[Eug Wanker]

Sony Ericsson K800i & K790i & K790a

I will get the K790a (or possibly the K790i) when it comes out (this summer):

K800i - Dual mode UMTS (2100MHz) - GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz for Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa
K800c - Dual mode UMTS (2100MHz) - GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz for Mainland China. (Launch dependent on availability of 3G services.)
K790i Tri Band EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz for Europe, Asia Pacific, Americas
K790a Tri Band EDGE 850/1800/1900 MHz for Americas
K790c Tri Band EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz for Mainland China

K800 and K790 – Features at a glance:

Imaging & Messaging
* 3.2 Mega pixel with Auto Focus Camera
* Xenon Flash
* BestPic™
* Video and image stabilizer function
* 2.0” QVGA 262K TFT display
* Active lens cover
* Photo keys
* Cyber-shot™ user interface
* Memory for 100 pictures (at 3.2MP), 64 MB internal user memory
* Video recording/playback
* Adobe picture/video PC SW
* 16x Digital zoom
* Auto red eye reduction
* DPOF & PictBridge
* Time line view of pictures
* Picture Blogging (powered by Blogger)
* PictureDJ ™ and VideoDJ™
* Standard push e-mail (P-IMAP) support
* VGA camera for Video Telephony (no VGA camera in K790)

Entertainment
* Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ support)
* Video Player
* Music DJ™
* OMA DRM phase 1.x
* Streaming Audio/Video
* 3D games
* A/B buttons for horizontal games support
* RDS FM radio

Connectivity
* Bluetooth® 2.0
* IrDA
* HTML Full Browser with RSS readers
* USB 2.0 Mass storage
* External antenna connector
* Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) slot
* Flight mode
* Multitasking
* USB cable, stereo portable handsfree and PC software in the box
* Talk time: up to 7 hours GSM/2.5 hours UMTS
* Standby time: up to 350 hours
* Size: 106 x 47 x 18 (22) mm
* Weight: 115 grams







High res pix

Pic taken with this phone (click to enlarge):

[slugslugslug]

It does look fantastic, even compared to my already-pretty-great k750. The camera quality and the fact that I've heard it comes with an RSS reader means it might stop me from jumping to a Symbian phone. If I'm gonna spend a gajillion dollars on a phone, Nokia's N80 (Series 60) and Sony Ericsson's P990 (UIQ) seem pretty phenomenal, too.

[MikeD]

I was sold on the 810 for NA but then this comes out! I was reading up on it over at Howard Forums and I think I'm waiting for this summer to roll around! Finally, a phone with a decent camera... I can leave my reg digicam on work days - but not weekends!

[Eug Wanker]

Yeah, I have a dSLR (Canon 20D) with lots of nice lenses, but I only carry that around for specific outings obviously. However, what I found is that I have no desire to carry around even a small digicam either. So 96% of the time I don't have a camera with me. (The SE T610's camera doesn't count.)

The Sony Ericsson K790a solves this problem, because I always carry my phone with me. It's admittedly not a tiny phone, but it's not smartphone sized either. The pix are just so-so for a 3.2 MP in digicam terms, but it's a humungous improvement over most camera phones and so-so is better than not having a camera most of the time.

Here is another example of a picture taken by this phone:



As you can see, the pic quality isn't anything to write home about, but it's more than sufficient basic quick and dirty snapshots.

[MikeD]

Oh I totally agree with that. It'll be great for blog shots! My iMate takes crummy pictures and is huge (But I don't complain with my full salling support and DUN!). The treo 650 I used to use too was horrible... I can't wait! Oh I also heard it supports that ADLKSDF something bluetooth standard for stereo bluetooth headphones!!

Not to keen on the new memory stick format but oh well.

[k2director]

I have Sony's w800, and I'm really happy with it--ie, it's small, has a quick & intuitive interface, good music functionality, and the 2MP camera produces good-enough images for snap shots. I look forward to a 3MP upgrade, but my biggest frustration with the W800 camera is not its resolution, but the delay in recording an image after you press the shutter button. Even when you've pre-focused the shot (by pressing down on the shutter button half way), the phone takes a half sec or so to actually record the picture, which can be an eternity when you're taking portraits of people (someone turns their head, their smile fades, etc.)
I hope this new phone improves on the camera's responsiveness. Honestly, I would prefer a faster response at 2MP, than the same old slow one at 3MP.

