Sony Ericsson S700i
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
A great high end phone
After playing with the phone for about two weeks, its definitely a solid phone for anyone who wants something "cool". Everything is pretty much textbook Sony Ericsson like my Sony Ericsson T616: phonebook, navigation, alarm clock, calendar and other features.
Pros:
- Camera: Very nice pictures, lots of manual options
- Screen: Large and very bright. Seems to be scratch resistant
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, & infrared is always nice
- Speaker: Pretty loud for the speaker phone and the ringtones
- Ringtones: Nice to be able to play the MP3 ringtones right off of the memory stick, rather than having to copy it to the phone
- Build: Very solid. No noticeable rattling or sounds emitting from the battery cover, or the swivel action
- Menus: User Interface is quite fast. Like the tabbed for menus such as the phonebook or the settings
- File Manager: Really easy to navigate and manage all files
- Synchronization: Syncs easily with Outlook
- Memory Stick Duo: Thank god for the extra space, albeit limited to 128 MB and minus the Pro version
- Radio: It works
- Key Pad Lock: Like the quick sliding button on the side of the phone
Cons:
- Camera: Mine had two hot pixels, but I'll get over it
- Speaker: When on a very high volume, the lens cover and the keys on the key pad rattles, unless the phone is in your pocket or in your hand touching the lens. Speaker phone may not work well in loud environments
- Voice dialing: Unlike the T616, where you say the name, and then say "mobile" or "home" for names with multiple numbers. Each number must now a separate voice tag for each number. I liked the old way, but I'll get over this one too
- Flash: More like a bright light that could blind the people looking at it, but does nothing for the picture
- Battery Life: About 2-3 days. Pretty good, but could be better
- Signal Meter: Seems to fluctuate like crazy, something that I didn't notice on my T616. Calls seem to be at or above the level of the T616, minus the GSM 850 or course
Awesome Fone
This is my 3 SE fone in a row and i must say it is the most impressove SE fone i have used. I had z600, k700i. The k700i was good but firmware problems and other missing functions kept it from being a really good fone. But the s700i hit the spot. Wow, i think this is one of the best fones in the market. I did my research before buying this fone. The other fones i compared were Motorols V635, Nokia 6230i, Samsung p735, Samsung E720. But the design, function and reviews made me buy this fone. Plus Sony is awesome in everything else.
By the way you could put mp3's as ringtones by transferring the mp3 to the fone. Then set the mp3 as ringtone. I did that and it is awesome. Speaker is great.
Great phone
Pro's
Great Pictures. I took my sony memory stick card to wallgreens and printed out some pictures. Very impressive. Its nice to have a phone that you can now finally use as a "real" camera. To be able to hold and shoot like a camera is remarkable with huge screen display.
Great games. It comes with a sweet 3d tennis game. Graphics are incredible. 3d replays even. Cant wait to get cooler games. Its like having a game boy advance on you phone.
Great video. Good sound and unlimited video recording. Good frame rate, not jumpy.
The list could go on forever. Everyone who see's the phone has wanted to buy one. All my friends are revising there Christmas wish lists. Check out the features.
Con's
Can't figure out how to get full length mp3's on the phone. I've got them on my memory stick but the phone won't recognize them.
I want to use it as a mp3 player but have not figured out how.
Was my baby till w300 came along
Dear S700i,
I miss you. I miss you alot. You where so stylish and sophisticated. You had almost everything. Super-cool swivel action baby!! The largest cellphone screen known to man with a resistant scratch proof screen cover. MP3 capability with loud clear speakers to hear them on. Juicy interface with super-bluetooth. Not to be mistaken for your regular old bluetooth. I loved people leaving their bluetooth on and browsing their ringtones pictures and such and being able to extract them without them having to push one button. Camera oh camera you where the top of the heap at 1.3 megapixel at one time and served me well. Ruggedized no but damn you take a beating.
The things that drove me away from you my love. Your old and no one is making new acessories for you like an FM modulator. Your limited capacity to only be upgraded to 128 mb data. Your lack of carrying when it came to being able to change my text message alert to anything except the dumb 6 sounds preinstalled. The PH degree i had to obtain before I could change your housing. (Funny story here my dumb@ss friend who owned a s700a tried to change the housing and turned his phone into an Ipod with 128mb or memory cause now the camera nor the phone work ... see impatience cost him 200 bucks)
Big Size? WELL-That's why it has 98% PROS!
I'M TIRED OF PEOPLE
constantly compaining about the phone's size.
If it was not as large as it is, it would have all the flaws that most of the small Sony phones have (software issues, and low earpiece volume).
I bought this phone for $350
at http://www.starlinwireless.com
and I'm using it with T-Mobile (s700 and T-Mobile get alone just fine!)
PROS:
-Finally a Sony phone that looks like a phone!
-Excellent loud, clear/smooth sound quality
-Loud ringers
-Excellent quality screen
CONS:
-Sony still using the horrible menu interface
(when will Sony start thinking?)
OVERALL, this is the best Sony phone on american market! And remember, that most of its PROS are du to its NORMAL LARGE SIZE-DUH!
The phone with it all
Overall I would give this phone a 4.7. This phone literally has everything. It took me all of 5 seconds to figure out how to use mp3's from my comp as ringtones. I bought this phone unlocked from amazon and it's working just fine on the "former" AT&T wireless. The only cons of this phone is (well I think) for a 1.3 mega pixel camera the quality isn't as good as my old LG 1150. And possibly the battery life could be better (or maybe cause I use it as an mp3 player), but its really not bad under moderate to heavy use. Also trying to get on the internet is a pain and SE's website isn't much help either.
SUPERB PHONE!!!
I had purchased the Motorola Razr back in December. My husband did not like it, so I purchased the SE S700i for him for a Christmas present, importing it from Hong Kong. He totally fell in love with it, so I scrapped my Razr and purchased another S700i for myself.
PROS: The camera and video quality are outstanding, and the phone is fun to use. It may be a bit complicated for someone wanting the basics, but is actually very easy to use overall. Memory capacity is generous, unlike the Razr, which is very small in comparison. I also love the FM radio, though the hands-free is needed as an antenna for this to work (though you can put it on external speaker). Works well with both the SE web browser and T-Zones, though the latter can be a bit tricky to configure. Cingular users with a "locked" phone will be better supported
CONS: The accompanying software for MMS is a bit quirky and takes some trial and error to be useful. Phone would also benefit from a speakerphone feature.
Overall, an enjoyable little phone.
SMART but CLUMSY
The sound and picture are awesome. It can sync with a pc via, USB, Bluetooth etc...
Has a memory stick duo slot. Very good setup for a phone. But the swinging style? very very dumb!!!
This phone is very expensive and after a month or two of use its swinging keypad ain't swingging anymore! its dangling! The lock of the keypad looses its grip and the phone is not worthless.
PROs
Good sound
Exellent screen (262k)
Awesome camera (1.3 mp)looks like a digital camera at the back. it also have a video recorder
mp3 compatable, fm radio,very good
a very smart phone
CONs
very dumb swingging keypad!
very big, can be used as a small bat for mugglers (hehehe). very expensive too. the price equals to a nokia 6600 and a 5megapixel camera.
a good thing about this phone is that when you use it sidewards and took a picture, it looks like your using a digital camera.
Its All Good
I have had the phone for about a month and i have no problems with the phone at all. It features a really good camera, the mp3 playback is as good as any i have heard with the headphones.the screen is well presented as, is the phone. the only thing that i can fault it on is the size if you dont mind having a slightly bulky phone then look no further. but me personally i think if you want hi tech phone then size comes second.
