Anybody has any experience with Samsung, I heard they are somewhat better here. BTW I myself have a bad experience with Nokia.

I want to know about this Samsung Service, is it that good I hear?

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@ Synn: Prototypes? Here In India? I see ... Well, umm... which ones? & how did you get them?

You are so SE biased, I mean What about others going much ahead? Forget equalizer, they are mostly on "Default". I tested an N91 vs a W800i, and then I bought the N91. Very obviously due to quality ... 2nd Generation Walkmans just don't perform well.

Reg. W980, I'll try to get hold of it & then comment. It may have improved.

Are you sure W902 outperforms similar 5 MPs? Despite your critisizm, MR still stresses that it has both bad audio & optics too. They won't repair old reviews as it may expose them...

& secondly, which site do you find reliable? I found smape.com ... it's good too!

I am not in india and i am not at liberty to disclose those details. NDAs and such.


It's not about bias towards SE, its about clearing misconceptions that spread like wildfire over the internet. Also, I never said any of the rival brands were bad, so it's not exactly a "Biased" argument you're getting from me.

ALso, you're basing your argument on one of the first walkmans ever made? (Yes, the N91 has very good sound quality, btw). And how exactly are you saying "2nd gen. Walkmans don't work well"? The walkman player software is in its 3rd. generation right now (4th coming out soon) and you'd be terribly naive if you think they are working their way backwards with their processing algorithm.

Yes, please do so. Again, I listen to classic rock and metal, and my observations are based on that. I have no idea how any of these phones perform when one plays rap/ bollywood/ pop music in them.



The W902 review was one of the worst ever done by MR and that started the whole issue. It uses the same optics as the C902 and the same audio processing as the W980. So do your math. Also, cross reference with reviews by other sites such as this: Sony Ericsson W902 Review (Phone Arena)

It's not the "Best" 5MP camphone from SE by any stretch. You can always get a C902 or the upcoming C903 (with a xenon flash) for that. IN any case, the camera is only as good as the guy who uses it. Check out the pic i poste in the photography thread to see what 3.2 megapixels can do.

BTW, Smape was started by a former MR member who disagreed to some of their policies.

Samsungs are generally known for good service and in mobile phones dept it holds true, as well. Once i was fiddling with the secret codes of my phone (X-700) which are used to boost the frequency levels so as to increase the output of speakers and the earphones, but instead of any boost there was drop in sound levels. So i had no option but to show it in the svc. After the diagnosis, they couldn't make what has went wrong(thankfully) and they offered me free motherboard replacement.(I can see some raised eyebrows)The phone was returned within 24 hours. "Now this is not possible had it been a SE phone, one of my friend's K590i was suffering a malfunctioning where it was restarting when left unused.The svc denied any operation on it and said it can't be repaired as it suffers liquid-lock." They gave us a service quote amounting to 4k!!

Now we had no option but to sell it and one of my friends insisted to get it repaired in SB market, Bangalore where the local mobile repairing technicians could do their bit to get something going. Guess what, the whole mobile repairing was done at 500 bucks only..So much so for the wonderful servicing quality of SE. And this is not it, a couple of friends of mine also have a similar story.The guys out there just don't have the mind to replace anything under warranty. Nokias are better in comparison and the service quality is quite good.

We exchanged the phone for the Samsung Beat 270.It's an amazing phone with vibrant interface and the sound quality is simply out of the world.I am using the same in-earphone supplied by SE for it's Walkman phones and this phone beats em hollow.Even the Creative EP-630 can't come close to the sheer audacity of the supplied earphones.The speaker quality produces some crystal clear loud sound which is quite different than the wannabe hiss-hiss speakers found in other phones which try out too hard to get loud.Samsung has surely come out by leaps and bounds and probably have de-throned the SE in terms of sound quality.

A bit confused here. Are you saying the SE headphones are better than the Samsungs or vice versa?

IMO, the HPM77s that the latest SE phones come with are some of the best OEM headphones around. Most of the rival brands don't even care to bundle in-ears with their multimedia phones and that's a shame.

Also, may I know the type of music you listen to, usually?

What i meant was i have been using the Sony earphones with my phone (using an adaptor).Also i am talking about general sound quality of the SE which according to me was the best not so long ago.One of my friend had the W810i and the 580i which i still rate highly for the music quality.The 810i with it's Megabass feature was boomy no doubt but it gave the impression of extermely powerful with good bass. But i really don't know why SE has lowered the frequency levels in the Megabass setting(W580i) which is good but it's still shy off the 810i.

