Sony Ericsson P1i (Review)

Business phones are in a class by themselves but there’s no way that even the best business phones of today aren’t equipped with multimedia features of some sort. Their appeal, as business class models however, also greatly depend on their appearance and not just the business functions they can perform. The ergonomics of the phone itself are a vital reason for people to choose the device. The P1i for some strange reason is said to be the upgrade to the P990. In reality it neither looks nor feels anything like it but is a design and functioning copy of the M600.

Form Factor
Like I said it looks identical to the M600. The P1i has a 2.6 inch, TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256k colors. There’s a secondary VGA camera near the earpiece for video calls. Underneath the screen is a bit of an awkward QWERTY keypad. Why awkward? Because it has 2 alphabets on each key. Each key has a concave design to it so you can distinguish the alphabets. It may be tricky to start off with if you’re not a old M600 user. But trust me, you will get the hang of it. On the right side of the P1i is the dedicated internet key at the top; followed by the M2 card slot underneath and at the bottom is the dedicated camera key. On the other side is a steel loop for the strap, followed by the scroll wheel and return key.


The Power key and Infrared sensor can be found at the top of the phone and the stylus is conveniently positioned on the left corner near the power key. The bottom is where you’ll find that darn Sony Ericsson proprietary slot for the earphones, USB and charger. What I do like about the P1i is that it’s quite light at 124g and is really easy to handle. With or without the touchscreen. The rear is where you’ll find the 3.2 megapixel camera with a flash. It’s just below a silver bar, where it would seem the speakers are located.

What I do need to mention is that the material the screen is made of, is a little too soft. My recommendation is that you don’t use anything else that includes your nails ladies, to maneuver through the menus on the touchscreen. If you don’t get used to using the stylus, you can severely scratch the screen. The P1i also comes a universal stand that will allow you to prop it up and has 3 separate slots for the charger and USB (rear) as well as a separate port on the side for the headphones.



Tech and Interface
I have to say that even though this phone may be horribly sluggish, considering that it has 128MB RAM, the touch screen technology it uses is quite good. When it comes to typing or should I say, writing messages, it’s a cinch. It’s smooth and the handwriting recognition is really very good. If you’re using the web browser, much like the iPhone, you can scroll either up or down by simply moving your finger over the page. You needn’t use the stylus and use the scroll bars. It has a whooping 160MB of internal space with support from M2 cards for additional space if needed.

The interface I’m afraid is painfully plain and boring, so I found just one theme some wonderful soul created and in order to make this article a bit more interesting I’ve used this theme in all the product shots instead of the default theme. Wallpapers can be adjusted to fit the screen, but if it’s a full sized wallpaper from you’re PC you’re going to have to zoom in a lot to make sure the image doesn’t get distorted when you place it as a wallpaper. The Scroll dial on the side is excellent for navigation. This is the one thing I really liked about the Sony Ericsson phones. It’s an extremely handy tool to have for quick navigation and selection of options.

Business
The P1i runs on a Symbian Operating System version 9.1, UIQ 3.0. But unfortunately is not very fast at all. In fact it’s downright slow! Perhaps it could be some odd problem with this piece, but I can’t confirm that for sure. It’s way too sluggish when it comes to opening up applications or pages or anything actually. However, as a business phone the P1i serves it’s purpose very efficiently. It has Quickoffice preinstalled so you can easily view and edit your word, excel and PowerPoint documents. There’s also a PDF reader that takes unimaginably long to load a file though. Presentations can be views remotely via Bluetooth on your PC. However, that's not as easy as it sounds.

Sony Ericsson has also incorporated Blackberry applications into the P1i to simplify the use of the phone for those users who prefer that service. Since the P1i has a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, it also comes with a Business Card reader application that works really well. You will need a sufficient amount of light though, but it’s quite accurate most of the time. Other business functions include PC syncing to back up your emails, contacts and settings and also for transferring data to and from the device.

The calendar option also allows you to save schedules and reminders. There’s also a Tasks application with an alarm function. Of course there are also options for notes and also for leaving voice memos with the voice recorder. The P1i also has basic applications like an easy to use calculator, a converter for various measures including currency, a stopwatch and a timer. The World clock is rather boring when it comes to the interface, or lack of one thereof. You simply find and click the city you wish to know the time of. No jazz.

One of the issues I had with the P1i is that unlike other Sony Ericsson phones it didn’t allow me to use my SIM card contacts as default. So anytime I had to call or message someone I had to go to the contacts and then the View Folder option and select the SIM card option.

Connectivity
The P1i is a Tri-band, GSM, 3G enabled phone that supports UMTS as well. It’s quite well equipped for connectivity. Although for some reason it doesn’t support EDGE. But with Wi-Fi support it’s great as is. The problem is if you need to set up your connections, it’s fairly simple, it’s the options that makes it a bit problematic to do. There are way too many options and drop down boxes which are not coordinated well with the touch screen system. But once you get down on it, it’s a cinch to figure it out. The P1i also supports Push Mail so that’s another Plus point.


