By Jun Cotoco
I am a self confessed avid fan of Sony Ericsson. Aside from standing out from the crowd, I chose SE because of its durability, functions and style. I’m presently using the first walkman branded phone, the W800, and the versatile P910. When I heard that Sony Ericsson is branding its latest camera phone with "Cyber-shot," I knew pretty well its not going to be an ordinary camera phone.
Feeling like a kid again, I anxiously waited for the demo unit to arrive. After getting my borrowed new toy, I immediately played with it. I noticed that the unit is a bit oversized compared to ordinary phones. (Who would want an ordinary phone anyway?) And the keys were a bit small for my big thumb. However, what initially impressed me was the solid construction which was quite unlike its younger plastic siblings, the K600 & K750.
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| Sony Ericsson K800i | |
Starting with the most anticipated feature of the K800i, I started testing the camera. Similar to any other ordinary camera, you hold the phone horizontally to take pictures. The K800i Cybershot boasts a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and a built-in xenon flash. Similar to a regular digital camera, the xenon flash automatically lights the surroundings when shooting in dark places. Compared to my W800 which sports a 2.0 megapixel camera, the camera application of the K800i has not changed much except for the "BestPic" under the Shoot mode category and the pixel preference under the Picture Size category.
The "Best Pic" lets you choose and save not one, but 9 photos by just pressing the shutter button only once. As for the pixel preference, the K800i gives you the option to shoot under 3MP, 2MP, 1MP and VGA settings. Frankly, aside from saving memory space, I cannot think of any reason why anyone would want to shoot at a lower quality setting. The picture file size can range from 100KB at 1MP normal quality to 900KB at 3MP fine quality setting.
From a 3MP camera phone I was expecting better resolution, especially with an image stabilizer feature, but I was really disappointed. Maybe I should remind myself that it is a camera phone and not a video camera.
Though it was not branded a walkman, the K800i music player is almost as good as my W800. It even has the same music application except for the absence of the MegaBass equalizer. The sound of the built-in speaker is also fantastic considering its size. To further test the capabilities of the music player, I docked the K800 in my stereo speaker stand that I bought for my W800 and I honestly did not notice any difference. I strongly believe the K800i is worthy of being branded a "Cyber Walkman."
So now I know the music player is fantastic, where do I store the thousand of music from the 80's that I intend to install? The 64MB internal memory is definitely not enough. Thank goodness it has an expansion memory slot where I can use my existing 2GB Memory Stick Duo Pro. However, I was stunned to find a smaller slot on the left side of the phone. After reading the manual, (I should have done that in the first place!) I discovered that Sony Ericsson decided to use a new, smaller memory stick called M2 micro. (Why would they do that?!)
Did I mention that the K800i is already 3G ready and that it supports video calling and Internet surfing? Unfortunately, it does not have EDGE and WI-FI support. Anyway, I installed my Globe 3.5G HSDPA SIM and went to my favorite website (trust me; it’s not an adult site!). I noticed that surfing was a bit slower than using my laptop; aside from that, its not comfortable surfing with a small screen. I did not get a chance try the video calling because I honestly do not know who to call (ha, ha).
So what do I think of this phone? Beyond any doubt, the K800i is a fun phone to have. The pictures that I have taken can let you forget you are using a camera phone. We can really see the success of tech convergence in this phone. The superb display, high quality camera features and excellent MP3 player are some of the features that make this phone, one of the best convergence phones in the market today.
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