You don’t have to look too hard to find someone online dismissing resistive touchscreen displays in favour of capacitive technology, a constant thorn in Nokia’s side as the Finns have, until now, opted for resistive displays in all of their touchscreen offerings. Does the new capacitive display finally put an end to those criticisms? Has Symbian matured enough in its touchscreen guise to put it back on a level playing field with the likes of the iPhone and Android phones?

Well, here at Mobiles.co.uk we’ve managed to bag ourselves an X6 and plan on giving the phone a thorough play-test to give you all the details but we need your help. What is it about the Nokia X6 that you’ve been dying to find out? What key feature would you like us to look at in more detail? Simply use the comments section below to post those burning questions and we’ll do our darnedest to cover them in our full Nokia X6 review next week. Keep an eye on the blog for more information.

The web browser is also excellent; where as with other phones you do get the impression you’re looking at a watered down version of the internet, you never get this with the N900. Pages load and behave as they should and just as they would on a desktop. Away from the operating system, the phone itself looks and feels great with a responsive touchscreen and tactile QWERTY keyboard. One niggling factor is that we feel the front would have benefited from at least one physical key, like that found on the iPhone or Palm Pre, but this was our only gripe when it came to the design. Build quality is second to none. The N900 gives an impression of raw power, both inside and out.

There are of course a few areas that could do with some work. The fact that the operating system only runs in landscape will be off putting for some though we understand Nokia are working on a portrait version that will be available via a firmware update. The camera is also slightly under supported when compared to rivals on the market. Nokia have never been known to overload a camera with features but simple additions such as face and smile detection and a Xenon flash would have been welcome ones. The other problem we had, though this isn’t really a criticism of the phone, is that we were unable to try out the applications store. Apps are increasingly more important to a smartphones success so Nokia will need to get this right when the phone and accompanying Maemo Ovi Store launch.

All in all, the N900 marks a welcome return to form for Nokia. The operating system is fresh, intuitive and begging to be explored and really does succeed in putting a desktop experience in the palm of your hand whilst the device itself is well made, well designed and loaded with features that will come in handy for both work and play. In stock now at Mobiles.co.uk, click here to check out our available offers.

The N900 boasts a web browser developed by Mozilla, the people behind the Firefox browsers that many of you will use on your desktop PC’s and laptops. This aims to deliver a web browsing experience like no other and we’re inclined to say they’ve achieved this with ease. Firstly, gone are the days of Nokia’s of old where simply entering a web address meant navigating two to three different menus. Opening the web browser presents you with a list of your bookmarks which you can simply tap on to navigate to or an address field at the bottom which lets you punch in the exact web address using the N900’s keyboard. Once loaded, you’re the full web page without borders or icons obscuring it. Navigation is handled by a combination of dragging up and down (or left and right) and swirling to zoom in and out. Tapping in the bottom right corner calls up the tool bar with, from left to right, a bookmarks shortcut, an option to add your current page to your bookmarks, the address bar displaying you current page (you can add in a new page and the browser will take you there), a back arrow for navigating back and the tool bar icon. Hitting this again lowers a tool bar at the top of the screen which lets you minimise or close the browser using the status bar.

Next to the status bar, we find a description of the page you’re on and tapping on this presents you with several options including reload, find on page, downloads (letting you view and manage current downloads) and best of all new window. Yep, just as on your PC, the browser on the N900 lets you open multiple windows and navigate between them just as you would any other app on the phone using the dashboard interface. The other area that mirrors a desktop experience is the N900’s support for online content, specifically its flash support. Embedded YouTube videos play flawlessly in the browser rather than opening up a separate player in a YouTube client and sites with flash content can stream audio and video content just as if you were sat at your desktop PC. Only you’re not, this experience is taking place in the palm of your hand and can go where you go. There are some minor teething problems. In its current form there are certain types of Flash content that won’t play nicely with the N900 (@ 5ste: Google Wave appears to work fine but Racingpost.com currently only shows text content, no flash) but both Nokia and Adobe (the people who bring us Flash content) are working on updates which will be released via firmware upgrades. Due to its internet tablet heritage and landscape screen orientation, the N900 lends itself perfectly to web browsing on the move. Pages load correctly and in full widescreen without the need to scroll left and right and the innovative swirl to zoom feature gets around the lack of multi-touch nicely. Quite simply, the N900 offers the closing thing to a desktop web browsing experience on a mobile device we’ve ever seen and really can replace lugging round a cumbersome netbook or laptop.

As with previous smartphone offerings from Nokia, the N900 sticks to a tried and tested 5.0 Megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED Flash. Accompanying this spec list we also find some (admittedly limited) camera modes including the default automatic set up, Macro mode and Portrait, the option to tinker with settings such as White balance, Exposure and ISO sensitivity and some limited Flash settings including red eye reduction. And that’s about it. The resulting photos come out better than expected. In good light conditions with the flash turned off and the camera mode set to automatic, the N900 captures good crisp images with little in the way of noise. Colours aren’t too saturated and the autofocus feature is quick to focus on objects both close up and in the distance. The camera key also has a reassuring click to it letting you push part of the way in to focus and then the final click to confirm the capture. Once you’ve captured an image the photo remains on screen for around 10 seconds giving you a list of options of what to do next. Fail to select any of these and the N900 will automatically take you back to the camera viewfinder and allow you to carry on snapping.

