Sony Ericsson C510 Review

Introduction and Design:

Sony Ericsson´s Cyber-shot lineup comprises both high tech models competing with top camera phones by other manufacturers (although the C905 failed to impress us during at our latest tests) as well as simpler devices meant for people on a thinner budget, who are still willing to get decent snapshot quality. The 3.2-megapixel Sony Ericsson C510 aims the latter group of customers. What is in the box?

- Wall charger
- Headset
- Manual
- Software CD

With its 12.5 mm. thickness the Sony Ericsson C510 is one of the thinnest devices in the series with only the James Bond´s device, the C902, scoring better here. Its overall look is quite pleasing, ant the both color tones (black and silver) look stylish and dainty. Unfortunately the device lacks any WOW elements and seeing it you feel as if it tells you “I´m an ordinary Sony Ericsson device, you´ve seen hundreds like me and I´m here to serve”.

Display is also nothing out of this world – 2.2-inches with 262k colors. Image quality is awesome, but unfortunately only indoors. Direct sunlight turns it into a mirror.



You can compare the Sony Ericsson C510 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Even without looking at the pictures, you can figure the 5 directional D-Pad, send, end, soft keys and keypad are all located below it. Despite somewhat small, they have nice travel and won´t give you any troubles. Keypad lighting is rather weak and pale, but you´ll certainly get a kick out of its several lighting effects. Sound rocker and camera trigger are on its right hand side and also are comfy to use, although pressing them takes a bit more effort, because they are almost flush with the body. The charger slot and M2 card expansion slot are both on the phone´s left hand side.



The only thrilling element is the panel that covers both the camera and its flash. t is made of metal and rises a bit when opened. It also activates the illumination of the functions connected to shooting, which are set to some of the keys – change of the shooting mode, switching between preset preferences, focus and flash. Similarly to the Sony Ericsson C903, the back cover takes up large part of the back panel. We really like that, since it allows you to quickly go to shooting mode without wasting much time to power your gear.

Software:

We figure we may have been drumming this into the ears of our more regular readers, but let´s go over it once again – Sony Ericsson´s interface is really pleasing, likeable, colorful and funny (especially with a properly picked theme), but the best is it looks one and the same on both their high-end and budget phones. There are certain differences due to varying hardware, say the Sony Ericsson C510 lacks navigation software since it doesn´t have a built-in GPS, but as a whole it´s pretty much the same as the one on Sony Ericsson´s top camera phone, the Sony Ericsson C905. That´s why we are not getting into details here, we just need to point out that the home screen shortcuts corresponding to the function keys of the latter device have been replaced. The one on your right gets you to a Google search panel, while the one on the left opens the multimedia menu.



If you think you will be able to watch HD videos of play PS3 games on this device, you´re in for a major disappointment. You do have a good music player at your disposal (unfortunately it only shows small sized album covers) and decent sound playback quality, especially if the phone is not set onto a flat surface with its back downwards (the built-in loudspeaker is there). The video player is also quite good, but it only supports the now antediluvian MPEG4/H.263 video format that just cannot offer proper image quality. The option to watch YouTube video makes for a sweet extra feature though.



As a whole, surfing the web on the Sony Ericsson C510 feels good, since the browser (we have to repeat ourselves) is one of the best running on feature phones, plus HSDPA 3.6Mbit/s provides faster page load times even when it comes to websites with lots of content. Unfortunately, the phone only supports 3G bands for Europe and Asia.



Camera:

The Sony Ericsson C510 has caused quite a stir with its ability to detect smiling faces and is the first device of the company that is capable of this. It is not that the feature is something unheard of, but it makes for a nice function and was missing in the Cyber-shot lineup. We made several tests shots and found out it worked great, no matter whether or not the person was grinning ear to ear like the Joker in the latest Batman movie. The other extra camera features are well known from the Sony Ericsson C905 – presets with beautiful pictures, white balance, various effects, face focusing mode, macro mode, geographical tagging (not really accurate since it uses information from carrier cells and not a GPS) etc.


Picture quality is satisfactory, colors look realistic and pleasing, but we noticed traces of noise even in pictures taken in great lighting conditions. Indoor pictures are even noisier and the built-in flash is not powerful enough to provide proper lighting of objects that are not in the vicinity. As a whole, picture quality is pretty the same alongside of what the Sony Ericsson K800 delivers, that´s a three year old device now, but was among the best camera phones in its time. In other words snapshot quality is passable in case you´ve forgotten to bring along your digital camera. The same goes to video capture as well – QVGA resolution, 30 frames per second and quality that suits YouTube uploaders.

Performance:

As previously mentioned, the Sony Ericsson C510 utilizes one and the same software like the one on the C905. Perhaps it proves a bit of an uphill battle to the device, since the device slows down and lags at times. We didn´t encounter any problems regarding in-call quality, but we can´t exactly say it is the best we have ever witnessed. The phone delivers sound that is a bit weak, although voices of people are real and intelligible, although interlocutors complained the sound on their end was excessively strong and they failed to catch onto what were saying at times.

Conclusion:

The Sony Ericsson C510 brings along all good distinguishing marks characteristic of all devices by the same manufacturer, such as robust battery that lasts (10 hrs talk time and 400 hrs in standby). Unfortunately, snapshot quality is the same as the old (but gold) Sony Ericsson K800. Still, the elegant and stylish design, revamped interface and capable browser make for a decent option to anyone on the lookout for a simpler phone with decent camera and seemly price.