N97 or Omnia or Xperia X1 Suggestion Required

[gforce23]

Some of the important stuff that the review seems to have overlooked or missed out on:
Omnia:
DivX/Xvid support cannot be classified as a pro. There are quite literally dozens of WinMo apps that can play the same on any phone.
The lack of a stylus is a major (or minor) cons, depending on your perspective.


Xperia:
The review has no mention of the fact that the X1 does not have an accelerometer at all. You'll need to slide out the keyboard or create a shortcut key to (settings->buttons) to turn the screen to landscape mode.
The keyboard is more like a cons than a pro for all.


Touch HD:
I'm not sure what the reviewers were smoking but the camera quality has been unanimously voted as class leading in the WinMo category.
The 3.8" screen makes it easy to navigate using your fingers, much like the iPhone. Not sure why they gave it an 8 in the interface category. Lag's almost non-existent during interaction, so that's another point of surprise. I used to own a Diamond in the past and that was slightly laggy with 192MB RAM and it's almost unimaginable that the THD would be slower with 288MB RAM. From GSMArena: "Still the TouchFLO 3D UI is in its most responsive shape and once you learn to control it properly it's a real pleasure to use."
Video recording at CIF is quite poor really, I'll be honest about that.

I haven't used the Omnia and Touch HD yet but the latter is definitely on my shopping list for early next year. But if you have any questions about the X1, I'd be more than happy to help.

 

[dreamcatcher]

Shifting panels from landscape to portrait is a bit laggy, thats coz you have 9 running applications actually changing its orientation. Other than that, I did not find any other bottlenecks.I suggest you watch some videos that are made after 15th of September coz it was then that the retail version of the XPERIA was formulated and available for reviews.

Touch HD is a good option, but don't expect it to be available in India anytime soon.It is an exclusive Orange product till December and then will be ported to the US and other carriers, after which it shall be available here.

 

[emmarbee]

Thanks a lottt gforce23 - had been looking for some opinion like this.

Actually I've got many doubts regarding Omnia, but as you are saying you don't know much about it. I'll leave it.

Does X1 comes along with an in-ear phones(walkman quality)? Can you please tell something about the audio(music player) quality of the phone WITH & WITHOUT BUNDLED EARPHONES?
Right now I'm using Creative EP630 with some crap sandisk player. And i'm thinking of upgrading to EP830. Will EP830 (or other pro earphones) be better than bundled SE?

 

[desiibond]

I never liked the HTC Touch series phones that much.

AFAIK, The touch FLO interface has always been slow. I think HTC Touch Diamond is much much better than Touch Pro when it comes to doing-what-it-is doing.

SPB menu, I think is very good and my friend installed it on HTC P3450.

The only things that is good in HTC Touch pro is the screen size.

I would consider Omnia and SE Xperia

Advantages that Omnia has over Xperia:

1) 3.2" display. Xperia has 3"
2) Audio quality in Omnia is much better than that in Xperia
3) 5mp camera. Xperia has 3.2mp
4) Ligher and thinner than Xperia
5) 8GB or 16GB inbuild memory. Xperia has 400GB. BOth support SD cards
6) 624MHz processor with a 128MB of RAM. Xperia has 528MHz processor with a 256MB RAM.
7) 11k less in price I think.
8) Divx support out of the box
9) TV Out

SE Xperia has the following advantages over Omnia.

1) 800x480 pixels resolution display. Omnia has 240x400 pixel resolution resolution display.
2) 10hr talktime. Omnia has 6hr talktime
3) Full Qwerty keypad. Omnia has touch keypad
4) Optical trackpad (like laptop's touchpad)
5) 3.5mm audio jack on the body. Omnia has 3.5mm jack on the adaptor.
6) Display of Xperia looks crispy, thanks to it's high resolution screen.

Due to the better processor, which is full 100MHz+ faster than that in Xperia, Omnia will be definitely faster than Xperia.

If you can go for Symbian platform, N97 will be a good option to consider too.

But before coming to conclusion, go to a showroom and try to use the phone.

I have Motorokr E6 with full touch and no keypad (excpet for navigation and taking calls). My friend has Imate JAQ. We exchanged our phones once for a week. I couldn't use the JAQ as I prefer phones that aren't bulky and having thinner fingers, I was able to use the onscreen keypad of motorokr without stylus. My friend couldn't live without the full qwerty keypad on his JAQ. I know that Motorokr has lot more in it than the ugly looking JAQ and is compact smartphone. But still when it comes to usage, it's totally different. You may not like what I like and I may not like what you like.

