The Sony Ericsson C905 leak out a few months ago. The phone was ultimately released and is one of the way better Cyber-shot camera phones out there. Boasting an 8.1 megapixel camera, the C905 is equipped with a 2.4 inch screen that can be used in both portrait and landscape modes thanks to the built in accelerometer. Measuring 104mm x 49mm x 18mm, the phone weighs in at an arguably hefty 136 grams (4.8 oz), and is compatible with GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz and UMTS 2100/HSDPA networks.
The phone comes with a slide-out keypad with standard T9 input that is common on most other Sony Ericsson phones. The phone features a crisp 262k color display, which doubles up as your camera preview window.
Interestingly, the photos for this review were taken from another 8 megapixel camera (a Canon PowerShot SD1100 one). While images from the Canon are marginally better than the ones from the C905, the image quality on the C905 is an order of magnitude better than just about all the other camera phones out in the market. The face detection feature lets you easily focus on the subject, while photo fix lets you adjust contrast and light balance after you’ve shot the picture.
Now, I am a large believer that digital photos above 5 megapixels in resolution are just a waste of space, so I lowered the resolution of images on the C905 to 5MP (it’s easy to set the resolution from the phone menu when you are operating in camera mode). Even with this modification, the photos were really pretty good. Check out the sample photos to see what I mean.
Sometimes, the camera shutter is off by a second when you shoot the photo - leading to blurry images, which you can avoid by turning on the image stabilizer. For low light conditions, there’s a xenon flash. While I did not try it, the camera also supports video blogging, letting you upload videos online in seconds (based on your cell phone network - better if you’re on WiFi). You can also geo-tag your photos.
The Phone
When the slider is closed, you can do a few things, including look up the recent call list (called, received and missed calls), from where you can call any of those numbers. You do this the usual way - by pressing the Call Answer key.
The Sony Ericsson C905 also comes with a shortcut button that lets you see new phone events (text messages, call alerts), switch between multiple running applications (yes - there is multitasking support), a list of quick shortcuts for the most commonly used applications, WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity and so on, and finally for web access. I realized that I spent quite a bit of my time with the shortcut key - and it is useful without having to slide out the keypad each time.
That said, when you want to send text messages or access other installed tools and applications, you will have to slide out the keypad.
Applications
One of the more important applications on any phone these days is the web browser. The Sony Ericsson C905 comes with the Access NetFront browser (one of my former favorites). On the earlier Nokia Series 60 phones, this was just about the best browser out there - until Opera came out and became the leading browser on phones. Opera is, as usual, available as a free download for the C905 - and I recommend downloading this if you are serious about browsing a lot on your phone.
The other applications are nothing to write home about: you have your default calendar, clock, notepad and task applications as well as a handy integrated FM radio receiver.
Messaging
For regular text messaging, there’s the default SMS application. Now, one of the features I liked on this is that it remembers the last few numbers/contacts that you sent the message to, so if you want to send the message to them again it is very convenient. The C905 supports POP and IMAP email accounts as well, but for some reason I could never get it to work with my Gmail account.
Synchronization
Sony Ericsson provides its PC Suite software for syncing data between your phone and computer. The software is easy to use, but I wouldn’t call it dead easy - that’s something that can be improved. The Media Manager, on the other hand, is much easier - drag and drop stuff that the average 6 year old can handle.
Conclusion
The Sony Ericsson C905 is a worthwhile investment. It sucks that the phone is not available subsidized here in the US, but you can buy it unlocked (see below for details). The phone has a wonderful scratch-resistant screen, impressive 8 megapixel camera and comes equipped with a 2GB memory stick.
Rating: 8.0/10
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