vB Easy Archive - My review – Sony Ericsson W800i vs. Sony Ericsson K850i

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My review – Sony Ericsson W800i vs. Sony Ericsson K850i
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Posted by: cooljumbo2006

I have been using the Sony Ericsson W800i since it was first introduced, and after almost 3 years of using this phone I decided it is about time I upgraded to a newer phone. I did not want to upgrade to a new phone, since the W800 was simply a practical and robust handset, and also during the last three years there has not been any significant releases that would trump the W800 in features. But being the electronic enthusiast as I am, I decided to get a newer generation phone.

I narrowed down my search to the Sony Ericsson K850, Sony Ericsson W960, Nokia N95 and the Nokia N82. I was on a strict budget and living in Canada, I was fortunate to have access to the K850 through Rogers at an affordable price, and since the K850 was one of my favorites it worked out for me.
Let’s look at the differences between these two phones that I feel are significant

Network/Signal Strength

The W800 is a tri-band phone while the K850 is Quad-band phone with Edge and 3G. Lack of the 850 MHz in the W800 was not a big issue for me as I would have signal strength close to 97% of the time, with the exception of lack of network coverage (T-Mobile USA). But Edge and importantly 3G makes the K850 a better handset than the W800.

Call Quality

I have been using the K850 for a few weeks now, and the call quality for me seems to be almost the same between both the hand sets. This is true, even when I use the speaker phone option as well.

Walkman/MP3 player feature

This was one of the features that made me choose the W800, as it was the first phone Sony Ericsson released with the Sony 'Walkman' branding, and it did not fail in that respect. This phone is quite simply one of the best handset if you wanted an MP3 player in a phone, then and even now. Couple it with its various equalizer (especially Mega-Base) settings and its MP3 file handling, I doubt it could take a hit from any other handsets.

The K850, though not a Walkman brand SE phone, still has a pretty good Media player, which handles all media files through one interface. And like all SE phones, the mp3 playback quality in the K850 is of superior quality.

But if I had to choose a winner here, I would choose the W800 just because this handset started the whole 'Walkman' phone line up and still can hold up against many of the contenders till date.

Camera Feature

Another feature that prompted me to go with the W800, was the fact this was the first line of SE phones that incorporated the Auto-focus feature with a 2 MP camera (initially the K750), and the first manufacturer to incorporate this feature in their camera phones. This phone delivered some of the best pictures a camera phone ever took. I replaced this as my primary P/S camera when my then 2MP Canon broke.

Consisting a 5 MP Auto-focus camera and Xenon flash, the K850 has been taking some really good photos, even in low light condition compared to the W800’s rather yellowish/grainy low light pictures.

The K850 is a better device as a Camera Phone, compared to the W800.

Build Quality

Here is where I am a bit disappointed with the K850. The W800 has always felt very sturdy when you are holding it or operating it. All the buttons in the W800 felt very robust and durable and did not feel like it would come off. This included the lens cover button in the phone as well.

The K850 does feel very sturdy when it in your hand, it is a slight disappointment when you start working with the buttons. For one what was SE thinking with the number pad, I feel very uncomfortable and awkward using that number pad, even though I have rather small fingers. Though I do like the three touch sensitive buttons. The power and the camera buttons feels like they would come off any time when you press them.

I guess the design and the overall button feel of the K850 have disappointed me a bit, after using the ever so rigid and sturdy W800.

So as attractive the K850 is I would have to give build quality to the W800.

These were the significant differences I wanted to talk about the W800 and the K850.

I would like to say that this comparison is based on my use of the K850 for the last few weeks compared to the three years I had with the W800, so my experiences would definitely change with time.

And finally this comparison is in my opinion, and I do not wish to say that this is definite. If any of you would like to refute my views you are welcome to do so, and I am eager to hear from users who have used the W800 and switched to the K850.

