Sony Ericsson K750i - a great phone (Sony Ericsson K750i)

Member Name: diffyb

Product:	Sony Ericsson K750i
Date:	22/03/06 (1806 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ideal size and weight, packed with features

Disadvantages: Small scroll key is a bit fiddly

My K750i was free to upgrade on the Vodafone network but you can also buy these on PAYT - cost is around £200 though !

~~ In The Box ~~
The phone comes with :-
- wall charger
- headphones
- 64mb Sony memory card
- instruction manual
- CD with image and file transfer software
- USB data cable
- Sony memory stick adaptor to slot into a computer

Compared to other brands I find that Sony tends to provide you with everything you need and more - and the K750i is no exception.


~~ Look and feel ~~
The actual phone (plus battery) weighs in at a tiny 99g which is incredibly light and great for popping into your pocket without feeling like a deep sea diver (i.e. weighed down).

The phone dimensions are 100 x 46 x 20 mm - and fits perfectly in the palm of my hand.

It comes in a stylish black and silver colour and has a large colourful screen - I believe that is is also available completely in black but I opted for silver.

The k750i has a "joystick" in the centre which is useful for navigating the menu system and performs many of the functions that the menu buttons can do.
I really like the joystick approach and find it much easier than having to flick between the 2 soft keys to get to where I want to be in the menu.
However, I have relatively small fingers and I suspect that people with larger digits would find the joystick a little fiddly to use.

The keypad is one area which I feel could have been better.
The keys feel quite "loose" almost as if they are about to break off - and they are packed closely together making it easy to press more than one key at a time unless you are careful.

The slot on the side holds the 64mb memory card and can easily be removed by opening the rubber cap and pressing down on the memory card causing it to eject.

The phone boasts 9 hours talktime and 400 hours standby.
I find that I have to charge my phone very infrequently, about once every 8 days or so and that's with medium to heavy use.


~~ Making Calls ~~
Making calls is quite simple - you can navigate to the phonebook and eithr scroll through your contacts or press the initial letter of the name you need and the phone skips to that section of your contacts.

You can also just press the joystick downwards which automatically takes you to the phonebook.

The phonebook can hold up to 500 entries apparently although I only use a fraction of that amount.

When adding a new entry you can input 2 phone numbers (work and home) plus the person's name which saves having 2 phonebook entries for 1 person - quite handy.

The call quality is dictated by a combination of the network you use and the handset itself and in this case, the K750i delivers perfect sound quality and I rarely have to redial.


~~ Features ~~
The phone is packed with features - here is a selection that I have used so far :-

CAMERA & VIDEO
Not just any camera - but a 2 megapixel camera which takes lovely clear photos and gives you the option to zoom and crop photos once they have been captured.
The digital zoom function can cause loss of clarity if you zoom too much though.
There is also a light for use in low-light situations and this seems to work well but the photo can appear washed-out.
The camera is simple to activate - just slide the cover on the back of the phone and it automatically switches to camera mode.
You then hold the phone like a normal camera and use the buttons on the top.
I've found that the photos I've taken are really clear - very impressed so far.
Using the joystick, you can swap from camera to video mode - this lets you shoot up to 15 seconds of video.
I can't say I've used this more than a couple of times and the footage is a little grainy.

MP3 PLAYER
In the menu there is a "Media Player" which automatically lists all the music on your phone including the ringtones.
You can create playlists similar to Windows Media Player.
You can also use the Media Player to watch videos if you have any.
You can either use the headphones, which mimics a proper mp3 player, or play your music/videos so that everyone can hear.
I tend not to use this too much but there is plenty of room on the memory card to load mp3 files if you want to.
The Media Player supports MP3, MP4, WAV and 3GP formats.

BLUETOOTH
Essential if you want to use a separate headset, but also useful for swapping pictures and ringtones with your mates like I do.
It's easy to turn on and off but I always leave my bluetooth activated for convenience and doesn't seem to drain the battery.

INFRARED
I'd never used this before but I actually found it really useful for transferring contacts from the address book of my old phone.
You do have to turn off bluetooth to activate infrared though.

OTHER STUFF
- MMS picture messaging
- SMS text messaging
- radio (need headphones for this)
- calendar
- alarm clock
- java games


~~ What I Like The Most ~~
Firstly, the size and feel of this phone is perfect for me - I wanted a phone that I could fit into my jeans pocket that felt comfortable and wasn't too heavy - and this fits the bill.

The screen quality surprised me - it really is very crisp and clear and the photos are good enough to email to yourself and use as a screensaver on the computer.

The best bit though is the memory stick which slots into my computer directly allowing me to transfer images and music effortlessly.
Even if you don't have a memory card slot on your PC, the phone comes with a USB cable which performs the same function.

The battery life is also worthy of a mention - despite messing with all the features and constantly listening to tunes and taking picrures, I still get over a week out of my phone before I have to charge it - and I make and receive calls every day.

If, like me, you like to change the screen picture then this phone is ideal as you can choose a "wallpaper" and separate "screensaver" if you like.
You can also download new "Themes" to replace the colour schemes and menu backgrounds.


~~ What I Don't Like ~~
There isn't much to put in this section !
If I have a gripe, it would be that the keypad feels a little flimsy compared to the rest of the phone and it will be interesting to see how it copes over the next 12 months or so.
That said - it functions perfectly at the moment.


~~ Conclusion ~~
Sony have packed so many features into this phone and still managed to keep the handset compact and stylish and easy to use.
It really is a lovely handset and I would recommend it to anybody.

Summary: A compact and stylish phone with great features

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Sound quality:
Variety of features: