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Topic: How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare? (Read 6312 times) previous topic - next topic
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How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

I need to get a new DAP and a new Cell phone because mine got stollen. I was thinking about getting a high end cell phone this time that plays mp3's, like maybe the Sony K750i. I was wondering though, has anyone had both a DAP player and a cell phone mp3 player? How do they compare? What downfalls are there to haveing a mp3 cell phone player(like maybe battery life)?

Thanks,
-Darin
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #1 –
Quote
I need to get a new DAP and a new Cell phone because mine got stollen. I was thinking about getting a high end cell phone this time that plays mp3's, like maybe the Sony K750i. I was wondering though, has anyone had both a DAP player and a cell phone mp3 player? How do they compare? What downfalls are there to haveing a mp3 cell phone player(like maybe battery life)?

Thanks,
-Darin
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=367536"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I have that phone and I have the Rio Karma.

Differences:
- Rio Karma plays MP3 gaplessly, to me, it is no big deal
- Rio Karma is louder (but cellphone is loud enough for my needs)
- With Sennheiser HD201, Sennheiser PX100, Sony EX LP71 and Creative EP-360 sound is the same to me.

I use an Artist/Album/Track directory structure, so I don't need the Karma's advanced playlist capabilities.

For my average cellphone use (less than 30 minutes call time, 30-50 text messages a day), and picture taking (2-5 pictures a day) I can use the MP3 player for 5-6 hours before the battery drops to dangerous levels. I have had the phone for 5 months now.

Oh, it is a K750, but I converted it to a W800

Hardwarw wise, they are the same. The W800 comes with EXLP71 headphones tough.

Hope this is of any help.
I'm the one in the picture, sitting on a giant cabbage in Mexico, circa 1978.
Reseñas de Rock en Español: www.estadogeneral.com

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #2 –
I own a 5G 60GB Apple iPod and a Motorola cell phone that plays mp3's.  For me, there are two big differences.  One is that my iPod can store my entire music (and movie) collection while my cell phone can only handle up to 1GB worth of music (the current limitation of the memory card size).  The second issue for me is that using my cell phone as my primary DAP device would mean me being locked out of the iTunes music store.

Additionally, my iPod has more playback options, playlists, browsing via ID tags (instead of file tree browsing, I personally hate this), and can handle two different audio formats: mp3 and mpeg-4 AAC.  My iPod will also get much better battery life when playing music.  My cell phone will pull off 4 hours of listening time when using headphones, my iPod will get 23 hours of use before it dies.

My recomendation is that, if you want to get a new DAP, then get a new DAP.  If you want to get a new cell phone then get a new cell phone.  The price to storage ratio of DAP's has decreased over the past few years.  You can get a DAP with 40GB of storage for the same price as a cell phone that can play mp3's (but doesn't come with a storage card).  You will also have to spend the extra money for a memory card if you want to carry around more than 10 songs on your cell phone.

mp3 playback on cell phones has come a long way but I think there needs to be more work done.  Current cell phone mp3 players remind of old DAP players.  The cell phones come with built-in memory but you need to buy a memory card to take full advantage of the mp3 playback capabilities.  They remind me a lot of when I purchased a Rio 600, it came with 32MB of on-board memory but you really needed to get another 32MB or 64MB memory unit to take full advantage of the player.

I would wait before using a cell phone mp3 player as a primary DAP.  I would wait until they start coming out with better battery lives and come with a minimum of 1GB built-in memory.

Then again, that is just my opinion.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #3 –
I have a 60 gig iPod and a K750i and the sound of the latter is more than acceptable, though I could certainly do with a bigger memory card (I believe 2 gig is the maximum). I have insurance/Orange Care whatever it's called on the phone which means it's effectively free to replace (minus memory card) if stolen and while I pretty much always want a mobile with me, I can think of plenty of night time journeys in dodgy areas where the limited space for music on the phone is more than offset by the prospect of having 300 quid's worth of uninsured Pod wrenched from my sweaty grasp.

