phone 30 – sony ericsson w980

this is just another loan collateral, which i will eventually own. but, got this in 2021 – the first phone i acquired in 2021. sort of. this was released in 2008. that is about 13 years, this 2021.

the previous owner (soon to be) admitted that the phone is a refurbished one. needless to say, the phone really looks refurbished and that the parts were not meticulously made. for instance, the paint job at the back missed some spots.

charging is quite average with almost 3 hours. what is underwhelming is the battery life. it only manages to have 17 hours in total. only 4 hours screen on time. this phone is a feature phone and has low resolution display, so i doubt the display drains much power. likewise, during inactive testing, the battery still drains. it made me believe that most smartphones, especially lately, are already good at optimizing battery life. low battery capacity might also be responsible for the noticeable battery drain during inactive testing of this phone.

battery score card

choosing this phone over millions of other collectible phones, means you are looking for a music centric phone. not that, this is the only one or the best of yesteryears. but the phone screams – walkman! but not today. music experience is just okay. the loudspeaker is not that loud, nor it has excellent quality. since i did not have the phone years ago and this one is a refurbished one, i am not sure if the original w980 really sounds like what this phone sounds. put on a wireless earphones, then music will sound better. that is how good wireless audio nowadays, earphones can make it up for the phone. however, wired audio on the phone is noticeably better than the wireless audio. bluetooth version of the phone might not be enough to support upscaling. the bad thing is, w980 has no 3.5mm audio port. sony ericsson uses proprietary port on this phone, like most of their phones during those times. in a way, usb type c to 3.5mm audio port dongle is better than the connector needed by this phone, as you need to align the pins on the proprietary port. the previous owner included an adaptor, so i was able to test the wired audio. if you get pass that inconvenience, you will enjoy music better. i even tried a bluetooth speaker which has also a 3.5mm audio port. and it really does have noticeable difference. wireless audio seem to mute other frequencies (again, this might be because of early versions of bluetooth audio on this phone), while the wired audio produces better volume of different frequencies. this phone also has some gimmick on music play, on the visual side. it has a set of led like that of xperia sp. but this w980 only has two colors – orange and white, unlike the rgb on xperia sp. while testing, music player uses the orange, white for everything else.

i failed to test web browsing since i cannot figure out which is the problem. i was not able to successfully connect, despite having a working network. sms and calls worked though. i guess the connection instructions on the phone is already outdated that the network cannot understand. so for the entire timeslot of testing web browsing, i spend it for trying to connect. unlike the sony ericsson satio which still lets me do a google search.

games. you got some mix – soduko, racing and blocks (sort of tetris). among these, racing is the only game that uses a sensor that is not quite popular those days, i think – gyroscope. there is the traditional way of playing it – pressing the buttons. but the use of gyroscope does improved the experience on it. not as enjoyable as the modern smartphones since the display is small, the graphics are old (obviously), and the form factor is not “race friendly”, but it is fun.

photo shoots and video recording are also possible on the phone. the camera placement is just quite off. usually my finger covers it. it is a perfect spot for my finger when handling the phone. as for the resulting photos and videos, i am not disappointed. there is even a nightmode. of course it is not as good as the nightmode in 2021, but it is good enough for a scene with some lightings. same with videos, but is too slow to be saved.

video play is not ideal too. it can play videos, but the small display affects the experience. it is good enough to review the videos taken with the phone, which is i guess same with most phones during its time, where media consumption is not yet widespread on a phone – or at least phones just satisfy the “it can do” level of experience. but the colors are good.

this is another phone that can still be used as back up in 2021. a nice phone when you want to go off the world wide web, too.

phone 29 – sony xperia sp

this is a loan collateral as i am writing this. and since i am allowed to test it, i did this review. also putting this on review of my collections, means i have a feeling that i will own this eventually. this is one of the phones i wanted to have. so considering i owned it since 2020 that was released on 2013 means it is 7 years since the release.

and here is the battery test for 2021. i have not tested it in 2020, so i cannot compare it to its previous charging duration and battery life. charging is too slow for 2021. for almost 5 hours, some people’s sleep duration is not enough for this phone to fully charge. but i tested worse than this before – asus fonepad note fhd6 for over 7 hours and htc windows phone 8x for over 11 hours. but xperia sp managed to last for a day, 2 hours and 22 minutes. what is interesting is, the battery percentage climbs up when the phone is inactive, at least on the first two sessions of inactive use. perhaps, the battery software recalibrates the capacity during those times. can somebody explain this?

