Sony Ericsson continues to blur the line between cellular phones and dedicated digital cameras with its latest Cyber-shot-branded camera-phone, the K800i, by offering a full photo-taking experience, together with 3G and Bluetooth connectivity. Throw in a Picture Blogging function, FM radio, Web browser and onboard multimedia player, and you've a handset that's almost the ideal companion for those on-the-go. The only caveat is probably its price. At a recommended retail tab of S$938 (US$617.01) (or S$798 (US$525) with a two-year contract), it's likely this new 3G-enabled phone will witness a battle of wants versus needs and form versus function.
The velvet-black K800i is a beauty to behold. On the front, this Sony Ericsson bears faint resemblance to the K750i but it's a world of difference at the rear. As the maiden unit adopting the parent company's Cyber-shot brand, the back of the K800i sports a sliding lid which looks like a mini version of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9's lens cover. Like its Cyber-shot cousins, the lens and mirror hide behind this protective shell on the handset.
Not surprisingly, since the K800i is marketed as a Cyber-shot phone, Sony Ericsson has taken due care to ensure that it not only looks like a proper camera, but feels and handles like one, too. The shutter button is positioned along the right edge of the unit where it can be conveniently reached by the right index finger. One minor gripe. We'd have preferred a more solid feel when hitting the shutter after half-pressing the button to autofocus.
The zoom lever is found on the same side of the phone, but to the left. Alternatively, number keys "3" and "6" double as telephoto controls. Naturally, the K800i favors right-handed users more--which camera doesn't anyway? More on the camera functions later.
You get the usual dedicated shortcuts and Web access keys on the top row of controls. The joystick is housed in the midst of, and flushed with, the surface of these buttons. Our initial impression of the keypad was the lack of tactile feel to differentiate between numbers. This shouldn't cause undue concern, unless you have really big thumbs. Our only grumble is the rather loud "tiak" when using the pad, making it virtually impossible to do reconnaissance typing.
Overall, the Sony Ericsson K800i ups the ante in terms of design and styling. The quibble lies with the sliding lid of the camera, which no doubt is the phone's strongest feature but also causes the unit to have non-uniform thickness on the rear. We also feel that unless there's a protective film shielding the lens cover, that lid would be most prone to scratches.
If there's one feature that stands out more than the sleek design of the K800i, it must be the built-in 3.2-megapixel camera. Slide down the lens cover and you can start taking pictures immediately, almost. There is also a 2-inch 262K-color QVGA display and is probably one of the sharpest screens we've seen so far--which is important since it doubles as a viewer when the camera is activated. Clarity, obviously, isn't an issue.
What's really cool about this shooter is the bevy of features hidden within the menus, which should be familiar to camera users. For example, you can select from a number of predefined scenes, picture size and quality, macro/infinite focusing modes, red-eye reduction flash, timer function, color effects, white balance settings and spot metering. It's a pity there is no option to adjust light sensitivity (ISO) settings.
A user-friendly interface naturally becomes important, especially when the camera is loaded with so many functions. To that, Sony Ericsson has made the whole process simple with numerous shortcut keys. Two tiny rectangular buttons above the screen (when the phone is in upright orientation) allow you to access the scene and shooting modes.
Hitting "0" on the keypad will bring up an overview of other available shortcuts. You can turn the image stabilizer function on with "7", flash with "*" and choose your picture resolution with "1".
Another issue which we feel can be improved is the selection of camera settings. When you enter a particular option, it brings you out of the menu and that makes it a chore--to go in and out of the menu--if you intend to change several options at one go.
Other neat camera features include BestPic, Picture Blogging and a built-in Xenon flash which replaces the traditional LED on camera-phones. Think of BestPic as burst mode with "memory". When activated, it captures nine pictures within a second of pressing the shutter button; four before and four after the actual photo you've snapped: This allows you to then select and save the ones you like best.
Now think of Picture Blogging as--blogging a picture. Pun is unintentional since this feature does exactly as mentioned. After taking a picture, you can select "Blog this" on the menu and your photo will be automatically resized for the Web: Type in your desired title and text for the new entry and, voila, your image appears on your blog in a matter of seconds (network operator dependant). The downside: You cannot post multiple pictures within the same entry, so if you have five pictures you want to upload, you'll have to go through the whole process five times.
