Sony Ericsson K700i Triband Camera Phone Review (2)
MatthewF 25 Aug 2004

    The box comes straight from Sony Ericsson, rather than being branded by any particular mobile phone provider. Because of this, obviously the phone has no physical branding (on the housing), the firmware is generic unbranded firmware (you get to experience the phone exactly how SE intended it!), and the phone is SIM unlocked and can be used on any GSM network (assuming you operate in the GSM 900 1800 1900 spectrums).

Box contents include:

-Sony Ericsson K700i

-BST-300 battery, 700mAh

-standard SE wall charger

-STEREO headphones/handset mic

-Sony Ericsson handstrap

-Sony Ericsson PC CD-ROM

-Manuals, advertisement for accessories, etc.

Let’s start with the external features of the phone.

            Sony Ericsson claims this is a device with ‘dual-fronts’. That is, they design the phone to look great from either side, with both providing functionality for different aspects of the device. The ‘phone side’, features a high resolution 62k color display, two soft menu buttons, a BACK key, and CLEAR key. The alpha-numeric keypad is very slick-looking, as the keys are clear yet have a glassy metallic look to them. Should appeal to a lot of people from the needs of a businessman to the discriminating stylistic tastes of a teenager (much like myself haha). Sony Ericsson now puts a KEY symbol on the * key, denoting the first key to press to lock keys (followed by RT soft menu key). There’s also a crossed out musical note on the # key (hold it down for SILENT mode). Nice add-in.        

            If you look at the keypad in the dark while it’s illuminated by white LEDs, there is a circular pattern that forms around the central 4-way joystick, around the menu keys, and down into the alpha-numeric keypad. The themes provided by Sony Ericsson actually continue the circle onto the display, a very neat concept of the circle to match the back of the phone, which we will look at next.

            On the back of the phone, the first thing we notice is the lens of the integrated VGA camera. The lens is recessed very deeply into the body of the phone, and the surrounding area of the recession is comfortable to put your index finger in while in a call without touching the lens (not sure if this was intentional design haha!). Next to the lens is a very bright white LED for the flash. Along the edge of the camera you can see a wide opening for the external speaker, through which ringtones are emitted, MP3s are played through (when headphones aren’t in use), and same thing goes for videos. Speakerphone also finally makes its way to Sony Ericsson! Below the camera is a mirror for self-portrait shots.

Install Windows Media PLayer 9

            Side buttons are fairly similar to the T610. On the left side is a volume key which controls earpiece volume in a call, speaker volume in speakerphone, volume of videos and MP3s (when external speaker is in use), and controls brightness in camera mode. Also on LT side is camera button. From the main screen, you must hold the camera button for approximately 2 seconds, then phone switches to camera mode, to prevent accidentally pressing the button. On the right side of the phone is the standard ‘Online’ shortcut button which connects your GPRS to your service provider… no- unfortunately you can’t modify the shortcut.

            On the bottom of the phone (the butt, if you will) SE has decided to implement something a little new. As usual, the connectors for charging and headset are found here, however how there is a small plastic plug which covers them up snugly. It’s a bit of an annoyance, but it keeps the pocket-lint out and keeps the design consistent and elegant! Mouthpiece mic is found down here as well. Power button and infrared ‘eye’ are on the top of the phone.

            I really can’t express how stunning this display is, and no picture would do it proper justice, you just have to see it in person to appreciate it. It is ULTRA-sharp and clear, much more vibrant and bright than the T610 (which had some display issues in itself due to the TFD display). This time around it’s a brilliant 62k color TFT LCD. While the phone is in standby the time floats around the screen. A few feature to SE is that if you have a missed call or a text message, you will see indicator icons floating around with the time…very nice! The main screen shows you a background image from whatever theme you have applied at the time, and the big feature this time around is AMINATED THEME SUPPORT. Yes, you can have an animated background now! Service provider name is displayed at the top of the screen (no- it CANNOT be removed), above which we have indicators for GPRS/GSM reception, silent mode indicator, Profile mode indicator, BT/IR indicators, GPRS, Java, Radio or Media Player (when minimized), probably some other icons I haven’t discovered haha, and the good old battery indicator. On the bottom left is the time, below which is the ‘Calls’ button. Bottom right shows current date, below which is the ‘More’ soft menu key.        

More menu allows you to:

-turn on/off silent

-turn on/off Bluetooth

-turn on/off infrared

-phone status (shows date, current Profile, phone model, My Mobile #, and free memory)

-Shortcuts (from here you can bind the 4 directions of the joystick to most any menu in the phone…ex mine is as follows: LT- change profiles; RT- desktop; UP- media player; DWN- phone book).

            The Calls takes you to all the most recent calls, but SE has improved this interface, as the Calls menu is now a TABBED screen. You start out in the ALL tab, showing incoming, outgoing, missed, basically everything. Joystick right and left takes you to Answered, Dialed, and Missed. Very nice improvement, as SE’s previous call sorting was formerly a single, confusing list.

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