5 Reasons Not To Buy K810i or K790i
I own the K810i and my friend Vibushan has K790i. Except for a few cosmetic changes and 3G, the phones are pretty much the same. I had earlier written about K810i here Sony Ericsson K810i
While there are plenty of reasons why you should buy the phone (and I am not just saying that because I own it), there are also a few reasons why you shouldn’t buy the phone. Sony Ericsson needs to know that they are idiots to miss out on these features,
- Lack of keypad password protect-Now, this is on top, because it is the most annoying feature or rather the absence of it which drives me crazy. Most entry level Nokia phones have this feature. Some Motorola phones go a step further by having separate passwords for each application. While that might not be necessary, here’s why you need at least one master password for your phone: Would you like to have your contacts taken from your phone ? Would you like people to peek into your camera folder and see all the pictures you shot ? Would you like people to simply take your phone and make calls ? Or use the internet for that matter ?
- Cannot Pause Videos-I installed ImToo the other day and cracked it at the expense of having to re-install XP (thanks to the spyware it introduced) just so that I could watch a few videos on my phone. But Guess what ? You cannot pause a video!! That’s just lame. You expect me to watch a 30 minute video without ever pausing it once ? You must be really crazy. As Manish points out in his comment, it is indeed possible to pause videos when you launch them through the video player. Thanks to him for that piece of information.
- Cannot FFWD ,RWD Videos-You also cannot fast forward or rewind videos.Now, this is just as bad, if not worse than the lack of the pause feature. Not only can you not pause videos now, you can’t go forward to the scene where you stopped the video. In a day and age where players can remember the pause location of multiple videos, this is lame. As Manish points out again in his comment, it is also possible to fast forward and rewind videos when you launch them through the video player.
- Stopwatch lacks save feature-If you have used Nokia phones, then you know that after you have used the stopwatch, you can save the timings and later on look at it. With Sony Ericsson though, you can’t. That’s just plain dumb. What would it take to add such a feature (assuming Nokia didn’t patent it. Even if they did, why can’t SE license it ?) For someone who times walks and stuff, this feature even if only small is infinitely annoying.
- I like some individuality-
This has nothing to do with the phone. It’s just that I like to own things that the majority of the people don’t normally consider. So, buy another phone.
There are some other reasons too, but I’ll compile them and post it sometime later. Till then, don’t consider buying Sony Erisccon K810i and K790i. Also K800i
Why would you buy a 3g phone for Madras? We don’t have any 3g networks.
George
May 30, 2008 at 11:55 am
if u can buy one more phone later than no need to buy now..as there will be new model wid more new exciting features..so..
Avinash
August 19, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Nice analysis champ…. Then which is the best one for you?
Selerines
May 30, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Point 1 is good. Point 4 is trivial. Point 5 just makes no sense. You are running Windows and you own a Zune.
Marc
May 30, 2008 at 2:39 pm
@George,
I wanted to buy 790i, but then the 810 looked so much better.
@Selerines,
I’ll let you know when I find out. I already bought a phone. SO irrespective of which one is best for me, I better retain it.
@Marc,
1 is ugly. Those SE imbeciles. 4 is trivial, but you don’t know the feeling when you take certain features for granted and then find out such small things missing. Point 5 does make sense. Who else has a Zune ? Everyone has Ipods. How many of you engineers (who comment on my blog) are from EEE ? I can state loads of other instances, but then it’s unnecessary really.
Karthik
May 30, 2008 at 7:02 pm
As for running windows, I have an argument, but then I don’t want to get into that.
Karthik
May 30, 2008 at 7:07 pm
hey plz can u give me some advice?which phone should i buy which have to be in the range of Rs. 13500 and having 3.2 mega pixel camera………..but more than all it should be stylish
ravi
May 30, 2008 at 7:34 pm
@Ravi,
If you read my post above and the shortcomings didn’t seem like much to you, then maybe you can go for either of the two. K810i and K790i.
