Sony Ericsson P910 Review

Sony Ericsson P910Since the release of the P800 in 2002, Sony Ericsson's P-series smartphones have been considered to be at the forefront of smartphone technology. A year after the P800, the P900 was released and offered a number of enhancements, such as an improved display and an upgraded user interface. Almost a year to the day after the release of the P900, Sony Ericsson has released the P910, their latest and greatest, again offering a number of new features that power users have been waiting for.

As a daily user of the P900, I was excited to see if the P910 had improved upon some of the glaring software and hardware issues in its predecessor.

Physical Aspects

The first thing you'll notice about the P910 is that it looks extremely similar to the P900. It's clear that Sony Ericsson used the P900 as a base to create the new phone and added some extras to bring it in line with the look of the rest of the Sony Ericsson range. The previous raised Sony Ericsson logo has been replaced with an engraved version, giving it a more 'classy' look. The keypad keys have been changed and are now larger and more translucent with a white glow instead of the P900's blue.

Sony Ericsson has shoehorned a full 33 button QWERTY keyboard behind the flip keypad. This was included because users have complained in the past about the stylus being the major text input tool and therefore being cumbersome when typing large emails or messages. When I first heard about the P910 and saw various pictures of it, I wondered how such a small keyboard could be more effective than using the reasonably decent JotPro handwriting recognition software found in the P-series. The addition of a QWERTY keypad makes the P910 the only smartphone to have all 3 text input methods (stylus, keyboard, 12-key alphanumeric keypad). To facilitate the new keyboard the hinge that connects it to the P910 has been greatly strengthened and you can now hold the entire phone using just the keypad without fear of causing damage. I found the opening and closing mechanism to be much sturdier than that available on the P900.

But how does the keyboard perform? The keys are very small but are convex, and the tactility of the keys makes them easy to use if you've got small to medium hands. I have reasonably large hands and found that typing was difficult, even after practising for over 2 weeks. It is still a nice addition though, and something I use it when typing out short emails and SMS messages on the go.

The rest of the physical aspects are exactly the same as that of the P900, such as the location of the camera, memory stick slot, power button, headset, and infrared port. A few of the panels, such as the back battery cover, have a different silver colour, but by and large both phones are very similar.

 

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