Posted by jplacson
I got to try the new K700 last night at an SE fashion show presentation.
It's all right. I like the way it feels in my hand. I also like the 2-tone keypad light with the circular inlay.
I do NOT like the menu though, as it STILL suffers the dreaded Ericsson lag... this time, it's back with a vengance. I sure hope that the final release of the SW will be VERY different from the model I tried (still sporting the Z1010 name)
It was horribly SLOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW... and in case you're wondering how slow... to all real Ericsson/SE fanatics... think T28.
The video isn't that impressive... but then again, what celfone video cam is? The camera is at par with the P800/900 series... the flash (or flashlight) is pretty neat, but only useful for object 1-2 feet away from the cam.
Other than the video part, I honestly prefer the T610/T630 as an over-all phone. The K700 is a good replacement, but not a knock-out one. The built-in radio is ok... I guess a lot of people still listen to the radio... but I fail to see the advantage of having it "built-in" the phone... when you still need to use the ear-buds to hear the radio anyway... how different is this from SE's old offering of the FM radio attachment?!?!
Anyway, SW gripes aside, it's a decent phone. I'd still get a P800/900 over it... but that's only because I've grown dependent on the memory capacity, and the 3rd party apps that are available for UIQ.
If I only wanted a phone, the K700 would be it... second place would go to the black T630.
Anyway... this is just MY review of the K700. 32MB is pretty good, could've added a Duo slot instead of the dumb radio though... but that's that. SW is still way too slow. They'd better fix that one or it'll make the K700 another disaster. :s
As for me... I'll wait for the P900 replacement.
Posted by Dj Boyi
Did you check the free memory then?
Posted by buckle247
if it is still using z1010 software you can only hope its own SW will be a lot quicker. Admitidly i have never been too fussed about the menu speed on the t610 and have managed to live with the slow speed due to the phone being great, but recently it has started to annoy me a bit. Still can't wait for the phone to be released though
Posted by Dj Boyi
Just go back to playing with a t68/i for a minute or two and you'll be glad of the t610 speed after that
Posted by ephil_24
@boyi
You're so damn right! When going back to my T300 I'm soooo happy with my T610's speed
PS: I believe the final sw will be quite faster.. or at least I hope so
Posted by buckle247
lol, can't remeber what the t68i was like, sometimes i regret selling the phone
but needed the cash at the time to help get the t610
Posted by draak1
To jplacson.
Very strange review of yours.
Are you sure about the SLOOOOOW Menu??
Accoording Eldar
"The main menu is presented with four rows of icons, three in each row. Unlike the previous versions icons look prettier, they are better drawn. Most likely this is due to higher screen’s resolution. In main menu manufacturers decided to review the animation, while moving from one item to other circle which will highlight current item will appear. Animation is extremely pleasant and is not annoying at all, even if you use the phone for long term. Surfing through the menu speed deserves separate praise, no slow downs, everything works surprisingly fast. The user can use fast number navigation in case he wants to, this way road to the required menu item will take only 1-2-3 seconds."
Are you sure about the Video player??
"Presence of bookmarks can be considered as advantage. They allow quickly moving from one picture taking mode to another, as well as video capture. The phone can record video clips in 3GP format, sound will be recorded as well. The clips themselves look nicely on the screen, most likely due to the screen’s superb quality. They look even better than those who were recorded on Nokia 6230. Upload of video clip from Sony Ericsson K700 to Nokia 6230 showed that Nokia has worse screen, the clip was displayed worse, picture’s quality was not as good as expected. On the other hand such video clip quality can never be recalled as being good you can’t expect much from them. K700’s peculiarity is sensitive microphone, recorded sound’s volume while being played on PC is extremely loud. Video clip’s recording time for our firmware version was limited by 30 seconds, in future versions this limitation may be removed, in that case recording time will be limited only with the amount of available free memory."
And yes it is the same firmware.
Are you sure you have the K700??
Posted by McKinley
Regarding menu speed. I highly doubt in your words!
I have test the SE Z1010 and I was very, very surprised how swiftly it responded to my commands and I really can't see how it can be possible with this "sloooow" menu in K700 as you mentioned.
