Sony Ericsson K770i Review by 3G.co.uk

3G's 30 Second Comment

The Sony Ericsson K770i is another top ranking Sony Ericsson mobile phone but how does it stack up against the Cybershot range ?

Sony Ericsson K770i Review by 3G.co.uk

Even assuming you know next to nothing about the latest mobile phones, it's often easy to gauge a new handset's prowess, performance and - ultimately - price tag, by the design and engineering expertise invested in its packaging.

While low-budget phones often land softly at 3G.co.uk, discreetly encased in a small, drab box bearing little more than the manufacturer's logo and the model number, top-of-the-range handsets arrive in a blaze of glory with a fanfare of PR and extravagant glossy packaging that's often large enough to contain a household pet.

Not so the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot K770i. Its packaging is positively nondescript when compared with designer phones like the LG Prada or the new Samsung/Bang & Olufsen Serenata. Fortunately for us, in this case, Sony Ericsson has spent less time on the packaging and more on the handset. And the result is one of the finest all-round specimens on the market today.

In fact, while Sony Ericsson's other new Cyber-shot, the K850i, possesses a better camera, for all-round appeal, we actually think the K770i just edges it.

Great Look and Feel with the Sony Ericsson K770i

Because, while the K850i Cyber-shot is ultra-capable but a little awkward and boxy looking, the K770i Cyber-shot is capable and drop-dead gorgeous.

The phone is as slim as you'd need it to be, intelligently constructed and finished in a novel 'truffle brown' (there is also a purple version exclusive to 3). The colour is far tastier than it sounds, and, unless the covetous glances aimed at our review handset prove wildly misleading, the handset will hit everyone's sweet spot - except maybe those with truffle allergies. And, we know it's just a gimmick, but we love the electric blue backlight that lights up the keypad when the phone is in camera mode. Actually, these do serve a purpose, as each lit key offers a shortcut to the camera's main functions.

The phone's matt finish feels as good as it looks and Sony Ericsson has incorporated a rather neat sliding lens cover that is in little danger of sliding open in your pocket - a problem afflicting certain early Cyber-shot models.

The user interface and keypad on the K770i combine to make the phone a real pleasure to use. The five-way joypad is discreetly designed but comfortable to thumb and Sony Ericsson has cleverly managed to include four soft keys, a dedicated internet key and shortcut keys without the keypad feeling overcrowded.

Meanwhile, on the right-hand side of the phone, you'll find a dedicated camera key and the volume control keys.

3.2-Megapixel Cyber-Shot Camera on the Sony Ericsson K770i

To place the K770i in camera mode, simply slide the lens cover open and the display becomes the viewfinder. Meanwhile, eight icons on the phone's keypad will light up to give you direct one-click access to functions like zoom, focus, self timer, night mode and LED flash.

Although the resolution is not as impressive as that of the five-megapixel K850i, 3.2 megapixels will be good enough for most. Cyber-shot handsets take great photos and they're easy to use. What's more, if you botch up your shot by shooting in poor lighting conditions (and the phone's LED flash is less effective than the Xenon flash you'll find on other Cyber-shots), you can at least use the K770i's Photo Fix application to edit the photo directly on your phone.

Meanwhile, the K770i actually allows us to do something with our beautifully shot photos, rather than letting them sit idly, clogging up the phone's memory card. As you'd expect, the K770i enables you to easily upload your photos to your PC using either the supplied USB cable or via Bluetooth technology.

Of greater appeal to the Web 2.0 generation will be the ability to send pictures from the K770i directly to an online blog. To do so, just go to the phone's camera album menu option, choose a picture, then select more, send, and finally blog. Once you've added a title and text to your photo, you're free to publish it. The handset then lets you check out your handiwork by navigating to a blog address from contacts in just a few easy clicks.

Although the lens may not be made by Carl Zeiss, the photo quality is of the usual high Cyber-shot standard, so it's worth printing your best photos. You can do so by attaching the K770i to a printer via the USB cable or simply by slotting the phone's memory card directly into a compatible printer.

Music Player

Although it doesn't offer the functionality of Sony Ericsson's flagship range of Walkman phones, the K770i stacks up pretty well, with Stereo Bluetooth on board, and support for most digital formats, including streamed music files that are 3GPP compatible.

Although the phone doesn't enjoy Walkman status, you'll still be able to transfer music from your computer using Sony Ericsson's own Disc2Phone software, which is as simple and intuitive to use as iTunes. You'll have your favourite CDs burned and downloaded to the K770i in no time.

Two other typical Walkman features on offer are the TrackID music recognition service and PlayNow, which lets you listen to a new track before you purchase and download it to your phone.

Ticks All The Boxes

If you were to compare the K770i's camera to a fellow Cyber-shot like the K850i, or the phone's music functionality to a top new Walkman phone like the W910i, the K770i would not come out on top. However, the K770i does offer a package that ticks all the boxes.

As with the vast majority of Sony Ericsson's phones, the K770i manages to fit a wealth of features into a compact handset. It also happens to be the best-looking Sony Ericsson handset for some time and wins extra 'brownie' points for its truffle colour scheme.