k790i or k810i · DIGIT-ARC

E

Hi friends!
I am confused between the k790i and the k810i...I don't know which one to buy.
I've heard the following things about both the phones. Plz correct me if I am wrong and guide me as to which phone is better:

1)There is no major difference in software between the 2 phones
2)The k810i has 3G and a video call camera (both useless in India)
3a)The keypad of k810i is not user friendly. If u txt msg (SMS) a lot, then the keypad can be a problem.
3b)The earpiece speaker of the k810i is uncomfortable for hearing..
4)The k810 is lighter and smaller in size as compared to the k790i.
5)The camera lens slider protection of k810i is more compact than that of k790i.
6)The camera of k790i takes superior pictures than the k810i.
7)The body of the k810i is a fingerprint magnet. You really have to clean it every time u use it otherwise it looks a right mess. Whereas that is not the case with the k790i
8 )The k790i comes with a 1GB M2 stick and k810i comes with a 2GB M2 stick(in Mumbai..this fact is confirmed)
9)Since the k810i comes with a 2GB M2 stick, it makes the phone slower than the k790i...(is this fact true? or is it valid only if u fill up the M2 stick upto the brim?)
10)There is a price difference of 2500INR between the 2 phones.
(K790i-Rs 12k and k810i-Rs 14.5k)

My frnd u hav heard every thing right....
but there is one more thing, k810i has a hiss sound prob in its ear pice during calls...
i would suggest, u go for k790i for Rs.11850 with 1gb card or upgrade with 2gb and get a hpm-70 earphone...
im doing the same

k790i is really cool fon get it, or if u want nokia then n73m all the way, but its slow...

yeah..get a K790+2Gb+HPM-70!

Since the k810i comes with a 2GB M2 stick, it makes the phone slower than the k790i...

Not true!

H

Get a K810i.

@head banger
justify why you are recommending k810. k790 and k810 are the same phone in different packing, just a smart step by sony ericsson to earn some extra money.
@electrokawal
go for k790.
i bought it 2 months ago and it is working great.

1. Correct.

2. Correct.

3. The keypad in K790i isn't great either. Infact i'll prefer the one in K810i.

4. No idea.

5. Correct. And it looks a lot better too.

6. Wrong! Both have exactly same cameras.

7. I think both phone have similar amount of glossy area, and thats around the display. So they must be same in this aspect as well.

8. (Where is no. 8?

) Correct.

9. Wrong again. The phone can handle 4gb cards with ease, and most probably the 8gb ones as well, whenever they come. In comparison, 2gb cards are a walk in the park. This is true for both phones.

10. Um.... So?

Imo, K810i is better mostly because of the fact that it looks much prettier and doesn't have a huge thing jutting out of its back! If you need than EDGE, then you have no choice but to go for K790i.

E

Thanks for replying people!

@krazyfrog
Special thanks to u for givin such a detailed reply..

Btw, I had mentioned abt the price difference so that even this fact can be taken into consideration before recommending one out of the phones...

Anways...keep the replies coming people....keep them coming

Krazy has answered all your questions...
3G is due to come to India sooner than later so it does make sense to go for a handset that supports it.
K810i would be my choice..

krazyfrog. said:
9. Wrong again. The phone can handle 4gb cards with ease, and most probably the 8gb ones as well, whenever they come. In comparison, 2gb cards are a walk in the park. This is true for both phones.

Are u sure that it K810i or K790i supports >2 GB M2 memory cards? I thought K810i supports only upto 2 GB!!

Ankur Gupta said:
3G is due to come to India sooner than later so it does make sense to go for a handset that supports it.
K810i would be my choice..

I also agree on this.

By the way, I have a K810i. I went to buy K790i (didn't know about K810i at that time

). When I went to the shop, K790i was 15000 without memeory card. K810i was 17000 with 2 GB M2. So, I chose K810i. I must say that I really like the phone. The only thing I don't like about is that when the phone is connected to PC in phone mode (for transferring files), incoming calls don't seem to be received. I am not sure whether all Sony phones have this issue.

^^ yep, I used to use my SE 790i for internet connection overnight and I would not be disturbed in the morning by any calls while it is connected to net for downloading. Nice thing na?

unni said:
Are u sure that it K810i or K790i supports >2 GB M2 memory cards? I thought K810i supports only upto 2 GB!!