If it's your first time blogging on the mobile, you'll receive a message to claim your mobile blog address which is where your subsequent pictures will be uploaded to. Alternatively, if you already have a current account with Blogspot, you can send your photos to that address instead. Currently, the Picture Blogging function is compatible with only Google's Blogger service.
The K800i has around 64MB of internal memory which works out to about 106 3-megapixel pictures (3-megapixel images at normal quality) or 16 4MB music tracks. You can choose to save your pictures, music or files on the phone's memory or Sony's new miniscule Memory Stick Micro (M2). Unfortunately, the Sony Ericsson K800i doesn't come bundled with the pricier M2 media, which is a bummer.
Did we mention that you can also do basic editing of pictures with the onboard PhotoDJ? If you can't bear to hear the shutter sound when taking a photo, you can switch the phone to silent mode and all that's left is a kitty click.
Beyond the digital imaging goodies, the K800i is clearly a high-end phone with all the bells and whistles you can expect, from FM radio (the external earpiece acts as the antenna) to MP3 player (MP3/AAC), to 3D games, etc., to keep those who demand more out of their handsets happy campers.
There's also a proprietary Web browser, RSS feed reader, email client that supports Push email, 3G connectivity, video calls capability (with the second camera just above the 2-inch screen), PIM synchronization and Flight mode status for the corporate users. When making video calls, you can also instantly share your photos with the other party as the selected image will take the place of your face, which multitaskers will like.
Other connectivity options include GPRS, Bluetooth, infrared (beside the shutter button) and printing from any PictBridge-compliant printer. No Wi-Fi on this unit, though.
When we first powered up the phone, we were faced with a series of setup instructions to get our handset going. The phone is rated for 350 hours of standby time and 7 hours of talktime. During our battery test, we left the phone on an active call and managed to clock exactly 7 hours of talktime as claimed by the manufacturer. However, we have to quantify that other factors have to be considered (for example, the user's relative position to a base station) when testing for battery life. You can also expect the juice to deplete faster as you use more features.
We didn't encounter any major issues while reviewing the K800i though we felt that the phone's menu took a while (about 2 seconds) to load. Voice call quality was decent but the speakerphone volume was a tad too soft during video calls.
The K800i produced surprisingly high-quality day images for a camera-phone. There was no way to select the ISO settings, but from our test images, it seemed the sensitivity level started from ISO 80 and went all the way up to a maximum of ISO 400. Noise was well contained though slightly more evident at higher ISO settings. For a small sensor, it's inevitable that there would be some barrel distortion at the corners of our pictures, which resulted in buildings looking a little slanted and purple fringing in heavy backlit shots. Colors were otherwise rich and vibrant.
Even though the camera's performance still needed a little tweaking to be on par with dedicated digicams, it wasn't crippling. We turned on the camera in just over 3 seconds after sliding down the lens cover. The unit was able to lock focus in most conditions in about 2 seconds, although it took a bit longer in more challenging lighting environments.
There's no optical zoom on the K800i's camera which we'd have loved to see. Its 16x digital zoom did make up for the lack, though at the expense of deteriorating image quality. We didn't know how far we had zoomed in on an image since there was no indication on the display; but we figured picture quality started to drop off somewhere at the middle of (we're guessing 8x) the status bar.
Obviously, having an onboard Xenon flash has its advantages and one very minor disadvantage. During our review, the built-in white light had an effective distance of about 3m and helped produced better-exposed pictures. However, for those who have a tendency to use their phone's LED photolight as a torch will have to look elsewhere or settle with the glow from the mobile's display or the infrared illuminator.
Of course, this camera-phone isn't perfect (yes, we're nitpicking) despite its full-featured offering. We could save as many pictures as we wanted, as long as there's enough memory space, either on the phone or on an M2 card. What is missing compared with digicams were exposure compensation and ISO controls, along with a histogram display during playback. We figured it would be too much to ask for aperture- and shutter-priority settings at this stage on a camera-phone.