I personally hate the N series phones. Not because I am pro-SE or anti-Nokia, but simply because they are all hype and don’t really deliver. The N73 does measure up to K810i and the 5610 I hear isn’t so bad afterall. N80 and N81 also seem to be around that price.
In SE, if you don’t mind a 2MP camera, then the K550i is a steal!! For close to 7k, it has almost all the features of K810i.
W810i, W810i, W910i, P1i and K850i (5MP camera) are also worth looking at.
But nothing to beat SE camera, at least in the 3.2 MP segment.
Karthik
May 30, 2008 at 8:31 pm
k 790i looks cool then the other mobile . . . .
arun
May 31, 2008 at 2:34 am
You are totally wrong. Korean phones are the best. Disposable and feature heavy.
Marc
May 31, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hey for me Nokia 1600 itself more than enough , coz i don’t use mobile that much. I am just having it for communication, that’s it
So whether 5 or several good reasons, K810i or K790i would be really too much for me now
Rachel
May 31, 2008 at 7:36 am
I bought W810i and it is worth to go for.
vinod
May 31, 2008 at 8:48 am
@Arun,
It does ?
@Marc,
So do you own one ? Hypocrite!!
@Rachel,
If ever you consider buying either of those phones, you will now have reasons not to.
If you aren’t even considering it in the first place, no harm.
@Vinod,
W series also has some drawbacks. I can list them out, but then I am pissed SE didn’t give ME these features, not some other people who own w810i.
And was your comment a reply to Ravi ?
Karthik
May 31, 2008 at 10:36 am
hey bro…this analysis by u show that u dnt knw much abt ur phone. Even i too have a SE K790i phone…th best camera pic. quality, which can easily take on NOKIA N95 head on head for th pic quality when downloaded to PC. I have tried it.
and 4 th video pausing, rewinding n forwarding…Its thr buddy…but u hv to acess th videos thru th Video Player.
GO AND CHK IT OUT…
Manish
June 1, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I have a K790i but pause feature,ffwd, rwd i never used actullay i dont know how to use . I tried several times but failed e.g
Menu>Entertainment>videoplayer
How to get this feature can anybody guide.
It is so long time the post of Manish
Never mind.
Rupanjan
August 14, 2009 at 10:22 pm
@Manish,
Whaddya know ? You are right. I feel like an idiot now.
The video player does support pause and fast forward. Thanks for that. Now I can re-initiate my efforts of stuffing my memory card with videos.
While there are plenty of reasons why you should buy the phone (and I am not just saying that because I own it)
That included the awesome camera. I doubt if it can take on N95. I thought N95 had optical zoom although I am not sure of this particular feature.
So now you have 3 reasons not to buy then phone instead of 5.
Big deal. I’ll make my next post a 7 other reasons not to buy a SE K790i or K810i. 
Karthik
June 1, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Ok that was really stupid, dude. Being told how to use the phone by Manish that is.
Also I don’t own a Korean phone and I didn’t say I did. And even if I did how would that make me a hypocrite? I’ve always supported them.
Marc
June 2, 2008 at 8:00 am
@ Karthik
No I didn’t reply to Ravi. It was my comment on this post. I just wanted to tell that W810i is good.
vinod
June 2, 2008 at 6:43 pm
@Marc,
Agreed. It was pretty stupid.
The bright side is now I can load my memory card with a few videos. 
I have seen the video player on the phone. It never occurred to me to use it.
That you don’t own a Korean phone which you suggest only so strongly to others (like you have owned them all and found them amazing) makes you an hypocrite. Hypocrite!!
@Vinod,
w810i is a really nice phone. It is one of those models which are hard to replace. But somewhere in the (near) future, it will become obsolete.The rates have come down though.
I would actually like to compare the sound quality of w series with my phone over the phones. If mine comes anywhere as close, then I’d claim mine is a much better phone.
The speaker sucks of course.
