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The Sony Ericsson K800i is the first 3G phone in Sony Ericsson'sCyber-Shotâ„¢ range of camera phones. It's the best of the Cyber-Shotphones so far, and in our opinion, the best camera phone available inthe UK at the time of release.
Whilst large and a little brick-like, the K800i is beautifullybuilt and finished. It's clearly a solidly constructed phone thatshould last well. The design is traditional and a bit square, but verynicely finished. The back of the phone shares many design features withthe Cyber-Shot camera range and looks more like a camera than a phone.There's a cover for the camera lens, and annoyingly this has a habit ofsliding off when the phone is in a bag or pocket, causing the camera toactivate by itself. The keypad is well designed and easy to use,although the keys are quite small and may not suit someone with largefingers. The screen is large (2.0 inches) and of superb quality. Thephone is heavier than average at 115g, but this isn't heavy for a 3Gphone, and heavy phones are better at taking pictures because there isless camera shake.
At 3.2 megapixels, the K800i's camera has the highest resolutionavailable at the time of writing (August 2006), but its the quality ofthe optics that really determines the quality of a camera, and theK800i doesn't disappoint. With autofocus and a real xenon flash (mostcamera phones have a weaker LCD flash that leads to poor exposure andred-eye), the K800i is a real digital camera, not just a toy. Picturequality is very impressive indeed, and is a match for many dedicateddigital cameras. The K800i comes with a novel feature called BestPicâ„¢.BestPic takes nine pictures at a time, enabling you to choose the best.There's also a picture stabiliser, helping to eliminate camera shake.Naturally the K800i supports direct printing on PictBridge compatibleprinters, so you don't need a computer in order to print your pictures.
There's also a video camera, which also makes use of the picturestabiliser, helping to avoid shaky videos. It's not the best videocamera around however, which is disappointing given the outstandingquality of the still camera. A video editor is included, so that youcan edit videos on the phone. A second video camera is used for 3Gvideo calling.
The music player on the K800i is of very good quality. It's aneasy-to-use player that supports playlists. There's also a stereo RDSFM radio. Sound quality by the built-in speakers is good, but doesn'tmatch that of the Sony Ericsson W900i. Stereo output to a normal orwireless headset via Bluetooth is supported.
As well as its outstanding camera and excellent music capabilities,the K800i is a genuine all-rounder. 3G enables 2-way video calling,fast music & video downloads and business applications such asemail (although there's no Office document viewer). The K800i supportsgenuine multitasking, enabling you to talk and access other functionsat the same time. A sophisticated web browser is built into the phone,displaying web pages with images as they look on a computer. You cansubscribe to RSS feeds from your phone to get news, etc, and you canblog from your phone too. The K800i can act as a broadband connectionfor your PC, connecting via USB cable or wirelessly by Bluetooth.
The K800i is compatible with the Memory Stick Microâ„¢ (M2â„¢),enabling its memory to be increased to 1 Gbyte or more ( no memorystick is supplied in the sales package). This gives plenty of space forstoring music and video. A wide range of connectivity options areavailable - Bluetooth, USB mass storage, infrared and Fastport (forconnecting a charger, portable handsfree, cable or other accessory) -everything except WiFi in fact. Battery life is excellent for a 3Gphone.
The K800i is an excellent mobile. Not only is it the best cameraphone around at the time of release, but it's a good all-rounder. Thereare a few things missing, such as wi-fi and a document viewer, butthere's no doubting that this is a flagship phone from Sony Ericsson.Disadvantages include the large size, fiddly keypad, and the cameracover that slides off too easily. A bigger irritation is the PCsoftware that is supplied with the phone - this is difficult to installand needs to be addressed by Sony Ericsson in future releases. Comparedwith its predecessor, the K750i, the K800i offers a significantlybetter camera, 3G capability, a better screen and more built-in memorybut is slightly larger in size and a bit heavier. Compared with theW900i, the K800i has a better camera and is more compact, but is not asgood as a music player. A phone that excels in the camera department,but isn't the best in every other respect, we've awarded the K800i 5stars, but only just! The K800i has now been joined by the K810i andK850i.
Features of the Sony Ericsson K800i include:
* 3G video calling
* 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash and 16x digital zoom
* Video recorder (164 x 144 pixels, 15 frames per second)
* Second camera for video calling
* Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
* Music player (MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats)
* FM radio
* MP3 & AAC ringtones (72-voice polyphonic)
* MusicDJ� (polyphonic ringtones composer)
* Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
* Speakerphone
* Sound recorder
* 3D Java games
* Web browser with RSS feeds & picture blogging
* Flight mode
* Personal organiser, File Manager, Phonebook
* Memory: 64 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Microâ„¢ (M2â„¢) support
* Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, Fastport, Infrared
* GPRS, 3G data transfer (up to 384 kbps download)
* Vibration alert
* Triband plus 3G
* Size: 105 x 47 x 22 mm
* Weight: 115g
* Talktime: 2.5 hours (3G) - 7 hours (2G)
* Battery standby: 350 hours