Full featured, compact package
Written: Jun 29 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Compact, solid, full-featured camera phone
Cons: can't turn off camera shutter sound without firmware upgrade. Mic location not well thought out.
The Bottom Line: The s710a is a quality phone with useful features and capabilities.
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| AriesG's Full Review: Sony Ericsson S710a Smartphone |
Getting the essentials and hoping to fulfill future needs is never easy especially when it comes to shopping for phones. The s710a is Sony Ericsson's latest offering. Essentially a Cybershot camera with calling capabilities there really are no sacrifices made.
The cellphone is compact but not flimsy. In its closed form, some might consider this a bit bulky but definitely not hefty. The screen rotates to expose the sleek buttons of the dial pad. The buttons are flush to the surface so touch dialing may be out of the question. They do have a slightly slippery feel to them but they are very responsive. Larger hands might find them a bit tedious. The screen offers high resolution so there's no blurring and images come across very crisp. The menu is fairly intuitive (you can program the directional key's with shortcuts) and is accessible with the phone opened or closed. The backlighting is bright and does a nice job of lighting the keys without being obtrusive - I think the blue helps to tone that aspect down.
The camera offers 1.3 megapixel resolution with digital zoom. There is a flash available for taking photo's in low light. The same flash can be left on continuously while taking video footage - a nice feature that doesn't require you from having to find a decent backlighting source. The light is exceptionally bright and may prove to be obnoxious to your subject. The lense cover slides open to expose the self-portrait mirror as well. A timer allows you to be included in the next family photo! The camera will not operate while the phone is open so you'll have to slide it closed (and the phone gives you a gentle reminder to do so). Sony made no sacrifices with their camera and the photo quality is exceptional.
The ability to save files on removeable media is a bonus. Included with the phone is a card reader which can be hooked up to your computer for easy image transfers. Standard 32Mb memory card is included but the phone can handle 1GB cards easily and might not be a bad idea if you're planning on taking a ton of photo's or want to take your favorite songs with you. There is software available that will allow you to convert movies to a manageable file size so you can take those along with you as well.
I found that accessing the internet was seamless and spritely - Edge technology means faster downloads and file transfers as well.
Some things that were a bit annoying:
Camera shutter sound. Because the audio output of the phone is quite good, the sound of the camera going off will turn heads. There is no way to turn this sound off unless you have the latest firmware - something that should be available to you via the service provider (Cingular) and shortly at the Sony Ericsson website.
The microphone. The mic location will probably place it somewhere around the cheek region - regardless of whether it is opened or closed. Initial phone conversations sounded muffled before realization that moving the mouthpiece slightly away from the face remedied the problem. It was a bit frustrating at first with both sides of the conversation needing to be repeated. Once that was figured out we enjoyed the clear reception.
Overall the phone ranks high on my list. It offers a ton of features (converters, timer, alarm, calender, to-do list, memo, voice recorder, stopwatch, etc.) Games run quick although the demo's weren't enough so you'll end up downloading more. The photo taking capabilities were top notch with little bluing or off coloring. Aside from the two minor issues which are easily remedied, the phone will provide the user with a quality phone they should expect from Sony Ericsson
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $299
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Epinions.com ID:
AriesG
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Member: Aries Galindo
Location: Seattle, WA
Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Hardcore action figure collector with a love for hi-tech gadgets.
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