testing phones for digital music (no ROKR)
first of all, the ROKR - big yawn. the *only* thing cool about this phone is that is has Apple DRM decoding included. that's a key feature however, and will sell many phones. a version 2 of this phone might be better.
at any rate, the two phones i have been trying out are the SonyEricsson W800i, the so called "Walkman Phone" and the Audiovox SMT 5600 (Same as the Orange SPV)
(images cribbed from orange UK )
Both of these phones can support a 1GIG memory card (in fact, you can put a 2GIG card in the W800i) - a memory stick Duo PRO with the SE, and mini-SD with the audiovox.
Here are the pros and cons of each so far, both as a music player and in general:
SonyEricsson W800i
pros
- comes with some great sounding passive noise reduction headphones. similar to the Shure ones that cost $200
- copying audio files to the device as a USB mass storage device, the phone's audio directory automatically syncs these
- external controls - play/pause, volume up/down on this phone. you do not have to use software to contol the music
- a 2 MegaPixel camera that is really good
- good integration of the music app. as new songs play, they pop over what you are doing unobtrusively. if the phone rings while listening, you can take the call with the headset, and then resume. it's slick.
- the provided adaptor allows you to use your own headphones
cons
- this pop-port-type connection thing. no native USB connector, no standard headset jack. the pop-port wire does have a standard 1/8" jack about midway down. why not put this on the phone?! (this is also a pro though). if you lose this cable, though, you are screwed
- incompatible with every other Sony Ericsson charger (this is a con for me, as i have invested lots in SE charging solutions)
- the memory card fills up fast with 2 megapixel photos
- not really compatible with any online music store, unless you un-DRM your iTunes tracks, and then convert to AAC
- the email app is weak
Audiovox SMT 5600
pros
- well, the best thing about this phone is that it is compatible with Yahoo! music subscription content. it also plays MP3 and other windows media audio (and video)
- the sound is pretty decent with the provided headphones
- this phone uses a standard headset jack (but not a headphone jack). that means the headphones can be replaced and converted to a standard 1/8" headphone jack
- the email app on this phone is pretty good.
- active sync works WAY better than the nokia sync applications i've been using
cons
- one annoying thing is that when syncing new tracks to the phone, you have to have to manually "sync" the libary with the file system. after doing that, you have to set windows media player 10 to look at the memory card again vs. the phone memory - even though you can't sync audio files to the phone memory
- sucky, sucky, VGA camera
- no memory card at all included with this phone
- c'mon, no one likes using a Microsoft OS, do they?
Verdict:
if you aren't tied to a particular music subscription service, or are pretty adept at converting your library - you gotta go with the W800i. if you are really into Y! music unlimited, and don't care so much about the camera - look no further than the Audiovox SMT 5600.
for a much better review, see mobile burn's review.
Comments
Steve, somewhat on the topic of phones, music, and storage, if you haven't already tried it, I was recommend looking into the SanDisk Ultra II SD USB Card (http://www.sandisk.com/retail/ultraii-sdplus.asp). I'm using in and really like it.
Dave
Posted by: Dave Golden | September 21, 2005 01:48 AM