It’s in the options once a photograph has been taken that the N900 comes into its own. Nokia are keen to get people Geo-tagging and the feature has never been easier than on the N900. For the uninitiated, Geo-tagging lets you tag a photo with details relating to where you took it. Selecting the Country, City and even Town is simply a case of tapping the relevant icon on screen. A certain town not available? Well, simply add it to the list and it will be ready to select in future. The N900 also lets you add tags that relate to the subject of the photo including pre-sets such as Birthday, Christmas and Travel which are then used when you upload your photos to sharing sites. Uploading photos to file sharing sites is just as easy with a few taps taking care of business. At present only Ovi Share and Flickr support is available but more sites are set to be added in the near future. All in all, while it won’t replace your stand alone digital camera, the N900 is more than capable when called into action, capturing good sharp images. Our only real criticism is the lack of extras such as Face detection, touch focus and other such features that are now common place in camera phones. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise as Nokia has previous form with an unwillingness to add in extra camera features. All the same, it is nearly 2010 so come on Nokia, get your act together!

Video capture on the N900 is even more basic. Video is captured in WVGA resolution (848 x 480) at 25 frames per second which results in nice smooth videos that can keep up with whatever’s happening on screen. Sound quality is equally impressive and the dual LED flash doubles as a video light when recording in low light conditions. You do also get to tinker with the ISO and White Balance but that’s about it when it comes to additional features. It would have been nice to see some fast or slow motion video capture included and HD video capture shouldn’t be completely out of the question but for now at least the N900 keeps things fairly simple. Once videos are captured, you’ll be presented with the familiar review screen and given the option to tag, share, view in gallery and delete as required. The aspect of the N900 that makes video capture shine is the huge storage capacity which lets you record for as long as your memory will hold out. When we started recording, the phone indicated that we had 99 minutes remaining, enough for a feature length movie!

The N900 boasts a built in GPS receiver aided by A-GPS (assisted GPS). These two combine to give the N900 an incredibly quick response time when opening the Ovi Maps application. Upon opening the app, the N900 pinpoints your location almost instantly and despite being inside a building (which can hamper the GPS signal) found our location correctly almost to the meter. Setting up a route is simply a case of tapping the icon in the top right corner, typing in your destination (by address/postcode, place name or point of interest). Once set up, the N900 will quickly calculate a route and mark it with a thick red line on the map. The accuracy comes into play here as you can follow the map to the very smallest detail. Ovi Maps also lets you swap from a traditional view to a satellite view which helps when travelling in inner cities as you can recognise buildings and landmarks. In our test we were unable to try out voice guided navigation but the phone is expected to ship with a trial version with the option to sign up for the full version via a subscription (for which you can set the duration). The vivid display would make the ideal platform for an in car SatNav application so if Nokia can get the likes of Tom Tom on board to develop an app for the device it could be hugely successful.

Due to the N900’s 32GB internal memory (expandable by a further 16GB using a memory card), the phone is a viable alternative to a dedicated MP3 player and as such it is important that the built in media player hits all the right notes. Tapping on the media player icon in the main menu brings up four sub menus; music, video, internet radio and shuffle all songs. After opening music, the default setting is to sort music by album but this can also be changed to sort by artist, genre, playlists and all songs. The N900 supports album art which displays all music using album covers. Once you’ve clicked on the album you’ll be taken to a list of all the songs in the album. Select a track and you’re taken to a player interface with the album art dominating the screen. Options at the bottom include skip and pause controls, a volume key and the track timer which shows how far through a song you are and lets you skip through to a specific part of a track. Sound quality with the supplied headphones is excellent but thanks to the 3.5mm audio jack you also have the option to use your own headphones.

Just as with Ovi Maps, the media player is one of the widgets that can be added to the home screen. From here you are given options such as play, pause and skip and a miniature copy of the album art acts as a quick visual aid. The widget works in a similar way to the minimised version of Windows Media Player on a PC or Laptop and is excellent for keeping music playing in the background while you get on with other tasks. With up to 32GB available you really can load your phone with thousands of tracks and when you take into consideration the ease of use and nice touches such as the home screen widget, the N900 really does become a feasible alternative to an iPod. Video playback on the N900 is equally impressive. Whilst the player lacks the music players home screen support for obvious reasons, watching videos on the 3.5 inch display is a joy. The picture is crisp and sharp and using the kickstand to prop up the phone really does make for the perfect viewing platform. You really could imagine yourself watching a feature length movie on the phone, it’s that good.

Check back on the blog tomorrow for the final installment of our Nokia N900 review as we give our verdict on this seminal release from the Finnish manufacturer.

The N900 sports a 3.5 inch display; the same size as the best in class iPhone 3GS though the Nokia phone does manage to pack in considerably more pixels than Apple’s offering. This makes for one of the sharpest displays we’ve ever seen on a mobile phone with images sporting crisp edges and bright natural colours. The screen lends itself naturally to web browsing and video playback as it’s big enough to display content comfortably and the increased pixel count means you’ll rarely find yourself squinting to read text. The touchscreen display on the N900 uses resistive technology meaning it reacts to pressure on screen, compared to capacitive technology which responds to heat. Resistive technology does have its pros and cons. Whilst it has been criticised in previous phones for not offering the same level of responsiveness as a capacitive display, resistive does allow for more accuracy, especially when combined with a stylus which, due to its reliance on heat, a capacitive display cannot support.

