My Sony Ericsson K550i Review

About two years ago, after being a very ardent Nokia fan (if u read my earliest posts here you would know), I decided to make a switch to Sony Ericsson. It was a reluctant decision at that time, having to switch brands, but really, who couldn't resist the (then) fantastic release of the Sony Ericsson K750i! Touted as the best camera phone ever back then, it was THE camera phone to have. Plus, it was black too! And we all know, all real men wear black right?

ANYWAY, I used my K750i with much delight, snapping away at everything, so awed by the (new) SE user interface, the sharp screen resolution, the music capabilities, the ease of learning the new SMS predictive text... it definitely made me wonder why didn't I switch to SE earlier! Sony Ericssons have come a long way from the days of just being "Ericssons". Remember the days of the classics? I used to own a T28 myself. Quite a (small) device in those days.

But I do agree, however, with the survey done in my post here, that SE definitely does cater for the individualistic types. SE phones now seem to be (alot) more funkier, cooler and targeted towards the younger generations, especially with their Walkman brand releases. (Plus, their brilliant adverts are really effective too!)

You would have seen one of Sony Ericsson's adverts on Astro. A curly-haired guy in a classic car, drives up a windy and hilly road, in the midst of a thunderstorm flashing. It is obvious that he is chasing the storm after a while. Close to the top of the hill, he jumps out of the car, pulls out his K550i, cooly flips the camera cover down with his thumb, and snaps away at the lightnings and flashes. Then, he jumps back in, makes a call and drives off again. You will then see the caption, "The Sony Ericsson k550i. I love (SE's logo here) capturing it live." Pretty cool advert.

That advert sparked an interest in me to find out more about this new addition to SE's CyberShot range. (Incidentally, I've read elsewhere, the K550i is actually the K750i's replacement, which has since been discontinued in production). This new K550i now sports the latest layout evident in all SE's latest releases, which are all now more slimmer, better improved and more camera-like, courtesy of its Cybershot brand. But the question is, is it worth its price? Is it really better than the K750i it replaces? Let me capture the moment live with you now, and you can make the decision for yourself. Read on...

Inbox


1 x Sony Ericsson K550i unit
1 x Battery
1 x Two-port Standard Charger CST-60
1 x USB Cable
1 x Sony Ericsson Stereo earphones
1 x User guide and other reading material
1 x Sony Ericsson PC suite software CD

First Impressions
My sample unit was the Pearl White version. Opening up the box, my initial thoughts was how simplistic it was. The size was about half the size of a standard tissue box. (I really think that this is one of Sony Ericsson's strategies, market their products without wasting too much effort on their respective boxes. Remember the previous W800i's plastic box? It was small enough to see the phone with all its accessories stuffed at the bottom. Simple. And to be honest, I like it. Don't waste customer's hard earned cash on fancy smancy boxes. Most people chuck them aside or lose it anyway). Taking the phone out, placing my SIM card and then the battery, the actual size and weight of the K550i actually feels very light in hand. Switching on the Power button at the top, the start-up was almost immediate, expected of SE phones really. As a new phone, the K550i then asked what language I'd like my unit to be defaulted to and after selecting that, a phone wizard appears, giving tips about how to use the K550i. Then I'm greeted with the all-familiar SE Standby screen. I'm back, I thought to myself, thinking of all the SE models I've used before. Most importantly, my first impression of it... its not bad.

Physical Aspects / Build quality

• Available in Jet Black or Pearl White, the Sony Ericsson K550i has a candy bar form factor. Its slimmer than its predecessors, lighter than its predecessors and definitely looks different too. This sample unit, being Pearl White in colour, looks clean and crisp. Very nice. There is also only one other colour on the K550i; Brushed silver, which is the colour of all the function keys, keypad (at the front) and the camera cover (at the back). (With the Jet black, the same parts are in brushed silver too).
  
• At the back, you'll find the same clean look, with the exception of the camera cover, another newly designed layout, with a circular area where the camera and flash is placed. As you would notice from the K550i advert on Astro, all it takes is a simple thumb flip to activate the camera. Compare it to the flip down cover of the K750i or even K800i, to the flip-switch on the W800i to the non-existent cover on the W810's, this is a nice touch from SE. It feels solid and not easily pushed down supposing it is placed in one's pockets/handbag.
  
• On the left side, you will see the brushed silver increase / decrease volume keys (which serves twofold; it acts as a status indicator showing your internal / external memory capacities and battery meter in % when the SE is in standby mode AND it allows you to zoom when in camera mode)(A standard with all SE's these days) and, unusually, the new location for the port for your charger / USB cable / headset. It took me a while to get used to this new location, but it was a nice improvement. How it fared while I listened to my mp3's was another question. I'll touch on this later.
  
• On the right side, you will notice, other than a circular dedicated camera button, two tiny clip-switches. This is the tightening mechanism for the newly designed battery cover, which literally folds /unfolds shut. Another revolutionary design from SE, compared to their previous push-open-type battery covers.
  
• Perhaps the MOST important change from SE is the new keypad layout. You will also notice that this originated from the very new and fashionable W880i (which I will review soon). The keys are significantly smaller than previous models. But the big question is, how does it feel to type in your phone numbers or SMS's? Initially, I thought I would have no problems with it. The tactile feedback and response is good I must say. But, as I have big thumbs, I felt a bit clumsy with it after a while. This is one of my issues.
  

