Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo review

Posted on 01-07-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

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This latest offering from Sony Ericsson, the Xperia Neo offers a bright, colourful screen, superb 8-megapixel camera with 720p video recording and HDMI output, plus all the standard Android smart phone features. This is a mid range smartphone, sitting in a lower price range than its predecessors the Xperia Play and Xperia Arc. looking more like the Play than the wafer thin Arc, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo has that trademark to the rear, making it easier to hold and features an attractive two-tone plastic casing which manages to look modern and classy.

The 3.7 inch capacitive touchscreen is smaller than the Play’s (4 inch) and the Arc’s (4.2 inch), but, thanks to Sony Ericsson’s Mobile Bravia Engine picture-processing technology, in terms of brightness and clarity, the Xperia Neo is fantastic (there is also a dedicated shutter button to take advantage of any instant photo opportunities). The fantastic 8 megapixel camera uses the latest Exmor R CMOS sensor and manages to capture stunning pictures with stunning detail – even in poor light conditions. The Xperia Neo is so good it outclasses many dedicated digital cameras. The Neo is also capable of recording 720p high-definition videos with smooth transitions and lots of detail. The best way to really appreciate the quality of the video playback is to take advantage of the HDMI out facility and watch on your hi-def TV screen.

Running the award winning Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, but with a single-core 1GHz processor, the Xperia Neo is no class leader in terms of power, being blown away by the class best (the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S 2) however in everyday usage the Neo is more
than capable of playing all the latest games and running all the heavy duty apps available in the Android Market.

In terms of mid range smart phones, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo is right up there with the best of them. For many the Neo will offer all the features and power they will ever need (and many they will never use!) The single core processor is the only real drawback to the competitive price – but even with this alck of power (on paper) the Neo can handle any of the popular Android applications and offers a good gaming experience and a whole host of useful widgets. There is of course the potential that this single core processor could mean the Neo will become very dated within the next couple of years, with new applications and functionality coming down the line specifically designed for dual core devices. Of course those with pay monthly contracts can simply upgrade, so this is not a serious issue.

Sony Ericsson Cedar Mobile Phone Review

Posted on 20-01-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

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Like the Elm and Hazel before it, the Sony Ericsson Cedar is part of Sony Ericsson’s environmentally friendly GreenHeart range. This means the Cedar is made from (and packaged in) mainly recycled materials, therefore the Sony Ericsson Cedar is the perfect mobile for users with eco-morals. Despite being made from predominately recycled materials, the Cedar is one of Sony Ericsson’s most attractive handsets, with a sharp two-tone colour scheme and elegant, ridged keypad.

The Sony Ericsson Cedar is a lightweight handset, weighing just 84g, so will fit into your pocket with ease. Despite this lightness and compact size, the Cedar has 280MB of memory storage available which will allow a generous amount of photographs, videos and music to be saved. This internal memory can also be upgraded if required via a microSD card up to 16GB.

The Cedar also has some (well deserved) multimedia aspirations, the media player is well above average thanks to Sony Ericsson’s excellent Walkman range of music phones and the presence of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (which means you to use your own favourite set of headphones to listen to music).

The 2 megapixel camera fitted to the Cedar takes decent photographs and has video recording capability. Not marketed as a smartphone, the Sony Ericsson Cedar never the less offers limited connectivity to social websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Picasa, Flickr and Twitter. The 3G connectivity makes connecting to these social networks, and surfing the web in general, much quicker than browsing via standard GPRS connection. Video calling is supported but without an additional front facing camera, this effectively means video calls will be one sided with only a static picture being presented to the other caller – but at least it is possible!

Compared to the previous phones in the GreenHeart range (Elm and Hazel), the Cedar boasts a nicer design, better functionality and a much more user friendly and pleasing interface. As a low cost, easy to use phone, packed with useful features and of course those “Greenheart” credentials, the Cedar is destined to be a winner, especially with environmentally friendly consumers.

Advantages: Nice design, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity for fast web browsing, standard 3.5mm headphone jack, great music player utilising the Sony Ericsson Walkman experience, easy to use interface with handy home screen widgets, environmental credentials.

Disadvantages: Basic camera with no LED flash, Twitter widget is not the easiest to use, video calling is one sided with no front facing camera!

Available now on Orange and Vodafone contracts –
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Sony Ericsson Zylo mobile phone deals with FREE iPod Shuffle

Posted on 06-01-2011 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Deals, Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

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The Sony Ericsson Zylo appeals to those who love social networking on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The Zylo is all about entertainment with a Walkman music player, web browsing with Google Search and a 3.2 megapixel camera with Photo fix and geo-tagging. A Video player provides additional entertainment as does the FM radio and RDS SMS, MMS, Email and instant messaging. On offer now through 3 Mobile on a 24 month deal with 300 any network minutes and 300 free texts, 5000 minutes to other phones on 3 Mobile, 500M internet data allowance and a FREE iPod Shuffle!!!