Despite criticisms of responsiveness looming over resistive touchscreens, the N900 features the best resistive touchscreen we have ever used. It’s as simple as that. Rather than requiring firm prods like many of its predecessors, the N900 reacts almost instantly to light touches letting you smoothly sweep through menus and navigate web pages effortlessly. Very rarely did we find ourselves having to repeat our commands as the N900 nearly always picked them up on the first time of asking. A small vibration helps in this department, acknowledging your on screen activities with a light buzz. The only real instance where you notice that the phone is lacking a capacitive display is in the absence of multi touch. Whereas various other phones offer such navigation methods as pinch to zoom, the N900 unfortunately lacks such an option and this is the only real area that lets the touchcsreen experience down. Nokia have thought of some rather inventive ways to get round this such as a neat swirling trick when in the web browser. Simply swirl your finger clockwise on a webpage to zoom in and anti-clockwise to zoom out. It’s a nice touch (excuse the pun) and adds to the overall touchscreen experience. The N900 is easily the best example of a touchscreen Nokia has to offer with some great additions and good overall usability. The addition of a stylus will also please tablet fans though the frankly huge stylus (it feels more like a pen) that slots into the device itself prompted us to stick to a solely finger led method of navigation.

As we mentioned previously and you were no doubt already aware, the Nokia N900 runs the latest version of the Linux based Maemo operating system, specifically Maemo version 5.0. As the operating system has its origins in internet tablets and handheld devices other than your everyday mobile phone, there are certain quirks that do take some getting used to. The first of these is the orientation of the operating system itself. If the position of some key buttons on the side of the phone didn’t give it away, Maemo on the N900 is designed to run in landscape mode. With the exception of a small collection of applications such as the phone interface for making calls, you’ll spend most of your time holding the phone in landscape. Whilst this is by no means a bad thing it certainly does take some getting used to and can be more than a little daunting at first. But, Nokia had promised a powerful desktop experience in the palm of your hand so you didn’t expect this to fit into a portrait screen did you? Upon firing up the N900 the first thing you’re presented with is a rather sparse home screen populated only by a few icons and shortcuts. The first of which is a sort of catch al status bar that includes the main menu icon which takes you into the main menu and a sort of status bar that shows the time, battery life and network signal strength as well as any data connection you may have running. Clicking on this lets you change the time and set alarms, manage wireless connections, change profile, activate Bluetooth and change the volume. Opening this status bar acts as a sort of pop up – your content is still visible in the background but is blurred out of focus letting you concentrate on the task at hand. Clicking on the blurred part of the screen takes you back a step to the last menu; in this case the home screen. This is a nice stylish addition to the OS and one that features regularly throughout.

Below the status bar you’ll find the main bulk of the home screen which is fully customisable with, well just about anything. To add or edit content on the home screen simply hold your finger down on an empty space on the screen and you’ll be able to do so fairly easily. A small ‘x’ appears in the corner of all content already on the screen which will allow you to remove content as you see fit. Adding content is just as easy as a tool bar appears on the top of the screen in the editing view. Simply hit ‘Desktop menu’ and you can add shortcuts, widgets and bookmarks, change the background or theme of the device and manage views. Add your desired content, hit ‘done’ and the N900 will add it to your home screen. At this point you may wonder whether your home screen might get a bit crowded once you’ve added more than a handful of shortcuts but Nokia and Maemo takes this into consideration by letting you add multiple home screens. Similar to the experience found on the HTC Hero, simply swipe your finger left or right to switch between multiple home screens. The status bar in the top left corner is the only ever present icon leaving everything else up to you. We found the perfect set up having a home screen ready for web access with a few links to our favourite sites and a live web feed to a certain social networking site, a screen for multimedia with an MP3 player short cut, a screen for messaging with contacts and push email and finally a screen for navigation. Navigation was our favourite page as it provides one touch access to Nokia Maps and best of all, once you’ve minimised the app, a miniature map of your exact location appears on the home screen. But by far the best thing about multiple home screens is that no two N900’s will be the same, everyone will be able to create an experience that is just right for them.

It’s not just in its multiple home screens that the N900 flexes its smartphone muscles as its equally capable when it comes to the must have feature of the moment; multi-tasking. Yes the N900 can run multiple applications at once but then so could the N97 and N97 Mini along with numerous other Symbian phones. However, what makes Maemo so special is the ease with which it lets you manage open applications. Once you’ve opened and then minimised an application, the dashboard icon will be added to the status bar on the home screen. Tapping on this will open up a view similar to that found when customising your home screen. Open applications will appear as scaled down tiles. From here it’s just a case of tapping on the tile to open the application or tapping on the ‘x’ icon to close it. Simple. To exit the dashboard, it’s simply a case of tapping on the blurry home screen that is still visible in the background. We had around eight applications running in the background at once and noticed absolutely no slow down when both navigating the home screen and in the apps themselves. This is in part down to the excellent ARM Cortex A8 processor which boasts a clock speed of 600MHz which keeps everything running with commendable zip. In addition to the dashboard icon, users can also press the power button and are presented with an ‘end current task’ option.

Whilst not that easy to pick up due in part to the fact that we’ve never used a Maemo device before, the learning curve for Maemo is spot on and challenges you to really explore and get the most out of your smartphone. Adding content to one of the phones many home screens is simple and effective and just one of many great features this OS has to offer. Not only is it great to use, it’s equally easy on the eye with the blurring technique just one of many stylish touches that really proove this is a cutting edge operating system. And if you think it looks good, just wait till you hear the sound effects that accompany some of your on screen commands which sound like they’ve come straight out of a science fiction film! The only area that could potentially let Maemo down is its third party applications because, at time of writing, the app store was not yet up and running for Maemo. Set to have its own designated area of the Nokia Ovi store, for the time being the N900 is supported by the Maemo Select download site which currently offers around 50 free downloads. Nokia have already pushed out the device to key third party app developers in time for the handsets launch so we’ve no reason to believe the N900 won’t launch with a full quota of all sorts of weird and wonderful apps but for the time being we’ll have to wait and see.

