This is the Standard Type FOMA handset. It's about the same size as existing handsets though thinner and does not include all the multimedia features of the P2101V. The battery is even smaller and the whole handset feels lighter than an N503i. Like all new FOMA handsets, there's no antenna.
The screen is a very bright Yuki-EL (Organic EL) that doesn't use a back light and displays 4096 colors. Because of this, the top half of the folding phone is very thin. The big draw of Organic EL is its low power consumption, but the N2001V still ran out of battery power within a day. NEC claims that shouldn't happen and it's more a fault of bugs than the screen. Also NEC has a serious problem making the screens in mass quantities. Sources tell me they can make about 4 a day.
Also, unlike existing N50x handsets, this one has no side buttons which I really miss as they were useful for page up/down when browsing and for different functions when the phone is folded closed. There is a button on the back (opposite the screen) so when closed there's at least one thing to push, though it's not intuitive that it's a button as it's integrated into the blinky light on the back cover.
The navigation buttons are finally better, with the main button in the center surrounded by for buttons pointing N,S,E,W (existing 50x handsets have a four direction button with the main button above it -- not very intuitive).
The nav buttons are backlit but the keypad buttons are barely backlit; only the numbers on the buttons light up. This is kind of weak and a bit hard to see in the dark.
The menu/OS is familiar to anyone who's used an N50x. One major difference is the ability to store data into the UIM data card (inserted via a slot underneath the battery). On power-on the handset first reads from the data card. Very useful as now you can switch handsets but still keep all your own data like address book entries.
The USB/recharger port is on the bottom of the left side of the handset instead of on the bottom of the handset like N50x. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I guess it might make it easier when using the USB plug to connect the handset to other devices...then again maybe not. The phone has crashed at least once a day; menu just freezes and there's nothing to do but pop out the battery and turn the power back on. Obviously still many software bugs left.
When connecting to secure sites SSL is notably faster than on N50x handsets. So fast it's basically usable now.
Downloaded and installed Gradius i-appli. Didn't seem much faster than i-Appli on N503i.
Connecting to i-mode was a matter of luck and timing. FOMA coverage is still very sketchy; sitting the handset on my desk the signal strength would vacillate between full signal (3 bars), no signal, full signal within 3 seconds. Often i-mode would just terminate for no apparent reason. I'm assuming that as DoCoMo builds out the FOMA network coverage will get better. Comparing service to existing DoCoMo coverage probably isn't fair b/c of the excellent coverage available now, but that's what people are used to so there's much work to be done to get consistent connectivity.
Same issue with voice connections. About half of the call attempts (to other cell phones, other FOMA phones, and to land lines) don't connect for whatever reason. Once connected, voice quality varies from great to terrible.
Calling between two FOMA handsets the voice quality is much better than between two 50x handsets -- the underwatery echo is greatly reduced and sounds generally crisper, though it's still not as good as a standard GSM call between to cell phones in Europe.
The ring tones on the N2001V are amazing -- sounds like 24 harmonics MIDI -- and the speaker is very clear even at full volume. Reminds me of all the cool tunes, beats, and loops built into keyboards of the early 80s. Also a couple of human voice ring tones (same as they have on the N503i) like "wake up!" in Osaka dialect. Very cool.
In all, the N2001V isn't revolutionary so much as evolutionary. The typical user will experience a jump in features and quality from N503 to N2001 just as they did from N502 to N503. If the price is reasonable and NEC can produce enough screens (and if DoCoMo can get better network coverage) I think this phone can be as big a winner as NEC's current best selling handsets.
This multimedia terminal is a bigger, thicker, clunkier version of Panasonic's P503is or P209is. It's bulky and heavy like phones were 5 years ago. The top half with the screen is especially thick; most likely it's packed with hardware to handle video compression/decompression, the speaker, and other hardware for the camera.
