Sony Ericsson C905 Review

Introduction:

In June, Sony Ericsson raised the bar for cameraphones announcing the first 8-megapixel phone intended for the European market - C905. A few months later, it just comes to the market, left behind the competition; Samsung already launched the INNOV8 and Pixon and LG offers its Renoir. The Cyber-shot model wasn’t first to hit the market, but it still might be the best so far. Although it is touted to be a “real camera rival”, the C905 has yet to prove that. The key characteristics in this aspect are a camera-like design, Xenon flash, face recognition, and picture tagging, thanks to the built-in GPS. C905 is the first non-smartphone of the manufacturer with an integrated Wi-Fi support, which can be used for Internet access and DLNA-compatible devices (e.g. to view pictures on DLNA-capable TV wirelessly).

The package includes:

We definitely appreciate the USB adapter, which is a very elegant solution for data transfer from and to the card.

Design:

As Sony Ericsson claims, C905’s design really reminds us of the pocket digital cameras. That’s traditional for the manufacturer, but this model is the best so far in this aspect. It resembles a camera from all sides. It has the same dimensions and weight as a pocket camera, which definitely makes it ineligible to be called a small phone. However, this is no surprise for such a pretentious functionality-wise model.




You can compare the Sony Ericsson C905 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The 2.4” display is larger than the other screens in the series (2“ in C902, and 2.2” in К850) but is way behind compared to the competition – 2.8” for INNOV8, 3” for Renoir and 3.2” for Pixon. There are no surprises in its specifications; QVGA with 262k color support, typical for Sony Ericsson. The images on it look good not only indoors but in bright sunlight too.

SSo far, all representatives of the Cyber-shot series were candybar, but C905 changes that. It is a slider intended to be used closed as a camera and opened as a phone (it can still act as a camera when opened). On the front, there are two shortcuts for Scenes and Shooting Modes (upper part) and two columns of three buttons on each side of the 5-way D-pad (bottom). We have nothing to say about the two small shortcuts, maybe because they are relatively rarely used, but we are definitely not happy with the rest. There are tiny channels between each button of the two “trios”, and pressing them is hardly felt due to the short drive they have. You’ll always activate them but the lack of a tactile feedback is kind of strange. The most observant readers have probably already noticed the camera function symbols on the D-pad - they light up in blue when the camera is active.

It is very easy to slide the phone open and it reveals the numeric keypad. There are channels between the rows of buttons but every row seems to be one body. Here, the drive of the keys is also short, but in contrast to the navigational ones, they have good tactile feedback, so we like them better. In slider phones, the upper row is usually hard to operate, because it’s too close to the edge, but C905 doesn’t have this problem. Nevertheless, there’s an irritating edge in the bottom. We will not recommend the keyboard to heavy texters, but that’s not a deal breaker.



In order to resemble a camera, C905 has to have similar controls. Those are located on the right side (top when in landscape mode) and they are: a volume/zoom rocker, keys for previewing and changing the shooting modeand the shutter illuminated in blue. The idea for changing the modes is better than the one seen in K850 and INNOV8, employing a 3-way switch. This will allow the user to review the images and go back to shooting by a single press of a button. Previously, with the 3-way switch you had to always check its position before selecting a mode. The left side houses only the M2 card slot and the one for the charger/headphones.


We like the design of the lid protecting the lens. In contrast to K850, it is not automatic and you have to slide it manually like in K800/K810. However, here it is not protruding but leveled. That’s a new type of mechanism where the bottom part sinks when opening the lid and rises back up when closing. We think this is the best idea for a manual camera lid in a phone. Underneath we have “hidden” the Xenon flash and the LED light used for focus assisting and when shooting a video, mini mirror and the lens, of course. It is interesting that such a flash is used even though the manufacturer was, claiming that overall, the PhotoFlash, also developed by Sony Ericsson’s engineers (based on LED and employed in C902), is better.

Interface:

From K850 and W910 on, the A200 generation software is used in the high-class, non-smart SE phones. This model is not an exception, but C905’s version is slightly upgraded and is also present in W980, C902 and C702.

It’s typical for the manufacturer to offer interesting graphic themes that change the menu design and add interactive features on the homescreen. We like the wallpapers, which are influenced by the accelerometer and the option for additional applications. In this model we only have „Slideshow wallpaper”. As the name hints, it will show pictures from the camera album.


The evolution has had its influence on the main menu as well , and there already are a few theme independent views. You can choose between the standard one, Rotating (the icons appear as a film) or Single icon (the icons are visualized one by one on the entire screen and slide vertically).

Phonebook:

The phonebook hasn’t changed and has remained the same for almost 3 years now (5 generations). There are quite some fields when adding a new contact (various numbers, addresses, birthdays, additional information) and they are well grouped. However, it’s strange (and inconvenient) not to be able to search by second name in a model from 2008. We like the fact that upon entering digits from the home screen, name and number matches appear. However, here as well, those include first name entries only.



Organizer:

The organizer functions have not been modified either. As a whole, everything is well made, but we do have some remarks. In the calendar for example, there are enough fields when adding an event, but the days with one are only slightly marked (bold) and are hardly noticeable. The alarms offer many options and the only thing we didn’t like was that they are limited to five. The tasks, notes, timers and the calculator are just fine. We don’t see any point in having the coded notes and prefer to have password protected ones instead.



Similarly to K850, here we also have an RSS reader, but it is located in the multimedia menu. This application is used for viewing the content of web sites without having to actually load them. The option to see the latest info from your favorite sites directly on the homescreen (like widgets) is very nice.