I think you'll still want a DAP as well but it's certainly nice to have the phone as an option when you don't want to carry two things around.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #4 –
c't recently tested five UMTS mobile phones and here are the results for their music playing capabilities:
  • BenQ-Siemens SXG75: +
  • Motorola V3x RAZR: -
  • Motorola E770V: -
  • Nokia N70: +
  • Sony Ericsson W900i: ++

(++ very good, + good, o fair, - bad, -- very bad)

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #5 –
The thing about Symbian phones, is that you can download the freeware OggPlay (google it), which is a very competent player, directory browsing aswell as tag browsing, and best of... it plays Vorbis!

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #6 –
Sony Ericsson W800i: ++

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #7 –
I used to have a Motorola E398 mp3-capable phone.
It could not handle bitrates higher than 192 Kbps and
it choked on VBR files, but the speaker output was
decent (and stereo, as it had two speakers), and the
ear plugs supplied with the package were simply superb.
Motorola advertised them as being capable of reproducing
frequencies as high as 22 KHz (full CD audio spectrum, not
that it matters a lot for compressed music). Playback with
the ear buds was very close to a discman. Unfortunately,
MP3 playback was pretty heavy on resources, making the
phone terribly slow and the output volume left something to
be desired. Another thing that bothered me a bit was the fact
that an MP3 could only be used as a ringtone if residing in the
internal memory, and not the memory card. On the whole, I was
quite pleased with my first music-playing mobile.

Now I own a W800 and I'm satisfied with almost everything
about it sound-wise. I handles VBR and high bitrates without
problems, slows down only marginally when playing, the speaker,
though mono, is louder than that of my previous phone and
the ringtone need not be situated in the internal memory. The
ear-buds could be better though... I'd have to say they come
second to the Motorola's. Thankfully, the Walkman software
includes an equalizer, so I should be able to make the sound
pack some more punch by fiddling with the settings. Overall,
it is a very competitive mp3 player, and the 512 MB card that
comes with the handset is more than welcome. If only the
ear-buds were a bit better.
Wanna buy a monkey?

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #8 –
Quote
Quote
I need to get a new DAP and a new Cell phone because mine got stollen. I was thinking about getting a high end cell phone this time that plays mp3's, like maybe the Sony K750i. I was wondering though, has anyone had both a DAP player and a cell phone mp3 player? How do they compare? What downfalls are there to haveing a mp3 cell phone player(like maybe battery life)?

Thanks,
-Darin
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=367536"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I have that phone and I have the Rio Karma.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=367802"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Quote
I have a 60 gig iPod and a K750i and the sound of the latter is more than acceptable,
I think you'll still want a DAP as well but it's certainly nice to have the phone as an option when you don't want to carry two things around.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=367818"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]



So, would both of you say you use the K750i more for lestioning to music?
Also, I have heard complaints of the earpiece volume not being loud enough for phone conversations and the joystick giveing problems, have ethier of you experienced this?

I live in the US, so I have to pay a high $350.00 because I can't buy it at a discount  w/ contract since none of the cell phone companies carry it. So it's a big gamble for me....

Thanks,
-Darin
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #9 –
I've had the W800i since it came out (around August last year?) and I've not had any problems with the joystick yet. A friend of mine has the K750i (for longer than I've owned mine) and his joystick is acting up.

I use my W800i with a set of ER4Ps (the accompanying earphones are not very good). Whilst there is some hf noise at very low volumes this dissappears as you turn the volume up. Overall I find it to be a perfectly acceptable MP3 player.
daefeatures.co.uk
 

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #10 –
The earpiece volume is fine as far as I'm concerned but sometimes the joystick does become unresponsive. I think it's where it gets crushed in my pocket but it almost always returns to function after a good wiggle or, at worst, a reboot.