The Sony Ericsson K800i is a competent camera and phone rolled into a sleek form factor design. Decent day images are what surprised us most, though there's still ample room for improving night snaps and general camera performance. Still, the K800i performed beyond our expectations and with the only lapse being the lack of a bundled Memory Stick Micro and the sticker price.
Design of the Sony Ericsson K800i Mobile Phone
The velvet-black K800i is a beauty to behold. On the front, this Sony Ericsson bears faint resemblance to the K750i but it's a world of difference at the rear. As the maiden unit adopting the parent company's Cyber-shot brand, the back of the K800i sports a sliding lid which looks like a mini version of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9's lens cover. Like its Cyber-shot cousins, the lens and mirror hide behind this protective shell on the handset.
Not surprisingly, since the K800i is marketed as a Cyber-shot phone, Sony Ericsson has taken due care to ensure that it not only looks like a proper camera, but feels and handles like one, too. The shutter button is positioned along the right edge of the unit where it can be conveniently reached by the right index finger. One minor gripe. We'd have preferred a more solid feel when hitting the shutter after half-pressing the button to autofocus.
The zoom lever is found on the same side of the phone, but to the left. Alternatively, number keys "3" and "6" double as telephoto controls. Naturally, the K800i favors right-handed users more--which camera doesn't anyway? More on the camera functions later.
You get the usual dedicated shortcuts and Web access keys on the top row of controls. The joystick is housed in the midst of, and flushed with, the surface of these buttons. Our initial impression of the keypad was the lack of tactile feel to differentiate between numbers. This shouldn't cause undue concern, unless you have really big thumbs. Our only grumble is the rather loud "tiak" when using the pad, making it virtually impossible to do reconnaissance typing.
Overall, the Sony Ericsson K800i ups the ante in terms of design and styling. The quibble lies with the sliding lid of the camera, which no doubt is the phone's strongest feature but also causes the unit to have non-uniform thickness on the rear. We also feel that unless there's a protective film shielding the lens cover, that lid would be most prone to scratches.
Features of the Sony Ericsson K800i Mobile Phone
If there's one feature that stands out more than the sleek design of the K800i, it must be the built-in 3.2-megapixel camera. Slide down the lens cover and you can start taking pictures immediately, almost. There is also a 2-inch 262K-color QVGA display and is probably one of the sharpest screens we've seen so far--which is important since it doubles as a viewer when the camera is activated. Clarity, obviously, isn't an issue.
What's really cool about this shooter is the bevy of features hidden within the menus, which should be familiar to camera users. For example, you can select from a number of predefined scenes, picture size and quality, macro/infinite focusing modes, red-eye reduction flash, timer function, color effects, white balance settings and spot metering. It's a pity there is no option to adjust light sensitivity (ISO) settings.
A user-friendly interface naturally becomes important, especially when the camera is loaded with so many functions. To that, Sony Ericsson has made the whole process simple with numerous shortcut keys. Two tiny rectangular buttons above the screen (when the phone is in upright orientation) allow you to access the scene and shooting modes.
Hitting "0" on the keypad will bring up an overview of other available shortcuts. You can turn the image stabilizer function on with "7", flash with "*" and choose your picture resolution with "1".
Another issue which we feel can be improved is the selection of camera settings. When you enter a particular option, it brings you out of the menu and that makes it a chore--to go in and out of the menu--if you intend to change several options at one go.
Other neat camera features include BestPic, Picture Blogging and a built-in Xenon flash which replaces the traditional LED on camera-phones. Think of BestPic as burst mode with "memory". When activated, it captures nine pictures within a second of pressing the shutter button; four before and four after the actual photo you've snapped: This allows you to then select and save the ones you like best.
Now think of Picture Blogging as--blogging a picture. Pun is unintentional since this feature does exactly as mentioned. After taking a picture, you can select "Blog this" on the menu and your photo will be automatically resized for the Web: Type in your desired title and text for the new entry and, voila, your image appears on your blog in a matter of seconds (network operator dependant). The downside: You cannot post multiple pictures within the same entry, so if you have five pictures you want to upload, you'll have to go through the whole process five times.
If it's your first time blogging on the mobile, you'll receive a message to claim your mobile blog address which is where your subsequent pictures will be uploaded to. Alternatively, if you already have a current account with Blogspot, you can send your photos to that address instead. Currently, the Picture Blogging function is compatible with only Google's Blogger service.
