Introduction ************* I was recently shopping around some of the mobile phone shops because my contract with Vodafone was about to expire. At the time was loooking for something reliable, high tech and easy to use. This is just what the SonyEricsson K800i is because I could not find any other phone that could match its quality of specification or even surpass it.
Camera ********* One of the main features that is the most impressive and caught my eye when I was shopping for a new phone was the camera because it has a 3.2 mega pixelcyber shot with an auto focus. Some of the best qualities about this is that I can zoom in up to 32x or I can take a picture at 1x and zoom into the picture as far as I want to later. Just to prove how good it is once when I was in class I took a picture of one of teachers on the far side of a massive room and was able to zoom in so that I could see his eyes. That is amazing.
One problem that I have found with the camera is that if I'm in a room with slightly less than average lighting and I take photo then unless the person that I'm trying to take picture of is straight in front of me then it is useless.
Another small problem that I have noticed is that when flicking through some your pictures they can take a few more seconds
to load that you would like them to therefore I think this phone could do with a higher processing speed in future versions.
When taking a picture you can change the settings to take a picture for a perticular setting or scene which may make you picture look better. These are as follows:-
Video camera - Instead of taking a still picture you would like to shoot a video.
Scene - Whether you would like the phone to automatically choose the type of scene or whether you would like a portrait picture. If your on a beach or the snow then you could set it to Beach/Snow.
Picture size - If you would like the size of the picture to be taken in 3 mega pixel, 2 mega pixel, 1 mega pixel or VGA. The one that you choose will affect the quality of the picture as well as the size.
Focus - Whether you would like the phone to automatically choose the focus or set it to infinite for picture to be taken of something in the distance.
Flash - There are three setting for flash which are Off, Auto or Red eye reduction. The red eye reduction is amazing saving you time so you don't have to remove red eye from your pictures on a computer with a program. A good idea by Sony Ericsson.
Self Timer - Set a time for when you want the picture to be taken.
Effects - You can choose to make the picture look like an old photo with the black and white setting or make the picture look like a negative as well as a couple of other effects.
Picture Quality - Either make the picture look normal or fine.
Time and Date - Put the time and date on the picture so that you know when it was taken if you decide to print it off.
Feel of the Phone ******************* I thought that the buttons were easy to use with the mouse in the middle being very simple to use. On the down side I have found that the phone is a bit cubic and can feel a bit big compared to some other phones on the market at the moment however it is more like a digital camera than a mobile phone.
Most people these days drop there phones onto the floor at one time or another which can cause scratches on the screen. I have taken this phone with me every where and have dropped it every where but have never had any scratches or damage done to it therefore I consider this phone very durable.
Messages ************ MMS - Multimedia Messaging Service allowing pictures and other multimedia objects to be sent through the messaging service to other mobile phones.
SMS - Short Message Service in other words a text message. Similar to most phones.
Voice Message - Allow you to record a voice message to be sent to another mobile phone.
Live Postcards - Send a picture from your album.
Email - Send a message over the internet. Very useful considering the amount they we use the intrenet today.
Quality of Calls ***************** I found that the quality of calls was very good with a sharp sound with no echos when talking to someone even over long distances. No problems.
Memory ********* The phone has 64MB built into it however it is possible to buy additional memory sticks. These memory sticks come in 512MB, 1GB and now 2GB which is very large allowing anyone to store hundreds of music and video files onto it.
I currently have a 512MB memory stick which I bought a couple of months after the phone and found that this size is more than enough for most people because I have been able to store large amounts of pictures, music and hours and videos.
To the left of the screen on the side there is a small tab with the righting M2 on it which is the type of memory card needed. If you lift this small tab up and you have bought a memory card all that has to be done to install the memory card is push it it making it easy as ABC.
Customisation **************** The K800i allows the you to customise it to act any way you want. You could change the theme meaning the look and feel of the user interface. If you want to identify a perticular ringtone then you can do that so if your girlfriend rings you a romantic ring tone might play instead of the standard one. The same can be done with displaying pictures when some phones you meaning that you could have a picture of that person displayed. Excellent idea by SonyEricsson because if you enable the user to alter it to what they want they are happy because its the way that they want it and no one elses way.
Connectivity ************** There are two main ways to send pictures, videos and music using this phone for free and that is bluetooth and infrared. Infrared is becoming an old form of transfering files plus it has to be right next to another phones infrared port to work therefore that was why bluetooth was brought in. Bluetooth is fantastic because you can stand in another room while you are sending or recieving a file as well as the transfer rate is better. Putting bluetooth and infered on the K800i is a good idea because not all phones have bluetooth.
Battery Life ************ I have found that the battery life for most sony ericsson phones to be very good including this phone allowing be to keep it on for a few days without having to charge it up.
Other Features ***************** FM Radio - Allows you to look at a whole range of frequencies just like a normal radio. A very good idea and useful for when you want to relax. To use it the hands free set is required as an antena. I think it would be even better if Sony Ericsson had built the radio with no need for a hands free kit because it can get annoying sometimes having to carry the hand free kit every where just to listen to the radio.
Games - Allows for Java games to be played. You can get additional games by downloading them directly to your phone.
Recommendations ********************* I recommend this mobile phone for almost anyone. It can do it all especially if you want more than a phone, you like having some nice gadgets to play with and something to show off to your friends.
A big thanks to Sony Ericsson for coming up with a great mobile phone. Well done.
*********** UPDATE *********** It has been a few months since I originally wrote this review and I have found a number of problems with this phone since.
Middle Button - At the middle of the phone there is a button which acts as a mouse. This button has begun to freeze up and become stiff making it hard to select different icons on the menu etc.
Pictures of Sony Ericsson K800i Cyber-shot
The New Look
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Great Camera, Chic Look, Pleny of functions, Sturdy built, The ultimate phone Disadvantages: Fiddly to use, small buttons, screen gets dirty, Not supplied Memory Stick M2
Advantages: Great Camera, Chic Look, Pleny of functions, Sturdy built, The ultimate phone Disadvantages: Fiddly to use, small buttons, screen gets dirty, Not supplied Memory Stick M2
May 15th, 2007
(Aug 16th, 2007)
exceptional by (9%):
very helpful by (91%):
