W890 Preview Options

[scotsboyuk]

I had a bit of a play with the W890 today and I have to say, it's a jolly decent wee handset. I snapped some quick pictures of the handset for this preview, they are up to my usual high standard (that is they're mince), but better quality pictures should be available for the full review.




Let's get my gripes out of the way first shall we? The speaker volume isn't too good in my opinion, being a little on the quiet side. At maximum volume the speakers do perform reasonably well, but I would have expected better performance overall in this department from a dedicated music handset. The speakers themselves are a little disappointing in that they are simply small holes on the front and back near at the top of the handset. The speakers aren't stellar although they are better than one might expect in terms of their quality. It would have been nice if there were side positioned stereo speakers, but one can't have everything in such a small package I suppose.




The size of the handset is obviously a major selling point in that it is very thin (only slightly thicker than its predecessor, the W880). I like the tiny stature of the W880, but not it's small buttons, which is why I am keener on the W890 as it has larger buttons that are easier to operate. Not that one doesn't occasionally press the wrong button on the navi pad, but for the most part it's ok to use.




For it being such a small handset it does pack in some nice features, not the least of which is HSDPA data access, which makes web browsing nice and speedy. The usual features are present; the Walkman player, Track ID, etc. It's not the most advanced handset in the world, but it doesn't have to be. It sells itself with a well rounded package of features in an attractive form factor that will appeal to those looking for something stylish.

From the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog:
http://blog.se-nse.net/2008/03/01/w890-preview/.

[ADOX2525]

it is a better handset, but not as striking or cool as the w880i, SE styling has been a bit strange recently, they manage to be safe but weird at the same time lol

This post has been edited by ADOX2525: 2008-03-01 17:23

[se user]

how is the w890 different from the w880

[ThilinaC]

imo it doesnt have the sexy look of w880...its like dorky sister of w880

This post has been edited by Thilina: 2008-03-01 19:33

[ThilinaC]

and add a article about its walkman player too

[scotsboyuk]

@se user

Apart from the differences in design the W890 has a 3.2 MP camera and HSDPA.

[93bh]

I want everything looks like a real gold.

[lawrencep93]

I think that phone looks better and will be alot better than the w880.
good upgrade all you w880 owner

[st0nedpenguin]

It's like a W880i with all the striking visual details ironed out.

So bland.

[MikLSP]

I don't think it looks as good as the W880i either, it is also a tiny bit thicker. On the other hand it does have A200 Platform and a better camera

[number1]

are you sure it isn't very loud with stereo speakers it should be from the size of the handset it looks like there stereo speakers but very tiny 1's small than the k800i's speaker.
the camera seems nice 3.2mp, image quality is very good for a walkman but the pictures how a very bad green tint problem alot worse than the p990's green tint problem maybe this will be fixed i don't know.

[Reversedhex]

if its not a hardware problem it will be fixt

[Karun]

the W880 sound quality wasn't very good compared to other walkman phones..hope the W890 is better in that area...

[st0nedpenguin]

If you care about quality of speaker output I suggest using a device intended for public music playback, not a mobile phone.

[MikLSP]

That's not a good statement, lots of people use their phones to play music through the loudspeaker including myself.
Now I'm not talking about the moronic chavs who walk down the street with it playing but I used to use mine when I worked nights in the lab instead of the appauling radio content which is transmitted over night.

Also let's not forget the more important fact, the loudspeaker plays your ringtones and the W880i speaker is of such inferior quality it makes a mess of those. Nobody is asking for ghetto blaster speakers just ones which are clear and have reasonable volume.

[Karun]

@ scotsboyuk

I must admit...your photography skills have improved

[MikLSP]

They couldn't have got much worse

[Karun]