Sony Ericsson P1i user reviews

Nafees Lodhi 23 August 2007

Good: Solid design, feature set, multiple input methods

Bad: Only supports 802.11b, hand writing recognition

Comment: I have had the P1i for a few days now and I can confidently say it’s a fantastic mobile for my needs.

Some thoughts on CNET review.

1. You get used to typing on the rocker QWERTY keyboard after a day
2. The interface isn't as bad as the review makes out; in fact for a techie like me it’s pretty easy to use.
3. At the time of writing, there is a spelling error in the review; the interface is UIQ, not QUI.
4. The review does not touch upon call quality, the most important function of the phone. The call quality is fantastic (as is the speakerphone)
5. I got the P1i connected fine to my Netgear router using WPA
6. Even so, I agree setting up the WiFi could have been made easier for non-technical people.
7. Battery life is fine, much better the N95, so far I have charged every other day.

Now on to my review -

Compared to other smart phones:

After a few months of research I decided to bite the bullet and buy this phone instead of other smart phones in its class. If you are looking for a phone with a balance between multimedia and business features then this is it. I would say the two main competitors to this phone are the N95 and the E61i. The N95 beats both phones on multimedia features and the inclusion of GPS; the E61i beats both phones on business functionality (full QWERTY keyboard, good range of apps installed, battery life), however if you’re looking for an all rounder then the P1i beats both.

Why I chose this phone:

The N95’s battery life and lack of QWERTY was a big NO for me.

I wanted a phone with a QWERTY type keyboard with multimedia functionality but was also relatively small and didn’t look like just another blackberry clone (like the E61i), the P1i has a little bit of both but also has the addition of a touch screen interface.

Another factor in my decision making process was the availability of the phone on a contract (helps ease the payment of the phone over a year), the E61i wasn’t available on a UK talkplan direct from the major networks, the P1i was, so my choice was made for me.

Disadvantages:

I would say the interface may not be as easy to use for a non-techie as other smart phones, but I would put the choice input methods as an advantage not a disadvantage (although I agree that it’s not good that on occasion sometimes you *have* to use multiple input methods). I would also agree with the reviewer however that the time I have played with it so far the handwriting recognition hasn’t been that good (I prefer the QWERTY keypad anyway). Also I have haven't had the success than the reviewer had in using the business card scanning feature.

The range of software available for the phone is good, but because it is built on the UIQ3 platform the range of software making specific use of the touch screen is more limited.

Finally something missed by the reviewer, the P1i only supports 802.11b at the current time (maybe supported with future firmware), even so it’s not a big deal to configure most modern routers to support both standards.

Conclusion

The P1i phone is a solidly built phone for the person who loves multimedia features but also likes to check their emails, schedule their time, browse the net and occasionally edit a word document.

My phone came supplied from O2 with 512 megabytes memory card in addition to the 160 megabytes memory built in, which is pretty generous. However I bought a 2 gig memory card to store my audio books.

Editor's note: Thanks for your comments - we have now fixed the spelling error. -Kate Macefield