Review by Who@SEcentral
When
K810i was first announced in Feb 07 by Sony Ericsson the initial response was that
it is an cosmetics improvement over the k800i cybershot series and
critics was right on it. But the phone I believed are mainly targeted
at those using the older K-series and 1st time Sony Ericsson user. User of K800i
should read no further as this is the same phone with just its outer
makeover with no significant changes to its firmware.
The
phone weight is right for its size and is comparable to K750i weight.
The first thing unusual about the phone is its button, which hate it or love it, is it's good feel for the fingers as compare to the normal keypad generally on Sony Ericsson series (except W880i) is all close together. Pressing wrong keys/button is a thing of the past as the buttons are very much space apart. The one thing I cant get over is the shiny surface of the keys area which attracts fingerprints and smudges like the Z610i surface, fussy user like me will give the phone a miss over this feature?
Also long term used
of the phone and problem of dust getting between the clear plastic and back remains to be seen.
K810i
keypad like all new Sony Ericsson phones have an internet shortcut button next to the call button which my seem to be an gift from heaven for tech savvy but for me it is seem to be a nuisance to user as most of the time it get activated even without most user knowledge. And yes Telcos charge you for this connection time (conspiracy between ?!?!?<- joke hor
don't sue me). User can get around this by installing the GPRS setting from another telcos.
The
back of the phone is rubberize like those from the W880i which generally gives the phone a nice feel and hold as oppose to the cheap feel of the previous series.
The next best thing of the K810i over the K800i is the shutter itself. K800i shutter have the overhang and shaky feeling due to its awkward placement and the K810i have since rectified this by
shaping the back profile of the phone to incorporate the shutter
itself. The cuts down the accidental activation of the camera by shutter
as complain by most K800i user
Radio and Media player
K810i have an built in tuner and with the supplied headset acting as the antenna, reception of the radio channels are clear and loud.
The
media player for MP3 are an improvement over the K750i but still lose
out to the W-series player but since this is marketed as a Cybershot so the comparison stops here. The player can identified song/tracks or artist by the ID3 tag on the MP3 thereby playing it or through user customize playlist.
Cameras and features
Activation of the camera can be by menu based or just simply sliding the shutter down, user will see the 1,4,7,* key symbol lightening in a blue tint as the phone transit from phone to cam mode. Each key correspond to Image size , Focus , Timer and Flash respectively . Movies record are in 3gp format. K810i like the K800i comes with the Xenon flash which adds a true flashlight capability to the mobile phone , user of K750i can forget about using this as a torchlight as the Xenon are powered by 2 large capacitors unlike the k750i 2 bright LEDs
For
new user there is a BestShot features which let user takes 9 shot at
once of the same scene, user can choose which frame is the best to
choose from or all 9. Also preview of the photos taken by the cam can
be access during standby mode by pressing the 2 buttons located at the top left and right of the LCD.
Photo
taken by the k810i are same as the K800i and much better than the K750i due to it extra megapixels. Nightshot of the K810i still lags behind and need much improvement and it even loses out to the internet community hack of the K750i/W800i series. Niteshot mentioned are those of scenery
and large area which the Xenon flash are of no use
K800i 
K810i 
K800i 
K810i 
K800i 
K810i 
Photos by K810i
Firmware and Menu
Sony Ericsson has retained the general looks of the menu itself since the K700i days and is quite easy to use and navigate, new user (from Nokia, Moto etc) need not fret over the alien looks of this UI as generally most mobile phone manufacturer follows a rough KISS guideline. The joystick 4 direction can be customize to individual user shortcut needs
The
K810i does have the capability to upgrade it firmware over the air but the high GPRS cost may deters user from this. Flight mode is an
standard on most Sony Ericsson models and what is does is that for places that restrict cellphone signal ,user can turn on this features.
Didn't have time to try the 3G calls
function of the phone during my testing but it should be the same throughout all phones
Battery
use are the BST-33 series with the CST75 charger which have the
capability to charge and use the phone con-currently and the K810i does comes with 128mb M2 supplied.
Conclusion
Good mid-end phone with good photo capability (cybershot don’t play play)
for those using older phone and like photo taking , K810 is an good
choice. For current user of K800 and for those wanting more I would
suggest to wait for the 5mp series.
Original review at SECentral.net
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