Karthik
June 3, 2008 at 2:42 am
The biggest drawbackof the k790i is that if you are writing an sms and need to insert a number from your contacts list in the sms, there is no way you can do it.
Its a pretty simple function offered by most low end phones.
J
June 6, 2008 at 6:33 am
@J,
Yes, but I think here you can send the contact as a card. however it works well only with other similar SE phones. It reaches even basic phones. But it looks confusing.
Here’s how you do it,
Menu-> Contacts->(select your contact)->More->Send Contact->As Text Message
Not only do they get one number, they get all details.
Karthik
June 6, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Well thats true. Every phone is replaced by some new model. Anyway I am planning to get SE W series phone with 3.2 mega-pixels. Any idea which is good? I saw and found W890 interesting one. So can you help me?
vinod
June 8, 2008 at 5:34 pm
@Vinod,
I had checked out a few phones in W series prior to buying mine and didn’t seem to find any with 3.2 MP. There are ones now ? If you have a lot of money, K850i and P1i are worth checking out. I’ll look at a few more phones and let you know.
(In any case, W series cameras won’t be as good as K series. Especially the flash. They will give you LED flash in all probability.)
W890i does seem good. It is quad band ( as compared to mine which is triband), it has HSPDA,(not that you will use 3G) and EDGE (both missing in my phone). Also the ear phones that come along will be much better. Some camera features will be absent though.
Karthik
June 8, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I would have actually bought one of those phones if I had known about them earlier.
Marc
June 9, 2008 at 1:11 pm
how to increase sound k
810i
shamsu
June 12, 2008 at 12:40 pm
u can increase sound if u go through… some sony ericsson sites… such as … topsony.com, topse.ru, lasyk.net and many more… sony da best phone… n i have da best features of K790 n combined it wid Walkman features by going through forums of Sony Websites stated above…
K79Oi Rocks all the above stated points are false… as i can set password for each n everything in my phone like… sms, filemanager, contacts…etc… i can do anything wid my K790i… n i have modded my phone in very best way… if u wan2 know how… contact me – huzaif_a@yahoo.com or 9987788661 n karthik u can also take tips how to do it from me…
Huzaifa
June 19, 2009 at 11:42 am
@Marc,
Which one ? You should buy iphone
Apple and all.
@Shamsu,
It can’t be done. The speaker isn’t all that loud. Use (head/ear/neck)phones.
Karthik
June 12, 2008 at 3:20 pm
late to comment, but the reasons are not much.
they are very personal. in 9 years of owning a mobile phone have never used the stopwatch or at least have never saved the time. not that something that is useless for me is useless for all and vice versa.
try and keep your post on basics (like password protect and video player bit) – features that will be a universal pain in the ….
but then maybe three reasons don’t sound enough to justify a post
AlphaQ
June 16, 2008 at 7:16 pm
@AlphaQ,
It is a good phone as I have said many times on many of my posts on this very blog. I still cherish the phone and using it is as nice as nice can get.
But then there are a few more issues with the phone as well. I’ll make an in depth analysis soon.
Karthik
June 16, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I’m currently owning 10 months old K510i, quite worned, (brought brand-new), I want to know is it’s outdated.
I’m not fan of music, ects. I felt very courage to buy K790i, my style is making good pictures, msn, internet, and texting. Does it got webcam?
Dana
June 19, 2008 at 4:01 pm
@Dana,
K510i is a pretty decent phone. You will see that it has most of the features that K790i or K810i have for half the price.
If you want good pictures, 790 and 810 do have an edge over 510 in that they have better cameras.
Idon’t know what you mean by webcam. If you mean a camera that can be connected to your PC and used as a webcam, then no. However the 810i supprts Video calling from the phone. You need network (3G) support though. Which is currently available only in Europe and Japan I think.
Karthik
June 19, 2008 at 4:08 pm
CONTIUNE -> (Text limit of posting)
Does the speaker quality/max volume is same as K510i, if yes, im happy enough if it isnt worser. Does it support video calling/voip? How much of memory it is without memory stick. Is the screen quality/color good?