[MikeD]

Have there been statements about slow shutters on these new phones?

[Eug Wanker]

A completely new feature developed by Sony Ericsson is BestPic, which ensures that you never ‘miss’ an important picture. Press the shutter button once and get 9 full quality 3.2 megapixel pictures to choose from in a time sequence - 4 pictures before and 4 pictures after the actual image you captured. All 9 pictures are displayed as icons on the display. Simply scroll backwards and forwards through the 9 images and save the ones you like best.

[DigitalEl]

Anyone seen an approx cost for this beast? I paid an embarrassing amount for my W800i several months ago. I'll have a hard time justifying this one, no matter how much better it may be.

[MikeD]

I heard is going to be mucho expensive when it first comes out (Probably over $500 for sure) sigh..... it is going to be hard as over the summer, I'm upgrading both my wife and my own laptops....

[analogika]

Originally Posted by MikeD

over the summer, I'm upgrading both my wife and my own laptops....

Congrats!

Which model wife will you be upgrading to?



I'm due for a new phone in November, and that k800i really looks to fit the bill...very nice.


Shame it's so ****ing ugly, though.

[Eug Wanker]

This is a real picture of the screen:

[tae667]

Now that my old camera broke I'm going to buy DSLR very soon -- and hopefully K790i will come soon enough, because DSLR doesn't really fit in my pocket . So this summer for how much €€€ ?

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by analogika

Congrats!

Which model wife will you be upgrading to?

HAHA I didn't even realize it sounded like that!! I meant upgrading our laptops (two!) I know she'll want a MBP and so will I.... Now to have this phone at $800.. ehh I better find something else... or wait.

[I Bent My Wookiee]

The prototypes were so hot it kept me up late. This final design is really ugly.

[analogika]

Yep.

[im_noahselby]

I'm currently in the process of buying a new K750i. It will be replacing my T616.

I always find it interesting how some people jump to buy the newest phone or the newest iPod so soon after their last one. I usually upgrade every 2+ years. Upgrading often would be an expensive habit

Overall, this is a nice phone and it should be very expensive when it first comes out.

Noah

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by im_noahselby

I'm currently in the process of buying a new K750i. It will be replacing my T616.

I always find it interesting how some people jump to buy the newest phone or the newest iPod so soon after their last one. I usually upgrade every 2+ years. Upgrading often would be an expensive habit

Overall, this is a nice phone and it should be very expensive when it first comes out.

Noah

Prices usually drop a fair amount after the first couple of months, and then slowly decline after that (unless one of the local carriers picks it up).

I currently have a T610 and I was considering the K750/W800, but it just had a few niggling issues in terms of the feature set for me. When the K790/K800 was announced that sealed the deal. I will be buying the K790a (or possibly the K790i depending on availability and pricing) a few months after release.

[im_noahselby]

I purchased the K750i and have been very happy with it ever since I got it. The camera on this phone is awesome. I'm also happy to report that it plays nicely with macs. This phone should hold me over for the next 2 or so years, until 4MP camera phones are cheap and standard.

Noah

[threestain]

I've just got the K800i - is lovely as it looks. however, doesn't isync as of yet - any workarounds? Would be good but not essential...

cheers!

[macboy]

Originally Posted by threestain

I've just got the K800i - is lovely as it looks. however, doesn't isync as of yet - any workarounds? Would be good but not essential...

cheers!

Hows the BT transfer speed for photos and videos with the mac's built-in BT..? Post some pics ..

[threestain]

BT speed is good - its meant to be BT2.0, and it appears to work quicker than my old Nokia 6280. Though this is with an external adaptor (have a TiBook - pre BT!)

Will post pics shortly - its a cracking phone and looks well swish!

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by threestain

I've just got the K800i - is lovely as it looks. however, doesn't isync as of yet - any workarounds? Would be good but not essential...

cheers!

Have you looked on macosxhints.com yet? ISTR they cover iSync workarounds pretty often. Also, howardforums.com, esato.com, or mobile.feisar.com might be helpy.

[Eug Wanker]

When you get a chance, please try playing this Central Station video clip on your K800i.

