Sony Ericsson caused quite a stir with its first UIQ-based smartphone, the P800, last year. Since then we've seen an update in the shape of the P900 and now another named the P910i.

All three versions of the phone have added something new to the mix, with the P910i bringing a memory boost and 'qwerty' keyboard as its headline new features, along with more colours in the display: the P910i is 18-bit, offering 262,114 colours.

The overall build is very familiar. That extra-wide, 'candy bar' design means the P910i tends to feel just a bit too large in the pocket as an everyday phone, but it does mean there is room for a splendidly efficient 208 x 320 pixel screen.

The fact that the screen is touch-sensitive is pretty useful. Combine this with the jog wheel that sits on the left side of the casing and you have a good range of input options. That wheel, incidentally, can be pushed towards and away from you as well as rolled up and down and pressed in, the former two operations acting as a context-sensitive menu activator and a 'back' button.

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So what about that keyboard? The P910i shares the flip-down number pad that the P900 and P800 both offered - Sony Ericsson calls this simply the 'flip'. You can remove it if you don't find it useful, and in that past that's just what many users have done, using an on-screen soft number-pad for dialling and soft keyboard or handwriting recognition for text entry.

This time, on the back of the flip is that qwerty keyboard. If you have pixie-sized fingers you may be able to tap out an SMS or write a short e-mail, but frankly we found it very difficult to do either effectively: the keys are just too small and too close together to be easy to use.

So it looks like if we used a P910i on a regular basis, we'd ditch its flip and rely, as before, on handwriting recognition or the soft keypad, while for serious text input we might choose an external infra-red or Bluetooth keyboard. These things are often a matter of individual preference, though, so if you fancy this smartphone, try the flip-based keyboard out for yourself before making a purchasing decision.

The technical and software specifications are strong, with a generous 64MB of memory of which on our device panned out at 59MB for our own access. This is expandable via Memory Stick Duo cards, and Sony Ericsson provides a 32MB card in the box.

The core software is provided courtesy of Symbian OS 7 and the pre-installed suite includes tools for both productivity and entertainment. Diary, task and contact management, a notepad, calculator, music player, PDF viewer, and a rather testing chess game are among the provisions. You get PC synchronisation software and - of course - there is a camera built in, capable of shooting (VGA) stills and video.

Sony Ericsson has again crammed functionality into every nook and cranny of this phone, and it is a worthy successor to the P900. However, that noted, it is not a major new product, more an upgrade to ensure that the range does not get lost among all the alternatives. We wouldn't suggest a SIM-free purchase unless you are desperately rich, but a low cost upgrade on your current contract might be worth considering.