Tune in tomorrow for the penultimate installment of our Nokia N900 review as we take a look at the web browser, GPS, Camera and multimedia functionality of Nokia’s flagship device.

First announced at Nokia World back in August, the N900’s roots stretch much further back to the Nokia Internet Table range, a series of devices optimised for web browsing but lacking a sim card slot and the ability to make calls. The N900 rectifies these two omissions whilst sticking to the core values of the internet tablet range. What this in turn means is that rather than sticking to the tried and tested Symbian operating system as seen in numerous Nokia smartphone offerings (and some non-Nokia hardware too), the N900 runs on the relatively unknown Maemo OS as seen in its tablet ancestors. The Linux based operating system is definitely the feature of the N900 that grabs the headlines as we’re all eager to see what made Nokia eschew Symbian; a platform the manufacturer has poured money and resources into, in favour of Maemo.

Symbian is not without its critics and when comparing Nokia’s current flagship devices with the likes of the Apple iPhone 3GS and phones running Google’s Android operating system such as the HTC Hero and upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Symbian does start to look its age. Not in the functionality stakes where the OS can hold its own against most if not all of the new comers but in areas such as user interface, ease of use and available software, it is in these increasingly important areas that Symbian fails to compete. Maemo has a considerable advantage in this area as it has always been designed with a touchscreen interface in mind and supports customisation in numerous ways letting users create an experience that is right for them. Maemo promises to give the N900 firm foundations but as any mobile enthusiast will tell you, the operating system is of course only half the battle and Nokia will need to focus just as much on the hardware and additional features.

The N900 sports a candy bar form factor with a slide out QWERTY keyboard that slides out when the phone is held on its side in landscape orientation. When closed, the N900 sports a minimalist design with the front lacking physical buttons of any kind. What we do find is a Nokia logo in the top right corner and N900 in the bottom right, a light sensor and video call camera in the top corners and the earpiece in the middle. On the right side the volume/ camera zoom rocker sits next to the power and camera key whilst on the opposite side we find nothing but the stylus. On top of the device we find the Micro USB Port (which doubles as the charger connection) and the first of two stereo speakers and at the bottom we get the second speaker, a sliding screen lock mechanism and a 3.5mm audio jack. Flip the phone over and we find the camera which is protected by a sliding lens cover, a kick stand which flicks out to prop the phone up and a Nokia Nseries logo.

Hold the phone in landscape and push up to reveal the full QWERTY keyboard. The slide mechanism on the N900 locks into place with a reassuring click and closes similarly. The keys themselves are nicely sized and spaced with a good level of feedback and a quality feel. The slide mechanism on the N900 is flat (rather than the arced style as seen in the N97 and N97 Mini) and this helps to give the N900 a more solid feel. At no point do you feel uncomfortable sliding out the keyboard and nor should you. This reassuring feel is echoed throughout the design of the N900. At 181 g with the battery inserted, the phone could definitely not be classed as light but due to the premium materials used in its construction, the overall look and feel of the phone is one of prestige rather than that of a bulky, cumbersome device. The top half of the phone (the part that slides out) is surrounded by a strip of black metal which not only looks great but feels great in hand too. The border that surrounds the display is made up of a glossy black plastic that sits behind one seamless glass display. The bottom half is made of a matte plastic that does an excellent job of avoiding fingerprints and general grubbiness. The same can’t be said for the front but then this is a touchscreen phone so we come to expect this. Overall the design of the phone works well. The solid construction and premium materials help to deliver a device that feels just that; premium. At 18 mm thick (the rest of the dimensions are 110.9 x 59.8 mm) those expecting a slim 5530 style phone should look elsewhere but most will appreciate the quality and overlook the slight chunkiness.

Be sure to check back on the blog tomorrow for the second installment of our Nokia N900 review as we check out the Touchscreen and Maemo operating system.

Here at the Mobiles.co.uk Blog, we’ve managed to bag ourselves a brand new N900 and will be putting it through its paces in the run up to a full review next week. We plan on putting both the hardware and software under the microscope to find out whether Nokia’s latest flagship device is worthy of the massive hype surrounding its launch. But while we are first and foremost mobile phone enthusiasts, we still like to know what you, the people who will potentially be buying the N900 want to know about the phone.

Simply use the comments section below to field us those burning questions and we’ll do our utmost to cover it in our full hands on review. Oh, and be sure to check back on the Blog later next week to read the review in full.

UPDATE: Part 1 of our Nokia N900 review now up on the blog for your viewing pleasure!

UPDATE: Second installment of our Nokia N900 review now ready for reading!

UPDATE: Part 3 of the definitive Nokia N900 review now live on the blog!

UPDATE: Fourth and final installment of our Nokia N900 review now up on the blog!

As well as feeling good to use, the Aino is a good looking handset, too. The overall shape is long and rectangular with slightly rounded corners which helps portray a softer, more stylish look. The 3.0 inch capacitive touchscreen dominates the front of the handset, and is therefore the main focus point when you first look at the phone. The Aino boasts a combination of a matte and gloss finish which gives the Aino a more sophisticated feel.

The handset combines both a touch sensitive display and a physical alpha numeric keypad. The slide factor of the handset is easy and moves smoothly, which automatically makes the handset more user friendly. On the keypad you will find the main four directional menu button which you use to access the different features on the phone, 2 buttons which are dedicated to answer and reject a call, a clear button, and two other shortcut buttons which are used to select options on screen to help reach your specified page more easily. The individual buttons on the keypad are at a reasonable size making it effortless to compose your messages.