It's a 374 Kbps ffmpeg CBR 320x160 video, encoded with Handbrake. If it works fine then I'll all set for my future K790.

This 355 Kbps Final Fantasy video clip should also work fine.

EDIT:

I also encoded this Fire video clip at 402 Kbps but I think the bitrate may be too high for the K800i.

[threestain]

The 355 Kbps one worked absolutely fine - really impressive...

they all played actually - the central station was fine as was final fantasy one. the fire one ran ok, but possibly slight stutter...

enjoy!

[Eug Wanker]

Cool. Too bad the 402 Kbps video is a little too high. I've got several movies that would benefit that boost in bitrate. Oh well. Can't have everything...

P.S. Where are the pix?

P.P.S. Only 1 more week until the rumoured K790 release! Hope the rumour comes true. If it does get released on the 17th, I'll be buying by early August.

[ginoledesma]

What with these phones packing more and more stuff in them, I hope they can get 802.11 WLAN support in. That would be a major selling point for me.

I have the SE W800i though I only use it mostly as a phone with a bonus MP3 player. The other features (camera et al) are what pretty much what you'd expect from an "all in one" -- none that great, but not too shabby either.

[ghporter]

Holy COW!!! A camera phone that looks like a camera!!! That's quite a find, Eug.

[Eug Wanker]

? There are a lot of camera phones like that.

I just like this one because it's not as big as some of the other ones, and I generally like SE's UI. Plus it has a 320x240 screen and plays those above videos. It also plays iTunes-encoded (non-DRM'd) AAC files too.

P.S.

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

When you get a chance, please try playing this Central Station video clip on your K800i.

These are QT screen exports from this clip and parts of the rest of the movie encoded the same way:

[Eug Wanker]

Here are some flash pix from the K800i, in a room that had no lights on:




Oh and...

[Eug Wanker]

Instructions to get K800i to work with iSync (French)

[threestain]

So... photos you say?

Well here you go...

Of the K800i from a Nokia 6280:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10783690@N00/187638801/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10783690@N00/187638558/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10783690@N00/187638355/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10783690@N00/187638139/

By the K800i of my dog!:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10783690@N00/187639608/

You don't need to learn french though:

http://mobile.feisar.com/phone_plugins_23.html

[ginoledesma]

That's quite the upgrade from the W800i. On average, is the shutter-speed response time pretty instantaneous?

[Velocity211]

I had the K800i for a couple of weeks but then sold it and got the w600i. It was just too much money, the w600i was $100 and I got the k800i for around $700 (I don't remember). I'm waiting for the 10MP phones to come out.

[Eug Wanker]

More pix taken by the K800i

[Eug Wanker]

K800i camera compared to digital SLRs

Obviously, the K800 is easily beat by digital SLRs, but nonetheless the K800's pix look remarkably good for a camera phone, and the author says the pix are easily good enough for 5x7" prints.

[all2ofme]

FWIW I just got a K800i that I'm really happy with.

Swore myself off Sony Ericssons a year ago after my 7th K700i in as many months, so I hope they're making them properly now...

Syncs beautifully with iSync using the Feisar plug-in. Charging it now to see how much I get on a full charge.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by all2ofme

Swore myself off Sony Ericssons a year ago after my 7th K700i in as many months, so I hope they're making them properly now...

What was the problem? I went through a couple of K700i's too because of the joystick.

Syncs beautifully with iSync using the Feisar plug-in. Charging it now to see how much I get on a full charge.

Cool, I wasn't aware of Feisar plug-ins. They have one for the K790 as well so I'm all set when I get the phone.

Do you have the phone syncing with iTunes yet?

iTuneMyWalkman

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

What was the problem? I went through a couple of K700i's too because of the joystick.

That, and the keyboard is really icky.

Most of my friends who have the k700 are quite annoyed by it by now. One kept swapping phone numbers between people in the address book, despite the latest firmware upgrades. And hanging.

I'm seriously considering getting a k800 as my next phone this fall. I loved my Siemens S65 when I first got it, but it's turned increasingly flaky and unreliable as **** over the past year, and that's really put me off Siemens/BenQ for the first time in eight years of owning their phones. But people's experiences with the k700i aren't too beckoning (though the people I know who got the k750i absolutely love it, so here's hoping the k700 was just a fluke of Sony-Ericsson's).

