Sony Ericsson W715 vs Nokia 7100 Supernova

There’s one thing abundantly clear about both the Nokia 7100 Supernova and Sony Ericsson W715; both are phones made with fun in mind.

At the risk of sounding like a cheesy father at a school disco, dancing badly while trying to use the kidz’ lingo, they look like ‘party phones’.

If you’re aged 12 or over, we’re not quite sure whether you’d necessarily be interested in the party Nokia’s 7100 Supernova has to offer. In fact, we tactfully described the handset’s design as ‘distinctive’ others would perhaps not be so kind. That said, we do realise that everyone has different tastes when it comes to colour.

Playground slider
The 7100 is a slider that’s available in three different hues: Black with a turquoise blue-framed navigation pad, one with a turquoise belt and back, and, finally, a third where the belt and back are sickly sweet pinky red. They’re fairly pretty but reminded us of the pencil tins we used to keep our geometry sets in back in the day.

The Sony Ericsson W715, on the other hand, while not exactly a high-end smartphone looks-wise, seems a little more understated, a little classier, and much less, well, playground. If the mobile world were a school, the younger kids would be happily playing with 7100 Supernova handsets, while the bigger kids would be wielding W715s.

When it comes to vital statistics, there’s not that much to separate the two devices, with the 7100 Supernova measuring 48.4x15x98mm (WDH) compared with the W715’s 47.5x14.3x95mm (WDH).

Weight wise, it’s a close contest with just a couple of grams separating the phones. At 98g, the W715 is a bit lighter than the 103.5g ‘heavy’ 7100 Supernova, but this slight difference is unlikely to become a deal breaker.

Camera worlds apart
What is likely to make or break the deal, however, is how the two stack up in terms of features. For starters, the 7100 Supernova’s camera is a pathetic 1.3MP compared to the W715’s 3.15MP. OK, so a 3MP camera isn’t going to take the photography world by storm or win any awards for its photographic genius, but it blows the Nokia’s one out of the water.

The 7100 Supernova has a few quirky features such as a night shooting tool and an image sequence mode but it’s sans flash and auto focus, making us wonder why Nokia even bothered to include a snapper on this mobile.

You also get more screen for your money with the W715. Almost half an inch, to be exact. Our reviewer found the 7100 Supernova’s 2.0 inch screen a little small in the casing, meaning it was a bit of a disappointment. The W715 is a bit more generous with 2.4 inches of screenage and a very nice looking navigational set up.

Music to your ears (ish)
Sony Ericsson is renowned for its Walkman line of music phones, so from the off Nokia faced a tough time trying to compete on the tune front. In this instance, it looks like it ran away from the battle ground long before Sony even turned up ready for a fight.

While the loudspeaker on the 7100 Supernova served up fairly decent volume levels and boasts an FM radio to boot, there’s no flash card support and just 4MB of onboard memory, meaning it’s not music to a music lover’s ears. Sony’s W715 has 120MB onboard memory and room for an abundance of tracks thanks to M2 support. The audio quality is also on a par with higher end Walkman handsets, with the usual suspects like SenseMe and shake control present and correct.

UI A OK
Both phones are pretty user friendly though. With Nokia’s using the S40 OS and Sony opting for its own proprietary platform, those who’ve used a handset from either manufacturer before will find them easy to get to grips with.

In addition to HSDPA and Wi-Fi as connectivity options, the W715 also boasts A-GPS, which is a handy addition.

Surprisingly, we found web browsing to be quite pleasant on the 7100 Supernova, despite its smallish screen and lack of 3G, thanks largely to the inclusion of Opera Mini. So good things do come in small packages, then? Sort of.

Verdict
Both the Sony Ericsson W715 and Nokia 7100 Supernova are crowd pleasers when it comes to looks, but Nokia’s handset lets us down with a less than thrilling features set beneath its pretty face. If you want cheap and cheerful, you’ll probably be quite happy with the 7100 Supernova, however, if you want style and substance and are prepared to shell out a bit more, the W715 is the one that you want.