Yup. All SE phones which support M2 cards (except maybe W200i and W300i) support cards bigger than 2gb.

unni said:
The only thing I don't like about is that when the phone is connected to PC in phone mode (for transferring files), incoming calls don't seem to be received. I am not sure whether all Sony phones have this issue.

Usually all phones when connected in mass-storage mode to pc disable the call function.

A

buy k800i (which comes for the same price that of the k790i)
flash it to k810i.. u can do that easily..
dont go for k790i..
coz 3g may come to india any time in 2008.. so buy a 3g phone..

buy the way u wont get k800i in india... or u try grey market probably u might.. i bought it from europe.....

E

All right friends!
I've added a new dimension to this thread by including a poll!
So kindly vote and express urself

A

K810i is much prettier than K790i.
The camera cover of K790i gets open when keeping or removing from ur pocket.
Therz a "Photo Fix" option in K810i which can autocorrect photos.
The purple fringing effect found in the K790i and K800i has been rectified in K810i.
The keypad of K810i IS user friendly.
2GB wont make the K810i slow or sluggish.

You wont regret buying K810i. Its stylish too.
But in my opinion, if you are willing to broaden ur vision across the horizon , then i'd suggets some other phones too, like Nokia 6500 Slide, or Samsung G600 or Samsung U700 if you crave for style.
If u like to have a slider for instant Music and Radio, then take a look ay Nokia 5610.

These reviews might be of some help to you.

*www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_k810-review-133.php
*www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6500_slide-review-198.php
*www.gsmarena.com/samsung_g600-review-187.php
*www.gsmarena.com/samsung_u700-review-150.php

There isnt much difference between them except for edge/3g. Get any u like.
Btw u should also consider the n73.

Go for k810i simple
....iam a K790i user iam happy
i suggested u K810i coz of 2gb card and 3g

BTW: UNNI : i receive calls when iam connected to INTERNET thru my k790i (Airtel) dunno wats ur Problem

J

Hmm.....i used K790i for 1year and i feel its a Very Good one.. But for 2k difference if you get K810. I guess you should go for K810.

If you ask for my honest opinion, I would definitely go for k810i..(lighter, 3G and MUCH more battery lasting capabilities..being the main adv. it has over k790i)..there has to be a reason why it's more expensive than the other one right!

What really beats me though is that if you can stretch your budget to 14.something, then whats stopping you from going for an N73Music Edition!!??...it's wayyy better than either of these phones!..talk about camera, looks, display...give it a thought...and lemme kno!

Even 3G comes to India, it will be lot expensive to have it....and itll take another year or 2 for it to be bit cheap nd common. Itll surelly be lot costlier than GPRS/Edge unlimited for sure.

So K790i makes more sense. U can go for EP630 nd 2G card for dat etra money.

I think K790i would be a ideal choice.

V

electrokawal said:
Hi friends!
I am confused between the k790i and the k810i...I don't know which one to buy.
I've heard the following things about both the phones. Plz correct me if I am wrong and guide me as to which phone is better:

1)There is no major difference in software between the 2 phones
2)The k810i has 3G and a video call camera (both useless in India)
3)The keypad of k810i is not user friendly. If u txt msg (SMS) a lot, then the keypad can be a problem.
3)The earpiece speaker of the k810i is uncomfortable for hearing..
4)The k810 is lighter and smaller in size as compared to the k790i.
5)The camera lens slider protection of k810i is more compact than that of k790i.
6)The camera of k790i takes superior pictures than the k810i.
7)The body of the k810i is a fingerprint magnet. You really have to clean it every time u use it otherwise it looks a right mess. Whereas that is not the case with the k790i
8)The k790i comes with a 1GB M2 stick and k810i comes with a 2GB M2 stick(in Mumbai..this fact is confirmed)
9)Since the k810i comes with a 2GB M2 stick, it makes the phone slower than the k790i...(is this fact true? or is it valid only if u fill up the M2 stick upto the brim?)
10)There is a price difference of 2500INR between the 2 phones.
(K790i-Rs 12k and k810i-Rs 14.5k)