Posted by: expensive.taste

with the K series is that the only one that is EDGE? i didnt know any of them were edge because the K800 i was looking at is only 3G which makes it pretty useless with TMO- US

Posted by: Kevbodian

Quote:

Originally Posted by expensive.taste

with the K series is that the only one that is EDGE? i didnt know any of them were edge because the K800 i was looking at is only 3G which makes it pretty useless with TMO- US

Didn't the K790 and K550 have Edge? Perhaps I am missing your point.

Posted by: bigb252

Whoa. Great review! I've never saw a w800 in person...Quite an upgrade from my P.O.V.

p.s. There is a phone/equipment review section just for SE though. http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=385

Can you upload some pics of your w800? After 3 years I would like to see how it looks

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

I will try to get some pics of the W800 in the next few days.

Posted by: expensive.taste

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevbodian

Didn't the K790 and K550 have Edge? Perhaps I am missing your point.

I didnt know that the 790 did i really was interested in getting the K800 or some new K series that did have EDGE and thought they were all 3G but no EDGE

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

Yeah, the K800 and K790 are almost identical phones, except the K790 has edge and the K800 3G.

Posted by: expensive.taste

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooljumbo2006

Yeah, the K800 and K790 are almost identical phones, except the K790 has edge and the K800 3G.

Oh thanks cuz i had no idea and i really loved the "James Bond" one used and wanted to try to put that hardware on a 790 then

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

Wow, 273 views !!!!!

Anyways posting a small update. I mentioned that the keys in the K850 are very awkward, but they are starting to grow on me now. Just because I hardly use the number pad, only when I am storing a contact.

But the key pad does, like all the other reviews have mentioned, attract smudges and dust.

Posted by: expensive.taste

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooljumbo2006

Wow, 273 views !!!!!

Anyways posting a small update. I mentioned that the keys in the K850 are very awkward, but they are starting to grow on me now. Just because I hardly use the number pad, only when I am storing a contact.

But the key pad does, like all the other reviews have mentioned, attract smudges and dust.

I just went down to Fry's last night and got my hands on the K850 i was a little disappointed though the looks are great i hated the keys however all in all though it is a hot phone now they need to get it in white and id be sold!

Posted by: PhoneRegular

one thing to note thu about K850i. its take forever to transfer files from PC to phone and vise versa. It says it is Hi-Speed USB, but the performance is worse than full speed. The same thing goes with the W910i. They both use the same hardware chip.

Posted by: bodeh6

Nice review.

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoneRegular

one thing to note thu about K850i. its take forever to transfer files from PC to phone and vise versa. It says it is Hi-Speed USB, but the performance is worse than full speed. The same thing goes with the W910i. They both use the same hardware chip.

I connect my K850i to a Linux laptop and files transfer pretty fast. Never had to wait that long when I am transferring files between the phone and the PC.

I know for a fact that the SE software is pretty bad with handling transfer of files. I noticed this when I was using my W800, but when transferring directly without the software it does not take that long.

Posted by: PhoneRegular

Interesting cooljumbo, Can you transfer a file (say around 10MB) and record how long it take. If it transfer over 2MB per seconds, i would say its pretty good.

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

I transferred a 20 MB and 30 MB Video file, it it took about 20-30 seconds.

All I did was copy it to the 4 Gig Micro SD, through the USB Cable, with the phone set on Mass Storage mode.

Posted by: cooljumbo2006

I thought I will post and update to my K850 user experience, since I started this thread.

The only two features that actually makes me think that SE may have just designed and produced this device in a hurry without putting a little bit of time and research, are the buttons and the handset response, i.e the hardware specs.

I am still uncomfortable using the keys, but getting used to it little by little, especially if I can get through the substandard build quality (compared to the W800) of the Power/Camera buttons along with the tiny key pad button.

The other fact is how slow the interface can get. When no other application is running the phone interface "glides", but the moment I open the media player, the interface response becomes unbearable. This becomes frustrating when you are at a call and trying to access the phone directory or trying to switch between hands free and phone.

