Though AAS have still not been able to get a review model out of Sony Ericsson, others thankfully have. Here are detailed reviews from My-Symbian and The Register, both with a very different slant. Rafe suggests that UIQ 3 is a bit like Marmite (love it or hate it) - read the reviews and make up your own mind!
Read on in the full article.
The Register dont seem to enjoy Symbian devices much :tongue:
We got a device from SE in the past july, I was very disappointed, I agree with the register... I think also the old P800 was more usable and ergonomic than the new P990i...
my 2 cents... 😉
Gino
I must agree with the Register. UIQ3 (in it's P990 incarnation at least) does not seem to be thought through. It's even messier than WM now! (and I didn't think I would ever say that about a Symbian device). A breach of the legacy from Psion of very clear and consistent UI philosophies. Back to basics chaps! I will stick with my P900+5mx combo until I see something better.
It certainly took a long time coming. But when it finally arrived the P990i was certainly surprisingly buggy. The UI with M600 was already complex (compared to the previous P series of the same UIQ lineage) but the P990i topped it off even more. I hope SE fixes the software as the hanging is a serious issue with me (as with most users). I have come to use the M600 more than the P990 as this seemingly is more stable. Most of colleagues would say the price tag simply is not worth the issues with UIQ software.
There was a new firmware released 24hrs after The Register published their review that fixed many of real bugs that were described. Unfortunately many reviews don't state the firmware version, which is not helpful given that SE have had three versions in 4 weeks! An initial 'play' with the P990 would suggest the UI is complicated and difficult to use. An extended use (I have had a P990 for over two weeks) will show that the UI has many ways to do the same thing and I now how my preferred way of using it. Therefore, I think the P990 does fail the initial impact test when it comes to the ease of useability and understanding of the UI. Having used WM5 for a while and PalmOS I think WM5 is too desk-top like for a Smartphone OS and PalmOS is the easiest to use for a mobile computing device.
There is trend I have noticed with some reviews online and in magazines - the reviewer had a deadline and therefore a complex computing device is reviewed too quickly. For exmaple, a UK magazine reviewing the HTC TyTN did not even mention it had HSDPA and that the UMTS worked on European and US networks!
I've been usign the p900 and have been waiting anxiousliy for the P990i.
after a long Time (1 Year!!) the phone was finally released and I bought it right away. But BIG DISAPPOINTMENT, the phone is crap!
First of all, the progress from P900 to P990 is very small. The applications (such as Camera) look a bit fancier, the Organizer has a better weekly view and that' s about it.
The Set up of MMS, WWW etc. is very difficult and does not work with Configuration SMS from your Mobile Provider (for me, www does still not work).
Synchronisation does not work properly, for Instance, Notes are not transferred from the PC to the Phone (very bad, if you had a P900 and would like to transfer your data via synchronisation).
The Phone crashes all the time and has to be re-booted.
The Speakerphone is totally stupid. Instead of being able to set to speakerphone while your phone ist dialling you have to wait until the other party picks up the phone. This way you have to leave the phone on your ear while driving unless you have a connection. Then you have to push several buttons to set to speakerphone. And if you want to set it back to "handel"-Mode, the phone crashes and you have to reboot it!
The Applications are not very intuitv to use. For someone who has used a PXXX Device before, it ist very strange.
The Camera is a dissapointment. The 2 megapixles seem to be attractive. But I don't know what kind of lese they have built in the phone. The Pictures are not a big excitement at all. A little bit better than with my P900.
The Joystick to navigate is very sensible and you often navigate wrong because it reacts so easily.
the Battery-Life is very poor. If I forget to charge it at night, I will be out of Power by Noon next Day.
The Keyboard is very good and easy to use. A big Improovement from P910! Also the Screen is very sharp and Bright.
I do not recomment to switch from a P900 or 910 to the P990. It is not a big Improovment. And the two old devices run much more stable.
For someone who wants to get Into the Smartphone World, I would Suggest to wait until the Software Update Service and the Online Help from SE are online.
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