1. cant say.........
2. yes.
3. keypad is infact better than k790's. keys r widely spaces and metallic. very gud response.
4. True!!
5. YES. this is the mafor difference. K810i has horizontal slider, so it dosent open accidently & much durable due to its design.
6. no. cameras r same. but i've heard that k810i features improved focus...
7. yeah, it attracts alot of fingerprints. i was suffering with this problem, then after putting a screen guard this problem was resolved!!! (i have k810i)
8. yup!! k810i comes with 2 gb card.
9. no, not at all! infact all SE phones have an advantage over nokia phones is that they dont become sluggish with large memory cards. i've filled over 1.6 GBs(with 6 full length movies!!!) and its running gr8.
10. i dont know the current price, but i bought it for 16k. and k790i was 14,5k - 15k at that time.

GO FOR K810i !!!

9. no, not at all! infact all SE phones have an advantage over nokia phones is that they dont become sluggish with large memory cards. i've filled over 1.6 GBs(with 6 full length movies!!!) and its running gr8

I don't wanna start a war.*gigasmilies.googlepages.com/4.gif
But new nokia phones,doesn't slow due to large memory card.

Cool G5 said:
I don't wanna start a war.*gigasmilies.googlepages.com/4.gif
But new nokia phones,doesn't slow due to large memory card.

they may be not slower
but compared to SE they r slower
iam not a FANBOY :))

azzu said:
BTW: UNNI : i receive calls when iam connected to INTERNET thru my k790i (Airtel) dunno wats ur Problem

The calls get disabled when you're in mass storage mode, not in pc suite mode which you're in while using net.

^ iam connected to net and i just received a CAll

E

People!
I just realised that I included 2 points with the same serial no...

3)The earpiece speaker of the k810i is uncomfortable for hearing..

So, can u tell me whether this problem is true?

nishantv2003 said:
but there is one more thing, k810i has a hiss sound prob in its ear pice during calls...

Does anyone agree with this???

^^ Buy HPM 70 , it is the best earphone (after EP 630)

if i had to buy i'wd go for k810i since it looks better
camera is the same .
keypad of k790 is better .

for 2500 more , k810 is better coz it would be shamefule for u if anyone sees k790

" k790 is the uncle's phone "

and videocall camera , may be useless , but after hackingday it might be u r Webcam .

*img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/sonyericsson/sonyericsson-k810-00.jpg
*img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/sonyericsson/sonyericsson-k790-00.jpg

be ready 4G is coming to india!

If you want to go for cheap and best, then go for K790i.. the disadvantage is u dont have lot of jazzy stuffs when u compare it with K810i.. so if you think of upgrading new stuffs to ur K790i, then dont go for K790i, coz u can get few stuffs what u wanna upgrade to ur k790i in K810i..

Err.. i would go for K790i, coz i dont want any upgrade and 3G is so far from us.

what about the music quality in these 2 phones.....

E

deepak_cucek said:
what about the music quality in these 2 phones.....

I guess, the music quality of both is the same and it is as per Sony Ericsson Standards...so that shouldn't be an issue..
Correct me if I am wrong friends!

^^ You r right.

azzu said:
^ iam connected to net and i just received a CAll

Thats what I just said. See when you connect your SE phone to keep your pc, it gives you two options, file transfer and phone mode (correct me if i'm wrong). If you choose file transfer, which is the USB Mass Storage mode, the phone goes into flight mode and hence does not receive calls. When you choose phone mode, your phone goes into pc suite mode, which you use for net surfing through phone as modem. But the phone remains in normal mode and hence is able to receive calls. I hope i'm clear this time.

^^ Exactly.. All new fones follow this only.

A

What the Fuss!!! u're buying a cellphone, not ur wife. for god's sake...ur life isnt gonna depend on it..
close ur eyes n pick one. toss head n tails, n choose one.
go for k810i, khalaas!! its superior in every wayy.
no more scrutinizing every nook n cranny of that thingamajig.
be a man! thinkin n pondering too much weakens ur decisions...

E

apacheman said:
What the Fuss!!! u're buying a cellphone, not ur wife. for god's sake...ur life isnt gonna depend on it..
close ur eyes n pick one. toss head n tails, n choose one.
go for k810i, khalaas!! its superior in every wayy.
no more scrutinizing every nook n cranny of that thingamajig.
be a man! thinkin n pondering too much weakens ur decisions...

