| Nokia 8910i |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 |
| Announced | 1q, 2003 |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 103 X 46 X 20 Mm, 83 Cc |
| Weight | 112 G |
| Display |
| Type | Cstn, 4096 Colors |
| Size | 96 X 65 Pixels |
| | - Wallpapers (downloadable)
- Digital Clock Screensaver (fixed)
- Dynamic Font Size
- Softkey |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Monophonic |
| Amount | 35 Fixed + Downloadable |
| Customization | Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| | - Ascending Ringing Tones
- Personal Alert Tones |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 500 X 3 Fields |
| Call Records | 20 Dialed, 10 Received, 10 Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| | - 50 Text Messages
- 10 Voice Dial Numbers
- 250 Calendar Notes
- 30 To-do Entries
- Message Templates |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 4 (3+1 Slots), 24 - 36 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes, V1.1 |
| Infrared Port | Yes |
| Usb | |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms, Mms |
| Browser | Wap 1.2.1 |
| Clock | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes |
| Games | 2 (backgammon And Sky Diver) + Java, |
| Colors | |
| Languages | Major European And Asian Languages |
| Camera | No |
| | - Java
- Titanium Casing
- T9 For 10 Languages
- Calculator
- Calendar
- To Do List
- Voice Command
- Mobile Chat
- Profile Selection |
| Battery |
| | Standard, Li-ion 830 Mah (blb-2) |
| Stand-by | Up To 150 - 300 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 2 H - 4 H 30 M |
|
Nokia - 8910iNokia 8910i: Un-Heavy Metal
If we were to 'judge a book by its cover' and only by that, then in the case of the classy Nokia 8910i, we could say that things are exactly what they seem. Pure elegance, exceptional style, and above all, a different kind of 'touch' on this phone. The Finnish technicians have done their best to make the 8910i feel different - and that costs quite a lot of euros! The successor, or perhaps the upgraded version, of the Nokia 8910 became my companion for more than 3 weeks. It showed exceptional features, but at the same time also several drawbacks which were more or less expected from a handset of this kind. The upgraded version of 8910 now includes a passive matrix display with 4,096 colors, MMS, Bluetooth, and Java support as well as email and PIM (Personal Information Management) functions.
Physical Characteristics and Display.
The Nokia 8910i is, without a doubt, a phone in its own category. It's not a high end model since its features cannot be compared with those of other handsets (Nokia 7250, 6100, and 6610) and, on the other hand, we cannot place a titanium-encased handset in the medium range category - even if we wanted to. The 8910i has a futuristic and, at the same time, mysterious design with a black exterior and several metallic parts, creating on the whole a compact phone that is quite portable and easy to use. Its dimensions are 103mm x 46mm x 20mm and, despite the titanium body, its weight barely reaches 112g.
On the outside, the sliding, 'active' cover protects the elegant keypad. There are only 2 exterior mechanical keys on the sides of the sliding cover which are used to slide it downwards, and a standard on/off button at the top of the 8910i (available on most Nokia handsets), which also allows the user to change the active profile, even when the phone is closed. Nokia put a lot of thought into the keypad design in the 8910i. It is made of polished titanium keys that offer an impressive feel, but unfortunately are placed too close to each other. Especially the three lower keys. This makes them sometimes difficult to press when in a hurry (writing an SMS or a phone number), but with a little practice most of the frustration is eliminated. The keypad illumination is white and elegant, but poor in dark conditions. Sometimes you need to guess where a button is, but that's the price for the stylish use of metal everywhere. In any case, you shouldn't be alarmed. The 8910i isn't the typical type of handset. It is aimed at people who want more than a simple messaging phone, it is a fashion accessory.
The 8910i is equipped with a new 4,096 color screen, which may look like a giant leap forward from the monochrome display of the 8910, but on the whole I expected a bit more from such a pricey phone. The saturation and contrast of the color is more than adequate, but small details, photos, and wallpapers look a bit disappointing. There is no support for animations, and the photos we received from MMS messages appeared really small, since the display itself is quite small. In daylight conditions the screen visibility was excellent with no shadows or blind spots. At night, things where even better.
