Hi Lee - well done on a thouroughly profeshneal review and trip report.

Serenata question - have you used it with the PC studio? It would be interesting to know how well that process goes (certainly in the case of entering phone books etc it would be done here rather than with the phone itself). It will also allow Matt to fill it full of "trendy, young folk friendly" tunes for his pub demo on Friday.

Is it in the shops yet?? - It would be cool if you or Peter could demo it to your local dealers!😂

Very interesting looking device - and not an iPhone clone which is good. The lack of a keyboard will frustrate people who text - I don't so doesn't worry me! I don't care about a lack of camera either as if I want pictures, I will use a proper camera, whether compact or SLR depending on situation.

To be fair, this would not be the phone I would immediately think about - I tend to go for simple devices or my Blackberry. However the portable player idea is really rather attractive. I suppose the only deficit for me would be the lack of a built in radio as most of the time I would listen to the radio if it was in a stand up sound position. If I were to want to listen to music, I would use the earphones and get stereo and a better frequency range.Spoken word radio would however be better on the speaker.

The other point is the price. Remember that the iPhone costs £400 but onto that one adds at least £35 a month in the UK. So that is the thick end of £800 and you need some decent earphones - Earset 3 comes to mind! - so we are talking £1000. The Serenata is an open phone - I spend about 20p a month on my normal phone - I have a special contract with Orange with no monthly standing charge - and even my Blackberry is £6 a month with unlimited email and web browsing. The Serenata suddenly doesn't seem so expensive...

Hi Lee, thanks for the very comprehensive review!

I think I have fallen for it already, but your review has made my mind up I WANT ONE NOW! 😎

I called my local dealer and they still haven't got one, but hopefully they will in the next few days. So with any luck I can go and take my Credit Card for a spin!

A couple of questions:

1. Does it have HSDPA as I use my existing very inferior Samsung mobile as my mobile broadband connection to my laptop and it works if signal strength is 3.5G!  I have been looking for a new phone that would be a good portable personal music player, and the fact it comes with stereo headset, then i can just carry one device that will do everything for me 😁

2. Does it take an SD card?

Well as soon as my local dealer has one I will go and see it and report back.

Cheers

Ricardo

Hi Peter

Some good points regarding the price there, but I should point out that the iPhone will be £269 in the UK, rather than £400.

I already have my A8s that I'll be using with my iPhone so that's my earphones sorted out. My current Orange contract costs me about £25 a month so moving to a £35 O2 contract with free wi-fi at 605 spots in London will make it worth it.

It certainly won't end up costing me the earth compared to buying a Serenata and sticking with Orange.

Still, the Serenata looks lovely and if the iPhone wasn't coming out I'd consider it. I'm especially intrigued to hear what the music sounds like through the speaker.
 

The purist would tell me that the MCP wheel was not used to navigate, but still it had multiple function depending on the context: Volume, Bass, Treeble...

B&O had understood that when we moved from analog to digital, the little buttons where not the best thing to control certain features.

p.

nice review Lee

Clear and without any B&O prejudice

nice that beoworld has the chance to report the seranata in this way

thanks Lee for all the work this review has taken until now

gr eric

Oh Lee, what can i say! You are cool buddy, SO cool!

 Look, i think this just might be 2007's 'BeoLab 5' as far as achievements by B&O go. The speaker idea absolutely facinates me.  You watch, other phone companys will try this concept in upcoming phones. The amount of times i see moles on pulic tranport listening to their pop music through their phones loudspeaker with their mates - is becoming rather prevalent.
Annoying too (i often wonder if god gave them ears that function properly). 😡

It sounds like a REALLY good value piece of kit, i can't wait to get one.
 

The A8s dont fit in the iPhone. You have to get new A8s with the modified plug so the fit. I rather get an earset 3, it has the control button and a microphne. A8s wont do you much if you want to make a phone call. 

Some of your questions answered...

Does it have an FM radio, or just digital music playback?

No, just Digital Music Playback i'm afraid.

I also heard about a car holder, what is this? Just a holder, or a car-styled docking station with proper power & audio in/outputs?

Ermm.. it doesn't appear to be in my kit!!  I'll chase that one up!

 B&O talked about the "line in" connection to your car receiver or even to bigger BeoSounds, someone even talked about BeoLink integration: is it Masterlink connection or simple line output on the docking station? What are the audio connections on the phone and on the base?

Good question, and in the manual it says "Useful Hint... It is also possible to connect the phone to your Bang & Olufsen audio system setup. Use the enclosed line output to do so."  However, it's a complete fib - i never got one!!!  Looking at it logically, it will slot into the same connection port as the Earset 3 - but as i don't have one i can't tell you yet!  I am told though, that you use the 'line in' to your speakers, but i'll have to check and get back to you.

I find the ringtones ridiculous, so can you use one of your music tracks as a ringtone?

Ha! - i'm not exactly bowled over by them either.  We have searched high and low in the Menu's and we can't find any way of using a downloaded track as a ringtone.  However, this may be deliberate as 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua blasting out from such a beautiful creation may not be fitting! 😂

So as i understand, the navigation is done with the wheel, and you touch the display to come to "Music" or "More". So is this touch functionality just this? Or is the touch screen also useable in other ways? For example to select a menu item? 

No, the touch screen is just for Music, and More - plus for help when you are composing and sending messages in the form of upper/lower case and symbols. If you look at the bottom line on my image of the texting section of the review, you will see the 'abc' plus the up arrow and 'send' which are all touch sensitive as mentioned. As for the 'More' and 'Music' - the touch screen only opens this menu - and then you need to use the scroll wheel.

Two questions, Is the sound better than in an iPod with A8? Is there any compatibility with iTunes?

Yes, it sounds better to me with A8's - as did the BeoSound 2, but there is no compatibility with itunes yet.  I seem to recall hearing someone say they are working on that though, but don't quote me!

Any idea about the price?

I clearly heard Torben Ballegaard Sorensen say "one thousand and thirty Euros" and even wrote this down as he said it..  However, that would be £725, which is a far cry from £1000 as mentioned. Maybe he read it wrong and meant 1300 Euros, not 1030 ?

Serenata question - have you used it with the PC studio? It would be interesting to know how well that process goes (certainly in the case of entering phone books etc it would be done here rather than with the phone itself). It will also allow Matt to fill it full of "trendy, young folk friendly" tunes for his pub demo on Friday.

Matt will be hooking it up to his PC over the next couple of days and testing the software. He will include his findings in his very own 'younger users' report.. 😂

Is it in the shops yet?? - It would be cool if you or Peter could demo it to your local dealers!

I've read it will be in the shops at the end of the month - but i've not really been told when it's available.  As for the demo at my local dealer, neither Peter nor myself are very 'close' to ours!

Haven't I read somewhere that it is available from Vodaphone only??

If you did - it was rubbish!  The phone is unlocked for all networks, but due to internal software or whatever they call it, it won't be able to be used in Korea or the US yet.

Does it have HSDPA as I use my existing very inferior Samsung mobile as my mobile broadband connection to my laptop and it works if signal strength is 3.5G!  I have been looking for a new phone that would be a good portable personal music player, and the fact it comes with stereo headset, then i can just carry one device that will do everything for me 😁

Gosh - err.. i don't think so. It's not in the specs, but if anyone would like to check and let me know i'd be grateful..

Does it take an SD card?

No - no SD card slots.

--------------------

Hope this may have answered at least a few of these questions!

Lee

🙂