Jørgen Sundgot looks at Sony Ericsson's newest WAN handheld, and discovers the P900 boasts improvements all around - but how well does it fare against competitors?
Review summary of the Sony Ericsson P900:
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 Price: $800.
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Full review of the Sony Ericsson P900:
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When the P800 was first launched, Sony Ericsson pioneered the use of the UIQ platform to create a WAN handheld and compete in a niche where the company had no previous experience. Despite many predictions of doom, the P800 survived and has laid the foundation for an increasingly thriving ecosystem - despite its flaws, as many early adopters would claim. Thus, expectations have run high for its successor, the P900, so let's see whether it cuts the mustard.
 | Sleeker than its predecessor, the P900 boasts a range of minor improvements
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Design
Far better looking than the P800, the P900 appears both smaller and sleeker than its predecessor - a result of the visual illusion as the difference in size is marginal. There are however several other quite tangible differences, including the foregoing of a mechanical keypad flip solution for an electrical one (still removable), coincidentally leaving a larger area of the screen exposed; overall improved build quality and ergonomics; and some weight loss.
The display of the P900 is truly a masterpiece when compared with that of the P800: it is crisper, clearer and brighter, and performs far better in daylight courtesy of its transflective properties. It is also 16-bit, and capable of displaying 65,636 colours - 16 times that of its predecessor. This is of course navigated by means of the built-in stylus, which although incredibly short and light is better to use than the odd contraption included with the P800. Stylus travel is suitably short.
Input-wise, the P900 is highly comfortable as its keypad is made up of elongated silver buttons with good tactile and audible feedback - a vast improvement over the P800. Just above these, we find navigational buttons for approving dialogs, going back, erasing input and calling up a context menu as in the P800, and similar to the keypad itself these are all lit by an adequately bright blue backlight. The right side of the unit offers hardware shortcut buttons for the CommuniCorder and Internet applications, while the left side contains the power on/off switch, joined by the truly ingenious five-way jog wheel for clever one-handed navigation.
Two LEDs grace the front of the P900, of which the one in the upper left corner flashes to indicate the state of the Bluetooth radio and whether activity is taking place, while the red/green in the upper right corner offers up a combination of charging and alarm indicators, while simultaneously indicating GSM network status.
Placed centered between the two LEDs, we find the speaker of the P900, which is entirely adequate for conversations. Speakerphone and multimedia output provided by the loudspeaker on the back of the phone is truly excellent, and the microphone does a very good job indeed of picking up voice. Similarly, one finds little to criticize when it comes to the included 2.5 mm handsfree kit, although a professional headset will of course be the best option for those wishing the P900 to double as their portable audio player.
As could be expected, the VGA camera of the P900 is located on the back, protected by a metallic ridge and joined by an adjacent vanity mirror.
Connectivity
Although it offers a Memory Stick Duo expansion slot, one might say that the P900 is somewhat challenged in terms of expansion. Firstly, memory cards in this format are not available in larger capacities than 128 MB, and there are no input/output accessories available of any kind. Excellent Bluetooth support mitigates this somewhat, however, with the P900 offering a good range of basic profiles such as Dial-up Networking, OBEX and Serial Port connectivity. To top it off, there's infrared support as well.
Owners of devices utilizing the first generation of Memory Stick cards will appreciate the included adapter for using Memory Stick Duos with these. The included USB cradle is on the other hand likely to cause some concern as it comes across much less than sturdy.
Obviously, GSM and GPRS connectivity both lie at the core of the P900 as a WAN handheld. Throughout our testing, these proved to be rock solid although we did encounter the odd bug in connection with Bluetooth Dial-up Networking. As a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz device, the P900 is compatible with networks in all major cities around the globe, and with GPRS Class 10 data transfer speeds are the fastest possible.
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