This phone is also equipped with Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP compatibility. It even has an Infrared port and of course you can hook it up to your PC using the proprietary USB cable provided. Even though it uses only GPRS there’s no problem whatsoever with the speed of connectivity. What’s a real pleasure to use is the internet. There are various viewing modes from full screen to landscape. I wouldn’t recommend zooming in too much as the images tend to get a bit distorted. It’s quite odd, but at 100% it’s very clear. Especially in landscape mode. The best part is the browser allows you to open multiple pages at a time.

Fun and Games
First off let me just say, it seems like Sony Ericsson is not making their earphones like they should. The ones bundled with the P1i suck! Big time! Using them is as useless as Superman not being able to fly. They’ll still work to get the job done, but that’s it. No Pizzaz. The out put is just way too low. In a normal room it’s hard to hear. The EQ, even with the MegaBass preset is futile when it comes to adjusting the levels. But it’s a totally different ball game when it comes to using it via A2DP with a Stereo Bluetooth headset. If the headset’s a good one, you’re in for a great experience. So there seems to be no problem with the player, my guess is it’s the earphones that are the problem.

Considering the large screen the P1i has, it’s also great when you’re watching videos. Full screen mode will give you quite a good experience. The problem is when in full screen mode in order to navigate the file it needs to be paused. Or you’ll have to go back to the normal mode and then figure out which part of the file you want to view. In Normal mode though the file doesn’t need to be paused.

The FM radio is great when you’re stationary. The pickup is not too clear while traveling too much though. So you can imagine what it’s like commuting in Mumbai. But it takes just about 8 seconds to find store all the channels. You can even use Sony Ericsson’s Track Id option to figure out what the name and who the artist of the track that’s playing is. Just don’t count it to work. The PlayNow application unfortunately kept taking it’s own sweet time connecting and loading so I took a pass on that. The voice recorder works just fine with good range on the microphone.

Considering the large screen the P1i has, it’s also great when you’re watching videos. Full screen mode will give you quite a good experience. The problem is when in full screen mode in order to navigate the file it needs to be paused. Or you’ll have to go back to the normal mode and then figure out which part of the file you want to view. In Normal mode though the file doesn’t need to be paused.

The FM radio is great when you’re stationary. The pickup is not too clear while traveling too much though. So you can imagine what it’s like commuting in Mumbai. But it takes just about 8 seconds to find store all the channels. You can even use Sony Ericsson’s Track Id option to figure out what the name and who the artist of the track that’s playing is. Just don’t count it to work. The PlayNow application unfortunately kept taking it’s own sweet time connecting and loading so I took a pass on that. The voice recorder works just fine with good range on the microphone.


Camera
The 3.2 megapixel camera on the P1i is one of the things I really did like about the phone. I just wish that the zoom function didn’t have to be via the touch screen. The camera starts up quickly and even the images are captured quickly so you don’t waste time if you’re on a roll (pun intended). There are plenty of settings to use for various adjustments including switching to Macro for close ups, settings for white balance and there’s even a night mode. The flash is great too.



Macro images are bit of a problem even though the camera has auto-focus. You’re still required to hold the phone steady or the images tends to come out a bit unfocused.


The colors are picked up will with not too much of grain on the images. If you make the right adjustments with the settings, you can take some really great shots.


Power
With regard to the battery the P1i, in that category, wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately it wasn’t too good either. To be fair it was just about as average as it gets. Considering it uses a 1120mAh Li-Po battery I did expect big things. I wasn’t too disappointed though. I managed to squeeze a good day and a half out of the phone on a single charge with normal usage of calls, a little music, video and internet connectivity. But I have to say I was hoping for more.

The Bottom Line
The P1i on the whole is a good phone that I quite enjoyed using. The few kinks it has aren’t too minimal though. Not supporting EDGE for one. But it’s not something you can’t work around. The keypad could be an issue with first time users, but like I said, you can get used to it. The camera is the best part of course. The battery may not be all it’s cracked up to be either but it gets the job done well enough. So, for the price of Rs. 22,750 as a business phone with a lot of media options as well, it’s good. I wouldn’t pay so much but should it fall to around 20K (or less D-Uh) I’d jump at it. But don’t get me wrong I still liked using it. And I’m hoping the sluggishness was only a problem with this one piece, or I’m going have to take this all back.



Network:UMTS, GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS, 3G
Physical: 106 x 55 x 17 mm, 124g
Display:240 x 320 pixels, 256k colors, 2.6 inch
Memory: 160MB internal, 128MB RAM, M2 external support
Media: MP3, AAC+, 3GP, voice recorder, FM radio with RDS
Camera: 3.2 megapixels, auto-focus, flash, video, secondary VGA
Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.0 (A2DP), USB Proprietary v2.0, Infrared
Battery:440hrs stand by, 5.25 mins. talk
Street Price:Rs. 22,750