You do NOT need ear phones to listen to the radio, it is possible to turn on the speaker.
So your statement is very wrong.
[ This Message was edited by: McKinley on 2004-04-24 01:22 ]
Posted by jhermano
Hey JP,
Any info on the price?
Posted by superunknown
thanks for the review:)
Posted by jplacson
I never said the T610 was slow (it is, but bearable) ... the T610 and T630 are faster than the K700... regardless of whether the memory was full or not... that would be a stupid excuse of SE if they used the "full memory" crap... it's 2004 people... not 1984.
I've never tried the Z1010 so I can't compare menu speed.
I don't mind the menu animations on the K700... I actually like them. Like I said, it's 2004, and I EXPECT phones to perform better than before. But... as much as I like all the little graphics and animations, I don't want menu speed to suffer.
When I first got my P800, I was almost afraid that even SE's flagship phone would suffer from menu lag... I'm glad it wasn't. Maybe I was spoiled by the P-series... but then again, why should it even matter?
The K700 that I played with (there were 4 units, I tried them all just to be sure it wasn't just one phone) was really slow. Like I said, T28 speed. T9 was a bit better than on the older T68(i or m) ... but then again, that's not a good comparison by today's standards.
What I could never understand is that, since the day Ericsson shifted to their 3v platform (T28) ... their menus have slowed down... maybe it's a battery thing? Maybe it's just bad programming? I don't know... but I can say that from the 5v to the 3v platform, the menu lag increased by at least 12ms ... some phones even more. The OLDER 688 and 788 (and even Sony's old phones) never suffered from lag. Now that CPUs are getting faster and cheaper... why is lag suddenly an issue?!?!? Why do I have to WAIT for the phone to respond? That shouldn't be how cutting-edge phones work.
I wasn't floored by the K700... like I said, other than the video aspect, I'd prefer the T610 or T630... mainly because in everyday use, the menu lag would just be too annoying.
And like I said, since the SW still indicated "Z1010", I'm assuming (and hoping) that the lag is due to the fact that the SW was written for a faster CPU. And I hope SE solves this problem.
Menu speed may be relative to the user. I may demand too much... gauge for yourselves when you guys get to play with the K700. In a nutshell, I prefer the existing T610/T630 over this new one... IF the menu lag isn't solved. If it is, then it's a worthy successor. If not, then it's just another SE phone... good, but not great.
With regards to the radio... I tried activating it... the phone kept saying "Please connect the handsfree, it acts as the antenna" ... so there. I tried looking around the menu, couldn't find anyway to get around that message.
Comment on ergonomics... the camera shutter and internet button are placed in not-so-friendly locations... they are directly opposite each other. And this may seem logical from a design standpoint, but when you try to hold the phone sideways to take a photo (the way SE wants you to hold it), your thumb bumps the internet button...and it's a bit too sensitive. Minor gripe, nothing serious... you just have to get used to it.
Design is good. Not as sleek as Ericsson's, but at least not as "button crazy" as Sony's. Good balance. I'm not too fond of the style, but I can say that it was designed well. The phone looks like a Cybershot when used a camera, rather than just looking like a phone held sideways... and feels really good in the hand.
MSRP is around P24,000 or around US$430 here in the Philippines. Will be available in stores towards the end of May.
Posted by Dj Boyi
Your right about the menu speed,they should be able to speed it up with all the others things we get on a phone nowadays,was the sms'ing speed any faster or do you still have to wait when not using t9?
Is there still only 25 bookmarks in wap menu too?
And did you notice a 'resume wap' in the wap menu?
Posted by jplacson
unfortunately, WAP/GPRS was disabled in the test units, so I can't comment on the bookmarks... I'm assuming WAP capabilities are the best out there as SE does do WAP/mobile internet really well!
SMS speeds are decent... I'd say at par with the T610... maybe a TAD slower (3-5ms slower)
Doesn't sound like much, but coming from the P-series which doesn't have any perceivable SMS lag, the regular SE line's lag suddenly becomes noticeable.
Existing T610/T630 users may not notice the lag as much as I did though. But it is still there. SE should really do something about the lag.
