Serenata

It is Bang & Olufsen design, quirky but quirky.

It follows Serene, which was also quirky.

I can't imagine anyone actually buying either phone. I suppose B&O executives already use the Serene but few others do most likely. I seem to remember someone on MR mentioning that they had one.

 

It does seem a bizarre design, even in some of the photos on the official website it looks very awkward to navigate.

 

Dang, that thing is ugly. Looks like an old travel alarm clock I used to have...

 

Wow.... Is it just me, or does everyone think they'll sell at least 2-3 dozen of those before they pull the plug.

PS- worst website ever. they tried to do the 'apple reflection' thing, and failed so bad.....

 

seranata

I had a Serene and I sold it the day of the iphone launch for $650.00. I really liked the phone it had a motorized open and close mech and the camera took beautiful pictures. The only reason I was unsatisfied was that it was completely a nightmare to text on it. Otherwise I loved it. It was definitely a conversational piece and the ringtones and indicators worked much better than iphone but for me this was the first time practicality over ruled design. A products exoticness and exclusivity has always appealed to me and while the iphone is an amazing phone and im happy to be using one it will be so common place in the coming years that i may be put off. I know that sounds shallow but I really enjoy being a little different than everyone else. That said, it would take one hell of a product to get me out of the iphone!

X-

 

Might as well post a bit of info about this. I've now used one and it's pretty impressive.

I'm not too convinced about the phone side of things. The Serene was an absolute joy to use as a phone, it seemed so well thought out and simple/clean. Everything just worked.

The Serenata doesn't seem as simple when it comes to just ringing someone as the Serene. The loss of any form of numpad makes it a bit of a nightmare dialing in numbers, and even more of a nightmare texting. No camera either which is bit of a bummer.

The MP3 player side of though, is really really incredible. I'm not sure what I'd compare it to sonically, but the internal speakers are definitely better than any MacBook Pro speakers I've heard (which are pretty impressive considering their size). The Serenata's built in speakers really are, absolutely stunning for their size/a phone. When it comes to plugging in headphones, it's pretty impressive too. The sound quality is like no other MP3 player I've heard, really very very impressive.

It also feels pretty solid and is the perfect shape to fit in your hand, and sits at the bottom of your pocket fantastically (others don't I've found). I can't say I found the wheel above the screen an issue, I kinda prefer it that way, feels more natural.

Not sure about the price though