Sony Ericsson K770 Review

Today we’re going to focus on Sony Ericsson’s new Cyber-shot, called К770. This product line of the company is intended to satisfy consumers’ need to take pictures of superior quality. Therefore the device is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with the well-known Cyber-shot interface, autofocus and flash. Further to the camera, the phone avails of all the other typical functions of a contemporary device: a musical and video player, FM radio with RDS, as well as other useful functions for work and fun. Since К770 can be used in GSM (900/1800/1900MHz), as well as in 3G networks (UMTS 2100 MHz), you have access to quick Internet and the possibility to make/receive video calls.

One of the first things that one notices is the considerable similarity between Т650 and К770, manifested not only in the above-mentioned functionality, but in the design of both devices also. The thin silver line circling the phone, the identical disposition of the camera, the flash and the loudspeaker are some of the points of similarity. That’s why we have concluded that К770 represents Т650’s Cyber-shot version, which has been launched as a cheaper and not so functional alternative of К850.

The phone comes in a small box, containing:

• Sony Ericsson K770
• 256MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) support up to 2 GB
• USB cable DCU-65
• Stereo handsfree HPM-62
• Standard charger
• CD with software
• User guide

This is a standard set and includes everything that’s necessary for the initial use of the phone, without any additional extras, like, for example, Т650’s desk stand.

Design:

A mobile phone’s design plays an important role in the consumers’ purchasing decision: one would hardly ever buy a visually unappealing phone, no matter how functional it can be. Being well aware of this, manufacturers invest not only in the phones’ technical development, but also in the improvement of their design, using distinctive colors, materials, lights or other features that can make their phones stand out among the competition.

The Sony Ericsson К770 we’re reviewing is a standard candybar with dimensions of 105 x 47 x 14.5 mm (4.1 x 1.8 x 0.6 inches) and weight of 95 g (3.4 oz), which makes it an average device as far as size and weight are concerned.

Model	Dimension (Inches)	Dimension (mm)	Weight (oz)	Weight (Gramms)
Sony Ericsson K770	4.10" x 1.90" x 0.60"	105 x 47 x 14.5	3.4	95
Sony Ericsson T650	4.10" x 1.80" x 0.50"	104 x 46 x 12.5	3.4	95
Sony Ericsson K850	4.00" x 1.90" x 0.70"	102 x 48 x 17	4.2	118
Sony Ericsson K810	4.20" x 1.90" x 0.70"	106 x 48 x 17	3.60	104

The phone does not claim to be neither thin nor small, nor light: just an average phone. The device we’ve tested was of a color called Truffle Brown; you have two more options as far as color is concerned: Sandy Beige and Ultra Violet.



The 1.9-inch display has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA) and shows 262,144-colors. Just like in the case of Т650, the display does not take up all the space of the protective glass, leaving the fringe empty, which might put you off. The images are bright and contrasting with saturated colors and are well visible even in broad daylight. The light censor, located above the display, regulates the brightness: if it’s dark, the brightness is reduced, in bright light it’s decreased. This dynamic regulation ensures good visibility depending on the environment and so you do not have to make corrections manually. The light censor is a new feature in Sony Ericsson phones (K850 and Т650) and we would appreciate it in more models to come. Our overall impressions of the display are positive and we consider it almost on a par with the quality of the latest Nokia models (6500 series, N95, etc.).



Under the display is the navigation button, surrounded by the other keys, relevant to the phone’s navigation: the left and right soft keys, back and clear key, and internet and shortcut menu keys. These keys are located very close to one another, but they can be told apart quite easily, pressing them is easy and working with them is generally convenient.



Lower down is the numeric keyboard with considerable space between the rows and none between the columns. Its keys are long and slim, which, together with their good relief, makes them very convenient and easy to distinguish and press. On these keys, apart from the standard inscriptions (numbers and letters), you’ll also find icons, indicating their functions in camera mode. When you are working with the phone, the keys that you need are backlit in white. The buttons that are active in camera mode are backlit in blue. This is a very good solution that we saw in К810/К850, ensuring easier work with the camera without obstructing working with the rest of the phone’s functions. The idea is further developed in К770, compared to the above-mentioned models, and we have two, rather than one row of shortcuts.