Menu feels just like the T630 though, despite the SE reps saying that it was better (ya, icons maybe... but structure is the same)
I'm not saying it's a bad phone... I just wasn't as floored by it as I thought I'd be. I usually am with SE phones... even the low end ones. This one brought on a smaller smile than the P800->P900 'upgrade'. But it is a good phone. If the menu speed doesn't annoy you, by all means... please buy the phone! The features won't let you down at all! The video function is fun to have...even with just 32MB. The K700 can use MP3s as ringtones though... so that's a big plus.
Think of the K700 as a Nokia 6600 killer. Even without the mem card expansion... the size & screen alone make it a much better over-all phone.
**oh, i didn't mention it because I felt it was a given... but the screen is gorgeous!**
Posted by kasei
What about the zoom and the joystick
Posted by Dj Boyi
Thx for that mate,i dont mind the t610 menu speed so it'll probly be ok for me.
Posted by Jowi
@JP
where is that
fashion show? will there be another show today?
Posted by jrmi
I really kinda think that you overrated your expectations with the phone jp, it will do have some issues, but still; we would really have to wait till the official release of the phone.
Posted by Skrue
Thanx 4 d info jp, jus lyk wat jowi askd, wer ìs d fashion show? Wil ther b anothr 1?
Posted by kasei
Lucky guy
Posted by don_vercetti
I don't suppose you got to try out java support on it did you? I haven't really kept up with these new phones, but i heard rumours they were dropping the mophun platform, is that true?
Basically, is java better than on the t610 or t630.
Posted by jplacson
The fashion show was at the Fort... but I think they have a booth in Glorietta.
I wasn't able to try to Java... since they games it came with were in Japanese... and I can't read Japanese!
But the games would start up... graphics were good... you see a little Java icon (same as in your browser) when you start up a Java app. The games start up fast... I just couldn't figure it out... it was some weird Poker game, and another thing... couldn't figure out the controls or the menu.
Well, with regards to 'over-rating' my expectations of the K700... I was expecting a much more revolutionary phone than what I saw. Maybe the 'lag' just got me annoyed since Ericsson has had that flaw since 1999, and I was hoping it would be gone by now!
If I didn't have a phone right now though, the K700 would be the first on my list. (Ok, ok... actually I'd rather have the P900... but PDA phone's aside...the K700 is good)
The little 'flash' built-in can work as a flashlight too since the light stays on for camera use... whether still, or video... so you can use it to find something in the dark. It's a small white LED.
Posted by 619
draak1.... re jplacson, saw/talked to him and i believe his words... re elgar.. i dont know him so why shld i believe him?
Posted by mmsman
btw bengalboy has a k700, here's the link:
http://www.howardforums.com/s[....]8e59745d2c5113&threadid=352352
@about the speed, even clubsonyericsson said it was very fast....
Posted by 619
ill borrow a K7 on monday & test it myself
Posted by Arne Anka
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So, 3 claims fast menu and 1 claims slow menu. It's like jplacson has tested a complete different phone. Since the other three (clubsonyericsson, bengalboy and eldar) at least have proven they have tested the
phone by showing pictures and movie clips, I'll choose to believe them for now
Now I have found a Swedish guy (see link below if you can read Swedish) with a one week old K700 preproduction unit.
This is what he concluded in short:
- Fast menus.
- Better quality of video clips taken with K700 than Nokia 6230.
- The metallic cover gives it an exclusive and professional feeling.
http://se.pricerunner.com/phones/mobile-phones/201391/reviews
[ This Message was edited by: Arne Anka on 2004-04-24 21:17 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Arne Anka on 2004-04-25 01:21 ]
Posted by JasonDeFaoite
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3-5ms, I'd be interested to know how you measured that?
Posted by McKinley
This guy (jplacson must been pulling our legs
Posted by rog
I can in most parts confirm the experiences jplacson has mad.
- Radio: not possible to listen to the radio without attached earphones. Reason: earphones act as antenna...
- Menu speed: was quite ok (I tested the phone about 4 weeks ago, get impressions of menu speed here: http://www.p800.info/~rog/k700/video/Demo_final.avi
- Overall impression: the phone is great, but not as revolutionary as some might expect.
