable and a wall charger (but no car charger) is included in the box. This same port is also used for wired sound, though this AT&T retail unit does NOT include any headset. You'll need to purchase a Sony Ericsson compatible or Bluetooth headset on your own.
- Likewise, they STILL use their proprietary M2 (micro) memory stick interface; again, one is NOT included in the AT&T flavor of this unit. Moreover, these are more expensive than standard µSD/µSDHC cards that you would get for other phones. Currently, the largest size available is 16GB, and that will run you nearly a hundred.
- As mentioned, video recording is limited to 320x240 pixels at 30fps.
- Although the e-mail reader is overall quite nice, it has a couple of issues, too. First, it does not render HTML mail. Second, if you have more than one e-mail account (e.g. a personal POP3/IMAP account plus an Exchange/OWA account for work), then you have to make only one of them "active" at any one time. Only that one will be synchronized, until you switch back. I also seem to have an issue or two with Exchange Push working reliably - invariably it switches to "Sync Inactive".
- Exchange support is limited to basic synchronization; there is no "Company Directory" or "Global Address List" support, nor can you respond to meeting invites (Accept, Reject) directly on the phone. (But once you respond via your computer, the phone calendar is automatically updated).
- I had one issue with Exchange, which I believe to be very unique. It would fail to communicate with our Exchange 2007 servers at work. After some diagnostics involving the UNIX "wget" utility and a web proxy server, I determined that the issue was that the Exchange servers would reject all the requests from the C905a because of the "User-Agent:" string that identifies the software in the web client. Whereas most browsers and web clients include the word "Mozilla" in their "User-Agent:" string (e.g. "Mozilla/5.0 (Compatible; MSIE blah blah blah)"), including those in mobile phones from Nokia, Apple, Samsung, etc, those sent by Sony Ericsson phones such as the C905a do not. However, as I said, I BELIEVE this issue is unique to my company's setup, and I managed to get around it by pointing to a different Outlook Web Server address.
- Likewise, although the phone has an option for "WPA Enterprise" security (802.1x/EAP) in the WiFi settings, I am not able to get this working -- there seems to be no place to enter the EAP settings such as username/password, inner/outer authentication protocol, etc. So, mainly, I get WiFi at home, but not at work.
- There is no support for PDF or Microsoft Office documents in the device, nor Adobe Flash (e.g. in the web browser). I guess that's another reason/outcome of this not being a "smartphone".
- When playing music, the phone is at times quite unresponsive, whether you try pressing keys on the phone itself or control playback via Bluetooth AVRCP (e.g. using steering wheel controls in your car). At one point, I was switching from one playlist (about 300 songs) to another (about 900 songs), and it continued to play on the first for about 1 1/2 more songs until finally switching.
UPDATE: It turns out this had to do with how the playlists were created/indexed - in my case by Salling Media Sync from my Mac. Now Sony Ericsson have their own Sync utility for the Mac; once I switched to this one, the playlists load instantly!
- Any browser sessions in the native web browser does not show up on the tasklist! This means that if you switch to or launch another task while browsing, there is no way to return to the page you were viewing (Launching the browser via the menu will return to the home page). This is just yet another reason to download and use Opera Mini instead.
- The 2.4" screen is a little "small-ish", even compared to the likes of the N85, N95, etc. That said, it is very crisp, and also easily legible outdoors in direct sunlight.
- There is no quick way to turn the phone "Offline" (i.e. airplane mode). You have to enable the "Flight Menu" option at startup, then restart your phone to get this prompt. I like to keep my phone offline while at home (especially because I use it as an alarm, and don't like to have this much EMR/RF close to my two young children at night); the least painful way of doing this is to simply turn it off.
- The battery life is nothing to brag about. Obviously this will be more true if you use the Xenon flash a lot, or if you leave it continuously connected via WiFi. On the other hand, the battery life and signal indicators are a bit more "honest" in this phone than in the Nokias, Motorolas etc I have owned (which would show Full until just about 1/4 charge was left, then rapidly decrease).
===========
The Verdict
===========
Overall I am very pleased with this phone. In particular since the camera, GPS and e-mail reader all works significantly better on this device than on my N97, I will probably sell the latter once it comes back from repair.