The right-hand side keys - volume keys and camera key are a little more difficult to work with. During conversation you can easily find the position of the volume keys, but pressing them is difficult, so that you have to use the tip of your thumb. There is a similar inconvenience, related to the camera key: it is slim, but you have to press it a little harder to take a picture. However, when pressing hard, you can budge and so the picture will come out blurred. We think pressing the keys with your nail, rather than with the finger tip is the easiest way to do it. You’ll not find any other keys on the left-hand side, apart from the universal connector, used for charging or connecting to additional accessories (handsfree, data cable, etc.).



At the top is the on/off key, which can be used for a quick profile change, as well as for some other functions. Right next to it is the slider, which releases the back lid, so that you have access to the battery, and the SIM and memory cards that can be found just under it. The type of the additional memory is Memory Stick Micro (M2) and, since it is hot-swappable, you do not have to switch off your phone in order to replace it or put it back.

The whole back panel of the phone is taken up by the lid, which is attached solidly without any play, which speaks of the phone’s precise make and construction. The lens of the 3.2-megapixel camera are also here, covered by a sliding metal lid, fitted on the lid itself. This is a traditional solution for protecting the lens, which we have seen in other Cyber-shots models, though not so advanced as the model used for К850, where the lens open automatically. When sliding it the camera goes on and two blue lights go on at the back – those have a decorative role, rather than any other function. LED flash and the auto-picture mirror are located next to the lens and the loudspeaker is in the lower part of the lid, right next to the Sony Ericsson logo. The second camera, intended for video talks, is on the front part, right above the display to the right of the “Sony Ericsson” inscription.



The phone’s make and structure are rather good, although the materials that have been used are not as impressive same as the ones used to make Т650. The only metal part is the lid, protecting the lens and the mechanism it slides along, which, on the other hand, is the main reason for К770 to be a little thicker than Т650.

Interface:

Sony Ericsson K770 has a standard interface, just like the one we are used to in the new non-smartphone models of the company, e.g., Т650, S500, W580, etc. In order to open the menu you have to press the middle position of the d-pad or the right-hand soft key. Then the icons show, arranged in a 3x4 grid and corresponding to the positions of the keys from the numeric keypad that can be used for quick access. You have five themes for personalizing the menu’s look: four standard ones and a Flash. The difference is that they not only change the background, but also the way icons look, as in the present case; some of the themes change automatically, depending on the time of the day. For example, the colors are darker during the night and light and lively during the day. To avoid any misunderstanding we should clarify that К770’s flash theme modifies the type of the icons and adds some animation, though it does not change its color automatically.



Besides the themes, one can personalize the phone by using the seven profiles; they are accessible by a single pressing of the on/off button (holding it will turn the unit off).

Phone Book:

The Phone Book is traditionally good with a capacity for entering 1000 contacts with up to 5 numbers each, though not exceeding a total of 2500 numbers. However, there is the unpleasant drawback of searching by the first name only. As with most of the models of this manufacturer one can add detailed information to each contact, enabling easy access to all important data, concerning your acquaintances. You can also add voice dialing, up to three e-mails and one web-address, a picture, a ringtone, and even more useful information to each contact.



Organizer:

Sony Ericsson has made sure to provide you with an organizer, featuring an abundance of functions indeed, so that you could put your everyday jobs in order and not forget anything important. Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Synchronization, Timer, Stopwatch, Calculator, Code Memo, and (flash)Light are all at your disposal. And before you ask the question where exactly to set the alarm, we will note that it is not to be found in this sub-menu – it has its own place in the main one. Up to five alarms can be set with the additional options of picking a different signal for each as well as setting them to go off on certain days of the week or just once.



The remaining functions of the organizer are standard and well-known from previous models of the company, so we will not discuss them.