The K800i has around 64MB of internal memory which works out to about 106 3-megapixel pictures (3-megapixel images at normal quality) or 16 4MB music tracks. You can choose to save your pictures, music or files on the phone's memory or Sony's new miniscule Memory Stick Micro (M2). Unfortunately, the Sony Ericsson K800i doesn't come bundled with the pricier M2 media, which is a bummer.
Did we mention that you can also do basic editing of pictures with the onboard PhotoDJ? If you can't bear to hear the shutter sound when taking a photo, you can switch the phone to silent mode and all that's left is a kitty click.
Beyond the digital imaging goodies, the K800i is clearly a high-end phone with all the bells and whistles you can expect, from FM radio (the external earpiece acts as the antenna) to MP3 player (MP3/AAC), to 3D games, etc., to keep those who demand more out of their handsets happy campers.
There's also a proprietary Web browser, RSS feed reader, email client that supports Push email, 3G connectivity, video calls capability (with the second camera just above the 2-inch screen), PIM synchronization and Flight mode status for the corporate users. When making video calls, you can also instantly share your photos with the other party as the selected image will take the place of your face, which multitaskers will like.
Other connectivity options include GPRS, Bluetooth, infrared (beside the shutter button) and printing from any PictBridge-compliant printer. No Wi-Fi on this unit, though.
Performance And Image Quality of the Sony Ericsson K800i Mobile Phone
When we first powered up the phone, we were faced with a series of setup instructions to get our handset going. The phone is rated for 350 hours of standby time and 7 hours of talktime. During our battery test, we left the phone on an active call and managed to clock exactly 7 hours of talktime as claimed by the manufacturer. However, we have to quantify that other factors have to be considered (for example, the user's relative position to a base station) when testing for battery life. You can also expect the juice to deplete faster as you use more features.
We didn't encounter any major issues while reviewing the K800i though we felt that the phone's menu took a while (about 2 seconds) to load. Voice call quality was decent but the speakerphone volume was a tad too soft during video calls.
The K800i produced surprisingly high-quality day images for a camera-phone. There was no way to select the ISO settings, but from our test images, it seemed the sensitivity level started from ISO 80 and went all the way up to a maximum of ISO 400. Noise was well contained though slightly more evident at higher ISO settings. For a small sensor, it's inevitable that there would be some barrel distortion at the corners of our pictures, which resulted in buildings looking a little slanted and purple fringing in heavy backlit shots. Colors were otherwise rich and vibrant.
Even though the camera's performance still needed a little tweaking to be on par with dedicated digicams, it wasn't crippling. We turned on the camera in just over 3 seconds after sliding down the lens cover. The unit was able to lock focus in most conditions in about 2 seconds, although it took a bit longer in more challenging lighting environments.
There's no optical zoom on the K800i's camera which we'd have loved to see. Its 16x digital zoom did make up for the lack, though at the expense of deteriorating image quality. We didn't know how far we had zoomed in on an image since there was no indication on the display; but we figured picture quality started to drop off somewhere at the middle of (we're guessing 8x) the status bar.
Obviously, having an onboard Xenon flash has its advantages and one very minor disadvantage. During our review, the built-in white light had an effective distance of about 3m and helped produced better-exposed pictures. However, for those who have a tendency to use their phone's LED photolight as a torch will have to look elsewhere or settle with the glow from the mobile's display or the infrared illuminator.
Of course, this camera-phone isn't perfect (yes, we're nitpicking) despite its full-featured offering. We could save as many pictures as we wanted, as long as there's enough memory space, either on the phone or on an M2 card. What is missing compared with digicams were exposure compensation and ISO controls, along with a histogram display during playback. We figured it would be too much to ask for aperture- and shutter-priority settings at this stage on a camera-phone.
Overall
The Sony Ericsson K800i is a competent camera and phone rolled into a sleek form factor design. Decent day images are what surprised us most, though there's still ample room for improving night snaps and general camera performance. Still, the K800i performed beyond our expectations and with the only lapse being the lack of a bundled Memory Stick Micro and the sticker price.
Share this page
Email this page
Back to Top
Home
Edit Post
0 comments: