Review : Sony Ericsson C510

Introduced in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the Sony Ericsson C510 has that sleek and sexy design, on the outside and in the interface as well. With YouTube compatibility and is one of its “Cyber-shot” phones, techgeek.com.au has now got it for review and will now put it to the test to see does it live up to its hype as one of the must-have phones for a media-savvy person?

Once I got the phone in my hands, I was surprised at the phone’s look. It was stunning, in sleek black, and was very slim and I couldn’t believe that it could do all the things that it said in the manual, but it is. But it doesn’t surprise me, since almost every phone from the company is “sexy”. The screen is pretty bright, and the interface also matches the description of the phone – it’s stunning.

The phone has a sliding lens cover, protecting the phone’s 3.2 megapixel camera lens and the two LED flash lights, with a faux-wood grain finish. This, however, is hard to see if you have the black version of the phone.

The phone is branded as one of its Cyber-shot phones, and it does an alright job – but I’m not going to say it is perfect, because it is certainly not. The camera photos, though expected to be low quality, are actually better than what we anticipated. However, the Panorama mode doesn’t really do much of a good job of stitching the photos. It does give you a guide of the last photo so you can try and match the start to it, but it just overlaps the image, not stitching it. The camera flash, when I was reviewing it, doesn’t seem to turn on when I take pictures in a room where there is a bit of darkness and a bit of light shining through – especially when other phones, including the one I currently have, have their flash activated. The camera does have face recognition, but no image stabilisation feature, which does bring it down a notch, since other Cyber-shot phones do have the same feature.

Now, on to the web and media features. It does have on-board speakers, but they are really soft when I was playing a YouTube video with its on-board YouTube application, which I also note that video quality needs a bit of work. There are headphones included, but it uses the same port as the battery recharger is on, meaning you cannot use your standard 3.5 inch headphones – which is a huge bummer. The included headphones also act as a handsfree device and the FM radio’s antenna.

On a lighter note, the screen allows you to watch videos very clearly – but we suggest you use landscape mode, since the picture would be better to view.

Web browsing, however, is a different story. The phone’s browser is super fast, but is no replacement for a desktop one, on the HSDPA network provided by its carrier, 3. The screen is also makes it a better experience, showing impressive colours on images.

Calls quality, sadly, do have a muffled effect on them, which is kind of a setback. But it does allow you to have an option of having a “conference call” on the phone, which is pretty much, as I can think of, a first on a mobile phone. It also allows you to have two conversations at one time, but you need to put the other one on hold before you can contact the other one. Instructions are included in the manual.

Performance of the phone is super fast, especially with the menu effects and animation; and the phone hasn’t lagged or froze during the review, meaning that the interface is stabled enough. Switching to landscape mode, because the phone has an accelerometer, is also fast – but the effect isn’t the same as like the iPhone.

Overall, the phone is pretty solid with features. Despite the things that were lacking on the phone, it is a phone that is alright for those who are budget-conscious, but looking for more features. The phone costs AU$349, but it doesn’t contain any extras like an adapter for the 3.5 mm headphones you want or a Memory Stick Micro card included, but then again – look at any other phone in its price range and you will most likely find this one at the top. The phone is with 3, with a $279 price for prepaid, or with a $29 cap plan.