[Apfhex]

Never used one but I think the K700i was the exception. My SE phones have worked great. I wanted a K750i since it came out but then I got my W810i. I can't help but think about the K800/K790 though. That comparison against the Canon 350D and 5D really surprised me!

[analogika]

Yeah.

Plus, k800i is UMTS...

[Landos Mustache]

The joystick on the w600i is so great I don't know why they don't use it on all their products.

[paul w]

Presumably there will be a quad band version. Should I wait for one or just go ahead and buy the w810i that I've been thinking about getting?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by paul w

Presumably there will be a quad band version. Should I wait for one or just go ahead and buy the w810i that I've been thinking about getting?

The K790i prototypes are quad (with 850), but so far the one K790a pre-release version that has been spotted has only been a tri-band (with 850).



Note that SE is responding to pesky phone geeks asking about the 850-endowed K790a by saying only that it's planned for release in Q3 2006... which is any time between now and the end of September.

[paul w]

How can I get my hands on the prototype?

I need this by September dammit! Ah well, this is the first time I've ever considered a cutting edge phone - but this could replace my 3.2 mp camera, my nano and my crappy phone. Wow.

[analogika]

If it sounds like the k750, it won't be a replacement for your nano. The interface most certainly won't be, anyway.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by analogika

If it sounds like the k750, it won't be a replacement for your nano. The interface most certainly won't be, anyway.

The interface is almost exactly like an iPod.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by paul w

How can I get my hands on the prototype?

A couple of the prototypes were sold thru phone forums, but a very high price I'm sure. Plus they of course had early firmwares which weren't always completely stable.

I still hold out hope for a K790i quad. I suspect the K790a will be restricted to carriers, at least initially.

I need this by September dammit! Ah well, this is the first time I've ever considered a cutting edge phone - but this could replace my 3.2 mp camera, my nano and my crappy phone. Wow.

I wouldn't replace a dedicated digicam with a K790. While the K790 is good for a phone, it definitely isn't great by digicam standards. Also, while the K790 should work with iTunes AAC files, it won't work with DRM'd ones, if that matters to you.

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

The interface is almost exactly like an iPod.

If it's anything like the K750i's music-playing interface, it's far worse than an iPod's. ISTR that you have a W550 or W600; the W series phones supposedly have a far better interface than the K750/D750 (even the W800i, which is the same hardware as the K750i, w/different firmware).

analogika, I think the K750i's sound is fine with decent headphones (i.e. not the total ass headset that comes in the box). Not that I'm an audiophile or anything, just pointing out there are probably some folks who would find it acceptable as an iPod replacement.

Of course, whether the new K generation has the sound and/or interface of the K750i seems an open question. Eug, anybody, heard anything either way?

[all2ofme]

Yeah, amongst other things (keys not working, phone switching itself off, call quality, speaker volume...'twas awful!). Glad to see the back of them.

Eug: I've not tried to sync it with iTunes at all. No desire to have this be the do-it-all device. Camera and phone are enough for now.

Having used my K800i for a few days now I'm even happier with it than I was before. Things that I love:

- Synching with Address Book and iCal. Works brilliantly (and quickly)
- Sound quality (though the interface and not being able to use other headphones means that I'll stick with my iPod)
- Sending SMSs from Address Book (I'd forgotten how much quicker this was)
- Camera (though I bet the quality'll improve with a firmware update - it's a bit noisy and splotchy up close).
- BestPic (works really well). Moving the phone as it takes its shots gives you a lovely Matrix effect
- Line quality (when it's got a connection the sound quality is very good)

Things that I don't like:
- Shutter lag. Even set to infinity focus it's a bit of a dog.
- Call dropping (seems to drop connections when switching between 3G and the standard networks - I've switched off the 3G bits for now to see if it helps)
- Keypad. It's too bloody small and close to the bottom of the phone. I get a sore thumb from having to hook it around and down onto the bottom row of keys. Not my cup of tea at all. Best keypad I've ever used was on a Nokia 6170. Brilliant phone.
- Orange UK's own firmware. They've disabled a fair few things. If I didn't know they'd been there in the first place it'd probably not bother me, though.

Hope that's of help to someone.
Ben

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

What was the problem? I went through a couple of K700i's too because of the joystick.