Sony Ericsson S710a
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 29, 2005 by Eric Lin
In-depth review of the Sony Ericsson S710a, the new high-end swivel camera phone for Cingular. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Good phone
I've owned it for about an year and I've had no problems with it.
Pros:
1. Long battery life
2. Sturdy design
3. Nice buttons
4. Great display
5. Very good user interface
Cons:
1. A little bulky
2. Swivel requires both hands
3. Signal strength is not very good
Best Phone I Have Seen.
this is simply the best phone made. It is easy to use and i bought two. One for myself and one for my GF. She loves it, because she can take great pics and have everyone ask her, " Is that a phone or a camera?" She also has the Razr, but that is a different discussion. great phone all the features are perfect. there are no real cons that i have experienced
Nice phone but quits after 1 year + 2 Weeks
I have to say this is a nice phone. However, after 1 year and 2 weeks moderate use, it decided to quit. I can hear the other end but they cannot hear me. It's not a problem with Mic because it is not working with Bluetooth hand-free too. Sony Ericsson does not cover $170.00 repair cost after 1 year warranty period.
Suggest purchasing service plan for Sony Ericsson phones.
The greatest phone ever created!
Ok, I have searched day in and day out for at least a month for a new phone that had all the latest stuff: MP3 player, expandable memory, 1.3 megapixel camera, and all that other good stuff. I'll tell you what- this phone is the greatest (just like the title suggests. hehe.)
Pros:
- Has a 1.3 mega pixel camera that has a shutter over it to protect the lens protector (if that makes sense.)
- Swivel phone (freakin sweet and un-usual design)
- MP3 player (not an ipod, but I have all my favorite Disturbed songs on it and I can play it for about 6 hours or so continuously without it dying. Pretty good for a phone.)
- LOUD ringer, I can hear it from 2 rooms away and you can use your MP3s as ring tones- very cool!
- You can find and download some freakin' sweet themes for it and make your friends and relatives jealous. (I have a Halo 2 theme for mine)
-Has to be closed when using the camera (most think that's a con, but I think it's awesome because it makes people think it's a digital camera until you open it to use the keypad. It's fun to see their reactions.)
-has Instant Messenger
Cons:
- can be slow when connecting to blue tooth, or starting up when it was turned off or charging.
- only able to hold 128MB or external memory (yes, it's true. I was puzzled by the reason why and I'll tell you to help any other confused people like me. anything above a 128MB card from Sony is called a Memory Stick PRO duo, meaning it's in a different format than the regular Memory stick duo. The phone was created only to recognize the memory stick duo format, not the pro duo.)
Other than those 2 cons- this phone is perfect for me. Hope this helps anyone who is thinking about buying it. Go for it, it's a freakin' sweet phone!
This phone is loaded but is not top notch!
The s710 is one of the most versatile handsets that is not a pda. With having bluetooth, mega pixel camera w/video, mp3 player and memory stick slot it is a swiss army knife with a silk sheath. If you get creative you can watch full length videos on it. I can go on and on with the different tasks this phone can handle with ease but there are some issues that make this fall short.
Pros:
Looks fantastic
Wonderful camera
Memory Stick slot makes it very versatile
Battery life is great
Cons:
Awful reception
Bluetooth reception is nil. Bluetooth is not supposed to have line of sight.
Menu system is overly complicated.
Accessories hardly exist.
This loaded gadget is very cool and very fun but it is not very usable as a phone. so proceed wtih caution. If you don't care about bluetooth and are located in a strong reception area you should enjoy it.
My two cents
Amazing phone, I think we can all agree on that. I got this phone after killing my other Sony Ericsson, which was also a fantastic phone. However, here's how I'm going to break it down:
Pros... Too many to say!
Camera- This phone puts the MEGA in 1.3 mega pixels
Screen- no need to bring a flashlight, the size and quality will light a room at night!
Swivel- almost annoying, but dude... it's a SWIVEL! Bored? Trying to impress or show off your phone? Just swivel it and watch them glare.
General Features- There may be lots of 'normal' features like Notes, Calendar and all that, but this phone takes it to a new level.
Size- Big enough to know it's there, which is a plus for me.
Battery- Charges super quick and lasts for a long long time.
Speaker- I am into loud and clear music, and this phone is really packin'. So loud and so clear with both music and phone calls (when I can make 'em).
Cons- A couple, of course.
Screen- scratch city. I have had it two weeks and i can see the wear beginning. Yikes!
Reception- I have heard that others find the reception of great quality, but I beg to differ. More than half of my time using this phone is spent trying to make a call. Where my friends with Cingular and Verizon have 4 bars, I have cingular and a big, fat, "No Network" sign. This problem is so bad that it encouraged me to write this review. Maybe every individual s710a is different, but mine doesn't like getting service or keeping my calls break-up free. This con is TORTURE!