In the end, you shouldn't feel why you took others advice (or relied on internet review) without actually testing the product.

PS: Don't consider things like Xperia panel or touchFLO as their clones will be designed in no time for winmobile platforms.

 

[emmarbee]

I never liked the HTC Touch series phones that much.

AFAIK, The touch FLO interface has always been slow. I think HTC Touch Diamond is much much better than Touch Pro when it comes to doing-what-it-is doing.

SPB menu, I think is very good and my friend installed it on HTC P3450.

The only things that is good in HTC Touch pro is the screen size.

I would consider Omnia and SE Xperia

Advantages that Omnia has over Xperia:

1) 3.2" display. Xperia has 3"
2) Audio quality in Omnia is much better than that in Xperia
3) 5mp camera. Xperia has 3.2mp
4) Ligher and thinner than Xperia
5) 8GB or 16GB inbuild memory. Xperia has 400GB. BOth support SD cards
6) 624MHz processor with a 128MB of RAM. Xperia has 528MHz processor with a 256MB RAM.
7) 11k less in price I think.
8) Divx support out of the box
9) TV Out

SE Xperia has the following advantages over Omnia.

1) 800x480 pixels resolution display. Omnia has 240x400 pixel resolution resolution display.
2) 10hr talktime. Omnia has 6hr talktime
3) Full Qwerty keypad. Omnia has touch keypad
4) Optical trackpad (like laptop's touchpad)
5) 3.5mm audio jack on the body. Omnia has 3.5mm jack on the adaptor.
6) Display of Xperia looks crispy, thanks to it's high resolution screen.

Due to the better processor, which is full 100MHz+ faster than that in Xperia, Omnia will be definitely faster than Xperia.

If you can go for Symbian platform, N97 will be a good option to consider too.

But before coming to conclusion, go to a showroom and try to use the phone.

I have Motorokr E6 with full touch and no keypad (excpet for navigation and taking calls). My friend has Imate JAQ. We exchanged our phones once for a week. I couldn't use the JAQ as I prefer phones that aren't bulky and having thinner fingers, I was able to use the onscreen keypad of motorokr without stylus. My friend couldn't live without the full qwerty keypad on his JAQ. I know that Motorokr has lot more in it than the ugly looking JAQ and is compact smartphone. But still when it comes to usage, it's totally different. You may not like what I like and I may not like what you like.

In the end, you shouldn't feel why you took others advice (or relied on internet review) without actually testing the product.

PS: Don't consider things like Xperia panel or touchFLO as their clones will be designed in no time for winmobile platforms.

@dreamcatcher
Even I thought the same - cause I couldn't digest the fact that being a flagship model and with a price that could leave you to bankruptancy the X1 would be slower. But the menus were slow even after the retails version - not some trial piece. If you any of you need to watch that, I can upload it to RS - i've got that from youtube can't remember the link.

@desiibond
Will I be annoyed by the low resolution of Omnia??? I've been using 1108 for past 4 yrs (ya, just like Inspire 5200 -> Z5500) - even if I had some chance to operate high end models, I can borrow it only for few mins from my friends not like 1/2 weeks.

I won't be able to get a chance to operate the phone and then buy it - the outlets here don't allow that - they have some crap plastic model - will allow us to see that. Thats why I'm relying on video reviews not even text. So that I can see them.

What I can do?
See Video reviews for Performance (Interface speed, Touch sensitivty etc)
See Camera Picture Samples and Video Samples
But I can't hear audio quality. Thanks for your information on that.

Can you please tell this - will touch player + bundled earphones be better than my sandisk mp3 player (or other mp3 players <3k)+ creative EP630 combo??

 

[gforce23]

Shifting panels from landscape to portrait is a bit laggy, thats coz you have 9 running applications actually changing its orientation. Other than that, I did not find any other bottlenecks.I suggest you watch some videos that are made after 15th of September coz it was then that the retail version of the XPERIA was formulated and available for reviews.

Touch HD is a good option, but don't expect it to be available in India anytime soon.It is an exclusive Orange product till December and then will be ported to the US and other carriers, after which it shall be available here.