Display / User Interface

• The K550i sports a 262,144 colour 1.9" TFD display with a 176 x 220 pixel resolution, making it a perfect viewfinder for its 2mp digicam as well. This is the same with all its previous predecessors. Having switched from Nokia to SE once before, I have always been impressed with SE's fantastic screen resolution. It is perhaps, one of SE's major strengths. (The above picture probably doesn't do it justice, but take my word for it, its beautiful)
• Accessing the menu is easy, just press the center button on the 5 way navi pad and you will go straight to a grid style menu (as above). Unfortunately, this layout cannot be changed. Again, this is standard throughout SE's models. The upside of it is that if you're an existing SE user, upgrading to any newer models shouldn't be a problem, as its pretty much the same anyway. Throughout the SE menu, you will find possibly, improved tab style pages which make it so easy to navigate around. I won't go into TOO much detail here.
  
• Wallpapers and themes are also fully customisable and best of all, they can be animated graphics too, which is another strength for SE. If you're not satisfied with the built in ones, there are hundreds of other themes which can be downloaded online to complement your style and needs. (I have a link on my right side bar in case you're not sure where to go)
  

Calls / Messaging

• SE's call quality brings no issue from me here. It is reliable. Calls made are clear, and should you choose to use the loudspeaker, it is enough to satisfy too. Reception wise, being in Brunei, unless you venture too far off into the "Ulu" regions, you'd still be able to get at least some sort of service. (In Brunei, no where is "far" remember?)
• The K550i supports SMS/MMS and email with T9 predictive text input. Pretty basic, but its more than enough for the general user believe me. Its not a smartphone either, so don't expect too much. As I mentioned earlier, having switched from Nokia before, I found the new T9 very easy to adjust to. Nokia uses "0" as space and "*" to change words, SE uses "#" and the "down-direction" on the navi pad for selection of words. It shouldn't be too difficult to adjust to. Or vice versa. Of course, hardcore Nokians or Sony Ericssonites would probably differ with me. I just think though, that the new layout of keypad could be an issue for some, especially the fast texters.
  

Multimedia / Camera performance

• One of Sony Ericsson's strengths and main selling features is the very established Walkman brand. The K550i is no different from its predecessors with a feature packed and good quality music capabilities. Just the inclusion of SE's own designed ear phones with customizable ear-buds is testiment to how confident they are in this product. Some could argue, soundwise, SE's can definitely provide competition for the diehard iPod fans out there. I wouldn't disagree here. If you're a music addict, then you won't be disappointed. Speaker volume is also very satisfactory. You will hear your mp3's / ringtones without any problems. Especially if the volume is high. Sound quality is just superb on a SE. There is one thing though. The location of the port (on the left side) for the earphones to plug in. It might take a while to get used to. Inconvenient maybe?
  
• Camera wise, on the whole, the K550i is supposed to replace the aged K750i. It flaunts the same 2mp digicam as the K750i and has the same auto focus feature. You can also perform the same functions from White balance, effects, timer, night mode and shooting mode, according to your needs. Below are some samples:

• Personally, I think the K550i packs quite a decent camera, with performance to be quite befitting for the 2mp cam with auto focus. The presence of the shutter also acts as a protection against fingerprints and dirt, unlike the open layout of some of SE's other models, like the W810i. A good inclusion.
  
• Video recording, however, although not the best that SE can do, is of average quality; you can choose whether to record in 176 x 144 or 128 x 96 pixels. Again, not quite DVD material, but enough for the occasional MMS's to others.
  

Other features

• Connection wise, you have Bluetooth, Infrared and USB 2.0 within your reach. Quite basic and sufficient for any user out there. You also have GPRS and EDGE, supposing you would like to surf websites OR, (a new feature) subscribe to RSS feeds. This is quite easy to set up, just specify the title for feed and its address. The K550i will then connect and you can choose to download only one item, or the whole feed at a time. Useful.
  
• The K550i's phone book capabilities can store up to 1000 contacts with fully filled in fields under each name. But, the limit is 2500 numbers. I seriously DOUBT anyone can ever fill in that many numbers, but it is reassuring to know you could if you wanted to.
  
• SE's organiser / calendar is one function which I have always always had a gripe against. Although basic and enough to remind you of whatever meetings and reminders which you set, it is no where as detailed as what other brands offer. Maybe it could be enough for the average user, but if you're like me, with my device often running my daily schedule, you might not like a SE here.
  
• Under entertainment, aside from the MusicDJ and VideoDJ, I always thought the Face Warp application was cool! Take a photo of any of your friends, and you can warp their faces to look like an insect, an alien, big chin, big eyes and so on. Its provided me with many a belly aching moment when I'm with my friends or family.
  
• Storage wise, the K550i supports up to 1Gb with the newly released Memory Stick Micro. (FYI, there aren't any included in the inbox)
  
• Battery wise, I have no complaints here either. Using the K550i for a whole day, playing with all its features, making a few calls, SMS-ing my daily contacts, listening to mp3's, snapping away my photos... at the end of the day, the battery was still 84%! But then, SE phones are usually quite reliable in this area. You will never find your SE losing its power on you (unless you forget to charge of course).
  

Problems / Issues

• The keypad design is not to everyone's tastes.
• The new location of the charge / USB cable / earphones port on the left side. Not a major problem, it just takes some adjusting to.
  

d3xlabs recommendations
Having been able to use the K550i for a few days, its brought me back to the days of my old K750i, W800i and W810. Great models and examples of what digicams should be. But that is also the problem. The screen resolution is standard, the sound quality is great, the camera is SE quality. It would seem that nothing's changed (much). If you're an existing user of any of the above mentioned models, or even the models after that like K610 or K618, and if you're feeling itchy for a change, and you don't mind the new keypad layout design, then the K550i might just be for you. In monetary terms, its not very expensive for what it offers, quite value for money in my opinion.

Effective this review, I will now provide my own rating out of 5 stars instead of personally recommending it. Then you can make your own judgements on whether to get it.

Rating: 3.5 stars
Selling price (now): BND408-00 (Remember to use your DST Privilege card for better discounts)
From: Available at all Incomm outlets.