Read the full Sony Ericsson Zylo review here

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Sony Ericsson Zylo Full Review and Latest Deals

Posted on 23-11-2010 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

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The Sony Ericsson Zylo is a slider handset with an emphasis on music/entertainment (it carries the Walkman branding) At just 103mm x 52mm x 16mm, its a neat handset and features a curvy design which is comfortable to hold and easily fits in pockets.

The slider part of the handset opens to reveal a 12 key keyboard and the front of the phone is dominated by a 2.6 inch display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution. This display is no match for some of the high end smartphones available but is perfectly functional and suits the standard Sony Ericsson menu/navigation system quite well.

Music playback is well catered for, as you would imagine from a mobile phone which is part of the illustrious Walkman family. However there is one really annoying feature, or rather lack of a feature – no 3.5mm headphone socket! This means you will not be able to plug in your favourite headphones (unless of course they are Sony Ericsson headphones!). This glaring omission aside, music fans will love the Sony Ericsson Zylo, with FLAC (for lossless audio), great external speaker, thumping bass, clear audio, and dedicated music controls all presented through the excellent Sony Xross Media Browser. The internal memory of 260MB is adequate, but most users will make use of the microSD card slot to expand storage for music and other content up to 16Gb. You can make full use of this memory buy accessing the Sony Ericsson PlayNow service where tons of content is offered for download. Using the 3G HSDPA downloading is fast, however many users will prefer to shop around and download content using their PC/laptop and transfer files to memory card.

The internet browser provided is adequate with good social networking integration (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace ) and there is also an FM radio with TrackID, Google Maps and geo-tagging (although no GPS), messaging (with Sony predictive text), and a a 3.2-megapixel camera (including video recording).

Advantages: good external speaker, bluetooth, excellent music player (once headphones upgraded), easy to use with simple Sony Ericsson interface, large icons and intuitive menu’s. FM radio with TrackID. Good deals on T-mobile, Vodafone and o2

Disadvantages: no 3.5mm headphones jack/poor earphones supplied in retail pack, this limits you to Sony Ericsson headsets. This is a major pain for a Walkman branded phone! However there is A2DP Bluetooth so you can use wireless Bluetooth headphones if you have them. Basic display/screen, No Wi-Fi or GPS, no USB port, Playnow download service a bit pricey for content, many cheaper alternatives

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the Sony Ericsson Zylo from T-mobile, o2 and Vodafone now!

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro Review

Posted on 23-11-2010 | By: david | 

Category : Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

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The Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro is basically the Sony Ericsson Vivaz plus a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Like the Vivaz, the Vivaz Pro has the same curved back and slim profile. The addition of the keyboard makes the Vivaz pro slightly thicker, but with measurements of 109 x 52 x 15mm and a weight 117g its not exactly bulky.

The 3.2 inch display 640 x 360-pixel display is the same as the Vivaz. In other words its fantastic with good density and sharp images. With the exception of the qwerty keyboard, the only other small difference between the Vivaz and the Pro version, is the Pro version has a 5 megapixel camera rather than the 8 megapixel unit found in the original Vivaz (presumably this is because the addition of the keyboard means less room for camera technologies). However this 5 megapixel camera provides high quality photographs and HD recording, the reduction in pixel resolution is not noticeable in everyday use.

The build quality and construction of the Vivaz Pro is top notch, despite the use of plastics rather tham metal for the casings. Luckily the matt finish does not show finger prints and the screen stays reasonably clean too and is easy to wipe.

The resistive touchscreen display is perhaps not quite as vibrant as the newer AMPLED screens but is responsive and sharp. In any case most users will use the full qwerty keyboard as the main point of interaction, rather than the on-screen keyboard which means the user experience is improved over the standard Vivaz.That being said, the Symbian S60 operating system is starting to look very dated against some of the smartphone competition.

Twitter and other social networking applications are included such as Facebook and Flickr. Many other applications can be downloaded from the PlayNow service but prices seem expensive compared to Apple or Android store. Popular web services such as BBC iplayer and Youtube also get shortcuts from the video tab.

The standard 3.5mm jack means you can use your favourite headphones and the audio quality and volume is pretty good. But the prime feature of the Vivaz Pro is the camera, particularly the HD video capture. There are tons of options available for both still photography and video recording available, such as smart panoramic mode, LED illuminator, touch to shoot, autofocus and focus modes, smile shutter and face detection. The high-definition video is awesome (and simple to use with dedicated video button), with night mode and a number of effects such as black & white, sepia, or the funky solarize look!

Advantages: Easier to use than the Vivaz due to qwerty keyboard, amazing high definition video camera, responsive touch-screen. Available on T-mobile, Vodafone and o2 networks.

Disadvantages: bit bulkier than average due to qwerty keypad, camera definition (in terms of pixels) less than original Vivaz, Symbian S60 operating system is less than optimum nowadays, however it works pretty well in this incarnation

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro from T-mobile, o2 and Vodafone now!

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