Lolz..

Chill dude...
I m planning to take a new phone in around a month's time or something..
So, I m just getting the rite info from the rite place and from the rite people

!

Keep voting and keep posting!!
Peace out!

Go for K810i if you don't need edge.

krazyfrog. said:
Thats what I just said. See when you connect your SE phone to keep your pc, it gives you two options, file transfer and phone mode (correct me if i'm wrong). If you choose file transfer, which is the USB Mass Storage mode, the phone goes into flight mode and hence does not receive calls. When you choose phone mode, your phone goes into pc suite mode, which you use for net surfing through phone as modem. But the phone remains in normal mode and hence is able to receive calls. I hope i'm clear this time.

yup ur correct

(gotta chekup my Eyes

)

apacheman said:
What the Fuss!!! u're buying a cellphone, not ur wife.

One can buy a wife? Where? How much? Is it with bill or without bill? Will i get a warranty?

^^ I think he meant Choosing not Buying.
Dont get excited.

^ lol really funny DUDE :))

hey apacheman after all its his hard earned money its simple to comment like that but who knows actually it may change his life ?

pathiks said:
^^ I think he meant Choosing not Buying.
Dont get excited.

Oh crap! I should've known. It was too good to be true. :-(

I think K790i is better featurewise. And high capacity cards do not slow the fone as far as my knowledge is concerned. I am using a 2GB microSD with the Spice D80 dual GSM sim fone and can you believe it, my fone actually boots 3 secs faster. This may be coz the card which came with the fone was Kingsmax (local brand prolly slower) and now I have kingston card (if its pen drive is faster, prolly its mem card is faster too)

Moreove K790i is the James Bond fone. He had it in Casino Royale.

E

Hey friends!
Don't forget to vote.....
Once u have posted a reply...follow it up wid a vote

E

This poll is goin neck to neck now!
lolzz

k810i ...... !!
k790 is too boring for 2008 !!
only sad thing is no EDGE .. a set back if you want to browse using phone since no 3g in india .. also will be costly when introduced
both are same phones with little changes .. firmwares are exact copies except the 3g part

*img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/sonyericsson/sonyericsson-k810-00.jpg

electrokawal said:
Buddy!
U seem to have a fair knowledge of mobile phones..
Would u mind posting a reply in my thread..
Plz don't give a biased reply..hehe..
Here is the link:

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76406

Don't forget to vote!

Hi there. The thing is: If u can spend 2.5K more, then u can go for K810, though K790 is also a very good phone but K810 is basically a technology upgrade to K790. K810 features a newer firmware with better drivers for phone and camera and I think the newest firmware R8BA024 CID52 is out for it, which should fix some camera glitches the earlier firmware had.

Here is a simple solution: If u are more tech-savvy and u have that xtra cash, get a K810... in that case u will be able to show off ur inner tech saviness to ur friends (like "Look bro, My phone has 3G, yahoooo"... though few of ur friends might know that there is no 3G in India....

) .. OTHERWISE.... if u are a normal person, get that K790 and invest that extra cash in getting a 2 GB card and a good piece of walkman earphones of the HPM-series....

Hope this helps u !!!

E

nishantv2003 said:
but there is one more thing, k810i has a hiss sound prob in its ear piece during calls...

Does anyone agree with this???

1) Correct
2) in Pipeline ....
3a) Correct .... 790i has win the game of SMS
3b) No Comments ..... you can use HPM 70 and HPM 82 [with remote] to have better sound
4) Correct
5) Correct .. and the lens is better than 790i
6) Correct .... with Infinite & Fine Picture mode you will have awesome picture.
7) No Commects
8 ) You can upgrade it
9) Don't know
10) 790i is priced at 11450 @kolkata ....

if i have to take a phone == 790i

sorry dude not much idea abt these as lack hand expereince on k790 n k810 but wat i know is ts better 2 spend money for k790 n get it upgrade wit mem stick n earpiece....twill giv u more value for money...plus even i felt k810 keypad is bit more stiff compared to it so mite make u face issues in long run as it is basically for calling n messaging
gud luk takin decision

Enjoy~!

