Sony Ericsson G502

...Above the screen is the Sony Ericsson label, below the G502 label. Bottom half of the phone's face is occupied by the keyboard that has a very interesting wavy shape. The D-pad is integrated into the silver bar that runs across the keyboard over the call start/end keys and left/right/confirm keys of the D-pad.

The rear of the phone is black as well, with a silver bar running across the top third of the rear face, that bar has the camera ...
...side is plain black with Sony Ericsson logos. Along the sides of the phone runs a thin silver bar.

There are no buttons on the top and left side of the phone, the right side has volume control and camera buttons, on the bottom is a fast-port connector.

The memory card slot is hidden under the rear cover and the card can be replaced without taking out the battery - just remove the cover, slide in the card and replace ... more

I bought this phone four months ago to replace a Samsung slider phone. To be honest, at first sight the phone looked odd and unlikable to me, but after using it only for a week I already loved it. Following is a short review of this phone (a black color model; the phone is available in hazel and red as well).

The phone is a tri-band GSM model with support for GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA (3.6Mbps). Highlights include a fresh design approach with wavy keys, interestingly executed D-pad, quite large and high resolution screen (2 inches, 320x240 pixels with 256k colors), bluetooth, 2MP camera (without autofocus and flash), MP3 player and FM radio.

Included in the box is the phone, CD with software, lots of papers and a wired stereo headset. No data cable (any recent SE data cable fits) and no memory card is included (the phone support Memory Stick Micro M2 cards).

The phone is a candybar form factor, black in color, with some glossy silver accents. The screen and keys are also glossy, rest of the phone is black matte plastic. The screen is covered with glossy plastic which collects smudges and dirt but seems to be quite scratch resistand so it can be cleaned easily with a piece of cloth. Above the screen is the Sony Ericsson label, below the G502 label. Bottom half of the phone's face is occupied by the keyboard that has a very interesting wavy shape. The D-pad is integrated into the silver bar that runs across the keyboard over the call start/end keys and left/right/confirm keys of the D-pad.

The rear of the phone is black as well, with a silver bar running across the top third of the rear face, that bar has the camera lens and a tiny red video camera LED integrated into it. Above the bar is a slit that hides the loudspeaker and the top part of the phone's back is ridged. Rest of the rear side is plain black with Sony Ericsson logos. Along the sides of the phone runs a thin silver bar.

There are no buttons on the top and left side of the phone, the right side has volume control and camera buttons, on the bottom is a fast-port connector.

The memory card slot is hidden under the rear cover and the card can be replaced without taking out the battery - just remove the cover, slide in the card and replace the cover. The slot is on the left side of the phone.

The build quality of the phone is excellent, it does not flex or creak in hand, all parts fit together very well and materials seem to be resistant to everyday wear. The phone is very light weight with only 83.5 grams and has dimensions of 103x46x13.5mm thus being quite thin to be carried comfortably in almost any pocket. The overall look of the phone is very business-like although it is not placed into the business range neither is it a smart phone. There is no reason to be embarrassed when pulling this phone out in a business setting.

The battery life of the phone is good, it lasts around 4 days with moderate usage. Charging of the battery is reasonably quick, it takes less than two hours to fully charge a completely empty battery.

The user interface is typical Sony Ericsson - which means it is clear and easy to understand, has snappy operation and looks nice with a lot of animations.

The camera on the phone has 2 megapixels but no autofocus and also lacks a flash, thus the pictures are not comparable to the dedicated camera phones. Still, images taken in daylight are OK to use on web and to view on phone screen. Video can be recorded at QVGA resolution at 15 frames per second with sound. During video recording the tiny red LED next to the lens is on.

Although the phone supports 3G networks it lacks a video call camera. It might support receiving video calls but I haven't had a chance to test it yet so I do not know for sure.

The media player and FM radio are standard fare, they work well but nothing novel there. Java games and application are supported. As a bonus, there is Google Maps Mobile installed (which I replaced with MGMaps in order to use offline maps) but it is not fully functional since the phone lacks a GPS receiver.

Overall, this phone is a very good performer in its price range, has a wide selection of features, looks good and feels solid. It can be used as a casual phone and in a business environment without looking too flashy or inappropriate.

For the price of the device, it is definitely recommended. 

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