Sony Ericsson K810i review

The Sony Ericsson K810i is the successor to the acclaimed K800i - the first Cybershot-branded mobile phone cum camera and one of our all-time favourites in the Know Your Mobile offices.

What made the K800i so impressive was that it was a genuinely good camera with a 3.2 megapixel sensor, autofocus and a bright Xenon flash. But at the same time it was a genuinely good phone too, with an impressive feature set (including 3G connectivity) and tradionally solid Sony build quality.

So we were expecting great things indeed from the Sony Ericsson K800i. But after using the phone for two weeks our main reaction is one of disappointment at an opportunity missed.

The first thing that strikes you about the K810i is how flimsy it feels in your hand compared with its predecessor. Sony Ericsson has ditched the rubberised back and brought in a glossy plastic front plate, as is the current fashion.

The changes mean that the phone seems more compact on the spec sheet - the thickness is 17mm compared with the K800i's 22mm and the weight drops from 115 grammes to 103 grammes.

But while result may look sleeker on paper and in photos in actual use the give and squeak of plastic shifting in your hand makes the phone feel cheaper and less solid than the K800i.

The other big difference is the keypad: where the K800i had standard square keys with the numbers printed on them, the K810i has opted for dainty 3mm wide plastic discs. Sony Ericsson has played silly buggers with its keypads before - remember the metal grains of rice on the W880i?

This time around the results are not quite as painful - texting on the K810i is not the grind it is on the W880i for instance. But the suspicion remains that Sony Ericsson is making changes to a key part of the user interface for solely cosmetic reasons. And anyone with larger fingers or limited digital dexterity is going to find it harder to adapt to these micro-buttons.

Elsewhere surprisingly little has changed from the K800i. The camera is still 3.2 megapixels, and the autofocus and Xenon flash appear identical. While those specs are still impressive the launch of the 5-megapixel Nokia N95 means that they are no longer market-leading. One small plus is that the lens cover has been upgraded so now it's far less likely to open in your pocket and take pictures of your car keys.

The only other notable change is that when the camera is activated the 1, 4, 7 and * keys become shortcuts for camera functions such as picture size, self-timer and flash. They also get nifty illuminated blue icons alongside them to illustrate their current functionality.

But apart from that there's nothing else that offers any significant improvements over the K800i. Which makes us suspect that this upgrade isn't really a genuine upgrade at all. But rather a way for Sony Ericsson to improve the profit margins on the handset by using cheaper components to achieve near identical performance (see what they do with their PlayStation or PSP video games as another example of this practice).

Our short and sweet verdict is that if you already have a Sony Ericsson K800i there is absolutely no need to upgrade to the K810i.

And if you're looking for the best Sony Ericsson camera phone around you should still go for the K800i - that feels and performs like the classic phone it is. The K810i feels like a slightly smaller and cheaper copycat with 'trendy' trimmings and noticeably less class.

Sony Ericsson K810i technical specifications.