V

speedyguy said:
sorry dude not much idea abt these as lack hand expereince on k790 n k810 but wat i know is ts better 2 spend money for k790 n get it upgrade wit mem stick n earpiece....twill giv u more value for money...plus even i felt k810 keypad is bit more stiff compared to it so mite make u face issues in long run as it is basically for calling n messaging
gud luk takin decision

Enjoy~!

hey dude i bought k810i some 5 months ago & i dont have any regrets regarding it.

i dont find its key pad "stiff" infact i think it has much better tactile response.
i've sent over 2500 messages & everything's going fine...

well i mentioned m lacking exp 2 giv d best review...wat i sed was wat i felt wit watever time i spent it n twas my own personel opinion...if ur exp wit k810 is gud then thn he can and shud take it on better count....

Enjoy~!

E

Thanks for all the help friends!
I am a proud owner of a k790i now!

Got the phone for 11.2k, paid another 500 for the 2GB M2 stick and 300 for the scratch guard.
I already have HPM 60 headset...

^^ Congrats

chalo finally kisi ne mobile to liya

Great! Congrats...But don't forget 2 post ur experiences with the K790i...

wow , another K790i user after Girish , Azzu and Me

E

The phone simply rockz!

Its a great experience for me after having used the k750i for 1 n a half yrs..
The k790i is a perfect replacement for my k750i...
No compromise anywhere...
The features are much better..
Walkman series media player makes the music much organised..
When u accidentally remove the headset while ur listening to music, it asks u whether u want to continue the playback of the music via loudspeakers..
This is a very good improvement..

The Messaging feature has been improved..So, it doesn't show me "Sending msg" for a long long time (as it used to do in k750)...
I can come to know whether I've forwarded or replied to any msg that is present in my inbox..
I face a strange problem though...I'd previously selected GMT+5.30 in the time zone..It used to give me a time difference in da delivery report...
For eg: If I'd sent the msg at 9.30 pm, it used to show me 9.45..
So, I changed the time zone to GMT+5.45 and now it works properly..
Still sounds strange as here in India, the time zone should be GMT+5.30..

The keypad gives me a feeling of the k750...
So, its fun to type txt msgs on dis phone...It has not changed my txt msgin habit

...
Have already sent around 150msgs from dis phone...

When I connect the phone to the comp, it shows me 2 removable drives, 1 for the phone and the other for the mem stick...
This is also very handy if u want to access stuff on the phone memory externally and at a faster rate...
The only problem I faced is that, the phone always reboots when I choose file transfer mode..though it doesn't take much time to reboot...

I m not gonna put any stupid crystal case for this phone...Had a terrible experience wid those covers wid my k750..
I've put just a leather cover for it...It looks classic and has a velvet feeling from inside..

Needless to say, the camera is much better than that of the k750...it takes comparitively very less time to capture images..
There are various modes for the camera...
Found a guide for using the camera...
Click HERE to download it.

To sum it up, the k790i is an amazing phone...

Couldn't have asked for anything better

Congrats on purchase & a good review man.

Hey nice review dear...Can u tell me from where did you purchase the leather cover 4 ur phone and for how much....Is the phone quite bulky 2 carry as compared 2 k750i.
I have a k750i. I am also confused as 2 which one 2 buy- k790i OR k810i (hesistating in buying k810i due 2 Keypad ISSUES)????
The question remains..........

E

uppalpankaj said:
Hey nice review dear...Can u tell me from where did you purchase the leather cover 4 ur phone and for how much....Is the phone quite bulky 2 carry as compared 2 k750i.
I have a k750i. I am also confused as 2 which one 2 buy- k790i OR k810i (hesistating in buying k810i due 2 Keypad ISSUES)????
The question remains..........

Well, I don't have that original SE leather case or something..
I m just using a normal leather pouch...Its got a velvet finish from inside and a classic leather finish from outside...I got it for some 10 to 15 bucks..
It looks like this:

*img201.imageshack.us/img201/1996/dsc00106vo5.th.jpg

*img135.imageshack.us/img135/2613/dsc00107to6.th.jpg
The phone is not at all bulky..
I find this phone to be absolutely fine...
If u are a gr8 msg freak and if u have been using a k750i, then I will surely recommend u this phone..I tried typing something on a k810i and my fingers literally starting paining...especially the thumb...I mean, when u try to press the # key or even 0 key u literally have to spread ur thumb to cover a lot of distance...I compared the 3 phones side by side...The total length of the keypad of k790i and k750i are almost the same..
Whereras that of the k810i is too long...thus it takes some real efforts to reach out to those keys..hehe