AWSESOME PHONE!!!!!!
IT is a awesome PHONE!! Everything works great on this phone. One of the best phones i have used.
I love this phone!!!!
have to say that I love this phone. I've had it for about 6 months now and I still love it. To all of those who give it bad ratings because of features, or lack thereof, that were known ahead of time, you weren't to smart to buy it in the first place.
As for me, I can't get enough of this phone. First, the phone part. The reception is great (I live South of Houston, TX), and my wife uses my phone in the house where her phone (LG) drops calls. Calls are clear even if there is only 1 bar.
The screen is amazing. Big, bright and colorful. Plus the clear plastic over the screen is fairly hardy and I haven't scratched it yet. I did buy a case for it because it is bigger than most phones and feels bulky in a pocket. The size is a fair trade for what you get.
The camera is amazing. Crystal clear pictures, and even the video is nice, plus the video will record until you are out of memory. The phone takes MS Duo cards (128M max, but I knew this coming in, plenty for photos and songs)
The speaker phone is loud and clear and the voice dialing works great.
A great feature is the ability to use the phone without opening it. You never need to open the phone except when you need to actually type in numbers or letters.
What I love most is all the attention to detail.
*Like how the volume buttons on the side of the phone know if you have it open or not. Since opening the phone turns these buttons upside down, the phone switches the functions of them when the phone is opened.
*How there is a camera button on the side and when the lens is opened, the screen goes into landscape mode and the phone is usable like a normal digital camera.
*How most of the games you get for the phone take advantage of the "half-open" configuration for comfortable 2-handed play.
*many more
All of the normal phone features work great. Bluetooth and IR connectivity work flawlessly. Even the internet and email connections work great for me.
My first SE and I LOVE it!
This phone simply amazes me. The size is perfect for me and so easy to hold. The RAZR hurt my hand after awhile. As a phone it is loud and clear. The signal is strong. The speakerphone is great and people cannot even tell when I'm using it. As far as style goes, it's impressive. Everyone who has seen it either says "WOW! What a great phone!" or "That's too much for me, all I need is a phone to make calls with." I have a feeling they don't want to admit the inferiority of their own phone. :)
The controls are great, and you really don't have to open the phone unless you need the numbers or letters, for example sending an sms. You can do most everything else with the navigation pad and soft keys. I have read other reviews before I got the phone that complained of the keys being slick and flush with the body. They really aren't that slick and I like the fact they are flush. You can also program the navigation pad with shortcuts. This is really nice and saves many button presses to get to specific features you use a lot. Nice job Sony Ericsson!
Okay for the camera. The pics are near photo quality, but still a bit grainy. I afraid you can't throw away your separate digital camera yet. I suspect that within a couple of years or so camera phones will be true photo quality. I wish that it had a faster capture rate to reduce blurring, if you don't hold it completely still you're gonna have to snap another. And finally, it would be nicer if there was a real flash and not just a light, it works, but you have to turn it on and off. Minor hassle
The video recorder is okay, but the sound is not very loud unless you are right up to the mic. But hey, what do you expect from a phone.
Now for the MP3 player. Sounds decent, actually pretty loud for a phone. Headphones sound great. I do wish there were tracking capabilities, with only pause and play, you have to start at the beginning every time. It's still a phone.
Overall this phone has made me a true SE fan.
I miss my s710a so much!
If i could rate higher than a 5 i would. I've been searching for a phone to even come close to this one and I can't. Stupid Cingular decided to stop making it so when my godson decided to see s710's floating capabilities when he threw it in the bath tub (which by the way gave it no water damage!), he slightly cracked the screen. This phone was so cool, I use it as my digital camera all the time. Its very stylish and professional looking @ the same time, has a big screen that you can see from a mile away so if I didn't feel like running over to see who was calling, I didn't have to- not to mention all the ringtones that could be uploaded to it. The space was amazing bc all of MP3s were long songs. I think the ONLy complaint i had, if i HAD to make one was that it did not hold enough text messages...it was always telling me that my messages were 95% full (but i did send way to many text messages). I loved the extra memory card that you could hook up to it which allowed me to order prints of the pictures I had taken and pick them up when I got off of work. The keys were big, the memory was awesome, hardly any dropped calls, fit nicely in any universal clip, the games helped pass the time, the alarm made sure I got up everymorning...i don't think I've ever heard a more annoying stock alarm ringer...but I never failed to wake me up in a hurry to try to turn it off, the bluetooth's range was great- THIS PHONE WAS THE BEST...I MISS IT SO MUCH!
