A competitor for the 6230`s crown? (Sony Ericsson K700)

Member Name: cdventures

Product:	Sony Ericsson K700
Date:	07/09/04 (2059 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: MP3 player, Video clips, 41mb of memory

Disadvantages: Not a Nokia 6230!

The Sony Ericsson K700i was eagerly anticipated as Sony Ericsson`s most exciting offering to date. Add the promise of an MP3 player, video clips, dual-fronts (one side looks like a phone, the other a digital camera) and a massive 41mb of on-board memory to Sony Ericsson`s already impressive armour of bluetooth, tri-band, excellent cameras and ringtones and you can see what all the fuss was about.

I was one of those people looking forward to the release. Having previously owned a T610 and the even better T630 I was pretty much converted to Sony Ericsson`s glossy, easy-to-use style. While I was waiting for the K700i`s arrival I got myself a Nokia 6230 - offering pretty much the same features as the K700i. Immediately I fell in love with my 6230, but was still a Sony Ericsson convert and couldn`t wait to put my sim card in when the K700i arrived. However, a few weeks down the line and I am back with my 6230. Why, you ask? Read on...

- The menu on the K700i at first looks impressive, with glossy 3D icons. However it often freezes for a few seconds then plays catch-up with itself and does everything you asked it do all in one go. Something I`ve seen on phones before, but didn`t expect to see on a Sony Ericsson.
- Then there`s the camera - as you are lining the picture up everything looks great. But take the picture and a grainy effect appears on the image - every time. Quality of video clips is nothing to write home about either.
- The quality of speaker sound when playing MP3`s is good, just not as good (or as loud) as the Nokia 6230.
- As mentioned the K700i has an impressive 41mb of memory. However, unlike the Nokia 6230 this isn`t expandable meaning you would realistically be able to store a maximum of 10 MP3`s - and then you would have virtually no room for photo`s games etc. Games are one area where the K700i DOES stand out - two excellent 3Dgames (Tennis and Darts) are included on the phone. These are a real step forward, in fact th
e tennis game was dveloped by Sega and has many similarities with Virtua Tennis.

So is the K700i a challenger to the 6230`s throne? Don`t get me wrong the K700i is a great phone in it`s own right, offering features that only one other phone on the market can match, but bar the games is pretty much second best in everything it does to the Nokia 6230 - I just get the feeling that at the moment Sony Ericsson have bitten off a little more than they can chew on this one. Future software updates may well rectify some of the problems, and I certainly expect SE to fight back strongly with their next phone, the S700 which boasts a megapixel camera and is due in October / November. If you refuse to to buy Nokia then go and get yourself a K700i - you won`t be disappointed - but at the end of the day the 6230 is still king of the castle, and rightly so

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