The latest in the Sony Ericson Cybershot range, the C905 is the best yet. I have had experience with all previous phones in the range, however this phone is the best of the bunch, and in my opinion the best camera phone on the market today. The phone boasts a range of features including its 8.1mp camera in its sleek and smart casing.
Look and feel Although this phone is slightly on the large size because of accommodating the large camera lens, it is still smaller than the range of touch screen phone available. I think of it more as being a very compact camera than a large phone. The phone has very good aesthetics looking very smart and in keeping with the distinctive Sony Ericsson style. The quality of the construction is evident, this is shown in the detailing, and the engraving on the Camera shutter is of very high quality along with the shutter mechanism. The phone is also very well designed ergonomically; the buttons are well spaced apart and clear, including the specific camera
buttons. This is the first Sony Ericsson slider design Cybershot phone. This works well, ensuring the phone is as compact as possible and looks good as well as packing in a very good quality, large 2.4” Oled display. This is a product of a very high quality smart looks
Features
Camera The camera is the main selling point of this phone and at a price of nearly £400 it cannot disappoint. In the past I have found that camera on phones are no where near the quality of a standalone camera, even with a high number of megapixels, the sharpness of the image along with the colour balance could not compare with a standard digital camera. However this phone is the exception that proves the rule. The 8.1 megapixel camera ensures that the images are very detailed. However other features such as the Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus and the Xenon flash ensure that the images are of the highest quality. There is also an extensive range of other features on the camera such as the smile shutter, smart contrast, Bestpic, panorama, face detection and an image stabilizer. These are features that in truth I don’t use very often as I find that the standard auto mode is very good, however the image stabilizer is a very useful feature. The Macro feature is one that works particularly well, taking very detailed close up photographs. With a great colour balance. The ability of the camera in dark places is also very good. The Xenon flash is a feature that really puts the camera above all competitors at is allows very sharp images to be taken in pitch black rooms. The video recording feature is also very good, including a video light for dark scenes. I would say that it lacks the richness of the photos but is still very detailed and of good quality. The ergonomics of the camera are also very good; there is a shutter button on the top of the camera, pressing half down to focus and pressing fully to take the photo. As well as zoom buttons and buttons to switch between the video and playback options. The standard D pad lights up to show buttons to change the exposure, the flash, self timer and focus settings. There are also 2 buttons on the left of the screen which can be used to change between pre defined settings. The only feature that I would say lets this camera down is the zoom. With a lack of optical zoom as with all camera phones, zooming is not an option as the powerful 16x digital zoom just makes the image pixalise and distort. This is a feature that will never be as good as a standard digital camera.
GPS
This phone is also equipped with a GPS service; this includes using Google maps and the way finder navigator. These are both good features, the navigator is simple without many features, however it works well as a satnav giving step by step voice instructions as well as a clear map. These are features that I do only use in an emergency as they are costly. There is a 3 month 3 trial of the navigator, after which there is a monthly subscription to pay.
Other features
There are many other features crammed into this phone. Including a good music player, a pedometer, an fm radio, a host of games, an accelerometer (tilt sensor) whish is useful for viewing photos and for the games, Wi-Fi and all the other standard fe3atures you would expect on a phone. This is a truly feature packed phone.
Value for money.
If you buy this phone as a Pay As You Go deal, it is very expensive at nearly £400. This is an amount that I would not ever consider spending on a mobile phone, even one as good as this. However there are some very good contract deals. I purchased my phone from www.mobiles.co.uk, a branch of the carphonewarehouse. On this website I got the phone, a 2 GB memory card, a Bluetooth headset, 600 minutes and unlimited texts a month for only £16 a month. This is based upon a redemption scheme. This phone is very good money if you find the right deal, however £400 is a very large amount of money to pay for any phone
Conclusion
This is a very good phone, the camera is the best in the market, a massive range of extra features, and in a simple to use well made package, the phone itself is of good quality, the reception is very good and there is a good memory for contacts and text messages. The menu systems are well laid out and easy to use, I cannot fault this phone. This is perfect if you just want a simple, easy to use phone that will take a good photo. I chose this ahead of any other phone because of this reason; I did not want a bulky touch screen phone. I just wanted a compact good looking phone, easy to use phone that could take a good photo, this phone exceeded my expectations.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Superb camera, wide ralnge of features, good for calls and texting. Disadvantages: Still the age old slide phone issue. Battery life varies with use.
Jun 16th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