battery score card

one thing that made me want this phone since years ago, is the led strip on its bottom part. unlike my xperia miro, xperia sp only has this led strip. no other led light for notifications. it means, the large led strip on this phone handles the notification, unlike xperia miro that needs an app to fully customize a small led strip on its bottom part, since the led light on the top part handles the notifications by default (and will still light up even with the led strip customized). and where did i enjoy watching the large led strip? the walkman app. the large led strip does not only use the dominant color of the album art of the song being played. it also blinks along with the beats. it resembles sony speakers with led strips on them. as for the sound, the back firing loudspeaker is decently loud. wireless audio and 3.5mm wired audio experience is on par with xperia miro, quite near xperia z1 compact (a) [xperia z1 compact (b)] and xperia z3 dual.

web browsing on the phone is not advisable though. the display size is just okay, since i managed to browse the web using xperia z1compact (a) [xperia compact (b)] with ease. what makes the experience not ideal, is the inconsistent touchscreen. i am not sure if xperia sp works like this since the release or because the phone is old, or refurbished. zooming and scrolling on the pages are quite frustrating. though, images and texts look good on the display, except when you used to view it at an extreme angle, which is less likely.

gaming on this phone is better than on xperia miro. but not in comparison to xperia z1 compact (a) [xperia z1 compact (b)]. occasional stutters happen on my test game – subway surfer. the problem on touchscreen also affects the game play.

photo shoots and video recording, is quite a downside. at times, i even see xperia miro having better resulting images and videos. it just surpasses xperia miro on the selfie camera, but not by much and is obviously quite far to that of xperia z1 compact (a) [xperia z1 compact (b)].

for video play, the display has good colors. in 2021, it looks washed out compared to other phones, not only of those having oled panel but also those having ips hdr, like the xz2 compact. but there is an option to make the videos have a little punch – more contrast and saturation. it comes in handy for those who wants it that way.

overall, for 2021, it is a good phone. a back up phone. if you want a phone for usual sms and calling, and music play that turns beats into lights, then this phone can cover those wants.

phone 28 – sony ericsson satio

in 2020, i should have at most 27 phones corresponding to my age. right? that was my “personal deal”. right? but no. i overbought last year, 2020. i still got myself another phone. ye, right. why did i buy this phone? one reason is to help somebody. but, ye, i know that is an alibi.

this is the sony ericsson satio. it was released in 2009. after 11 years, 2020, i got it. this is not just a “used phone”. but, i believe it is a refurbished one. true enough, the previous owner told me, it was a refurbished item bought from mainland china. and i saw a lot of refurbished old phones that are sold online. so i was not expecting this phone to last even for a month. told myself to enjoy it anyway. this is my first sony ericsson phone. but it is quite similar to nokia n8 (a) [nokia n8 (b)] since they have the same platform.

right away. battery test! i was not able to test the battery last year, 2020, since i bought it almost at the end of the year. this 2021, it fully charged for 2 hours and 58 minutes. it managed to last for 23 hours and 56 minutes where the screen on time reads 4 hours and 56 minutes. and for a refurbished phone with such battery life is not expected. if the battery fails soon, though, it is easy to change the user replaceable battery.

battery score card

for music play, the loudspeaker is not up to the standards of 2021, of course. it is almost flat, but you can still hear different frequencies. same experience on the wireless audio, but when the wireless audio has its own extra bass, then the sound will come better. as most of the smartphones, wired audio is always better in my experience. however, this phone has no 3.5mm audio port. not even a usb type c port since this was released in 2009. instead, it has a proprietary connector which is also used for charging and any similar accessory made for it, like a speaker dock. fortunately, the previous owner of the phone included an audio adaptor so i can use any of my earphones and headsets.

web browsing on the phone is useless, though. i was still able to connect – through the carrier and wifi. i was also able to search via google. it can handle images too. however, all other websites i tried to open resulted to security warning and there is no way to continue browsing other pages. navigating within the google search results is also difficult. the touch response was too slow and tapping on links is not that easy. it takes some time to load pages too.