And yeah the Beat 270 with it's bundled in-earphones beats both these phones which to me were the best music phones.I haven't tested the newer versions of SE, so can't really comment.And these phones actually belong to similar category,so the comparison!!

I am more into Electronica..Trance is what i like the most with occasional shots of Rock and Techno!!

This is an important factor. As a rock listener, Treble levels is more important to me than Bass. (I have never ever used megaBass). Like i said, there's no such thing as "best sound quality universally". It all depends on a few factors:

- Type of music one listens to.
- File type and bitrate used.
- Headphones used (I don't use built in speakers either)
- Person's ear sensitivity (yes, this is VERY important).

Hasn't W810 been out of production for more than 6months now. My mobile phone dealer says he has only old stocks. It was a nice phone. I only wish it had a shutter for the cam.

I will agree with the people who say that SE's after sales service is quite pathetic. My phone was getting switched off by itself and I had gone to the authorized SE SC at Maharaja Hotel, 80 feet Rd, Blore. That guy told me that it could be a software issue or a hardware issue because of water getting in. He returned it in the evening and the moment I checked it it got switched off. The guy then tells me oh ok, then we will replace that part and it will take another 4 days since he had to order for the part. I was pissed, I told him if he would have checked the phone once he couldve seen that it was not working and he need not have wasted my time. I walked to the SE store which was next door (they have shifted from there) and explained everything to the manager. He was a very good chap, he brought me back to the SC and then blasted them in front of me for their slipshod work. He even gave me a spare phone and told me the phone would be ready in 2 days and it was. However I was feeling bad for all the other people who were bringing in their phones and were told straight away that it would take 2 days. I saw at least 10 customers being told the same thing irrespective of the problems they faced.

Not biased against SE, own a k750i and love it. But SE needs to change asap.

Who is in charge of SE service in India now? it used to be Salora. Is it still the case?

Salora is there, but they are worse than these guys. I gave it to these people: Garage DeTelecom(Garage De Telecom Chennai|Garage De Telecom T. Nagar|Garage De Telecom Duraiswamy Road Contacts on Sulekha)

Service in Chennai for SE is done by::

Salora Int'l Ltd
New No. 8 Old No. 34 Jumbulingam Street Nungambakkam, Chennai- 600034
42139489 / 90 / 91, 9840367800

Garage-De-Telecom
N0. 10, 1st Floor, Duraiswamy Road, T. Nagar, Chennai.
28143455, 52124467, 9444019294

Info Flows India
AP-795, "G" Block, 1st Cross street, Annanagar, Opp. Post Office, Chennai.
26211739, 9841828554

Well, it appears from the replies here that Samsungs are "acceptably" fine.

I am myself purchasing a Set in a month or 2. Thinking about Samsung INNOV8, Omnia, Touchwiz, Nokia N85, etc.

N91 is good but it has some bad memories with me. For instance, I used to talk to someone on it, & now she has broken up. Let's forget it anyways.

Reg. Sony Ericcson, I would like them to come out with GPS, a good operating system like Symbian UI/ WinMo, WiFi, etc. in MORE & MORE Sets ...
XPERIA seems good, but in other sets features seem mismatched.
I mean, just take N79/ N85 - they can defeat anything from SE in "overall matters", except Xperia of course.

SE does have better bundled earphones in their mobile set's package. I just narrated my experience about W800, that's it. I know SE might have evolved... I just lost interest in these 1-2 years ...

@ Samarth : You being the Mobile guru having problems short listing for a mere phone..!!

Kya karen yaar. Features are very unevenly spread. Every set has some disadvantage.

Like INNOV8 has 8 MP Camera, but NO N-gage gaming like Nokia N85 has. Kya karun?

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@ Synn: Have you tested Prototype of that Nokia Corolla 8 MP?

Yeah, I strongly agree to this point.As rumours suggest,Sony reduced the frequency levels in the Megabass setting because most ppl didn't really like it as it was painful after prolonged usage.Even for me 15 minutes of Megabass was kind of "enough" for me even if i liked listening to the bassy output.But still the setting should have been there, coz people have the option to choose from the equalizer,isn't it!!

I believe the setting should be there for self adjustment. I mean Equalizer should be open for User Experimentation. I still occasionally, use my N91's equalizer for experimenting with sounds...

But, I see that W902 has dis-approved what you say ... Look at it's irregular frequency response, including Bass frequencies:-->



What an irregular curve. I wouldn't purchase any Walkman now. Even era old N91 betters it.

I see that everywhere on Internet, people are going against SE. What are Sony Ericcson technicians doing?