If some one can tell me, if there is a way the "Flashy" animations can be disabled, I think that will make the K850 more responsive.

Personally I think SE should have invested some time and money on upgrading the hardware specs of this phone, since this was considered a flagship? 'K' model.

I hope SE does not make the same mistakes with the X1. Hopefully if they play their cards well , they might have some thing that can give SE a leg up to the iPhone (nothing special about it to begin with) and capture the iPhone crowd.

Posted by: superiorsam

my transfer between comp through usb has been especially fast and im not having the problem with the touch buttons on my face.
i do have a rogers one and wish there was a way to change the vid call and vision shortcuts on the touchscreen because i always hit vid call by accident and its really annoying
i know it used to be possible on motorollas

Posted by: PhoneRegular

superiorsam and cooljumbo,

According to cooljumbo the write speed on Linux is ~1MB/s. Mmm that's pretty cool, it's twice the 0.53MB/s on windows! But you guys actually consider that fast?

I use my phones to listen to music and watch vids often so I endup re-loading my card often. To reload my 4GB with files would take in
Windows: over 2 hours!
Linux: just about 1 hour.
Most people use Windows anyway... (not bashing Linux =p) so it's a pretty terrible experience... I don't have the freedom to spontaneously decide I wanna pop in some new media and run with it. I have to plan it out and set aside time well beforehand...

Consider the blackberry Curve and Pearl, they transfer over USB with Windows XP at 16MB/s! That's like 16-30x's faster! SonyE's really sucking in this aspect for media-centric phones.

So you guys are really ok with the 0.53-1MB/s ?

Posted by: kantoe

great review, I am a K750 (with W800 flashed), getting a K850i soon.

to ppl comparing speed, check what brand of media you are using.

Posted by: bigb252

Any updates with pics of the w800?

Posted by: asimolotu

Currently have w810i and love it. But time to get a new phone.

1. Is there a recording feature on the k850i? How long...does it cut off after 20 minutes or so or does it continue till you run out of space on the card?

2. Is there a thin soft cover for this phone? Don't want to loose any of the features. Don't want the hard plastic kind. If I understand correctly, the keys are raised?

3. Should I get this or the c902? I know it's an everything phone, but my concern is able to audio record for 3-4 hours at a time.

Posted by: whitedevil666

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoneRegular

superiorsam and cooljumbo,

According to cooljumbo the write speed on Linux is ~1MB/s. Mmm that's pretty cool, it's twice the 0.53MB/s on windows! But you guys actually consider that fast?

I use my phones to listen to music and watch vids often so I endup re-loading my card often. To reload my 4GB with files would take in
Windows: over 2 hours!
Linux: just about 1 hour.
Most people use Windows anyway... (not bashing Linux =p) so it's a pretty terrible experience... I don't have the freedom to spontaneously decide I wanna pop in some new media and run with it. I have to plan it out and set aside time well beforehand...

Consider the blackberry Curve and Pearl, they transfer over USB with Windows XP at 16MB/s! That's like 16-30x's faster! SonyE's really sucking in this aspect for media-centric phones.

So you guys are really ok with the 0.53-1MB/s ?

Just read this thread and have to add.

The transfer rate in this post is misrepresented. Solid state media does not read and write at the same rates.

I came across this fact after I purchased an Asus Eee 900. it has a 16g solid state hard drive. It writes slower than moses. The read speed is on par with conventional disk hard drives, but the write speed sucks.

So to say that a blackberry can write to one at the above speeds is a fallacy. It could not be writing to a micro sd card any faster than it can be written on. It is possible that the blackberry device is writing to some type of internal memory at an increased speed.

Someone who owns one of these phones, or any phone, can test the speed "decrease" when writing to a card in a phone by removing it and using a card reader.

When I tried this on my w810i in pc hard drive mode the difference very small. Not enough to justify turning the phone off and screwing with the card.