Dana
June 19, 2008 at 4:08 pm
@Dana,
That was fast.
Speaker volume in k790i and k810i are slightly weak. I cannot compare it with k510i, but it is enough unless you plan to make a train full of people dance to your music (as they show in a few walkman series ads.
)
810 does have video calling (which I have mentioned in the previous comment). I don’t think they support VOIP. I think P1i lets you install Skype. But I heard even that is only for texting and not voice chat. You will need a Wi-fi hotspot in that case.
The screen quality is good. The screens are a bit smaller than some of the other competing brands. The screens are definitely better than the N-series phones I have seen. But some Nokia phones do boast of a better screen.
Karthik
June 19, 2008 at 4:12 pm
@karthis
I meant webcam that which is used in video calling inside the phone (nimbuzz is best free software that support webcam in video calling).
Dana
June 19, 2008 at 4:18 pm
In fact that I heard k810 keypad is quite bad, im much of texting and k790i keypad looks more comfortable. How long does the cover of k790 can last looking good. In first place of buying SE, i want to buy s500i but keypad is low quality, and i text much.
Dana
June 19, 2008 at 4:27 pm
@Dana,
In India, packet data is so expensive that we would rather make calls than use the internet to chat.
I use the k810i keypad and I have read a lot f reviews which say the keypad is bad. I don’t know if they are backed by facts though. I haven’t found any issue with the keypad at all.
K790i does not have a camera in the front. I guess how long it looks good depends on the usage.
Karthik
June 19, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Aye, I’ve thought to buy Sony Ericsson C905 instead of K800i, because C905 would last longer without getting upset that it got old features. Anyways, i want to know what is megapixel, how it different by number of MP. What is optical zoom?
Dana
June 20, 2008 at 1:10 pm
@Dana,
C905 is not yet available in India and hence I do not know about the phone. I heard it has a 8, yes 8 Megapixel camera, which makes it awesomely brilliant. K810i is a 3.2MP which looks silly in front of a C905. The cost would be affordable too I guess. Will depend on your service provider.
MP is megapixels. Optical zoom is when you can change the lens arrangement to focus on a far away object. Its like telescope if you like to see it that way. It is different from digital zoom in that the picture need not be enlarged after the shot and hence will not pixelate. With a 8MP cam, I don’t think you really need optical zoom. Digital zoom will do fine.
However, the file size and the writing time of a 8MP picture bother me. The files will be huge and will take almost forever to write to your memory.
Karthik
June 20, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I know what MP stand for, but what is it? Size of picture? Quality?
Dana
June 21, 2008 at 12:32 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapixel#Megapixel
Marc
June 21, 2008 at 4:20 pm
@Marc,
I was gonna explain, but that should be more than enough.
@Dana,
Do read up.
Karthik
June 21, 2008 at 4:35 pm
What is the difference between k790i and k810i?
Is there any diff in the pictue quality or features?
Pallab
August 6, 2008 at 1:02 am
U idiot..when u dont have any idea of a cell phone why do u go to give reasons which one is good and bad.
ravi
August 8, 2008 at 4:07 pm
You loser, when you don’t know the spelling of ‘you’ why do you post comments?
Marc
August 8, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Hi,
Nice complaints. Seen Any perfect phone? Not me. see the iphone misses the keypad. Which is a must for any one who uses it for mail. Blah blah phone is only touch screen while blah blah doesnt have one. So its not really wise to expect every thing from a single phone. Get your priorities right and get that phone. You seem to be a Nokia fan. Just one question, Why is SE’s 1.3 megapixel camera better than Nokia’s? that means some where some one is hiding something
shaunak
August 23, 2008 at 11:55 am
@pallb
The only difference is K810i is 3G as far as the specs go (but no EDGE) bu 790i is EDGE but no 3G.
shaunak
August 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm
@Shaunak,
You are correct in saying that no phone is perfect. It’s more because of the marketing than because of the reason that all features cannot be provided. Sony for instance purposely makes the sound quality in the K series phones bad compared to the W series, because otherwise everyone would go for the same k series phone.