Graphic User Interface (GUI)
Despite the fact that most all the latest range of Nokia handsets use the Series 40, this isn't the case with the 8910i. The premium range handset still uses a Series 30 interface with non animated menus and standard menu pictures, but on the whole it proves to be quite efficient and fast. There were no sudden freezes, no problems or errors with the menu details; on the contrary we were amazed by its usability and quick response to our commands. There is support for color schemes (Blue, Green, Red and Violet), the ability to customize the wallpaper, ringtones and operator logos, as well as a standard digital clock screen saver with a user defined timeout period.
Call Functions and Reception Levels
The 8910i I had in my hands 'suffered' an enduring test of reception levels and overall performance. The outcome was almost excellent during my three week trial, even at the most 'odd' places I could find. Talking from the handset proved to be an easy task even in noisy places such as the city, or inside a car with loud music. The speaker volume was more than sufficient for me to hear the other person at the other end of the line, and my own voice was transferred smoothly without disturbing noises.
Unfortunately the phone offered no support for handsfree mode (speakerphone), something which came as a sad surprise considering the amount of money it costs. Nevertheless, it offers Bluetooth support for all compatible headsets (Nokia and other companies already offer a vast range of compatible Bluetooth headsets), and of course it is fully compatible with the Nokia Dual Headset HDD-1, with exceptional performance especially when I used it for its voice dialing features. The 10 stored voice tags were recalled on the spot without problems even in the most unsuitable places, enhancing my sense of mobility and freedom.
Overall the call quality was outstanding, suitable for a premium class phone, but I cannot say the same thing for 8910i's melodies. There is no polyphonic ringtone support, since all the polyphonic melodies I tried to transfer from the PC to the handset, using the available software, failed since they couldn't be recognized. In any case, the 35 pre-installed melodies and some more you can download Over the Air (OTA), may not sound as impressive as the ones coming out from a Samsung handset, but they're really loud, interesting, and not at all annoying.
Messaging Features
Even though the Nokia 8910i isn't messaging-oriented, it is still up to date with all the latest messaging features, from SMS, MMS, and email send/receive functionality to concatenated SMS, chat SMS, and Picture messaging support - all bundled in a user-friendly environment. There's also available memory for storage of up to 50 SMS or 10 concatenated messages, in order to keep your favorite 'quotes' always handy. The embedded MMS editor is quite easy to use, with predefined messages, quick access to the phone's Gallery for wallpapers, photos, or melodies, and immediate response to my actions. Unfortunately, its MMS receive function won't impress you. All the incoming photos or pictures from the MMS messages (received from Panasonic GD87 and Nokia 7650) were displayed in extremely small resolutions like thumbnails, and their on-screen quality wasn't that impressive at all.
In addition, the 8910i has no .amr support for attached sounds in the multimedia messages, making it impossible to listen to voice messages when receiving a MMS. On the other hand, the 8910i offers impressive email functionality. There is support for average-sized email attachments. The GPRS service will allow your 8910i to remain always connected to your email accounts, too. The SMTP and POP3 settings were quite simple to set up, just like the email editor we found in the handset, but be careful not to fill the phone's available memory (about 400kb) with attachments.
Connectivity and Available Software
The Nokia 8910i comes with a nice set of connectivity features. It has Infrared, Bluetooth, email, and GPRS support, making it really easy to communicate with other handsets and computers. At the same time, Nokia provided us with a quite flexible Software Suite (Nokia PC Suite 5.02) for PC to phone connectivity.