Find more images here: http://www.p800.info/~rog/k700/gallery
Example of loudness of built-in MP3-Player can be seen here: http://www.p800.info/~rog/k700/video/Nirvana.avi
Enjoy!
CHeers,
Rog.
Posted by McKinley
No this phone is not revolutionary since all those things this phone has can be found in other phones but things in this phone works better than handsets from Nokia for instance.
I would call it for evolutionary K700.
This phone is really awesome!.
Regarding radio, you may not be able to use radio with earphones unplugged but you can still play it thru speaker whilst your earphones is plugged.
Correct me if I'm wrong
Posted by TheRealSpawn
youre right
and yes - it may not be revolutionary - but its a very nice evolution of the T610/T630
heres a picture I made comparing sizes on T630/K700/N6230
http://spawn.dk/compare.jpg
Posted by kasei
K700 has java 3d
Posted by Arne Anka
Don't know what phones rog concider revolutionary, but K700 is indeed a sexy little bugger
and that's enough for most of us. Although I don't need a new phone, I'm tempted to buy one anyway.
A new preview below.
http://www.mobileburn.com/story.jsp?Id=716&source=HOMETOP
Posted by soulseek
arne anka ., thanx for the link!
PERFECT review..
this review makes me buy the phone even more!!
the changes in the UI but also the new software improvements are things ive been waiting for years!!!!
the phone is also beautiful, small, and that screen looks amazing!!! really good resolution, and BIG!
Posted by swipe108
Don't be too hard on jplacson. it just that he's coming from a really different frame of reference: P800.
Posted by 619
Test using k7 at se ph
Posted by rog
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100% agree!
I'll also go and get this cuty.
Revolutionary would be a built-in Memory Stick and a Megapixel Cam (additional to the current features of K700i), where the size and weight of the phone is the same as K700 is now. That would be revolutionary! Don't you think so?
CHeers,
Rog.
Posted by sn3ipen
When t610 came out it didnt have anything new but it had lots of those things you wont find togheter in one phone so i think se is trying to do the same thing with k700.
Posted by alfaromeo777
The fashion show was in the NBC tent if i'm not mistaken. I did see pictures of models holding the K700 in the newspaper. The back side is what really sets it apart from the rest, The front is too ordinary.
Posted by jplacson
Hehehe...seems I stirred a hornet's nest!
I'm actually flattered that a lot of people read what I wrote...even the ones who didn't like what I said.
(This is not the first time I've reviewed an SE product, my initial post on the P800 was taken by 'Allaboutsymbian.com' as their initial P800 review as well)
To Jason & McKinley, hehehe..no I'm not pulling anyone's leg.. like I wrote, these are MY 1st impressions of the K700. The 3-5ms is just an estimate... I can't really convey the sense of lag I felt with the phone in any other way. I play the guitar as a hobby, and use digital delay effects a lot. I can notice 10ms differences pretty well, and the K700 delay was SHORTER than 10ms... so I just threw out a number. 10ms is a pretty long delay actually, you can already hear the difference, all the more SEE it. Just to give you a real world peg, 10ms is more or less the time it takes for your next finger to hit the table when you rap your fingers on a surface.
And just as a disclaimer: I didn't have the K700 hooked up to some atomic clock to measure the menu speed! lol ... this is just what I noticed about it.
And like I said in my first post, I like the K700... I just wasn't floored by it. Probably due to the fact that I'm coming from the P-series. If I had a T610/630, I'd probably have found this phone a whole lot cooler than I did.
Going back to the menu speed... like I said in a previous post as well, T610/630 users may not even notice the lag I did... but I did notice a lag coming from the P800. And my MAIN gripe is more with the fact that menu speed is still an issue with SE! WTF! The menu response time shouldn't even be in a review at all!!! It's 2004!!!! That menu lag should've died when Ericsson and Sony merged! (It shouldn't have appeared in the first place)
It's kinda like buying a 2004 Porsche 911 GT3 with the speedometer gauge light busted... none of that hampers the functionality of the car.. it's just annoying.
