Sony Ericsson's P1i and the Chinese Ripoff

It looks like Chinese handset manufacturers can't let it go and continue to copy – paste some of the most successful mobile phones on the market. The highly acclaimed Sony Ericsson P1i has been turned by the Chinese manufacturer into the new Gold Star P1i. If we put both devices side by side, one can see many resemblances, at least regarding the surface, but don't let the 'shell' fool you.

Just looking at the pictures, most of the mobile freaks (read SE fans) will clearly notice which of the devices is the original Symbian UIQ3 based smartphone and which is the fake one. Still, looking over the specs of the Chinese phone, we can't say they are bad. But, when one copies others' phone, not much remains to be said.

The one thing in which Gold Star P1i can impress is the two SIM card slots feature. The TV receiver is a good thing also, even if details about the standard it supports are unknown. Also, the Chinese were pretty secretive about many of the phone's specs and that's probably because they couldn't match up with Sony Ericsson's original.

We also know that the phone has a media player, but we don't know what or how many file formats it can support. Even so, the phone got itself some built-in High Quality Speakers. It's nice that you can record video in Mpeg4 and H.263 formats, but it's not that nice to not know what megapixel count your camera has.

The phone offers Bluetooth connectivity and an FM Radio. The organizer functions seem to be basic for a so called smartphone, thus you can get only Calendar, To Do List, Alarm and a Calculator. Then, we saw another thing that can't compete with the original: the Phone Book that allows only 500 contacts.

It's true that if you wish for a Sony Ericsson P1i and cannot afford one, this Chinese clone may seem the perfect idea. But let's be serious, that's too much, you just can't compete with the real thing.

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