Sony Soft Case
Sony Ericsson K850i Review – Disappointingly Good
The Cyber-Shot range of mobile cameraphones has played a sizeable part in establishing Sony Ericsson as a major player in the industry and each new-model seems to be more eagerly-awaited as the last.
In the case of the K850i, the excitement surrounding it has made it one of the most eagerly-awaited mobile phones ever and considering that its Sony Ericsson’s first entry into the 5MP range, its understandable how much there is riding on the K850i’s success. This makes some of the adjustments to the well-known K-Series design a little risky and quite frankly a bit baffling in what is billed as a flagship in their portfolio.
In terms of the size, the K850i is comparable to its predecessors the K800i and K810i. These were by no means the smallest phones around and whilst the K850i is fractionally smaller measuring 102 x 48 x 17 mm, it is also significantly heavier than the K810i weighing 118 grams (the K810i was 106g and the K800i 115g). To be fair though these phones do not contain the same level of features and due to the clever design K850i does appear smaller. To give it a fair comparison it needs to be compared to it’s competitors, the LG Viewty (103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8mm and 112g) and the Nokia N82 (112 x 50.2 x 17.3mm and 114g) and the G800 (101 x 51.1 x 18.8mm and 134g). I have purposely avoided comparisons to the N95 (both versions) as that is in a different class and whilst the Samsung G600 is by far and away the smallest and lightest (101 x 47.8 x 14.9mm and 104g) 5MP camera phone, it is not able to compete on other features, so again a comparison would be unfair. When measured against its competition then, it is physically one of the shorter and thinner units, but it does lose out in depth and weight. Personally I felt that the size was about right and the weight lent solidity, rather than being an issue. This might however prove an issue for those with smaller hands.
In response to the growing demand for larger and larger screens, without making the phone excessively large Sony Ericsson has employed a couple of novel solutions. The first solution is one of the more controversial aspects of the K850i’s design, the integration of the D-pad around the number 2 and 5 keys to allow for the excellent QVGA 2.2” screen. Placing such an integral part of the controls in such an unorthodox area was sure to result in difficulties especially for those accustomed to a more traditional d-pad. The thinking is obviously clear, people disliked the joystick approach, but a d-pad took up too much space. Surprisingly the positioning of this is not as uncomfortable as might be imagined and you quickly get used to it, although I must confess that the thin hard edges of the pad, necessary for this to work, are not the most comfortable (although again I did get used to them). The main keypad does deserve a mention as it’s yet another aspect of this confusing phone that will certainly divide opinion a little. The keys themselves do remind me a little of the W880i in the way that they’re very small and well-separated but do feel a little uncomfortable when first used, as with the d-pad however, you do get used to it. Surprisingly the rectangular D-pad doesn’t get in the way as much as I first thought it would. The keys used are also completely different to SE phones of old. They have removed the ‘back’ key which has been replaced by the soft-key layout described below. This may upset the die-hard Sony Ericsson purists; however it does bring the phone’s user interface into line with that of the majority of other manufacturers.
The second solution and far more successful experiment are the soft-keys underneath the screen. Admittedly a direct rip-off from the likes of Samsung and LG, response and feedback are both very good showing the Sony Ericsson have put some serious testing into this, as they have obviously learnt from the mistakes of their competitors. Although having three softkeys as opposed to the usual two does take some getting used to, it actually works very well as the keys are context sensitive and the menus are very well thought out. In some aspects, Sony Ericsson’s decision to go for such a drastic rethink in terms of controls has paid off, especially thanks to the quality of the display, which is very clear and bright, though personally I still think that the T650i is their best so far.
The main attraction of the K850i will obviously be the 5 Megapixel camera, so it is fully deserving of a little attention. First thing to get out of the way is that, technically speaking at least, the K850i is the best equipped of almost every other cameraphone out there as it comes with an automatic lens cover as well as Xenon flash for improved brightness, though the ISO light-sensitivity only goes up to ISO400, with other cameraphones (like the Samsung G600) going as high as ISO800.
In my personal opinion, the image quality of the K850i is very good, but just not quite at the level its capabilities would have many believe. The first snapshots are fine, but it does take some experimentation with the settings to get decent night shots (although once these are right the results are impressive, as the flash is excellent). To be quite honest it’s very difficult to say whether the camera in this phone is better than that in its competitors and we found that most other reviewers had similar problems. Technically it is very closely balanced with it’s competitors and the results are very impressive, however general opinion does not necessarily agree with technical ability and some less technically accurate images can seem preferable. Overall this is down to personal opinion and I would say that this is not the standout winner in its field, but it’s not the worst either. Overall it depends on the type of shots you are taking and what you want the phone for, as if you are truly that concerned by photography then you wouldn’t be using a phone camera anyway.
This model is being marketed as Sony Ericsson’s crowning glory, much in the same way as Nokia N95, but it doesn’t really live up to this billing completely. There are a lot of other great features, which I have not been able to go into in such a short review, such as the fantastic media browsing software and music player, as well as the upgraded menu system, fantastic phonebook and improved messaging software, but there are also some unfortunate shortcomings. Chief amongst these is the slight disappointment that the camera features, whilst very good, are not enough to make it an outright winner in the cameraphone stakes, unlike its predecessors the K750i and K800i. In addition is the poor video quality (compared to the rest of the camera, it’s not terrible with QVGA resolution at 30fps) and the absence of Wi-Fi. Oh and lest we forget, it’s a fingerprint magnet.
Overall the K850i is an excellent handset; however my view would be to get a feel for the K850i first before really committing. If the few negative points mentioned above don’t cause you too much of a problem, then the rest of the K850’s capabilities will prove to be very pleasing but because it doesn’t stand out above the crowd in the same way as it’s predecessors, it’s going to divide a lot of peoples opinions.
The Sony Ericsson K850i is available to purchase on Contract and Pay As You Go.
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