Messaging:

Besides the standard MMS, the menu includes an e-mail client. If you are a using one of the popular web mail servers you won’t have to manually enter the settings, because the phone adds them automatically, which is a great extra!

Both the T9 predictive text, which accelerates the text input and the factory preloaded templates will save you time.



Connectivity:

C905 is a quad-band GSM supporting the European 3G but the manufacturer has announced the C905a, which has global 3G. Add to it Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and it becomes clear that the phone will easily connect with the world that surrounds it.

We know you are eager to get more info on its Internet browser. Relax, it is a very good one. Pages visualize correctly, the text shrinks to avoid the heavy horizontal scrolling, and pressing # activates the panning mode, which zooms out and lets you choose a different part of the page to read. This is an excellent browser for a non-touch phone.

Camera:

As we’ve already mentioned, the camera is C905’s key feature. Being shy in all other aspects, we hope that at least here, the new Sony Ericsson model will bring something to the table. Startup and focusing is relatively quick (under 2 seconds), but storing takes about 5.5 seconds, which is a lot slower than the competition. The software is decent, offers a lot of options and here it’s a leader in the non-touch phone division. We have the face recognition, but there’s no sign of the more advanced smile and blink detection.


We’ll keep repeating that the most important thing for a camera is the quality of the photos. C905 did not disappoint us here. The daylight images are usually with the best quality for each model, but C905 is a step behind the competition. The detail level is similar to the one seen in the other 8-megapixel phones but we have a problem with the colors. As in K810 and K850 it looks like there’s a grey filter, which makes them less saturated and with lower contrast. However, we loved snapping pictures with the Xenon flash. It illuminated images very well at 6.5 and 13 feet and C905 is the leader in this discipline. The macro and night pictures made with the phone are similar to the ones made with the other 8-megapixel phones with minor differences. Considering the fact that this type of photographs are not made rarely, we think they are not that important.




For more pictures, please take a look at our 8-megapixel cameraphone comparison.

Apparently, Sony Ericsson doesn’t realize how important the video recording is for a high-class cameraphone. It has become a tradition for the company to be behind in this aspect and unfortunately, we don’t see any changes in the new generation, able to record QVGA clips only.

The pictures in the phone can be viewed in the multimedia flash menu; the realization is very good and we like the way those are arranged in albums full of thumbnails. Congratulations to Sony Ericsson for the fast zooming and the ability for picture tagging.

Multimedia:

The music player is very similar to the one seen in the Walkman phones, although it has fewer extras. It offers various sorting options, equalizers, and has a pleasant interface. The loudspeaker is mediocre but in contrast, even though the headphones look ugly, they sound good, just like in a Walkman phone. Unfortunately, in a noisy environment, you’ll hear the ambient sounds and since there’s no 3.5 mm adapter, you’ll not be able to connect another pair easily. If you are a SE fan, the FM radio won’t bring any surprises for you; it has RDS and an option to give names to the stations. Here, and as a separate application we have Track ID, which provides information on the song you are listening to. As we’ve said before, this is a very good service.



Towards the end of 2008 cell phones are not what they used to be. The music is no longer the leading multimedia and the video playback has become also a key element. So far, the rest of the 8-megapixel phones performed quite well; all of them are equipped with displays over 2.8” and play high-quality MP4 and DivX videos, and in addition, two of them support the XviD codec. C905 is way behind in this aspect, coming with a 2.4” screen and not being capable of playing high-quality clips.

Software:

C905 is yet another Sony Ericsson model equipped with GPS for navigation and picture tagging. We have the free Google Maps and Wayfinder, which is a fully functional navigating assistant. Unfortunately, it’s a 3-month trial version and you’ll need to buy a license after they expire. The GPS didn’t impress us with speed; localization after a cold start took over 20 minutes and 2 minutes after restart of the phone. After restart of the application, we needed about 10 seconds, which is normal.


There are no surprises in the games; Tennis (multiplayer available), Chess and Need for Speed, which looks outdated if you’ve seen Asphalt on INNOV8.

Performance:

Sony Ericsson C905 is a good camera, but the word cameraphone reminds us that it’s a phone as well. Luckily, the model performs well as such and we have no major remarks. The sound is good although we were told that our voice was somewhat sharp and monotonous. We were a little worried about the incoming sound not being loud enough, but the quality is fine in both directions.

As usual, Sony Ericsson indicates a very good battery life for its model. It claims that the phone will be operational for up to 9 hours of talks or 16 days in standby before recharging.

Conclusion:

It’s not easy to create a high-class phone in 2008. Being just a good cameraphone is not enough, and the device has to excel in all aspects. The C905’s competition consists of three good all-in-one models. They not only make good pictures, but are able to do everything, besides cooking.

C905 is simply marketed as a camera-phone but is not much behind its rivals. Its weakest side is the video playback and recording. Even if it was able to perform normally in this discipline, the small 2.4” display would place it behind the other big boys. Aside from that, C905 does well. It has the best flash of all 8-megapixel phones and because of that it’s the only model able to make quality pictures indoors. The software is kind of old-school but is not bad at all. It looks good, offers many extras and is user-friendly. Music-wise, we would’ve liked to see a 3.5 mm jack to add up to the nice musical abilities of the device. Although it doesn’t have a touchscreen and is not a smartphone, C905 is equipped with a very good browser, which is more user-friendly than Pixon’s and Renoir’s and is head to head with the one of the Symbian S60 based INNOV8.

Let’s sum up in a few words: if you are looking for the best 8-megapixel cameraphone and taking pictures with a flash is important for you, C905 has no competition at the moment. However, if you want a well-balanced all-in-one device, bare in mind C905’s poor video capabilities.