We're all SE fans here... I've never wanted to use anything else but Ericsson/SE phones. But it would be pointless to just say that everything from Ericsson/SE is perfect, cuz it simply isn't. You want cutting edge technology, you have to live with the quirks. And my purpose is to let people know what I experienced with the new K700... great features, good phone, menu lag is still there... would I buy one to replace my P800? No. Would I buy one as a 2nd phone to my P800? Maybe, tied with the T610/630. Would I buy one as an upgrade if I only had a T610/630? Yes. Would I buy one if I didn't have a phone? Yes.
Posted by jplacson
alfa, yes... the backs of the new SE phones seem to be patterned after the Sony Cybershot DCU-10/20 that are being phased out.
It's a good move actually, you don't look like you're holding a phone anymore when you take photos... and the design is horizontally oriented so it makes the phone look like a camera when held in "photo mode"
It's like the Transformers! HAHAHAHA!
OT:I find the SE TV ads quite cool... they are so disctinctly Japanese, and yet so Europeanly chic. Very unique blend. Hehehehe.
Posted by TheRealSpawn
#jplacson
I agree
Though I am very much in love with this phone and definately is getting one as an upgrade to my T610 - I also noticed in the videos that menuresponsetime didnt seem to have improved. Its not an issue for me personally, I've allways been happy with my T610 despite the menuresponsetime - but I agree that since this is the 3rd version of this UI S//E should have looked into improving the speed. Especially if they want to catch some previous Nokia users that are used to speedier menus and sms in their Nokias.
But like I said - for me personally its not an issue at all.
Im so slow when writing sms anyways that the T610 has no problems keeping up with me
- and Im not in that big a hurry that I cant wait 4ms for the menu to react either
Posted by gelfen
i think the changing face of the "camera side" of mobiles (and not just
) is in part a response to privacy fears. if you hold up a phone and the back is distinctive, at least those around might see the possibility of you taking a photo.
Posted by 619
it has lags...
32mb of space and it plays mp3
the screen is clear.. funny, when i took a pic, and click send- it goes straight to MMS... is it really like that? coz on my P8/P9, it let me choose if i want to send via ir, bt, mms or email..
we need the earplug for the radio to turn on..
tested a proto... 04w08
Posted by jplacson
Spawn, the great Ericsson/SE lag has been there since 1999 with the T28s!!!! It's present in ALL Ericsson/SE phones since then except for the PDA family members... R380, P800/900
The T39 and R520 ALMOST got rid of it... and the T68i hid it pretty well... but it seems to be coming back. :s
Yes, I agree that the lag isn't really in issue with most people. It just annoys me that they haven't even tried to get rid of it since 1999.
I'll probably never go back to a traditional smartphone anymore, I've found happiness in their hybrids. Hehehehe... but that's just me... and even with the P-series, there's ALWAYS room for improvement!
Posted by McKinley
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T68i or m did defintely not hide the lag to well.
T610/630/Z600 are all way faster than T68i.
My experience with K700 is not the same as yours regarding menu speed.
Posted by TheRealSpawn
We can hope that productionmodels will be faster - Im sure the firmware will have been optimized in some ways compared to preproductionmodels. Could be the K700 tested had a very early firmware ?
Posted by soulseek
the PROFESSIONAL review on mobileburn ... states nothin of slow UI responsiveness..
its good that this guy has tested the phone and told his side of the story.
but when its time for me to plan my future investements in any mobile... ill be lookin at the review on mobileburn and not this guys post.
i just wish i could find the authors email to ask him a few questions. im sure he has the appropriate experience to give me a good answer!!
Posted by 619
soulseeker..
then seek the professional reviewer and dont read this thread...
been using r520, t39, t68m, t68i, P8, P9... and the lags compares to t39... even clicking down the stick... slow response.. using t9.. lags abt 3 to 4 letters..
the 4 keys beside the stick... plastic. t610/t630 black looks better..
the back side of k7 is great..
Posted by soulseek
619... if i hadnt read this thread. i would have never found this link to the preview..
Posted by 619
oh, at least this topic HeIped