On the back of the phone, you will find the lens and the flash of the 8.1 megapixel camera in the top right hand corner. There is no cover for the lens which could be seen as either an advantage or a disadvantage. Without the cover, the phone will appear slimmer as it will lack the extra layer which could make the phone seem bulkier, however without the lens you are also at risk of scratching/damaging the lens which would then affect the quality of your photos.

There is a single button on the top of the handset which is what will lock the phone to ensure you do not accidentally push any buttons whilst carrying around the phone, there is a slot on the left hand side of the phone which is where you charge the handset, and on the right hand side you will find two buttons; one is the adjustment keys for volume/zoom, and the other in which you will use to capture your images with the 8.1 megapixel camera.

Alike most other mobile phones, the battery can be found underneath the sliding back cover, which seems a little tricky to remove; it feels as though you might damage/break the phone.

It is quite deceiving when you first look at the display, as it comes across as a full touchscreen, when actually you can only use it to navigate certain areas of the phone. The touchscreen of the Aino can be used to answer or reject a call when the slide is shut. If you slide the phone open when not on a call and follow the prompts, the display will switch to a landscape mode and presents you with a multi-media menu including 5 shortcuts (camera, gallery, music, movies and FM radio), where you can take advantage of the touch sensitive screen. The keypad must be used to control all other features of the Aino.

The Aino runs as a feature phone rather than a smart phone, so therefore operates on a proprietary user interface. The menus found on the Aino are similar to those found on the PSP or PS3. When you first hit the menu button, you will be presented with a variety of different options, and then when you choose one of these options you are then given a new list to filter through to find what you are looking for. The presentation is very clear which makes it easier to navigate around the phone. There are a wide range of apps available that can be downloaded, but not as many as you would find on a smartphone. These range from different games, music and office apps.

Users can benefit from a lot of high quality features which make the Aino a winning handset for Sony Ericsson. An 8.1 megapixel camera is on board, along with autofocus, LED flash and face detection. The quality of the images that this camera captures is impressive, with all details of the photograph very strong. The LED flash works very well, even in very low light conditions. An added extra is touch focus, where you can pick an area through the viewfinder, and just by touching the screen you can focus on these specific areas. The 3.0 inch screen displays a very sharp image with very natural looking colours, and is a very good size to view all of your photos and other documents on screen.

When opening the web browser on the Aino, it is not 100% clear as to how you go about doing some basic tasks, such as refreshing the page, as the icons are not labeled. This can lead to frustration, as it means you have to play around a bit and click a few buttons until you find your desired setting/page etc.

Another appealing feature for many will be the remote play with Playstation 3. You can control and access the media content of your Playstation 3 wherever you are on your Aino.

Users can store all of their music on the Aino, and the Media Go service lets you transfer, play and organise you music, photos and videos via Wi-Fi. It is a very similar layout to the Walkman range by Sony Ericsson, and with 55MB internal memory and the additional 8GB memory card that comes with the Aino (even though the handset can hold up to 32GB memory card), there is more than enough room to store all of your tracks. You can choose which tune you want to listen to by either identifying the track, artist or album. This looks organised on screen and makes it easier to manage your music.

From having my first hands-on experience with the Aino, overall I think the handset looks good and feels good to handle, with all the features you would expect from a phone including games, music, internet browser and a choice of download-able apps. If you like the sounds of things so far and would like to find out more about the Sony Ericsson Aino then click here.

]]> http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/new-phones/sony-ericsson-aino-review/feed/ http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/mobile-phone-reviews/sony-ericsson-satio-vs-samsung-pixon12-12-megapixel-shoot-out/ http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/mobile-phone-reviews/sony-ericsson-satio-vs-samsung-pixon12-12-megapixel-shoot-out/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:57:06 +0000 Dan http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/?p=5575 For those of you still getting your head round 8.0 Megapixel camera phones, brace yourselves as there’s a new number in town and that magic number is 12 (not three as a certain pop song might have you believe). Yes, mobile manufacturers are eagerly beavering away on 12 Megapixel camera phones and the first two are now available from Sony Ericsson and Samsung with their Satio and Pixon12’s respectively. So, for the early adopters out there, which one should you choose? Which 12 Megapixel camera has bragging rights as not only the most powerful camera phone but also best performer? Read on as we put the Satio and Pixon12 head to head in our 12 Megapixel shoot out.

First things first, in this review we will only be focusing on the camera’s. The Sony Ericsson Satio is a fully fledged smartphone where as the Pixon12 is merely a feature phone so comparing them in other departments would be unfair. One area we will compare the two though is the design as this directly impacts on the camera. Let’s first look at the Satio. The version we have today is the black which features a nice glossy finish but miraculously manages to stay fairly fingerprint free. The camera buttons sit on the side where we get zoom, capture, play last photo and switch between still and video capture. Each individual button feels nice though the capture key perhaps could have done with being slightly more raised as it can sometimes feel slightly awkward to press when trying to get a spur of the moment snap. The 3.5 inch display acts as the camera viewfinder and while it is a beauty, it does make for a slightly larger phone. The Pixon12 in comparison features a more compact 3.1 inch display making for a more compact overall design. Back to the Satio and on the back we find the sliding lens cover; a large metallic sliding mechanism that keeps the lens scratch free and also activates the camera automatically when opened.

