Mobile Review pits the Nokia N91 against the Sony Ericsson W950i
By Stefan Constantinescu on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 2:51 PM PST In Devices
Mobile Review compares these two giants and comes to this conclusion:
To me the result turned out to be somewhat shocking – the W950i won by a marginal gap, yet a win is a win. Nevertheless I will allow myself a short note, so as to reassure our readers (and we would like to avoid criticism to some extent). Here is what this note is: if you are currently looking for a prime music handset, then both of the reviewed models should end up on our shortlist as either of them has got own merits. Over and above the pluses we listed annihilate the letdowns – for example I readily turn a blind eye to all shortcomings of my N91 for the great sonic experience it provides, design and materials used. Switching the parties, I can overlook pretty muffled sound output by the W950i, since it sports such a decent display, compact dimensions and a handful of tricks it has up its sleeve when it comes to radio and player applications. That is why I wouldn’t dare announce the champion here, in other words both devices have the upper hand against all the rest of solutions available on the market – in fact, there hasn’t been any offerings that could match these two, and I don’t count the N91’s update for one.
All I have to say is give me SDHC or give me death.
(I also think the N91 is ugly, but some of you might like it!)
I’ve used both phones extensively and i have to say that if you want a great music phone, then the N91 if the one to choose. If you want a phone with colorful touchscreen, and plays music, then W950i is yours. Just don’t expect the latter to be practical in use.
The N91 isn’t an orthodox looker, but its beautiful metal loveliness. An elite music phone. Screen size and battery life are all it needs to improve on. The N95 is its closest successor so far.
W950 is a toy in comparison. SE need to make alot of UI changes to make it easy to use with one’s eyes closed. The big screen is impressive and i enjoyed its landscape internet browsing.
MobileReview made it win because of a nonsense part about accessories. How is buying proprietary speakers better than plugging your phone via its BUILT IN headphone jack to you hifi system, or any one else’s for that matter. BUILT IN mini usb is also a big plus for the N91….. direct plug in usb drive storage for any computer with an easily available mini usb cable.
So i say, the N91 deserves better respect as a music phone than any other. Aesthetics are a personal issue.
god i miss my N91!
Frankly, M-R reviews often are non-sensical in part – or at least a pain to read due to:
- bad translation
- bad organization (no page breaks, no links to sections, no summary (what the hell is that Impressions section supposed to be about with its odd mixed bag of comments)
- them in most cases being _P_reviews (not reviews as they are called)
- odd unfounded off-hand remarks (such as “At the beginning, Eseries was consistently and aggressively suggesting to us that a camera module embedded in a handset for this particular audience is “evil†and, among other things, in some places taking snaps is prohibited. The arguments, were, to say the least, pretty weak, but being spread by Nokia’s representatives they actually affected the market, thus in some areas where handsets got placed outside the law, however people were paying a little attention to those restrictions.”; camera phones ARE banned in many enterprises and were banned before Nokia had even thought of the E-series)
Their reviews do pick on the details which is good I guess and they have great videoclips nowadays, but all the other annoyances (most importantly though the unreliable Preview nature of them) have made me all but stop reading them.
I know Stefan loves them though, so obviously they cannot be that bad, probably quite the contrary!
So its probably more just my personal thing. 