as for gaming, sudoku is the way to go. playing this game with your finger (or even on navigating the phone) is unpleasant. sometimes, a tap registers as double tap or hold. it is not precise too. the touchscreen is a resistive one, different from capacitive ones that smartphones today use. it needs pressure. using a stylus is advisable. or any stick. make sure it is not sharp enough to scratch the screen. a ballpen cap, pencil or anything would do. with its small screen and a need for precisely tapping on the screen, it is not as enjoyable as the smartphones in 2021. but, it can entertain enough. that is if sudoku is your kind of play.

using this phone for photo shoots and video recording is what i really liked. the camera interface looks similar to older digital still cameras of sony. you also get a “bestpic” mode, face detection and stabilization to name a few. and i do get sharp shots. add up the, now extinct, xenon flash. you will get a flash photography instead of night mode which smartphones decade ago is not capable of, more so a good quality night shot. but it does have a lowlight mode. similarly, video recording is easy to use. both photos and videos are decent. i am satisfied with how the camera performs, after being aware that this smartphone came a decade ago.

video playback is good enough. colors are good, audio is not quite. it is not just as immersive as smartphones in 2021. mostly, it is because of the small display. and despite the colors are good, the blacks are shallow and bringing it outdoors will make you rethink of watching videos.

sony ericsson satio still fits my requirement for a collectible. the novelty it has, like the xenon flash and the usability mostly on the camera system. i would gladly use it on a trip when i want to step out from the internet. usual sms and calls, check! decent camera, check! sound trip, check! simple games, check! just make sure to bring a pen, or just its cap to minimize annoyance with how the resistive screen works.

phone 27 – lg v50s thinq 5g

if you happen to read the first post on this series, the introduction and benchmark plans, then you have an idea that the number of phones i buy depends on my age. in 2020, i turned 27. making me think back about the criteria in buying and eventually keeping a phone – novelty and usability. and when i saw a video of somegadgetguy or juan bagnell talking about a certain phone, i knew what to get. ye, the lg v50s thinq 5g. and i cannot have the entire experience without the dual screen – an accessory that i think, is really, a necessity.

this post will be too long if i am going to discuss all the use cases i have been enjoying on the phone. it is a good replacement to my z5 premium as the productivity on this phone is on another level. but i already set up my xperia 1 ii for that purpose, a work phone. this phone, then, is neither a work phone nor a personal phone. the latter is still the newly bought xz2 compact. nuff said, battery test!

last year, 2020, i managed to test battery charging on this phone. it is quite slow filling up the empty battery for 3 hours and 45 minutes. i wonder why it did that way, because this 2021, the phone was filled up for only 2 hours, 20 minutes and 15 seconds. that is not as fast as that on xperia 1 ii, but certainly good “on my paper”. the battery life is where i am impressed with this phone, thinking that it will not go over the battery life on xperia 1 ii. but for the sake of “standard”, i detached the dual screen. it is similar to what i did to nokia lumia 1020. i detached the battery grip so it wont add up more juice, battery testing is just for the handset itself. i detached the dual screen to just measure the battery drain on the handset itself. using the dual screen will drain the battery faster. even so, i will also talk about the experience of using the dual screen on the use cases i considered for this battery testing – music play, web browsing, gaming, photo shoots, video recording and video play. with that, the phone impressively lasts for 2 days, 2 hours and 18 minutes. which is way longer than my xperia 1 ii. the screen on time reads 11 hours and 18 minutes, while on xperia 1 ii, 9 hours. i also turned off any battery savings on this phone, like i also turned off stamina mode on xperia 1 ii. i guess, this is a fair testing, then. somehow.

battery score card

music play is good on this phone. i find the location of the dual speakers weird – bottom and on the ear piece. and the sound separation on default is different too. but there is a way to set up how the loudspeaker pump out sounds, in a way that makes it similar to other phones having left and right separation. it is loud enough, bass is just okay. wireless audio is also good. actually better than the loudspeakers. the best part? the wired audio. this is my first phone to have a quad dac. i am not really an audiophile. listening to mp3 files on v50s and xperia 1 ii is similar, there are just some frequencies that are prominent on each one. they seem to have different priority for quality audio. but it is almost unnoticeable. the time when i appreciated the quad dac on the phone, is when i play flac. i have too few of them. but, sure, the difference is more obvious here. and there are even controls on the v50s to render the sound in different ways. as for the dual screen experience – the sound is not affected of course. but putting the music app on one screen to make the controls active, and doing other things on the other screen, is nice. also, making it look like a laptop showing the music app, is nice too. nice nice.