On to the Pixon12 which as we mentioned before is slightly more compact thanks to a smaller screen. Take nothing away from the screen though as it uses Samsung’s AMOLED technology for an incredibly bright display. Again the camera buttons sit on the right side where we find zoom keys, capture and a button to open the camera. The buttons are all of a good quality though it would have been nice to have a few more options such as the Satio’s gallery key. On the back we find the camera which does benefit from a lens cover though unfortunately there’s no physical way to open it other than the aforementioned camera key. This is a shame and between the two it does make the Satio feel more accessible and instantaneous. Comparing the two is difficult. The Satio is bigger but then it benefits from a larger display which means you can see more detail on screen. The Pixon12 on the other hand is much more pocketable yet despite the smaller size is actually similar in weight so it feels more substantial in your hand. Personally, if I had to pick between the two I’d go for the Satio. For those of us with larger hands, the extra size is actually a bonus and it also makes operating and reading the touchscreen a lot easier. The sliding lens cover also won me over though both of these factors are entirely my personal preference with neither particularly unattractive nor uncomfortable to use.

Both phones feature a 12 Megapixel camera. Sony promotes theirs as 12.1 but as both phones capture the same amount of pixels, 4000 x 3000, we’ll put this down to pure marketing fluff. Both phones feature a Xenon flash, Autofocus, Face and Smile detection, Touch focus and an Image stabiliser. The Pixon12 does have some extra perks up its sleeve in the shape of Blink detection and more importantly a 28mm wide angle lens. The former is a bit gimmicky and in my time using the phone, I only found myself using the feature once or twice to test it out. The latter on the other hand is something Samsung are keen to promote. We’ve come across this before in the excellent Nokia N86 8MP. Basically the Pixon12 features a wider lens that is able to capture more information. Let’s say you’re taking a picture of a sweeping landscape. You’ll get more of the landscape on the Pixon12 than you would on the Satio. The negative to this is that objects in the Pixon12 photo are slightly smaller as the camera is trying to squeeze more in. It’s a trade off but the benefits of a wide angle lens are definitely an extra feather in the Samsung phone’s cap. Aside from this, the phone’s feature much the same camera extras so we can’t really separate the two on this basis. On camera features alone, if we had to pick a winner, the Pixon12 just pips the Satio due to the wide angle lens.

Now on to the actual sample shots. These first images were taken with both phones on auto setting with the only tweaks being that I’ve turned off the flash (light levels were good) and turned on the image stabiliser (any one who knows me will know I don’t exactly have the steadiest hands). The first photo was taken with the Satio and the second with the Pixon12. Judge for yourselves which you think looks best as personally I’m torn between the two. For me, the Pixon12 has captured the sharper image but the colours look dull and washed out when compared to the Satio. The Sony Ericsson phone has captured the more natural looking image with brighter and, more importantly, more natural colours. As both these were captured with auto settings, you could easily have a play with the sharpness for the Satio and colour balance with the Pixon12 to get a variety of different results.

The battle of the flashes is an even match as both phones include a Xenon flash.. It’s a close run thing but the Pixon12 just edges it, managing to illuminate the subject more from a similar distance. This is not to detract from the Satio which is still head and shoulders above the rest of the competition and catching up to dedicated point and shoot cameras in the flash stakes. Also on the low light theme and keeping things topical, we also tried to do a spot of photography at this weekend’s bonfire and fireworks display. The Pixon12 features a dedicated “Firework” scene where as for the Satio we had to make do with activating “Twilight Landscape”. The first image is again from the Satio which loses some of the focus but still does well in capturing the colours without being over exposed to the light. You’d expect the Pixon12 to win this competition hands down but the results do come as a slight surprise. Whilst the dedicated feature should work well in theory, once activated it causes a serious delay between pressing the camera button and the Pixon12 actually capturing an image. And so, the second image below is the Pixon12’s some what unique adaptation of the same firework. After several attempts we did manage to capture our target but after all that effort, the quality hardly seems worth it (see third image below).

For the uninitiated, Macro mode alters the way a camera focuses so that objects extremely close to the lens maintain there sharpness. Whilst this may not sound like something you’d need for everyday photography, it’s a good indication of whether a phone’s up to scratch and having a play around with the feature can get you some really nice photos. Especially for nature enthusiasts. Macro on both camera phones was impressive taking little time to focus and showing good levels of detail whilst maintaining a nice crisp image. If we had to pick a winner, it would be the Satio, not for the image quality but for the ease of use. Pressing the camera button on the Satio lets you push partially to focus and then all the way to capture. The Pixon12 lacks this dexterity so occasionally you’ll find yourself capturing an image before the camera has had a chance to properly focus.

Stop the presses, face detection works on dogs! With certain individuals unwilling to model for the camera (you know who you are), the job fell to our resident scruff bag to step up and smile for the camera. Both photos were taken simultaneously (Satio top) with little fuss. Both the Satio and Pixon12 recognised the face in the viewfinder almost instantly and followed it round as our subject trotted around the lawn. The level of focus was good and choosing between the two is nearly impossible. The Pixon12 again does suffer slightly in the lighting stakes as the photo does appear slightly gloomier but there’s little else to separate the two.

The other main feature that came under the microscope with both cameras was the image stabiliser, the impact of which is hard to gauge. Living with both phones would highlight the benefits of having the feature, as taking photos when you’re out and about and particularly on the move would appear crisper and cleaner. From this playtest though, it’s hard to see the effects as most photos were taken in a fairly controlled environment. Smile detection, featured in the Pixon12 but not the Satio, is a nice feature to show off to your mates and some users may find they simply can’t do without it but personally face detection is more than enough for me.