The camera in the hinge is cool -- can take snapshots of three quality levels, rapid fire snapshots, or videos. However, only lowest quality snapshots can be attached to emails and sent; attempts to send anything larger result in "Data too big" errors. The camera is built into the hinge and can rotate to point at the user or out the back of the camera. Rotating it to point out essentially flips the camera upside down, so you have to go into the camera settings and select "reverse image" to make it appear right side up. The camera position should be detected and the video image automatically flipped, I think, but since Panasonic isn't so good at software I don't expect this feature to be added. The screen is pretty good; 260,000 colors backlit but white is a bit washed out -- just like it is on the P503is. Nothing amazing there. The speaker is pretty powerful but gets tinny at high volume. I hoped that a multimedia terminal would have a considerably bigger screen and stereo speakers (form factor more like a pocket board or something).
When connecting to i-mode had the same network connection/stability problems with the N2001V, but the P2101V was even worse at connecting. Side-by-side the N often had 3 bars while the P had 1 or none. This is nothing new as existing N50x handsets seems to have better reception than existing P50x handsets.
Ring tones on P2101V are very good (but not as good as N2001V I think). OS/Menus are familiar to anyone who's used P50x handsets. Personally I think the menu navigation and input method is clunky compared to NEC's, but that's just me. Didn't feel much snappier than P50x. Built-in Tetris game is very good, but I wonder if it's an i-appli or native source; seems to snappy and responsive to be Java.
I'm assuming it's because it's only a trial, but getting into M-Stage from the i-mode was a pain:
Click on M-Stage on the i-menu, click enter or enter channel # directly from M-Stage top page, enter name and password (a complicated mix of numbers and letters, tough to input) and then navigate to and select video.
Channels include movie previews, news, sports, and weather. I initially didn't have a username and password so I had to go to the handset's Network settings, select Mopera -> quick start settings, connect to M-Stage, and get assigned a username and password. Again I'm assuming this is b/c it's a test trial and real service will be easier to use.
Now, the interesting part is M-Stage is actually a CIRCUIT connection directly to the Mopera network (so much for packet switched 3G!) The handset dials *9603 to initiate a 64k circuit connection to the Mopera network. While connected at 64k M-Stage, there is a serious lack of back buttons to return to the previous screen.
Watched the trailer for Planet of the Apes streaming at 64k. The video was 2 minutes 15 seconds long. A bit dark, but contrast is adjustable. Sound was good, though the speaker gets a bit tinny at high volume. The stream didn't stutter at all -- felt like a solid 64k the whole time. Couldn't pause, forward, or rewind the video even though there were forwards and backwards buttons. There's also a Surround Sound mode but I couldn't really notice a difference (tough to do surround sound with one speaker). The movies are in Windows Media Format and play as streaming, so no waiting for full download but may pause/jerk a bit if connection is unstable.
Once the stream is done, I ended up back at the main M-Stage top page, so I had to re-enter login and password to get back into the channels.
The handset then promptly crashed, requiring a power off, battery remove, battery insert, power on.
But watching a Planet of The Apes trailer on my cell phone was pretty damn cool. Battery died after watching about 5 minutes of video, though. Managing to successfully make video calls about 5 out of 100 attempts. Once connected to video picture is pretty good; at 64k motion isn't too blurry and the signal (once established) seems stable in the sense that the screen is constantly updating not freezing too much (though it did disconnect when network connectivity drops for whatever reason). Sound quality is better than 50x handsets, but when making a video call without the earpiece can't hear anything.
The real problem with mobile video phoning is: once you wave at the other person and show then the room you're in, there's not much advantage over holding the up to your head and talking. The Cool Wow factor wears off pretty quickly, and at 1.8 times the price of a regular cell phone call, who's going to pay for this service?
When it works, the 3G technology if this multimedia terminal is impressive. Watching streaming videos and doing video conferences with a cell phone is pretty cool. But the handset is clunky and unless the price is very reasonable, I don't see much mass appeal for this handset. Then again it is just a prototype and the first of its kind in the world, and as far as showing the potential for the technology it's a great success.
Being able to use either USB recharger cable with either phone was cool because batteries dying in one day are not cool. The Organic EL screen was the coolest. Thinking about how much it must cost to watch streaming videos and make video phone calls is not cool. Super harmonic ringtones are cool, too. In general, FOMA's cool, but it's not that cool. Yet.