Phone to phone connections were sometimes a problem, though. The IrDA port works fine when it comes to the transfer of address book contacts, but refuses to send images or melodies from one phone to another. At the same time the Bluetooth feature works only when the 8910i is requested to pair with a compatible handset, as it can only work as a client in such type of connection. Such annoying drawbacks are well known in the latest range of Nokia phones, as the Finnish company decided to allow content transfer only through its own PC Suite, seemingly as a way to promote their own software.
The Nokia PC Suite has now reached the 5.02 version and can be downloaded directly from Nokia's website, along with all the available documents regarding its features. It works seamlessly with the 8910i and offers a ton of useful software features, such as:
Nokia Application Installer - All the necessary software to install Java applications from your PC to the phone.
Nokia Image Converter - to make images usable for multimedia messages or wallpapers and to transfer them to your phone
Nokia Content Copier - to copy data or backup data from your phone to PC or to another Nokia phone
Nokia PC WAP Manager - to edit and send your WAP bookmarks or update the connection sets to your phone
Nokia Phone Editor - to send text messages and edit the phone book and message settings of your phone
Nokia PC Sync - to synchronize the phone book, calendar, and to-do notes between your phone and PC
Nokia PC Composer - to create new ring tones for your phone
Nokia 8910i Phone Data Modem - the drivers that enable you to use your phone as a modem.
Nokia Modem Options - settings for GPRS connections.
Nokia Connection Manager - to select the connection type between the PC and the phone
The software works only with IrDA or Bluetooth connection since the 8910i does not have cable support for connecting to a PC. After having spent several days testing the PC Suite along with the 8910i I found it quite stable, efficient, and easy to use. The data transfer rate between the PC and the handset was impressive when I used a Bluetooth adaptor, and all of the applications I used were really easy to understand. The phone book, calendar, and to-do notes synchronization with Microsoft Outlook was performed in a matter of seconds without problems or interruptions, enhancing the feeling of satisfaction I had from day one.
Games and Applications
The 8910i has full support for the Java MIDP platform, which means that it can handle a vast amount of Java games and applications. These can be installed over the Mobile Internet for OTA (Over The Air) downloading, or can be transferred via the Nokia PC Suite from your own computer.
The 8910i has some memory available for these functions, but don't get your hopes up too high. It's not enough for serious Java applications. There's less than 300 Kb available for new applications or games, since the rest of it (about 500kb) has to be shared between ringtones, wallpapers, pre installed games, address book contacts, etc.
Nevertheless I was able to install about ten different types of games and applications, which were really interesting and fun to play with. The two pre-installed games (Backgammon and Sky Diver) were more or less well known from previous Nokia models I had in my hands(Nokia 5100), so I wasn't that impressed. If you need more space for new applications or games, you can safely delete them.
Other Features
The 8910i has even more to offer than just what I have mentioned so far, especially for the truly demanding users. There's a fully customizable address book with 500 available entries and multiple fields in each of them, a complete and fully functional organizer with 250 available calendar notes and 30 to do entries, and a fancy currency converter. The embedded v1.2.1 WAP browser works really well with the GPRS and CSD service, offering us smooth and fast 'journeys' in full colour.
Battery Life
The Finnish technicians seem to have done a remarkable job with the power consumption on this handset. The dual band 8910i (GSM900/1800) has a battery life that could satisfy even the most demanding user, no matter how active he might be. In simple numbers, I was able to get standby times of about 4-5 days and talk times of around 4-5 hours before I would reach for the Nokia travel charger. Of course such times may vary from network to network, but judging from the kind of use I had with 8910i, I could say that it's really worth its money for this feature alone.
Conclusion-Comments
The elegant 8910i from Finland has really impressed me with its design, quality, and looks. Exactly what it should have done. It has the necessary features to easily claim a place in the business class (mms, java, Bluetooth, GPRS, colour display) but with some limitations in certain areas. For a phone this expensive, the perspective buyer will choose it primarily for its style and attitude, and then for its other virtues. In any case, if you are this kind of 'fortunate' buyer, then this is the phone you should look at. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: |
|