As with any phone (or camera for that matter) both on test today have their strengths and weaknesses. The Pixon12 has a fuller feature set compared to the Satio with no less than 14 different scenes. Yet whilst some of these are great additions (Text for example which lets you take a photo of a text document and focuses accordingly), some, such as the aforementioned ‘Fireworks’ scene come across as a nice idea in theory but fail in practice. The 28mm wide angle lens is perfect for capturing landscapes or group photos as it squeezes more into each photo though this does have a negative impact when taking photos close up. The Satio on the other hand lacks the depth of features enjoyed by the Pixon12 and does lose out to the Samsung’s marginally superior flash. But going in the Satio’s favour, photo’s appear a lot more natural with bright vibrant colours that capture their subject in a much more true-to-life way than the Pixon. Where both phone’s triumph is usability; both are easy to set up and edit settings and new features such as touch focus will soon become second nature. Viewing your photos in the gallery on either phone is also effortless with both allowing you to flick through with ease. Uploading to a PC or Laptop is also easy though the inclusion of PlayNow support on the Satio just pips the Pixon in the usability stakes.

And so we draw to a conclusion. What we should stress is that, firstly, both cameras on the tested phones are incredible, proving that this wasn’t just a case of upping the Megapixel count to sell more handsets. The quality in both the captured images and the features on offer in both phones is mind blowing and really does prove a big step forward from the 8.0 Megapixel range. Both Samsung and Sony Ericsson deserve praise for what they have achieved as they strive to deliver point and shoot photography to in a mobile phone to really rival a dedicated digital camera. But, the point of this exercise was to pick a winner and so, today, I’m telling you that I found the Sony Ericsson Satio offers the best all round package. The 28mm wide angle lens of the Samsung Pixon12 is more of a hindrance than a positive addition as everything in your viewfinder is consequently smaller so you’ll find yourself having to zoom in to match the size of the Satio (which in turn impacts on the quality of the photo). Whilst a close run race, for me the Satio just edges it. The ease of use, larger display and more natural looking results are ultimately more important than the Pixon12’s smile detection and range of scene settings. Whilst which one you go for will take into account the various other aspects of the two phones, on camera alone our pick is the excellent Sony Ericsson Satio.

Liberating the phone from its box and holding it in hand, the first thought that springs to mind is BlackBerry. It wasn’t just me either; comments of “ooh that looks like a BlackBerry” were common place while the phone was doing the rounds. Unfortunately, Samsung have fallen short of emulating the build quality of the tried and tested BlackBerry’s. It doesn’t feel cheap but there is a slight air of a lack of imagination. The C6625 lacks both the smooth lines and slim dimensions of the Curve 8900 and 8520 but also the premium metallic design of the high end BlackBerry Bold. It’s also fairly cumbersome at an imposing 113.3 x 63 mm but lacks any sort of weight at just 109 g so ends up feeling a bit flimsy.

If the design of the C6625 left us cold, the QWERTY keyboard was definitely a welcome feature. The extra dimensions afford each key extra space so rarely will you find yourself hitting the wrong key when firing off an email or text. This is complimented further by the fact that each key is ever so slightly rounded so finding the centre of each key is simple. This opens up the possibility for some seriously speedy text input. The soft keys that sit above the QWERTY keyboard are equally user friendly with a nice big four way navigation key and menu button in the middle as well as the usual assortment of menu, call, back and home buttons. There’s definitely to be said for larger phones when it comes to usability.

On the subject of usability, we move on to the operating system. Yes, the C6625 does indeed run Windows Mobile 6.1 which, as you probably already know, is starting to look quite old and decrepit, especially in the run up to the new 6.5 launch, but before you run for the hills, Samsung have done some tinkering of their own to try and aid you in your daily tasks. The phone is given an overlay on the home screen that looks similar to the TouchWiz user interface found on several of Samsung’s other smart phones and feature phones, though this time without any touch functionality. On the left of the display we get a short cut bar that you can scroll through and quickly and easily access various areas of the phone without having to wade through Windows Mobile. The first of these is a generic home screen that displays calls, messages, time and date. From here we also get sub home screens for contacts, the photo gallery and music among other things. Everything is clearly laid out and fairly easy to access (once you’ve remembered where everything is) but by taking away the touchscreen, Samsung have also sort of removed the point of such a home screen. Navigating the UI is so much slower that if using a touchscreen and you have to ask whether there’s any point having all this information on your home screen.

If the comparisons with BlackBerry handsets haven’t given it away, the Samsung C6625 is geared towards those who email a lot and need to stay in touch 24/7 and it’s in this department that the phone does excel. The phone supports full push email letting you nominate multiple email accounts to send and receive emails from. Emails pop up on the phone as if you were sitting at your desk enabling you to work from wherever you are (hopefully a beach on some tropical paradise). The phone also supports Microsoft Outlook tools such as setting up meetings in the calendar and carrying over your contacts from your PC. It’s a shame really that BlackBerry handle emails so well as this really is as good as it gets for the C6625.

With Windows Mobile you obviously get the ability to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the phone. Combined with the excellent keyboard, the C6625 is as good as any when it comes to editing documents and Windows favourites such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media player are welcome additions. That being said, we’d trade them all in the blink of an eye for a less clunky, more user friendly version of the operating system.

Enough griping about the OS, what else has the C6625 got up its sleeve? The phone features HSDPA connectivity so web access is nice and zippy. Hindering this slightly is the rather meager 2.6 inch display which you really need to squint at when web browsing (especially with the lack of a good zoom feature in the browser) and even more damning is the lack of Wi-Fi, one of the first requirements for a smart phone. The C6625 does also feature built in GPS with A-GPS support and comes with Google Maps pre-installed. As this is Windows Mobile, you also have to option to install your own SatNav software though it doesn’t come cheap. And what of the multimedia side? Is the phone all work and no play? Well, the 2.0 Megapixel camera is somewhat of a let down, especially with more and more BlackBerry’s launching with 3.2 Megapixels and above. The music player on board does the job well enough and can be launched from the home screen but the small display hampers video playback and the memory can only be expanded to 8GB. Okay so 8GB sounds a lot but in 2009 most smart phones have more on board memory than that so without the option to stick in at least a 16GB card, the C6625 is always going to struggle as a multimedia phone.

