Sony Ericsson P990i user reviews
Tell us what you think
Should you buy it?
Ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers if you should buy the Sony Ericsson P990i
on Laptops 
Facebook 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Twitter 
RSS Feeds 
Send Us Tips
User reviews6
lazygirl007 28 November 2007
Good: the touch screen
Bad: doesnt work!!!!
Comment: I got lot of problems with this phone and still have. First it just started switching-off after few minutes of use. SE fixed it. Then i cant update it, cant sync it on mac even using the SE plugin. Back to SE service, after 4 weeks i get it back. They told me they changed some hardware. But it is still not working. I try to sell it but do not succeed yet!!!!
Iain Dick 23 January 2007
Good: The idea
Bad: The reality of 12 freezes/lockups in 3 days - very unstable firmware to hang such a powerful package of programs onto.
Comment: Very hard to navigate, using the back button does not close applications, slow processor and firmware can't cope, simple as that. It was my first try of a Z phone and expected so much more from Sony Ericsson as I am loyal to them now after being burnt with every Nokia experience I've ever had...
Mark Hohenberg 14 December 2006
Good: Wi-Fi - absolutely superb. Bring on Skype on mobile phones - won't be long (it's in development).
Bad: The slow interface, low levels of RAM, crashes, predictive text can be a little too predictive (goes for longer words and you have to correct)
Comment: I'd recommend this phone despite the problems. I have had it a week now and the pros outwiegh the cons though I do get frustrated with program crashes and the phone has had to reboot a couple of times (a lengthy process in itself) due to low memory. I hope Sony Ericsson take heed of consumer comments for future models as packing so many features into a phone is great but only useful if you support it with the adequate hardware to run it all!
Tristan Penfold 28 November 2006
Good: Everything
Bad: The price
Comment: Brilliant mobile and smartphone - no software problems or hardware problems. The interface is easy to use and easy to get used to. The business card scanner works a treat, it gets the info right every time! The Qwerty keypad is also brilliant, the buttons are rubber!
Get one of these if you don't mind the pricetag.
Miran Ali 12 November 2006
Good: The improved synch features
Bad: The instability
Comment: My primary purpose of buying this phone was as a pda. The back up and synch functions actually work this time which is a major improvement. But if you buy this phone prepare to be saddled with a software more unstable than a virus ridden windows 95. I think sony shouldn't have launched this phone without first stabilising their software. My reccomendation is the Nokia E63 if you want all the functions of the P990i on a stable platform. Only drawback is the camera.
Anonymous 7 November 2006
Good: Predictive text, media player
Bad: Most things
Comment: Completely unintuitive:
It's taken me a fair old while to work out some of the stuff. Now someone is going to say "but it's all in the manual". Pants! One of the really nice things about the P910i is that it was intuitive. I could use almost all functions without having to read a manual first.
By way of example, the applications used to reside in one long list which I could group by category if I wanted. Not now. While most of the synchronised applications are accessible from the main applications window, if I want to access the Notes (an application that I, personally, have, historically, found to be very useful) I have to go into the Office application.
Randomised menu items:
Sometimes you can delete an email, at other times you cannot because the menu item just isn't available.
Importing music:
This has to be in the music folder only, not a sub-folder but this isn't mentioned in the manual.
Unable to customise flip-closed menu applications:
I could on the P910i which was great as it meant fast access to the applications I wanted to get to.
Flaky software:
1. Disconnect from the USB cable having synchronised with the PC and the phone brings up the Bluetooth connection menu. Not a major problem, but odd behaviour.
2. Open a contact in flip-closed mode, then open the flip and the phone crashes - now confirmed on 3 separate phones.
3. Occasionally the phone will restart to "improve performance" (exact words displayed on screen). This is not very helpful when it happens mid-call (which it has now, several times).
4. Connect the phone to the PC after having used more than one application (e.g. having played a music file and, say, opened the calendar). Oh dear, phone crashes, turns itself off, and refuses to be recognised by the computer until unplugged and replugged in again.
5. With the flip closed, edit a calendar entry and open the flip. You guessed it - crash, bang, wallop every time.
Poor battery life:
Apparently it's got 10.8 days stand-by battery time. Poppycock. With only minimal use I'm lucky to get a day and a half out of it and when it decides to go, boy does it. In the past week I've had complete battery failure 3 times.
Poor menu system:
Yes, you do work them out but it can be confusing as you have often got two menus - one on the right at the top and one on the left at the top - which do subtly different things.
Slow screen response:
Movement between screens is often painfully slow; often to the point that one wonders whether one has taken the action one thought.
Reduced screen area/ poor keyboard:
A lot of space that could have been given over to the screen is wasted - IMHO - on the pathetic keyboard. Yes it looks nice, and the buttons have a better feel to them than the ones on the old P910i, but at the end of the day it seems to be there to try and win some of the Blackberry clan over. One of the differentiators between SE and Blackberry is the fact that I don't need to subject myself to RSI with SE as I can write naturally instead of using a segment of thumb.
Loss of functionality on the wheel:
Whereas I used to be able to push the wheel in to select, push it away from me to cancel, and push it towards me to navigate, now all I can do with it - apart from spin the wheel to navigate - is push it in. Not only that but often it keeps going for a millisecond after I've stopped turning it, which often leads to the wrong thing being selected. Not good. I've lost count of the number of times the phone has gone into Flight Mode when all I wanted was to turn it on.
Over-responsive navigation button:
So now I have a navigation button. Press to the left, you go left. Press to the right, you go right. Up and down, same things. To select, I press the button in the middle of this set up. All well and good but it is all too easy to do this when trying to go left or right, up or down.
And there's more but I think you get the idea.