Replying to your posts is quite entertaining, really.

The latest factory ROM dates back to the 29th of August (check any screen shots) and performance on all handsets has been the same since then. Of course, if you're talking about cooked ROMs, then anything's possible.
It's already available in HK out here and in Dubai out here with absolutely no sign of Orange anywhere in or on the handset.
The Touch HD won't be available in the U.S. at all. HTC announced that many, many months ago.

Does X1 comes along with an in-ear phones(walkman quality)? Can you please tell something about the audio(music player) quality of the phone WITH & WITHOUT BUNDLED EARPHONES?
Right now I'm using Creative EP630 with some crap sandisk player. And i'm thinking of upgrading to EP830. Will EP830 (or other pro earphones) be better than bundled SE?

The X1 does come with a pair of earphones but they are a bit worse than the HPM77s that seem to be current benchmark for Walkman branded headsets. I don't have a pair of EP630s right now (mine went bust last year) but the sound quality seemsto be on the same level as Walkman handsets (W810 modded, W300 modded, W890 etc.) when used with a quality set (Senn PX100, Shure e3c etc.). The SQ from the on-board speaker is a bit on the lower side. I'm pretty sure I had the volume turned all the way up, so I'm guessing the speaker itself is slightly weak.
I might have a couple of snaps taken from the Xperia's cam lying around on my laptop. I'll see if I can dig them up for ya.

@desibond:
Nice comparative review there. Couple of things though: Since when did the Xperia have 400GB of memory? Talktime values quoted by most manufacturers are BS really.
The panels interface has already been ported to the Touch HD while the Xperia has inherited HTC's TF3D system. Hacking these CABs to make them run on another WinMo phone is pretty easy these days.

 

[emmarbee]

Just now enquired the price of Omnia here at chennai - 8 GB costs around 33k and 16gb around 35k.
Any chance of reduction in price within a short span of time???

 

[desiibond]

sorry. My bad. it's 400meg.

Will I be annoyed by the low resolution of Omnia???

Not at all. it's just that Xperia's display will be more crispy when you compare it to Omnia's.

Can you please tell this - will touch player + bundled earphones be better than my sandisk mp3 player (or other mp3 players <3k)+ creative EP630 combo??

For me, never. A dedicated player has always been a dedicated player. It can come close but never be the same or better. I find lot of difference between a dedicated music player like Zenvision:W and Samsung i450 (has amplifier designed by Bang & Olufsen, termed as one of the best music phones in the market).

For other's I can't say.

I think Omnia too comes with in-ear headphones like Xperia. Not sure how good they are.

 

[emmarbee]

@desiibond
hmmm . . .
But anyways, I'm not willing to carry a phone + mp3 player + camera along with me all the time. Better be a single smartphone.

ALso you've not mentioned anything about price drop??? Will there be any significant price drop - if so, i'll wait some more time . . .

 

[gforce23]

Prices are going to drop all the time. In this day and age, no manufacturer can afford to sit on their ass. I'm sure Samsung, SE, HTC and even Nokia are preparing the next set of flagships to announce at the upcoming MWC '09.
In any case, the Omnia is significantly cheaper than the Xperia by almost 8 grand. If I'm not mistaken, the Xperia's box includes a 4gig mSD, so you'll have to spend another grand or two for an 8 or 16GB card.
Oh, and another thing - the Omnia's PQ from the camera does not seem very sharp, so you may want to check that out.

 

[dreamcatcher]

Wait till Christmas, i guess there will be price cut. I would wait till January.i myself am waiting till January to get my C905.

@gforce-Sorry for that, Touch HD is UK exclusive for Orange, did not know that it was already available in other places. But, India will take some time for sure.The Touch Pro was launched in November.

@threadstarter-What would you use the phone for basically?? Can you list your tasks so that we can specify accordingly??

 

[desiibond]

@desiibond
hmmm . . .
But anyways, I'm not willing to carry a phone + mp3 player + camera along with me all the time. Better be a single smartphone.

ALso you've not mentioned anything about price drop??? Will there be any significant price drop - if so, i'll wait some more time . . .

Xperia's introductory price was 44k and now it's 40. After a year it will be avialble for some 30k. I don't think it's price will go down below 25k.

