SONY ERICSSON P900

Sony Ericsson’s first smartphone, the P800, was something of a surprise success, findingan audience among the young consumers who make up the early adopters group. This market had been relatively unmoved by the smartphones available at that time, but Sony Ericsson’s brand of hybrid device managed to strike a nerve and the P800 was one of last year’s most successful smartphones. The P900 (£500 inc. VAT) is basically the same unit as its predecessor, using many of the same specifications. And while its appearance is very similar, there have been a number of improvements. As well as being smaller and lighter than the P800, the P900’s darker blue colour is more appealing and makes the phone feel less plastic than the P800.The flip down number pad is an improvement, with a metallic finish and a more sturdy feel.

The long thin number keys are far easier to use and owners may feel less inclined to remove the flip pad than they would have done with the P800. There’s an unusual jog dial on the side of the unit. As well as the normal up and down scrolling and push-in enter functions, it can also be pushed backwards and forwards. This takes a while to get used to, but once you have, you can navigate one-handed with relative efficiency. But probably the most welcome alteration has to be the stylus that replaces the terrible flat plastic one used by the P800.In terms of specifications, the P900 is almost identical to the P800. It’s a tri-band GSM phone that includes GPRS, MMS and Bluetooth.

It’s powered by a 156MHz ARM9 processor with 16MB of RAM and we found it was reasonably fast and smooth to operate, providing acceptable performance. If you need to add extra memory, you can use the Sony Memory Stick Duo expansion slot.

 A 32MB card comes as standard with the handset. Battery life was also adequate, although the16 hours of talk time and 20 days of standby time quoted by Sony Ericsson is a little optimistic. Still, we found it provided a more reliable battery life than many of the other units in this review. A charging and synchronisation cradle is included, or users can just plug the phone straight into the charger cable if they prefer. While the P900 is still a reasonable size for a phone, it’s the larger screen that makes it so usable as a PDA. Whereas the similarly-sized Siemens SX1 is fundamentally a phone with PIM features and extra connectivity, the P900 is far more of a proper hybrid, the touchscreen allowing a more immediate accessibility. Because of this, we were pleased to see that Sony Ericsson has improved the screen on the P900, the 208 x 320-pixel colour panel providing a clear and bright picture.

Those worried about damaging the exposed part of the screen while in transit can store the phone in the supplied carry case. Leisure users will appreciate the VGA resolution(640 x 480 pixels) digital camera that will also record video. A small mirror under the lens on the back of the phone makes taking your own picture easier. Other multimedia features include MPEG-4 video playback and, as with the Siemens SX1, MP3 playback through the supplied stereo hands free headset. Although the P900 is an all-round improvement on its predecessor, it’s not enough of an improvement to warrant spending a lot of money upgrading if you already own the P800.

Those users who are already familiar with theP800 will know what to expect, and if they liked the old one, they will certainly like the new one. While a user’s choice of smartphone is often governed by very personal preferences, which means one person’s ideal handset will be another’s most hated, we suspect it’s the price of the P900 that will give most people pause for thought. After all, at £500 (inc. VAT) without SIM, the P900 is far from cheap.

RATING: 7

PRICE: £426/£500 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: 156MHZ ARM
MEMORY: 16MB
EXPANSION: MS DUO
SCREEN: 16-BIT TFT
SIZE: 57 X 115 X 24MM
WEIGHT: 150G
OPERATING SYSTEM: SYMBIAN 7.0
CONTACT: 08705 237237 WWW.SONYERICSSON.COM/UK