Sony Ericsson K810i
4. Using the phone
After having unpacked all the contents, fully charged the battery, the time has come to try my new phone. First of all, the K810i feels very light and seems better constructed than the K750. The materials used for the external shell don't make any noises, like with the K750. The TFT screen used has 320x240 resolution and is really sharp with vivid colours. Under sunlight, it is visible, although we would like something even better. The menus are what a Sony Ericsson user might expect. No complaints there. I will not get into details, since this is not in the scope of this review. The phonebook catalogue is complete and moving up and down is really fast. I'm a satisfied customer so far.
They keyboard as I wrote earlier, takes some getting used to. The small rounded buttons offer a good feel, since you know exactly what you are pressing. With the K750, you could inadvertently press two buttons simultaneously. Of course, it takes time to get used to it, so try before buy!
The camera has an obvious advantage compared with the K750. I found the auto settings to be very good and the Xenon flash really does a good job. No red eyes, even under night conditions. The several modes that Sony Ericsson included will be useful if you want to get the absolute best picture. The sliding plastic cover seems solid, although I am worried it may fade over time. Maybe I should use a plastic protective case after all.
The BestPic mode, takes 9 different shots in quick succession, so you can select which is the best. The phone offers several (3Mpixels, 2Mpixels, 1Mpixel, VGA) resolutions, so you can choose depending on your available memory and personal taste.
The phone has good reception. What I didn't like, as with the K750, is that the speaker volume is very low. In order to hear the other person, you need to virtually put the phone inside your ear. I thought this was a problem of the K750, but with the K810i, things are much worse. Another negative is the external speaker, again the volume is lower compared with the K750. And there's no flashlight like there was on the K750, the eXenon flash cannot work like a normal flash light.
The battery is satisfactory. With normal use, I lasted 3-4 days before re-charging the phone. Of course, using the phone for MP3 playback or radio, will shorten battery duration, so its up to you to decide its use.
The Memory Stick Micro has an obvious disadvantage, my 4GB Memory Stick cannot fit! So you are stuck with using a maximum of 1GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) card that Sony offers and at a high price...