So what are our final thoughts on the C66250? Should you cast your BlackBerry aside and welcome Windows Mobile with open arms? In a word, no. The C6625 is geared as a business users phone but the fact that both Samsung’s UI and Windows Mobile are so unintuitive will mean users will fail to get the most out of it. Everything the C6625 can do, the BlackBerry Bold can do better and with such a comprehensive range of phones on offer, there’s a BlackBerry to suit everyone’s needs. A nice attempt from Samsung but left wanting in some vital areas. If you’re after a QWERTY emailer, go for the Bold or 8900 Curve, they’re better designed, feature a much more user friendly interface and won’t leave you feeling disappointed. And if you desperately need a Windows Mobile device, hold out for Windows Mobile 6.5 and pick up the Samsung Omnia Pro, it’ll be well worth the wait.

The Sony Ericsson W205 comes in as the entry level Walkman phone. Want an MP3 playing music phone which swaps bells and whistles for a best in class portable music experience? Then the W205 is definitely worth a look. Read on for our thoughts on this fun and funky little Walkman phone from Sony Ericsson.

The initial thought when having a look at this handset was that it seems very light and hollow. This can be seen as a good and bad point. It is good in the sense that you don’t want your mobile phone to be really heavy and in the way when you are on the go, so you can put it in your pocket and it wouldn’t be very noticeable. On the other hand, with mobile phones nowadays, people are expecting more high tech features, and therefore I feel users would expect a bit of weight to the phone as it would give the impression that it good quality. Once you have held this phone it wouldn’t be a shock if people thought this handset was at the low end of the market, and that it didn’t hold that many high quality features.

This is not a touchscreen mobile, it is a slider phone. When you slide the phone, it doesn’t appear to be a very smooth process, however this could be because there are so many touchscreen mobiles which are very responsive on the market that it makes this handset seem harder to use. The buttons are positioned like a normal phone keypad, but as the overall handset is small, the buttons are all very small and seem close together as well. Some people may find that they will end up pressing two buttons when they only meant to press one. As a whole, the navigation of the phone doesn’t seem as smooth as it could be which would affect the user experience, however for those who are used to slide phones, this handset would be ideal.

The W205 brought to you by Sony Ericsson is part of the Walkman range, and therefore features a built in Walkman player which supports file formats such as MP3 and AAC, TrackID music recognition, FM radio and expandable memory so you can store all of your favourite music. The Walkman player lay out will be familiar to anyone who has used a personal music player. Tracks can be browsed by a range of different methods such as Artist, Album and Genre meaning navigating to a specific song is easy. Once you’ve selected a song to play, any album art you have loaded on the phone is displayed on screen in addition to a track timer which displays how far through a track you are. Skipping through tracks, playing and pausing and accessing the volume controls will come as second nature as all have their own dedicated key on the phone itself. One slight drawback is that the phone lacks a 3.5mm jack meaning you need to use headphones with the proprietary Sony Ericsson connection. There are adapters you can buy which let you use any headphones but to be honest, the ones supplied in the box are of a good enough quality to make this an unnecessary purchase. Sound quality is of a high standard which rich levels of bass which will make you forget this is the entry level phone in the Walkman range. All of these features make this the perfect handset for those who love their music. As this is a Walkman phone, you can use your favourite songs as your ring tone, which have almost CD like quality, so there is no need for mono tones.

The 1.3 megapixel camera is a good enough quality for taking shots every now and then and leaving them stored on your phone, but for those who would like a mobile phone with a decent camera to use to take all of their photography and use the images afterwards, then you’ll probably want to look elsewhere (such as the W205’s much bigger brother; the W995). You do have the option to connect the handset to a PC to transfer photos and edit them on your PC, but this is not ideal for those wanting to create the finalised photo on the handset. There is also a video capture function, where you can record short footages. Again, the video recordings are not of a very high quality, but it gets the job done.

The screen display is very small, coming in at 1.8 inches which does sound incredibly small. However, the screen is capable of displaying up to 65K colours which makes browsing through your images and other documents on the display seem a lot sharper and clearer, due to the range of colours, and the fact that the screen is compact actually makes it look crisper. Text messages and caller ID are presented in a large font so you should never find yourself squinting.

Mobile internet with WAP allows access the internet and while it is a slower affair than 3G or HSDPA, the GPRS connection is suitable for checking text based sites such as footie scores and train times. The W205 also supports Bluetooth 2.0, which allows faster data transmissions between handsets, such as sharing pictures with friends. You can also take advantage of other features which are available with Bluetooth 2.0 such as wireless printing with a compatible printer and, most importantly, connecting to a wireless headset to stream music from the phone. Want to listen to music on the move without getting tangled up in all the wires? Bluetooth version 2.0 is the tech that makes it possible.

The Sony Ericsson W205 comes as a nice addition to the Walkman range. Whether your not that interested in the latest high end features, or just want a second phone to stick your sim in on your travels and keep that iPhone 3GS nice and safe, you can’t go far wrong with the W205. Sure it lacks 3G, a high end camera and GPS but the simple fact is, some people neither want nor need this in a phone. For those who want a nice looking and easy to use phone that specialises in its music capabilities, the Sony Ericsson W205 is a natural choice.

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