A slightly upgraded version of the V800 offered through Vodafone, Sony Ericsson's Z800i takes a stab at easy-to-use video telephony and music playback. A review by Sindre Lia.
Remember the Sony Ericsson Z1010? If not, you're not alone. Representing the conjoined Swedish-Japanese handset maker's first take at a 3G phone, it came out at a point in time where 3G networks were barely available in most parts of Europe - and looked like it had more in common with a meat tenderizer than a communications tool. Fast forward to 2005, and we're faced with Sony Ericsson's second 3G handset, the Z800i; competition is afoot, and the worst pants-bulging tendencies have subsided. Will it hold its own as well as Sony Ericsson's other high-end handsets?
Big and beautiful
At 102 x 49 x 24 mm and 128 g, the 3G-enabled Z800i has a bit of a chunky feel to it as compared to other and more slender offerings from Sony Ericsson - such as the K750i. Compare it to other 3G handsets, however, and it's evident that the Z800i performs very well in terms of both ergonomics and design. When closed, a squintish 65K colour display provides information on incoming calls and messages, as well as offering compact versions of the handset's camera, calendar and music player applications. The rotating 1.3 megapixel camera is placed on top of the phone, having photo lights on each side.
In open mode, the Z800i offers a bright and clear 262K colour display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. Its keypad provides low audible noise and the navigation keys are comfortable in use, but unfortunately, horizontal edges separating the rows of the numeric keypad cause a feeling of inresponsiveness. The same key layout is used for three shortcut buttons placed just above the numeric keys, activating the video telephony application, the main menu and the music player.
The user interface of the Z800i is of the same caliber as that which is found in the Sony Ericsson K750i, being both slick and user-friendly with regard to navigation in menus and text input. The video telephony application also turned out be very easy in use, providing a simple yet well-working interface. Still, it should be noted that despite this technological prowess, few handset as of yet offer such capabilities as compared to the total pool of phones in users' hands.
Turn to the left, cheek up... that's it
Z800i's integrated 1.3 megapixel camera only performed average, producing acceptable pictures in daylight and poor pictures under poorly lit conditions. White balance and crispness particularly suffered as compared to the image quality of the Sony Ericsson S700i. On a more positive note, the handset's music player performed very well, both in terms of audio quality and user interface. New playlists can be created and an equalizer provides the ability to optimize sound, but as with the K750i, the Z800i doesn't provide an integrated 3.5 mm jack but rather relies on a dongle - which must be purchased separately. We would certainly also have appreciated an integrated FM radio.
With regard to connectivity options, the Z800i sports tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz, as well as WCDMA 2100 MHz, Bluetooth, Infrared and a mini-USB Type B port. A Memory Stick Duo expansion slot is also available, backed up by a 64 MB Memory Stick storage card and an USB cable providing an easy means to transfer MP3 files to the phone. The Z800 also features 7 MB of non-volatile internal memory, polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, SMS and MMS, instant messaging and e-mail, and lastly Java MIDP 2.0 as well as WAP 2.0 support.
Reception and voice quality for the Sony Ericsson Z800i both proved excellent, while its battery offered approximately 5 hours of talktime and 5 days of standby time as compared to the claimed 10 hours of talktime and 10 days of standby time operating on a GSM network. As for video telephony, our test maxed out at one hour as opposed to the claimed one and a half.
Availability
The Sony Ericsson Z800i is at the time of writing available in several European markets, selling for approximately €500 EUR without subscription.
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