You are however wrong in saying that I am a Nokia fan. I am completely satisfied with my phone.
Just that I would have liked a few more features. But the who wouldn’t ?
My Sony camera is wonderful. The 3.2 mp combined with auto-focus and many other modes makes almost a stand-alone camera in itself. The MP doesn’t mean the quality has to be good. For the photo quality to be good, the lens and the sensor (CMOS) used is just as important. So much so that in higher end cameras the lenses cost more than the camera itself. Which is why Nokia uses Carl-Zeiss in it’s higher end models.
Sony’s phones in this segment atleast trump Nokia phones IMHO.
Karthik
August 24, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Hey
Do u think this would work???
Menu->Settings->General->Locks->Phone Lock->Protection
Akhila
September 28, 2008 at 1:03 pm
shit. useless comments. phone is awesome. don’t blame it. use your head more often
ajay
October 8, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Shruti
October 19, 2008 at 10:08 pm
@Akhila,
If you were refering to the keypad password protect, NO.
@Ajay,
To the point. Take it. Thanks. Will Do. Refering to me ?
@Shruthi,
790i is just as good and cheaper. The extra features k810i has, will be useless if you are in India anyway.
Karthik
October 25, 2008 at 2:49 pm
@ karthik
if i refer to you..
what should i buy
a k800i or a k810i..explain
cris
November 6, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I’m still using nokia 3310 and nobody want to steal it…nobody….proud to have 3310….
PALL
November 11, 2008 at 12:10 pm
well i was goin to buy k810i, but i think dat one shud go for k790i
coz as said b4 3G is not gonna be in use in india….moreover d money u gonna save in buyin k790i{Rs.400}…add some money more by a 2 GB memory card..
JAIMI
November 28, 2008 at 10:56 pm
BUT CAN SOMEONE TELL ME DAT IF THIRD PARTY applications can be downloaded…in sony phones…..?????
JAIMI
November 28, 2008 at 10:58 pm
CAN WE RUN ORKUT IN K790I???
JAIMI
November 28, 2008 at 11:51 pm
This is a stupid post.I have a k810i and i love it.It’s a good phone and you must buy. K810i don’t have password for photos/messages/contacts.
Now are 2 reasons to be deleted.SE k810i is a good phone.
ICEwave
December 4, 2008 at 12:19 am
I have just buy K810i second hand…for Rs 6000..
it works well and betr than any othr cell…
3.2 mp camera…
Ganesh
December 8, 2008 at 10:05 am
@cris,
If you are in Us, 800i. (It was meant for US market I believe) If you are in Europe (with 3G networks), then 810i. Does US have 3G these days ?
@Jaimi,
hardly anything to choose between the tw. Both equally good.
Third party java applications can be downloaded and installed. Try zedge.com
Orkut does open in the browser I believe.
@ICEwave,
I agree with you on most part really.
I have it as well and I love it too. The joystick is acting up of late though.
@Ganesh,
If the phone is in good condition, that’s a great deal. I am sure as hell not selling mine for 6k.
Karthik
December 21, 2008 at 3:22 am
ive bought a k810.advantages overtakes drawbacks……i love my k810…….
charls
February 10, 2009 at 12:54 pm
make fun on orkut through ur k790 jaimi…download opera mini(a java application(nd browse through ur k790i)really it will be a good browsing xperience
charls
February 10, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I have a K790i but pause feature,ffwd, rwd i never used actullay i dont know how to use . I tried several times but failed e.g
Menu>Entertainment>videoplayer
How to get this feature can anybody guide.
It is so long time the post of Manish
Never mind.
Rupanjan
August 14, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Rupanjan
August 14, 2009 at 10:23 pm
the best sony ericsson phone .
tell me what the model .
bibo
October 9, 2009 at 4:17 pm