Sony Ericsson C902 Preview

Introduction:
Do you remember Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot series? Well, you can forget the whole words in the previous models, because from now on, you will only see the “C”. At the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona, the company presented the first two models from the C-series – C702 and C902. In this preview, we will discuss the second one, which is a successor to the K850 and is from a higher class with a 5-megapixel camera and a new type of flash, called PhotoFlash. The new generation doesn’t bring many improvements in the specifications, but has a new vision (slim design) and an enhanced camera interface.

Currently, all versions(globally) of the phone are prototypes and that’s why we are previewingit instead of giving you an in depth review. For our full detailedtesting, we always use only final versions of the product, to make surethe results are impartial.

Design:

The new C902 candybar has a totally new design, compared to K850. With dimensions of 4.2 x 1.9 x 0.4 inches (108 x 49 x 10.5 mm), the successor is about 40% slimmer and its overall appearance is much classier – good job Sony Ericsson! For that contributes the combination of metal and plastic (with the second one prevailing) as well. Both materials are in the same color, with the one we previewed being in Swift Black, but there also is a Luscious Red variant.


On the front, we have the TFT display, which has gone down to 2.0” (2.2” in K850), but has the same resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and supports 262K colors. This was made necessary by the touch shortcuts added on both of its sides.

Naturally, below it are located the navigation and the soft keys, arranged in two columns on both sides of the 5-way D-pad. Under those buttons, there is a thin line, dividing them from the numeric keypad, which is designed, to fit the overall design of C902.


The left side is quite clear, with the connector/charging slot being its only resident. On the reverse side are positioned the volume rocker and the camera button. Following the clear design, there aren’t any elements on the top and the bottom of the phone.

The loudspeaker and the camera are on the back of the C902, and more interesting, the battery lid is made out of metal.


The most exciting part of the design is the lid, protecting the two cameras. In contrast to K850, here the lid is opened manually, by pulling the upper part out. By doing this, the front and the back camera are revealed, but the first one, which is used for video calling can be used even with the lid closed. This is made possible by the opening, similar to the one left for the speaker.

Interface:

The C902 runs on the new generation software that is also used in the K850, W910 and W890.


The innovations in the interface are characterized by the touch sensitive shortcuts added. In the previous model, there were two times less buttons, accessible via the third column of the numeric keypad.


The new shortcuts lead to a few of the camera options, which otherwise, are accessible via the settings menu. On the upper and lower part of the display, there are 4 buttons in a row on each. The first one includes those of the camera mode (taking pictures), the video recorder, preview of the pictures made, and the choice of focus. In the second row, we have the other 4 icons, which give us access to shoot mode, scenes, self-timer and flash power on/off. The rest of the camera interface has not been changed.