It does have some limitations; it does not claim to be a replacement for your netbook or mobile computer the same way that Nokia (sometimes a bit arrogantly) does. For the price, though, you could not possibly expect more.
BlackBerry Tour 9630 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless)
Background of the reviewer: I have used Palm Treo 700p (Verizon) for a really long time, and also used Palm Pre for a week (Sprint), prior to switching to Blackberry Tour (Verizon again). I also tried iPhone, and currently own iPod Touch, and I believe its OS and applications are very good, but I do need a physical keyboard and so iPhone is not an option for me.
I won't repeat catalog specs and other info released by manufacturer. This review is about user review, and in particular, comparison against Treo and Pre.
THE POSITIVES:
Blackberry Tour is a well built, very practical phone, and feels very nicely in my hand.
The OS seems stable and reliable. It doesn't have many hiccups (brief freezes) as older generation smart phones, and even when hiccup occurs, it's very brief. It also has a very good keyboard, which is easier to type than Treo 700p, which I've long considered the best keyboard among smart phones (700p had better keyboard than Palm Pre), and it has excellent screen, with rich colors, sharp, crisp images and bright images that are easy to see even outdoors. The screen is smaller than iPhone and Palm Pre, but it has more pixels than many other smart phones; text is easy to read, even in small sizes, and outdoors while walking, and images are really rich of details. The battery life is excellent, camera is usable, 3.5mm headset jack is a good move (while I'm not sure if micro USB is a good move). The speaker phone is loud and clear enough for checking voice mail and waiting for "next available customer service rep" in a private office.
Integration of basic functions, among phone, text message, address book, is very good. Perhaps comparable to Palm OS. Very easy to call someone from text message view, or vice versa (which was not true with Pre).
NEGATIVE: Email
I don't know who started saying "BlackBerry is good at email" but it seems not true. If your company sets up Blackberry Enterprise Server, or if you use one basic email service with just one folder, it may be adequate for basic email access. However, most people who buy a smart phone have a bit more interesting life, and many of them are creative professionals, academics, freelancers, or simply people with multiple worlds. These types of people often use multiple email accounts, or multiple folders within one IMAP server, and use each for different purposes. Blackberry Enterprise Server is not an option for this type of people, and this is the type of people who will find BlackBerry's email functions vastly inadequate.
My ancient Palm Treo 700p with Chatter Mail provides much nicer user interface and full IMAP access to the email server, with access to any IMAP folder and with real time notification (equivalent to push email). The email software on BlackBerry can access only the Inbox folder, and you cannot change it. Why don't they provide direct access to any IMAP server and any IMAP folder, is beyond my understanding. Sure, Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) may provide a bit better access, and which was one of the original Blackberry technology years ago, but, lack of proper IMAP support sets this phone behind now-obsolete Palm phones and iPhone. Even though open standard IMAP is widespread, RIM might want to keep multiple folder access for BES users, and as a consequence, frustration is building up among users as most blackberry related forums have several threads on this topic, with no acceptable solutions available.
RIM, why can't I do the basic email on this brand new 2009 phone, which I could do perfectly well on a 2006 phone?
ANOTHER NEGATIVE: Voice quality, muffled voice, BUT IT'S EASILY FIXABLE!
The quality of voice sound you hear is excellent. What's not is the quality of your voice they hear; it is muffled and sounds like you are speaking from a distance, and it requires focused listening from the other person to understand what you say. This is not good for business or private.
The problem is that the tiny hole of the microphone is located on the bottom side, pointing down, and this is not very ideal to pick up high frequency components of the voice from my mouth in the regular way you hold the phone. One easy fix is to hold the phone so that your fingers hold very bottom of the phone, and your palm is right below the phone, not behind it. This way, your palm will reflect and funnel sound into the microphone of the phone. This solves the problem without costing any money. Even better, use the other hand to channel sound more effectively into the mic. In my experimentation (using voice recording software on Blackberry), this technique made improved the voice quality so much that people now tell me my voice is very easy to hear.
ANOTHER NEGATIVE: Mac OS compatibility
Blackberry Tour syncs with Mac OS, its standard Address Book, iCal, etc. through a third party software called PocketMac, which you can download from RIM website. The sync is slow, buggy, and can mulfunction to delete newly added entry without warning. When there is a change made on your desktop addressbook, or change made on the device, this software can't figure out which one is ore recent change, whereas Palm OS softwares can. The software has to ask you which way you want to propagate the change, but yet the synchronization is not accurate, and sometimes delete newly added record. Another problem is that, PocketMac doesn't let music and photos be synchronized with Blackberry even though the media card (micro SD card) is inserted and recognized by the phone. I don't recommend PocketMac, although this is about the only game in town for Mac users (besides MissingSync, which has its own negatives).
The good news is that RIM is supposedly working on its own BlackBerry desktop application for MacOS, with its launch due in September, 2009. Let's see if this happens, and if this is a significant improvement from PocketMac.
I took a point off, but let me explain. The phone as a hardware probably deserves 6 stars. The email software deserves 2 stars. Voice quality deserves 3 stars. There are some minor annoyances specific to blackberry (such as it can't vibrate and ring simultaneously without using a third party software) that deserves some points off. I really wanted to give it 3 stars, but I'll give it 4 for now.
In comparison, Treo 700p was an ok hardware, and it's quite dated by today's standard, but the OS and applications were excellent. Palm Pre was nothing like Treo line, more heavily network-based apps and applications are still incomplete and not very mature yet. Blackberry is supposed to be a very mature platform and "business friendly" but I personally find it's not as user-friendly as Treo 700p in practical business situations. If Palm OS run on Blackberry Tour, that would be the best of both world. I personally, reluctantly continue to use Blackberry Tour. If my Treo 700p didn't break, I would probably go back.
I won't repeat catalog specs and other info released by manufacturer. This review is about user review, and in particular, comparison against Treo and Pre.
THE POSITIVES:
Blackberry Tour is a well built, very practical phone, and feels very nicely in my hand.
The OS seems stable and reliable. It doesn't have many hiccups (brief freezes) as older generation smart phones, and even when hiccup occurs, it's very brief. It also has a very good keyboard, which is easier to type than Treo 700p, which I've long considered the best keyboard among smart phones (700p had better keyboard than Palm Pre), and it has excellent screen, with rich colors, sharp, crisp images and bright images that are easy to see even outdoors. The screen is smaller than iPhone and Palm Pre, but it has more pixels than many other smart phones; text is easy to read, even in small sizes, and outdoors while walking, and images are really rich of details. The battery life is excellent, camera is usable, 3.5mm headset jack is a good move (while I'm not sure if micro USB is a good move). The speaker phone is loud and clear enough for checking voice mail and waiting for "next available customer service rep" in a private office.
Integration of basic functions, among phone, text message, address book, is very good. Perhaps comparable to Palm OS. Very easy to call someone from text message view, or vice versa (which was not true with Pre).
NEGATIVE: Email
I don't know who started saying "BlackBerry is good at email" but it seems not true. If your company sets up Blackberry Enterprise Server, or if you use one basic email service with just one folder, it may be adequate for basic email access. However, most people who buy a smart phone have a bit more interesting life, and many of them are creative professionals, academics, freelancers, or simply people with multiple worlds. These types of people often use multiple email accounts, or multiple folders within one IMAP server, and use each for different purposes. Blackberry Enterprise Server is not an option for this type of people, and this is the type of people who will find BlackBerry's email functions vastly inadequate.
My ancient Palm Treo 700p with Chatter Mail provides much nicer user interface and full IMAP access to the email server, with access to any IMAP folder and with real time notification (equivalent to push email). The email software on BlackBerry can access only the Inbox folder, and you cannot change it. Why don't they provide direct access to any IMAP server and any IMAP folder, is beyond my understanding. Sure, Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) may provide a bit better access, and which was one of the original Blackberry technology years ago, but, lack of proper IMAP support sets this phone behind now-obsolete Palm phones and iPhone. Even though open standard IMAP is widespread, RIM might want to keep multiple folder access for BES users, and as a consequence, frustration is building up among users as most blackberry related forums have several threads on this topic, with no acceptable solutions available.
RIM, why can't I do the basic email on this brand new 2009 phone, which I could do perfectly well on a 2006 phone?
ANOTHER NEGATIVE: Voice quality, muffled voice, BUT IT'S EASILY FIXABLE!
The quality of voice sound you hear is excellent. What's not is the quality of your voice they hear; it is muffled and sounds like you are speaking from a distance, and it requires focused listening from the other person to understand what you say. This is not good for business or private.
The problem is that the tiny hole of the microphone is located on the bottom side, pointing down, and this is not very ideal to pick up high frequency components of the voice from my mouth in the regular way you hold the phone. One easy fix is to hold the phone so that your fingers hold very bottom of the phone, and your palm is right below the phone, not behind it. This way, your palm will reflect and funnel sound into the microphone of the phone. This solves the problem without costing any money. Even better, use the other hand to channel sound more effectively into the mic. In my experimentation (using voice recording software on Blackberry), this technique made improved the voice quality so much that people now tell me my voice is very easy to hear.
ANOTHER NEGATIVE: Mac OS compatibility
Blackberry Tour syncs with Mac OS, its standard Address Book, iCal, etc. through a third party software called PocketMac, which you can download from RIM website. The sync is slow, buggy, and can mulfunction to delete newly added entry without warning. When there is a change made on your desktop addressbook, or change made on the device, this software can't figure out which one is ore recent change, whereas Palm OS softwares can. The software has to ask you which way you want to propagate the change, but yet the synchronization is not accurate, and sometimes delete newly added record. Another problem is that, PocketMac doesn't let music and photos be synchronized with Blackberry even though the media card (micro SD card) is inserted and recognized by the phone. I don't recommend PocketMac, although this is about the only game in town for Mac users (besides MissingSync, which has its own negatives).
The good news is that RIM is supposedly working on its own BlackBerry desktop application for MacOS, with its launch due in September, 2009. Let's see if this happens, and if this is a significant improvement from PocketMac.
I took a point off, but let me explain. The phone as a hardware probably deserves 6 stars. The email software deserves 2 stars. Voice quality deserves 3 stars. There are some minor annoyances specific to blackberry (such as it can't vibrate and ring simultaneously without using a third party software) that deserves some points off. I really wanted to give it 3 stars, but I'll give it 4 for now.
In comparison, Treo 700p was an ok hardware, and it's quite dated by today's standard, but the OS and applications were excellent. Palm Pre was nothing like Treo line, more heavily network-based apps and applications are still incomplete and not very mature yet. Blackberry is supposed to be a very mature platform and "business friendly" but I personally find it's not as user-friendly as Treo 700p in practical business situations. If Palm OS run on Blackberry Tour, that would be the best of both world. I personally, reluctantly continue to use Blackberry Tour. If my Treo 700p didn't break, I would probably go back.
Samsung Impression a877 Phone, Blue (AT&T)
I have had this phone now for a little over 72 hours. It's my first smart phone*, so unfortunately I don't have much to compare it to in that vein, but I do have some thoughts on the phone itself. I'm using it with a 1GB card.
I'll start with what I like:
- The screen - it's beautiful and vibrant. The touch screen works well and I have yet to encounter any issues.
- The qwerty keypad and auto orientation - it responds well and the buttons are not so small that you hit the wrong keys, but it's not at all bulky.
- Call quality - excellent call quality. Speaker phone is loud and clear on both ends of the call.
- The camera - I've never had pictures look so good on any phone I've ever owned. They're sharp and clear in daylight conditions and in low light or indoor conditions, they're much better than most mobile photos I've seen.
- Widget function - allows your most used tools to be available on the main screen at all times.
- Size and weight - not too bulky, not very heavy.
- Connection to USB - I love that I can essentially have this phone function as an external hard drive and drag and drop files into it from my PC as well as edit file folders on the phone from the PC. It makes file transfers and organization so much more simple.
- Smooth internet use - it is pretty easy to navigate around internet pages on the phone.
Overall, the phone works very quickly and smoothly transitioning between screens and functions. I'm quite happy with that aspect.
What I don't like:
- No contacts or calendar sync! Even my old low-tech phone had the ability to sync my contacts to my computer for easy editing and backup. There is no way (that I could find in the bundle) to view, edit or backup your contacts to your computer from this phone. Data sync cable does nothing for this.
- Ringtones must be under 300kb - quite a bit smaller than my previous phones (but I'm not sure if I was just spoiled before.) The phone comes with this program called PC Studio Manager which is supposed to be able to compress your files for this purpose, but I have yet to get any of my music to compress to the size needed for a ring tone.
- PC Studio Manager - seems to work a bit like Media Monkey or iTunes in that it organizes and backs up your media files. In my limited use of it, it's been frustrating and somewhat redundant particularly since I wouldn't want to use it to manage all of my media files. It is not the most intuitive program and not much direction is offered within the program itself or within the digital manual online (you are given a CD which links you to the internet manual since no paper manuals came with this phone.)
- No flash on the camera. Still does pretty well in low light, but I was used to a flash on my old camera.
- No GMail support - it supports Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc... but no GMail. The downloadable GMail mobile doesn't work perfectly with the phone either, but it functions... sometimes.
Overall, I enjoy the phone but my peeves are still pretty frustrating. I hope updates will become available particularly the contacts sync because as of my writing this (4/13/09) there isn't much information available in that regard. I haven't yet been able to wear down the battery in normal use (internet, occasional chatting, general playing around with the phone & standby) so I have no complaints about the battery at this time. I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend it to my best friend just yet. Just know exactly what you're getting.
*edit - cnet categorizes it as a "Samsung Smartphone" other websites call it a non-smart phone... doesn't matter since I'm not comparing it to other "SMARTphones" all personal comparisons are done against other old phones used over the past 5 years which were not SMARTphones.
I'll start with what I like:
- The screen - it's beautiful and vibrant. The touch screen works well and I have yet to encounter any issues.
- The qwerty keypad and auto orientation - it responds well and the buttons are not so small that you hit the wrong keys, but it's not at all bulky.
- Call quality - excellent call quality. Speaker phone is loud and clear on both ends of the call.
- The camera - I've never had pictures look so good on any phone I've ever owned. They're sharp and clear in daylight conditions and in low light or indoor conditions, they're much better than most mobile photos I've seen.
- Widget function - allows your most used tools to be available on the main screen at all times.
- Size and weight - not too bulky, not very heavy.
- Connection to USB - I love that I can essentially have this phone function as an external hard drive and drag and drop files into it from my PC as well as edit file folders on the phone from the PC. It makes file transfers and organization so much more simple.
- Smooth internet use - it is pretty easy to navigate around internet pages on the phone.
Overall, the phone works very quickly and smoothly transitioning between screens and functions. I'm quite happy with that aspect.
What I don't like:
- No contacts or calendar sync! Even my old low-tech phone had the ability to sync my contacts to my computer for easy editing and backup. There is no way (that I could find in the bundle) to view, edit or backup your contacts to your computer from this phone. Data sync cable does nothing for this.
- Ringtones must be under 300kb - quite a bit smaller than my previous phones (but I'm not sure if I was just spoiled before.) The phone comes with this program called PC Studio Manager which is supposed to be able to compress your files for this purpose, but I have yet to get any of my music to compress to the size needed for a ring tone.
- PC Studio Manager - seems to work a bit like Media Monkey or iTunes in that it organizes and backs up your media files. In my limited use of it, it's been frustrating and somewhat redundant particularly since I wouldn't want to use it to manage all of my media files. It is not the most intuitive program and not much direction is offered within the program itself or within the digital manual online (you are given a CD which links you to the internet manual since no paper manuals came with this phone.)
- No flash on the camera. Still does pretty well in low light, but I was used to a flash on my old camera.
- No GMail support - it supports Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc... but no GMail. The downloadable GMail mobile doesn't work perfectly with the phone either, but it functions... sometimes.