In the k790i, they have cramped up the internet shortcut key and the activity menu key wid the general purpose keys...so sometimes u may end up pressing these buttons accidentally...I faced dis problem in da beginnin...but now it doesn't happen 8)

The biggest thing that u'l miss in the k790i is the white LED torch

But there are alternatives to it..
There is an application which simply lets u control the red light as a torch...but that wud be a red light...I've even heard of an application in which, the whole screen turns completely white...sounds freaky...but it can work as a torch

Though I haven't tried any of these apps on my phone yet...

I'd tweaked my k750i and had replaced the loudspeaker and camera drivers...I'd also removed the SMS storage limit...But I don't think I'l be trying such stunts on the k790i..hehe :mrgreen:

electrokawal said:
I've even heard of an application in which, the whole screen turns completely white...sounds freaky...but it can work as a torch

Simple java apps:

*www.getjar.com/products/14448/SimpleTorch
*www.getjar.com/products/5321/Discharger

electrokawal said:
Though I haven't tried any of these apps on my phone yet...
I'd tweaked my k750i and had replaced the loudspeaker and camera drivers...I'd also removed the SMS storage limit...But I don't think I'l be trying such stunts on the k790i..hehe

Don't even think about doing such stunts on K790i since the procedure might differ slightly and frankly i don't think you will be willing to do such 'keedas' with your brand new phone.

^^^ I see no harm in doing that! Once an SE modder.. always an SE modder!

electrokawal said:
Well, I don't have that original SE leather case or something..
I m just using a normal leather pouch...Its got a velvet finish from inside and a classic leather finish from outside...I got it for some 10 to 15 bucks..
It looks like this:

*img201.imageshack.us/img201/1996/dsc00106vo5.th.jpg

*img135.imageshack.us/img135/2613/dsc00107to6.th.jpg
The phone is not at all bulky..
I find this phone to be absolutely fine...
If u are a gr8 msg freak and if u have been using a k750i, then I will surely recommend u this phone..I tried typing something on a k810i and my fingers literally starting paining...especially the thumb...I mean, when u try to press the # key or even 0 key u literally have to spread ur thumb to cover a lot of distance...I compared the 3 phones side by side...The total length of the keypad of k790i and k750i are almost the same..
Whereras that of the k810i is too long...thus it takes some real efforts to reach out to those keys..hehe

In the k790i, they have cramped up the internet shortcut key and the activity menu key wid the general purpose keys...so sometimes u may end up pressing these buttons accidentally...I faced dis problem in da beginnin...but now it doesn't happen 8)

The biggest thing that u'l miss in the k790i is the white LED torch
But there are alternatives to it..
There is an application which simply lets u control the red light as a torch...but that wud be a red light...I've even heard of an application in which, the whole screen turns completely white...sounds freaky...but it can work as a torch
Though I haven't tried any of these apps on my phone yet...
I'd tweaked my k750i and had replaced the loudspeaker and camera drivers...I'd also removed the SMS storage limit...But I don't think I'l be trying such stunts on the k790i..hehe

congrats on your purchase i am also a proud user of a k790 after using the k750. where did you get that application for the red light. please can you send the link.

Thanks for the info Electrokawal. Hey why don't u get ur phone pasted. I got my k750i pasted. It just cost me only 100 bucks.

In pasting a transparent thin sheet is pasted on the mobile phone and it sticks to the body of the mobile phone. The phone becomes scratch resistant. After some months even if u remove the pasted sheet, the phone remains the same way when u had got it pasted....No scratches at all.......

E

infra_red_dude said:
Simple java apps:

*www.getjar.com/products/14448/SimpleTorch
*www.getjar.com/products/5321/Discharger

Thanks dude...

A

Against:
NO edge
Interface some times, slow
For:
Great navigation
tacky, good tactile feedback
I too though the keypad is bad, but man was i wrong, am a hard core on sms and email, specially the T9, Great T9 with intutive suggestions

I am quite sure the thread starter has made his decision by since since this thread is a year old.
Thread Closed