Messaging:

The Messaging menu is the one that we are accustomed to seeing in most Sony Ericsson models, providing the opportunity to create text, multimedia or voice messages, as well as e-mails. In order to keep you informed on the latest news at all times, you also dispose of an RSS reader.



Connectivity:

Sony Ericsson K770 is a tri-band GSM/GPRS device (900/1800/1900 MHz), which limits its use worldwide: only one of these frequencies is applicable in the USA. The unit can also work in 3G networks but once again with the restriction of the only supported band – UMTS 2100 MHz.
The full HTML Internet browser managed to load and open www.phonearena.com , without a problem, the only criticism being that some of the parts of the web page were misplaced. In the end of the day, you won’t have problems reading and viewing web pages and the Smart Fit option will make browsing even easier, since the page’s contents are arranged in a column and this way  you can scroll in two directions only.



In order to exchange data with a computer, you can rely on several options. For wireless connection, there is the Bluetooth v2.0; the cable from the set will do as well.

Camera:

The first noteworthy feature is the 3.2 megapixel camera, supplied with an auto-focus and a flashlight. It is activated with the opening of the lens cover, from the menu or directly from the camera button and the time lapse pressing and actual activation is less than 3 seconds. The camera software is like the one in the older Cyber-shots and not the one we’ve seen in K850. It is in landscape-oriented and the standard information is displayed on the screen: number of photos in the available memory, resolution, and location of storing. Activating any additional functions will be presented by the respective symbol. We should note there is an option to pick various “scenes” for taking pictures, which sets the camera according to the specific features of the object shot.

You can select one of the four possible photo resolutions: VGA, 1, 2, and 3 megapixel. The pictures that we were able to take outdoors look good, the colors are authentic and the details are there. The camera does pretty well in the open even when the weather is gloomy; the scarcity of light results in more noise in the images, but they are still usable. We took a few shots in a sunny day and as you can see the images are better, brighter and the noise level is lower.


If you’re taking pictures in a very dark room, you can use the LED flash, which is enough to light close-standing objects and the result is still very good. It can be seen from the picture that the light is spread evenly and not concentrated in a single spot, which is due to the fact that there is a reflector around the LED itself, dispersing the light in this manner. This is just a small improvement, but the result is impressive. Even so it can not be compared with the xenon flash of the K800/K850 which is a step ahead. When you’re taking pictures from very close-by in a macro mode, you have to rely on an extremely steady hand if you want to take a usable picture. We made a few attempts that weren’t particularly successful and although the autofocus was showing that everything was OK, you can see that the results are blurry.

There are no options for different resolution when recording videos: it is the same as with the older company series – 176 x 144 pixels – and the respective rather unsatisfactory result, renders the videos unusable for anything but MMS.




Multimedia:


According to information, supplied by the manufacturer, the music and video players of K770 support the following file formats: MP3, MP4, M4A, 3GP, AAC, AAC+, еAAC, WAV(16kHz max), Real 8 and 3GPP compatible streaming video. We tried the player with a few video clips in various formats and with different resolutions, bitrate and framerate. The phone dealt perfectly with all H.263-coded files and all that came outwhen playing the H.264 files was sound. Only when playing H.264 baseline in QCIF (144 x 176 pixels) resolution and 15 fps (frames per second) could K770 simultaneously show video including sound. Provided that the display is QVGA (240 x 320 pixels), this resolution is very low and is actually not useful.

The music player is the one from the non-Walkman smartphones. It can sort the music by artist/album but the interface won’t visualize album cover during playback. A very enjoyable extra is the Track ID application, which is located in the entertainment menu. This is a program, which records a sample of sound, sends it to a server, and tells the user which song they belong to. The application operated faultlessly – it recognized 5 out of 5 tracks! After vocal performances we decided to encumber it with a guitar solo performed by Joe Satriani – it guessed the track unmistakably. Then we ‘tried’ it with a little-known song from a compilation of electronic music (Sounds of Asian Underground), which was also recognized easily. Within around 20 seconds (including recording, sending and analysis) the program achieves very good results. You will rarely see a screen message that Track ID has not found any results for your music.