That's an annoying situation with regard to lack of company support...seems to me that you would have to choose between the phone and a DAP. I think you can probably discard sound quality as a deciding factor which leaves capacity and navigation. 2 gigs is probably at the bottom end of acceptable but you'll certainly need to organise your material into playlists as there's no sort by artist/album options. I know there are programs on the Mac side to put iTunes playlists on Sony phones so I presume there are equivalent options for Windows.

If push came to shove I'd take my Pod over the phone but that really would be based on my personal circumstances rather than any glaring deficiencies with the Sony.

Best of luck to you with whichever option you choose.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #11 –
The w800i has already a successor: the w810i.
It's nearly the same model, except that the joystick has been replaced with something more robust, and the thing that protects the camera-lens is gone (was always broken, they put a special cratch-resistant lens in, so they say). I nearly got me the w800i for the same reasons as you (mobile+mp3 in one, this seems to be the best model for that purpose), but i'd rather wait for the w810i, because of the joystick issue.
It's already out in the US, in germany it launches sometime in March.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #12 –
My K750 has not had any joystick problem in five months. And it has taken quite a beating.

The camera lens cover is working perfectly, too.

Replacement covers (you can even dress it up like a W800 if you like it's orange color) are widely available.

You will need one of these to use your headphones.

I tried to mod my headset myself and failed miserably.

Look, I know that a DAP and a digital camera would be the perfect solutions on a perfect world, but in real life, there is a limit to the stuff you can carry around.

I like to have all three things in a little gadget that I have on me all the time.

And it handles all three tasks nicely.
I'm the one in the picture, sitting on a giant cabbage in Mexico, circa 1978.
Reseñas de Rock en Español: www.estadogeneral.com

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #13 –
I have an Orange SPV C500, and as far as sound quality is concerned, it's just fine (vs iPod Shuffle). A few issues though:
1. There is only a 2mm jack, so I have to use a converter which makes the entire thing bulky.
2. Sound volume doesn't go as high as the iPod, but high enough for me.
3. If I use my phone while listening to music, All of a sudden I can't pause, rewind or anything else without switching apps (not convenient)
4. I need to lock the KB while in my pocket, which means I can't pause without unlocking it.

I use TCPMP as my media player, so I can play pretty much anything (AAC, Ogg, MP3, WMA, ...) but no DRM for AAC though... so iTunes is out (I will never buy crippled files anyways for that very reason)

Basically, it was not made to be a player, but a telephone. It fits the purpose but for some details which unfortunately can become annoying when dealt with on a daily basis.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #14 –
Just in case anyone still cares: I got me a w810i ("Walkman" series) and it's a great phone and all, but the sound quality is a (very) bad joke. Not even my old Walkman (as in: operates with cassettes) had such a high noise level.
It would have been the perfect cellphone/mp3 player combination, but the noise (not mentioning the crackling and popping between tracks) kills it. I'm not a hifi enthusiast, I don't even own a reasonable hifi system, but that is too much, even for me.
I guess it's the same for the w800i, as the hardware is nearly identical.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #15 –
My W800i does also pop/click between track changes and it's achievable max. loudness (especially when playing MP3Gained music files) isn't totally satisfying to me. It does not support any kind of tags and the proprietary Memory Stick Pro Duo is 2-3 times more expensive when being compared to other memory cards like SD or MMC.

On the other hand, you can replace the original in-ears (which lack at the low and high end IMO) with any other headphone ... you do not face problems with VBR, the built-in EQ does a decent job and the useability is good.

But ... I still prefer my H120 anyday ...
The name was Plex The Ripper, not Jack The Ripper

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #16 –
JeanLuc, does your W800i have the latest software installed?

Also, I found it quite funny that a K750i user on this forum told me that his phone support HE-AAC files, while Sony Ericsson Support and several users on various forums told me that the player only works with LC-AAC files.

How do Mp3 Player Cell Phones compare?

Reply #17 –
I'd like all my gadgets to be combined. But since I spent a lot of time on the road, I just can't risk the out-of-power situation. So I resigned myself to carrying 2 gadgets: My trusty N6230 and my iPaq 2210.