web browsing is where the dual screen is not just a nice nice thing to have. it is also a way better experience. web pages look good on the display along with the images on those pages. it is great, that is if you have not experienced web browsing on a phone with 4k display. extending the pages on both screens are good too, for that tablet experience. but i find it not appealing when the phone is handled vertically. hold it horizontally, then that would look like a nintendo ds or that asus laptop that has a smaller display below the bigger display. it is not similar to foldable phones. there is a gap in between like on the two aforementioned devices. what is better? use the whale browser! basically, it is intended for browsing a list of links on one screen, and one of the pages on the lists to the other screen. online shopping is one. say, you search on one display. results will be shown. show one of the results on the other display. this is one of the things i usually do on a computer with an extended display. on the index page, i open a link on a new window and drag that to the extended display. it is very efficient on v50s. just double click the link, and the linked page will open on the other display. in that way, the index page is still active and viewable along with the opened page. i wonder if there is a browser for windows platform that is as efficient as this – no extra click and resizing of windows.

gaming is similar to the gaming performance of my xperia xz2 compact and xperia 1 ii. but just like those, i did not maximize its use for the test as i only played subway surfer on it. though i also played some other games prior to testing the battery life. i did not experience lag nor a significant time when opening the games. the phone also has a gaming mode. and this is another use case where the dual screen is good at. you can enable one of the screens to handle the controls. if a certain game does not support an external controller, you can just map the screen of one to another. just place a virtual button on the second screen corresponding to the placement of controls on the main screen. it does make the experience similar to what you get with an attached controller. except that your controller is also a screen which is still quite different. okay. similar, but it is still different.

the camera system is another thing that v50s is good at. it is something that i had not experienced even on lg g4. the camera system is feature rich. photo shots are good. one thing that sets it apart from my previous phone is the high dynamic range. xperia 1 ii also has this option, even the xz2 compact. but v50s is quite aggressive more than those two. sometimes, it is way aggressive to my liking, but at least there is a way to turn it off. i just find two different ways of hdr photos on xperia 1 ii more controlled. the camera quality is also great. the artifacts i saw on lg g4 when zoomed in are not in v50s, instead it became less sharp. but the looks of it, it is great for social media and even for printing and editing. the manual camera is here too. not only for photo shoots but also for video recording. there are a lot of controls that you can do for manual video recording. you can also manually tweak the sounds, so that you can provide not only a controlled visual output, but also the audio side. this is one of the things making v50s a device that is worth to keep. it does an excellent job, ideal to content creators. though, i am not one of them.

video play is a hit or miss on my preference, though. one prominent negative experience i have on this phone is the presence of a notch. this is my first phone to have such and my eyes are drawn to it when i am using the fullscreen. for 16:9 and 18:9 contents, it is not much of an issue. but when i play 21:9 contents, movies that i have or videos taken with phones, i have to zoom out so that the notch will not get into the view. that means there are black bars, acting like bezels, on all four sides. and i prefer that over the notch interrupting the viewing experience. another thing is, the screen resolution is quite low, especially when you have been using a phone with a 4k ips display. sharpness of 1080p on an oled is quite low. watching fhd videos may not be an issue, but watching your own 4k video is quite underwhelming. good thing is, colors are good. it can even be tweaked depending on how you want contents be shown. if you get pass the mentioned issues, you will enjoy watching videos on the device. consider the dual screen again. there is no need for a kickstand since you can position the dual screen to mimic a laptop. it has continuous variable angle, too. likewise, it does not matter which screen you want to use for watching since they have similar quality – resolution and color rendering. add up the descent speaker.

from this test, i can say that, overall, this phone is an excellent device. attaching a similar screen to that of main screen opens ways on how to do things, you have been doing, in an efficient way. productivity is another level, too. there are many things you wish you can do on a multiwindow display, but cannot. this phone grants such wish.

i remember the same sentiments i wrote on my review for lg g4. i still feel the same way while reviewing this phone. this phone works as an ordinary flagship phone, but when you attached the “accessory” screen, it opens a different experience.

it definitely fits what i am looking for in a collectible phone – the novelty and the usability that i never thought will surpass any other regular phones out there. and never thought that a phone really excels on both.