The sound from the loudspeaker is not loud at all and if you prefer to listen to music at higher volume levels, you should keep in mind that you would only be satisfied with the music output if the place you’re in is really quiet. Otherwise you should use the headset from the box, although it's not too loud either, at least the sound is somewhat better. You can’t use standard headphones with this phone, because there is no3.5 mm jack or even an interconnect. Because К770 maintains A2DP, you have another option for listening to music through a Bluetooth stereo headset.
The phone also disposes of an RDS radio, capable of storing up to 20 radio stations, either manually or automatically. However, if you wish to listen to the radio, plugging the “cable” headphones will be indispensable – in this case they serve as an aerial.

Software:

The phone comes preloaded with two applications: Face Wrap and Photo Mate. The first one is a very entertaining program that you can enjoy with friends. You take a picture of a friend (preferably, one with a good sense of humor) and then the program shows different variants of his face: insect, alien, boring, small nose, wide smile and some others. The game is really great fun and allows you to store the modified portraits. Then it’s up to you what you do with the processed pictures (maybe… caller ID!).



The other application will teach you how to take high-quality pictures with your К770, depending on the environment or, in other words, you’ll be introduced to the basics of photography.



The following games are at your disposal to enjoy in your spare time: FotoQuestFishing and Solitaire 4 Pack. In the first game you are an amateur underwater photographer, and your task is to take the picture you want to take before your air tank is up. The second game is a version of the well-known Windows games, only you have the chance to choose from four variations: Classic, Vegas, Freecell and Tri-Peaks.

Of course, one can always complement this software with favorite games or programs thanks to the Java MIDP 2.0 support.

Performance:

Working with К770 is fun and this is due not only to the good keypad, but also to the phone’s quick reactions; it didn't get stuck not even once during the tests we made. This device, as well as the older Sony Ericsson models, allows you to easily update the software online, through the so-called Sony Ericsson Update Service (SEUS). It takes just a few steps to check whether a newer version is available on the Internet and then you proceed with the update; if you have the latest version the program informs you accordingly. Thus you can easily deal with software problems without visiting the service and, furthermore, you do not lose the settings that you have already made.

You need good coverage in order to be able to make and receive normal calls. In cases of poorer coverage the conversation can be broken off and the communication disturbed. During the test we carried out the phone performed averagely, similarly to Sony Ericsson K530, Samsung F500 and Nokia 5700. We have evaluated it at 4.5 out of 10.

The incoming call ring tone is very loud and you won’t have a problem hearing it even in noisy places. You can only feel the vibration if you’re carrying your К770 close to your body, e.g. in the pockets of your close-fitting jeans – otherwise it’s no use switching vibration on.

During conversation the sound that is heard is above the average and there is a slight background noise. The voices are a little shrill and the high frequencies are lacking, but nevertheless the sound is very good. They can hear you louder at the other end of the line and the voice quality is almost the same: slightly shrill, predominantly in the middle and low frequencies.

The manufacturer claims that Sony Ericsson К770’s BST-38 (930 mAh) battery can last for about 10 hours of talk time and 400 hours in standby, but the actual results are rather different. We made out test under the following conditions: with the battery fully charged and in full coverage we talked until the phone went dead, which took it about 5.87 hrs (352 min.) – way below the officially claimed parameters. This is the poorest performance among all the Sony Ericsson that we have tested recently and it is almost one hour less talk time compared to T650 (408min) . However, we should add that as a whole this phone’s performance is not bad at all and is actually better than many models by other companies, e.g. Nokia 6500 slide, 6500 classic and Samsung F500.

Conclusion:

The launch of Sony Ericsson K770 is a rather strange decision on the part of its manufacturer. You may ask what is so strange about launching the phone. Well, the point is that, with phones like К800 and К810 already on the market, this Cyber-shot has nothing more to offer, apart from a newer design and a few additional LEDs on the back panel. Moreover, it is equipped with a LED flash instead of the more advanced Xenon one. This is actually a Т650 in different panels and a few additions (for example, Track ID), just like S500 and W580.