After calling yesterday to amend my contract with O2 following some changes in spending habit, I was pleased to discover I was eligible for a phone upgrade, less than 24 hours later and I am sitting here with a brand new shiny toy.

I decided to stick with the Sony Ericsson brand because after Nokia went a bit weird and lost their grip on the handset market it has been tough to find any other phones that are so user friendly and solid. My little old K750 has been dropped, thrown, soaked and left outside and it still troops on like a brave soldier. But its time has come for retirement; move over K750, the K810i has come to usurp my pocket.

The packaging for the phone is a bit disappointing to be honest; it is an attempt at style, but then who honestly is looking at the box? I just wish it wasn't such a horrible grey colour.

<**...looks...**>
At first glance the K810i looks slightly bigger than its predecessors, but this is an illusion, it has, in fact been squashed so that it is thinner and sleeker, but if you put it flat on the table it just has a bigger footprint than models like the K750.

It has an interesting futuristic style, not as much as the RAZR or any of the other competitors that are marketing phones that don't look like phones, but the buttons have been replaced with stainless steel circles that you can really feel your way around if you aren't looking at the phone, making texting really quite easy. Also the screen is big and bright, useful for internet browsing as much as for texting and viewing the menus.

The back of the phones has been covered in a soft, matte fake rubber, which was surprise to me since none of the photos I looked at online seemed to show that off, but it feels nice in your hand, like it wont slip.

One negative is the placement of the internet button, it is next to the menu buttons and I found I kept tapping it while I was looking through the menus, meaning the phone kept trying to connect to the internet, not ideal. But I think this is one of those features that gets better once you start to get to know the phone.

<**...Features...**>
In the interests of keeping this review away from 'I'm regurgitating the handbook' I will only mention some of the outstanding features here. Aside from all of the usual things you can expect from a phone, like alarm clock (although this gives you multiple alarms, a nice, new feature) stopwatch, date, time, ringtones etc etc

Email:
You are able through the use of the sony ericsson website to set up email direction to your phone, meaning that you can pick up your emails without finding a pc, very useful if you are out and about!

Video calls:
This being the first cybershot 3G phone, there is a small camera in the front of the phone as well as the camera at the back, this facilitates the use of video calling, I would always recommend you check your network's charges for this as sometimes it can be more expensive

Music player:
Like most SE phones, the K810i has an onboard media player and comes supplied with software to install on your pc (very easy to do) which will allow you to move music onto the phone and use it as an MP3 player. The headphones supplied are not brilliant, but a good pair is cheap to pick up and you do get a phone adapter that allows you to use standard headphones in the phone's own socket.
If you wish to listen to music while you are on a plane, the phone will allow you to choose a flight mode that will turn all the communication features of the phone off.

<.**...Quality...**>
SE have I think cracked the formula for quality in their merchandise, at least when it comes to phones, sound clarity is excellent, and the overall detail and finish is excellent, nothing feels like it is going to drop off or break and I don't get any echoes and shadows on the line when I am talking.

<**...the camera...**>
This deserves its own section. With a 3.2mp camera this phones was taking things in its stride, Now that SE have released a 5mp phone this is really the little baby brother, but its nothing to turn your nose up at.
I have been snapping some pics to get the feel of it, and I must say it is excellent. With the trademark SE autofocus and an added ability that lets you take 9 pictures in a second (and choose the one you wish to keep) you can take action shots and stills, it even copes with closeup detail very well.
This phone introduces the idea of blogging from your phone as well, after you have taken your shot you can choose the option to send it directly to your blog, where it will be published online, great for keeping family in the loop if you are on holiday or at a concert and saves uploading loads of stuff later.

All in all I am very very happy with my choice, it is another quality offering from SE and I am still convinced they have my loyalty as a customer as I still don't think other manufacturers can offer the same kind of value.