Sony Ericsson S700i

...arrival of my S700i because Sony had recalled loads of them due to some technical fault, (some handsets were unable to receive text messages), and however, this problem has now been rectified. Although there are some delays with shops getting them back into stock, Also the phone is only available on the O2 and Vodafone networks, I believe, if you pay a huge amount you can also get it on BT and if your lucky maybe on EBay or you can but them for around ...
...Well naturally you get the Sony S700i handset, a hands free kit, 32MB Memory stick, Memory Stick Duo Adaptor, Sony CD Rom, Sony Ericsson Leaflet, O2 Active Leaflet and the very thick Sony Instruction Booklet.

***THE FEATURES:***

I have put an explanation down for the majority of the features on the phone, NOT all, as there are far too many, but the important ones are listed, one or two have no explanation due to the ... more

I first saw this phone back in December time and loved the look of it, yes, granted it is bigger than most phones these day’s, however, this has a few more little gems on it than most.

I am on O2 online, when I first inquired about it, I was quoted £349.00 to upgrade, (£79.99 for a new account), so in so many words I told them to jump, and decided to cancel my contract and look elsewhere. Only a week later, O2 rang me and offered the phone to me for free as my monthly bill has always been quite high. I took them up on the offer and upgraded with the new 12 month contract, and the all important same number.

The S700i has recently gone down in price to £39.99 in most places, however, it still remains in the shops, (again most, not all) £79.99 for an upgrade, so do some haggling! O2 online however, does offer a lot more than most shops, 200 X-network minutes anytime, 500 text messages or 125 media messages, (these are connected, so u can use them which way you like, its just because media messages cost more to send), 500 WAP minutes all for £30.00 a month, and is just one of a good handful of tariffs.

It’s also important to let you know I had to wait 20 days for the arrival of my S700i because Sony had recalled loads of them due to some technical fault, (some handsets were unable to receive text messages), and however, this problem has now been rectified. Although there are some delays with shops getting them back into stock, Also the phone is only available on the O2 and Vodafone networks, I believe, if you pay a huge amount you can also get it on BT and if your lucky maybe on EBay or you can but them for around the £400 mark, maybe cheaper if you have a good look around.

So the S700i specifications;

The screen is 240 x 320 pixel, this is much larger than most and has many more benefits when taking pictures and filming, along with a colour LCD 262.144 screen.
The sound is polyphonic and has a memory of 32 MB. It comes in Artic Silver, (if you like swapping covers you won’t be able to with this handset). The size is 107.5 x 49 x 24.5 mm, (or 4.23 x 1.93 x .96 inches). It weighs 137 grams.
What also is quite unique with the phone is that it swivels rather than flips, having a kind of ball-joint, (see the pictures).

***WHAT’S IN THE BOX***

Well naturally you get the Sony S700i handset, a hands free kit, 32MB Memory stick, Memory Stick Duo Adaptor, Sony CD Rom, Sony Ericsson Leaflet, O2 Active Leaflet and the very thick Sony Instruction Booklet.

***THE FEATURES:***

I have put an explanation down for the majority of the features on the phone, NOT all, as there are far too many, but the important ones are listed, one or two have no explanation due to the fact they are obvious or I am unsure myself.

~*~Controls~*~

Vibrating Alert, (The phone vibrates whilst on silent, ideal if you are in a meeting).

Camera Button, (Quick access button to the Camera).

Internet Key, (Direct key pad which takes you online).
Navigation Key, (Allows you to move around the menus with ease).

Menu Shortcuts, (Quick navigation, allows you to go directly to your favourites).

12 Icons on the Desktop, (Displays twelve icons on the main screen leading to other menus).

Sleep Mode, (Switches the radio or MP3 player off after a set time).

Selection Keys, (Access to Calls or other options).

Side Volume Keys, (Allows you to control the volume of the Radio, Media Player and call Volumes).

Redial, (Quick redial option).

Voice Mail, (Button that allows immediate call to your voicemail).

SIM Card Lock, (Only allows you to access the phone by entering a four digit pin code).

Voice Control, (Able to make calls by talking into the phone).

Status View. (Shows you the status of your phone on one page, also shows your mobile number).

~*~Imaging~*~

Frames, (Allows access to imaging frames through the media player).

Sound Recorder, (records conversations within a room or even a telephone call).

Picture Gallery, (Allows you to view your pictures in one folder).

Picture Effects, (add special effects to your pictures, make them funny or add sepia to make them look old!).

Picture Phonebook, (Brings up the picture of the person ringing you).

Wallpaper Animation, (When the phone is not in use, you can have moving wallpaper, a bit like a screensaver on a PC).

Backlight Display, (Allows you to see the phone in the dark).

Integrated Camera, (All in one built in camera within the phone).

Email, (Send pictures etc via Email from your phone).

Instant Messaging, (Similar to a MSN Chat with one person, saves the conversation).

SMS Long, (Text Messaging but longer messages are able to be sent).

Photo Light, (Similar to a flash on a camera).

8X Digital Zoom, (Allows the image to be brought in closer to you when either taking a photo or a video).

Themes Display, (A theme that contains a back ground throughout the menus on the phone).

MMS, (Multimedia Messaging, allow you to send photos).

MMS Templates, (Already made picture, sometimes animated that allows you to add text or music before sending it to someone else).

Video Streaming,

Video Recording, (Allows you to record like a camcorder, but only small clips).

MMS Video, (Allows you to send video clips).

EMS, (Enhanced Messaging).

Screensaver, (Use a picture as you screen saver).

View Finder Display, (Display within the screen, enables you to look at a preview of the clips of film or photos).

Predictive Text Input, (This is the same as what we all know as T9).

~Entertainment~

Melody Composer / MIDI (Music DJ), (Make you own music and add it to videos).

MP3 Audio, (Download tune directly to the phone allowing you to either listen to them or use them as a ring tone).

Media Player, (Allows you to watch your video clips and listen to your MP3’s).

MPEG4 Video, (Type of video streaming).

FM Radio, (Save up to ten FM Radio Stations).

Music Tones, (Various polyphonic and MP3 tunes on the phone).

Games Embedded, (The S700i has two games already on the phone).

Games Download, (Allows you to access the internet to download JAVA games)

Java, (Arcade style games)

~*~Organiser~*~

Code Memo, (Able to save security codes, i.e. Credit cards etc safely).

Calculator.

Business Card Exchange, (Store your own business card on the phone and then exchange it via pc or through text messages etc).

File Manager, (Store pictures etc in particular folders so you know where they are).

Calendar, (Up to date all the time, able to put appointments, birthdays etc in).

Tasks, (Reminders to make phone calls etc).

Speaker Phone, (Allow everyone to listen to the conversation).

Stopwatch, (Time a game etc).

Clock, (GMT and other countries times throughout the world).

Contacts, (Keep every ones details in one place. You can store, Home, Business, Mobile, Fax and One other number under one contact, as well as a home address, email address, a picture of the person and assign a ring tone too)!!

Alarm Clock, (Get up on time)!

Phone Book, (Keep all your numbers here under contacts).

32 MB Memory, (Extended memory card inserted in the side of the phone).

Conference Call, (Several calls all-in-one).

PIM Sync, (Synchronise all your contacts and calendar).

Call List, (A list of received, dialled and missed calls).

~*~Connectivity~*~

Memory Stick Duo, (Extra storage for pictures, videos, MP3’s and other files).

Infrared Port, (Put two phones together to exchange files).

High-Speed Data, (Connect leads to your PC to allow ultra fast downloads, also has high speed internet access).

USB Support, (Via PC link).

Bluetooth Wireless Technology, (Connect to various other sources without leads which has Bluetooth).

~*~Internet~*~

cHTML; Short for compact HTML, a subset of HTML for small information devices such as Mobiles and PDA’s.

WAP1.2.1, WAP 2.0; Wireless Application Protocol (WAP for short) allows the developers to develop web applications for cellular devices such as mobile phones enabling you to connect to the internet.

OTA; Settings, Support for advanced service settings: WAP, MMS, GPRS and e-mail.

WTLS; Wireless Transport Layer Security protocol, this protect your security whilst browsing sensitive information whilst on WAP.

~*~Performance~*~

Sony ‘claim’ the following, however, these are times in perfect conditions…. Whatever they are?

Regardless of networks they standby and talk times are the same, these are;

Talk time 7.00 hours, and Standby times 300.00 hours.

~*~‘SAR’ INFORMATION ON THE SONY S700I;~*~

This information has been copied by me, from a web site. I thought it would be of importance as I am recommending the product, so you should also be aware of the health risks if any!

Radio wave exposure and Specific Absorption Rate, (SAR) Information.

This mobile phone model S700i has been designed to comply with applicable safety requirements for exposure to radio waves. These requirements are based on scientific guidelines that include safety margins designed to assure the safety of all persons, regardless of age and health.

The radio exposure guidelines employ a unit of measurement known as the Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR. Tests for SAR are conducted using standardized methods with the phone transmitting at its highest certified power level in all used frequency bands.

While there may be differences between SAR levels of various phone models, they are all designed to meet the relevant guidelines for exposure to radio waves.

SAR data information for residents in countries that have adopted the SAR limit recommended by the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, (ICNIRP), which is 2 W/kg averaged over ten (10) gram of tissue.

The highest SAR value for this model phone tested by Sony Ericsson for use at the ear is 0.73 W/kg (10g).

~*~OPINION~*~

Well where on Earth do I start? One thing is for sure, don’t believe what you feel and touch in the high street stores, the dummy phone they display to this model are nothing like the real thing. The touch to the S700i is amazingly smooth, sturdy feeling and a lot lighter than it looks, and you just don’t want to put the thing down!

It is a little frightening at first when you look at the instruction booklet, but what I would suggest is what I done, just have a look through the phone without the instruction manual at first and get a feel for the phone and its menus, its so much easier. The only thing I had to look up is how to save the MP3’s from the memory stick to the phone. Otherwise, it’s pretty simple to use all the basic functions.

The access to the menus is extremely quick and hassle free, the little navigation key on the phone is excellent, as are the keys themselves, they don’t stick, nor do they need to be pushed hard, they are well spaced also making text messaging very easy. Moving between menus is very smooth and slick, and the colours on the screen are totally awesome!

I was amazed also, the amount of things you can do without opening the phone itself. Access all the menus, make phone calls, read your text messages, shoot videos, and take your pictures, just superb! The five keys on the front allow you to do so much; also at the side of the phone are the volume controls, camera button and a brilliant keys lock button. The infrared port and the memory stick can also be found on the side.

The media player is excellent also, MP3’s either on the phone already or downloaded are crystal clear, the pictures are as good as pretty much any digital camera, (honest), and the video is clear as you would want it, with a super digital zoom that is very, very smooth in zooming in and panning out. Your able to record plenty of footage, (depending on what you have on your memory stick), also a great little spot light for in the dark is also built in. Whilst taking a picture or video, it will give you many features like picture effects, night vision just to name two out of a large handful.

To sum up, I would recommend this to anyone who wants a little bit of class in the mobile phone they have, (its got that), who want a great camera, (its got that), video, MP3 and Radio, (its got that), and of course, to be user friendly, (its that too). Plus hundreds of other little, (and big), features, and its fun too!!

 

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