Want a camera? Then buy this phone, because it's great at that too! (Sony Ericsson K750i)

Member Name: sicl

Product:	Sony Ericsson K750i
Date:	13/08/05 (1538 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and excellent at being a phone

Disadvantages: Proprietary formats for memory card and headphones, no 3G

I've had the Sony Ericsson K750i for a week, bought on a Vodafone contract as an upgrade to my Samsung P510 (a good phone but lacking in several departments). So this review, all be it a long one, is what I think so far.

Firstly, the size of the handset is just right, small and light enough to fit in your pocket without noticing it, yet easy to hold and use. It also looks fantastic, I don't like a garish brightly coloured phone, so the sliver and sleek lines of the Sony make it stylish and attractive to look at.

The screen is fantastic, large (176 x 220) and bright with 262,000 colours, you can clearly see what's displayed even in sunlight. The battery can live for 400 hours stand-by or 9 hours talk-time - so far it has gone 3 days without a charge. It's also light (99g for the whole phone) and seemly quick to charge, about 2-3 hours.

To control the phone you have a 5 way control stick together with all the normal keys. Personally, I like the little stick, it makes navigating through the menus easy and fast. If you have larger fingers then it might be a problem, so best to try before you buy. The main keypad is fine but the keys aren’t as clearly separated as my previous phone and so it can be tricky to use.

This phone also has a split personality; it secretly wants to be camera but is trapped in a phones body! Because when you flip the Sony on its back it ceases to be a phone and becomes a fully fledged 2 megapixel camera - how cool is that?

In fact the duel purpose of this camera... I mean phone... has been handled very well and apart from looking like a camera, it feels like one too. It has a shutter that you slide open, which protects the lens (a very good idea) and activates the camera automatically. It also has purposely designed shutter and zoom buttons on the side of the handset, so when rotated, you can use it just like a conversional camera with your fingers in the same positions.

The camera itself is very good and with 2 megapixels you can finally take a decent quality photograph using a mobile phone. It can be tricky to get sharp pictures, many of my early attempts were quite blurred but with a bit of practice it is capable of doing a lot. And when I mean a lot it has; a 4x digital zoom, a macro mode, night mode, flash light, self-timer, various picture effects, white balance, time stamping, picture sizes of 1632x1224, 640x480, 160x120 and a choice of normal or fine picture quality. It also has a video mode. So, if you want a proper camera in your phone, this is as close as you will get at the moment. It is impressive!

I've spent quite a bit of time talking about the camera as for many will be one of the main reasons for buying this model. But this is also a very good phone.

It has triband for use outside the UK, its GPRS compatible and if you buy from Vodafone the handset is pre-configured to use all of their services including Vodafone live! It has a 510 space phone book (big!), which can be quickly accessed by clicking down on the joy stick. You also have standard features like keypad lock and a silent mode.

When making a call the line is clear and audible - I would have no complaints here. The zoom buttons on the side of the camera control the volume, allowing it to be easily turned up and when at maximum it is loud with little distortion. During a call you also turn on the speaker, so instead of holding the phone to your ear you can hold it in front of you.

The Sony comes with all the normal features you expect in a phone these days; a calendar, tasks, notes, an array of alarms, SMS and MMS, and options to look at call records. It gives you various customisation options including choosing your wallpaper, screensaver, ring tone, start-up screen and you can even change the design of the entire interface with various themes. One nice additional feature is the FM radio which is fantastically clear, just like listening to a CD.

One thing of note this that it only comes with 8 wallpapers and 3 ring tones as standard, which is a bit poor. You are given a link to down more but that will cost you. (Incidentally, it does come with a "ring ring" tone so you don't look like a pratt.) But if you have a PC you can use the provided USB cable to create and download your own.

The USB cable is very important. Remember you have a great camera and you will take great pics and then when you do, you will want to show them to people and print them off. If you didn't have the cable this would difficult and I mean difficult. Instead you can simply plug the phone in and browse the entire contents of the phone; not just your photos but ring tones, wallpapers, organiser and even your mp3's ...

... yes that magical word MP3. As if this phone didn't do enough already it has its own media player. So once you have your PC connection sorted you can simply drop and drag your music from your computer to your phone and listen loud to the fantastic O'Jays. And if that wasn't enough you can listen to other artists as well, and watch video recorded by your camera, and create play lists, and adjust the bass in the equalizer. This phone just goes on and on, I’m sure theirs more to tell you but I just haven’t found it yet!

Some might have noticed the lack of Bluetooth up to this point - well I was saving that! Bluetooth has to be one of the best inventions for mobile phones in recent times, by definition mobiles should be mobile, they shouldn't have to rely on wires. Manufactures, for some unknown reason, have been reluctant to put it in but in this case Sony have and what a relief.

I bought Sony’s own Bluetooth hands free gizmo that pops on your ear to use specially with this phone. And it’s brilliant. It's even clearer than using the phone it's self because the sound is planted directly in your ear. You also don't have to use your hands, just pop the thing in your ear and put the phone on a table or in your pocket. This is especially useful for me as I make a lot of calls to people whilst using my PC, with it I can take a call and look something up on the PC without trying to rest a small phone between my shoulder and my ear. It also means you can connect your phone to a photo printer, to your PC or another phone. So if you’re getting a new phone get Bluetooth - its great!

The phone comes with 37MB of internal memory but also comes with a 64MB MemoryStick Duo card, which slots into the side of the camera. This is great, if you want to store lots of photos or mp3's you can upgrade the total memory to 1GB!

There aren’t many negatives to this phone but lack of 3G might put some people off, however this doesn't detract overall. But what does, is Sony's insistence on proprietary formats. Why should you have to pay a premium for a MemoryStick Duo when SD is just as good? And why can't I use my own headphones? These issues might not bother some but they bother me!

Overall, this is a great phone and it’s good enough for me to ignore the problems of proprietary formats and buy it. I don't normally consider Sony to make the best electronics in a particular sector (they are great all-rounders) but here I would suggest they have created one of the best phones on the market - a big claim - but if you want all the things that this phone provides, then this is an excellent phone.

Summary: Excellent phone/camera that's packed full of features, has Bluetooth but not 3G

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