Overall, I enjoy the phone but my peeves are still pretty frustrating. I hope updates will become available particularly the contacts sync because as of my writing this (4/13/09) there isn't much information available in that regard. I haven't yet been able to wear down the battery in normal use (internet, occasional chatting, general playing around with the phone & standby) so I have no complaints about the battery at this time. I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend it to my best friend just yet. Just know exactly what you're getting.
*edit - cnet categorizes it as a "Samsung Smartphone" other websites call it a non-smart phone... doesn't matter since I'm not comparing it to other "SMARTphones" all personal comparisons are done against other old phones used over the past 5 years which were not SMARTphones.
BlackBerry Bold 9000 Phone, Black (AT&T)
I've been using the new Blackberry Bold for three days. I'd previously used nearly all versions of Blackberry's since the old Inter@ctive early days of when these devices were sold mainly as pagers.
For the last year I've been relying primarily on the iPhone for my main phone. That's going to continue but I decided to pick up a Blackberry to see how things have changed and so I could compare the two devices for online reviews.
Here's what my initial reactions are:
First, yes the screen is brighter and bolder than any prior Blackberry.
Unfortunately that (and 3G speeds) is pretty much where the amazement stops with this Blackberry.
Applications on the Blackberry have the same Java-esque "write once run everywhere" old fashioned look to them. Most of the applications on Blackberry seem frozen in time. It's as if once they were done the developers stopped improving on them. Some of that is due to them being written in JAVA to take advantage of multiple device types -- making substantial upgrades difficult.
RIM still has not been able to match the App Store feature from Apple. Instead of having one central place to find applications for the Blackberry I have to browse the web, search through links on the device itself and finally be confronted with a fair number of applications that won't run on the Blackberry Bold.
The Blackberry Bold was delayed past prior rumored release dates. One of the reasons for the delay could have been due to RIM trying to build some type of App store (which is not included on this device). I think RIM is sorely missing a central place for Blackberry users to download applications.
Now on to where the Blackberry Bold nails the iPhone.
The Bold does push email on my GMAIL with minimal setup (type in your email, type in your password and Blackberry does all the setup).
The iPhone cannot get the whole concept of push email right and still offers what I consider to be consumer level email.
Blackberry Bold is a nice device with a pretty good camera. If you're primarily an email user - this is the device for you.
If you are interested in running a lot of different applications and an iTunes integrated media player, you'll be better served to look at an iPhone. (Note: Blackberry Bold media player can transfer songs from iTunes but it will only transfer NON-DRM music -- meaning anything you bought from iTunes with DRM won't transfer).
For the last year I've been relying primarily on the iPhone for my main phone. That's going to continue but I decided to pick up a Blackberry to see how things have changed and so I could compare the two devices for online reviews.
Here's what my initial reactions are:
First, yes the screen is brighter and bolder than any prior Blackberry.
Unfortunately that (and 3G speeds) is pretty much where the amazement stops with this Blackberry.
Applications on the Blackberry have the same Java-esque "write once run everywhere" old fashioned look to them. Most of the applications on Blackberry seem frozen in time. It's as if once they were done the developers stopped improving on them. Some of that is due to them being written in JAVA to take advantage of multiple device types -- making substantial upgrades difficult.
RIM still has not been able to match the App Store feature from Apple. Instead of having one central place to find applications for the Blackberry I have to browse the web, search through links on the device itself and finally be confronted with a fair number of applications that won't run on the Blackberry Bold.
The Blackberry Bold was delayed past prior rumored release dates. One of the reasons for the delay could have been due to RIM trying to build some type of App store (which is not included on this device). I think RIM is sorely missing a central place for Blackberry users to download applications.
Now on to where the Blackberry Bold nails the iPhone.
The Bold does push email on my GMAIL with minimal setup (type in your email, type in your password and Blackberry does all the setup).
The iPhone cannot get the whole concept of push email right and still offers what I consider to be consumer level email.
Blackberry Bold is a nice device with a pretty good camera. If you're primarily an email user - this is the device for you.
If you are interested in running a lot of different applications and an iTunes integrated media player, you'll be better served to look at an iPhone. (Note: Blackberry Bold media player can transfer songs from iTunes but it will only transfer NON-DRM music -- meaning anything you bought from iTunes with DRM won't transfer).
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