Omnia, yes. At one point, you might find it for 17k-20k. Reason is that it's manufacuring costs are not as high as that for Xperia (due to the sliding qwerty) keypad.

Omnia price: 31k
Xperia price: 40k + 2k for 8Gig microSD. (8gig of microSD full of content will definitely slowdown the interface even more)

Omnia has a fast interface. Xperia kind of phones are head turners and difficult to find on the road. (How many slide-sideways full qwerty phone have you noticed in India?). It's your choice to make.

But do you really need Windows Mobile? Except for Exchange push, I don't find anything else that it does when compared to Blackberry OS or Symbian OS. And certainly, BBOS and Symbian OS are much much more user friendly than Windows Mobile 6.1

The reason why I am saying this is that if you forget about WinMo, there are many mobile phones in the market that does exactly what you need. Like XpressMusic for music, SE C series for camera, N82 for a powerful smartphone, N71 for business class phone.

 

[gforce23]

Wait till Christmas, i guess there will be price cut. I would wait till January.i myself am waiting till January to get my C905.

@gforce-Sorry for that, Touch HD is UK exclusive for Orange, did not know that it was already available in other places. But, India will take some time for sure.The Touch Pro was launched in November.

Available for free on an 18-month, 40quid pm contract with Vodafone UK out here. Man where do you get your info from?
I'll agree with your last statement though. I think we won't see an official Touch HD in India for another month or two. Hope they don't play spoil sport and remove 3G or do something crazy like that.
What's the expected price cut on the C905 btw? Under 25k by any chance?

@threadstarter-What would you use the phone for basically?? Can you list your tasks so that we can specify accordingly??

Yep, I'm with you on that. I'm kinda getting the feeling that emmarbee isn't really sure about what he (or she) wants from a mobile phone.

 

[dreamcatcher]

WTF!!! I am out with Touch HD for now,seem to have all the wrong info.

C905 retailing at 28k here.

 

[gforce23]

WTF!!! I am out with Touch HD for now,seem to have all the wrong info.

C905 retailing at 28k here.

Hmm. it's still a tad overpriced, I think. The price in Dubai has fallen to circa Rs. 22k, so a decrease of 3K from the current price is quite plausible.

 

[emmarbee]

@gforce & dreamcatcher
I've clearly mentioned my requirements in the very first post.
Anyways, here it is.

TouchScreen + Music > Long battery Hrs* > Camera > Wifi

* Long batter hrs especially when I watch videos. It shouldn't drain up. I heard somewhere that Omnia has 3 hrs battery life when videos are watched in it. WTF - if I watch a full movie when I'm going outta station - then I'll end up with drained battery??? HS! Guess I have to be contained with Prison Break / Heroes. or some stupid video songs.

@Desiibond
I don't give a damn about WinMo - cause I dunno what it is. I THOUGHT WinMo is better than Symbian which is better than other crap. Cause I really want to use word + excel + pdf etc - and if its gonna be MS Office 2007 - then wow! (i've heard winmo 6.1 comes with office 2007 - if its then it will be great!) I've never seen blackberry - I've never read about blackberry - I've just heard about it.
The next time, I will read about this blackberry and come to you.

And ya, you can tell me other good models also that carries Symbian OS as long as it meets my requirements. I'm looking forward for it.

@dreamcatcher
C905 is not as revolutionary as K790i in this era. Please check out the 8MP shoout out from various sites like gsmarena + phonearea etc. Once again Samsung's 8MP is rocking!
Except for night mode - the SE's flash is a PRO.

 

[clifford]

As a cell phone unlocker...Omania is a **** phone..wen i read the Phone thru a special phone software... i found a lotta bugs in it..i wud rather suggest u go in for..nokia they are best and stable

BR
clifford

 

[Power UP]

I think 5800xm will be best for you.
Long battery life, nice touchscreen, loud speakers, wifi etc. ANd you can also edit MS Office 2007 files in symbian via 3rd party apps.

 

[emmarbee]

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music is gonna be a strong contender - I forgot that. Have to get few camera samples of this phone and see whether I can live up with the quality of camera.
Also I'll wait for sevaral sites to review this phone and should see the price of this phone in India. . .

 

[desiibond]

hmm. okay. In that case, you better wait for the 5800XM and N97 to stabilize. Then you can think about the purchase.