Sony Ericsson K850i

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Sony Ericsson K850i Dimensions (w/h/d): 48 x 102 x 17 Weight: 118g Talk Time: 9 hours Stand By: 400 hours Camera: Camera Resolution: 5.0MP Handset Type: Standard Coverage (Band): Quad Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Dimensions (w/h/d): Weight: Talk Time: Stand By: Camera: Camera Resolution: Phone Type: Coverage (Band): Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Dimensions (w/h/d): Weight: Talk Time: Stand By: Camera: Camera Resolution: Phone Type: Coverage (Band): Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Our Review of the Sony Ericsson K850i

The grand successor to the K800i, Sony Ericsson's K850i arrived in the market place and has received many plaudits since.

The grand successor to the K800i, Sony Ericsson's K850i arrived in the market place and has received many plaudits since. Its five megapixel camera puts the K850i into direct competition with the Nokia N95 and it is fair to say they are very evenly matched. In terms of looks the K850i stays faithful to the same bar form as the K810 and K800i. However the edges of the handset are slightly softer and more curved than its predecessors. But the basic form is really the only relation the K850i has to its older relatives. For starters the K850i has a new directional pad layout that dispenses with the much maligned joystick. The pad is an improvement and makes navigation through the various menus a much less frustrating experience.

The large 2.2" TFT display eats up most of the space on the front panel of the K850i so it is to be expected that the keypad looks a little bit cramped. Some odd design decisions also undo the good work of the directional pad. For instance the confirmation key is located above the d-pad which can get a bit tricky to handle. The three soft keys work well but, like the rest of the keys, suffer by being crammed beneath the large display. Fortunately the soft keys make up for this but being incredibly responsive. They offer a novel way of navigating around the menus and if you are used to Sony Ericsson handsets they will feel like a refreshing change.

The five megapixel camera is obviously the headline grabbing feature on the K850i.  The usual cyber shot imaging software is included which gives you access to useful functions such as white balance and the image stabilizer. The "Best-Pic" feature on the K800i was exceptionally well implemented and it makes a welcome return on the Sony Ericsson K850i. The user interface software has also had a bit of a shake up with new pop up menus that have been liberally sprinkled with icons and even embedded colour photos so the overall experience of using the camera has been improved. A xenon flash is also included so even difficult lighting conditions should not be an issue.

The MP3 player on the K850i is much improved from the version that was on its predecessor. TrackID music recognition software has been included (similar to the walkman phones) and the universally praised disc2phone software makes another appearance. It may not be as good as iTunes but the software included with the Sony Ericsson K850i certainly has the edge over some PC to phone packages. HSDPA compatibility enables over the air downloads. Although the K850i only has 40MB of internal memory a M2 memory card slot is available for further expansion.

 Pros

Superb five megapixel camera that combines with a great flash, HSDPA compatibility.

 Cons

It's hard to fall in love with the K850i's looks. The keypad can be tricky to get used to.

Our Rating

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A good-looking handset with a great roster of features, the Sony Ericsson K850i is the first true rival to the N95's crown as the best mobile on the market. Here is a purchase you won’t regret.

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my second phone from 3

Review by: black lenny from Wiltshire, 21st June 2008

nice phone, looks good with some nice features View Full Review

black lenny from Wiltshire gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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mrs

Review by: ebony from Middlesbrough Ts8, 16th June 2008

worst phone i have ever had 4 months old back in for repair AGAIN battery life rubbish camera freezes for days on end goes onto websites and costs money would not give this phone to my worst enemy View Full Review

ebony from Middlesbrough Ts8 gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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mr rod

Review by: rroodd from Wales, 7th June 2008

good allround phone with good added extras View Full Review

rroodd from Wales gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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Sony Ericsson K850i

Review by: Teeneex from Glasgow, 22nd May 2008

This is the best picture phone i've had yet it is easily damaged and keeps turning itself off. It deletes my phone numbers every now and again and i have to back them up on the sim so i have my regular numbers. And NOW the memory card isnt reading on the phone so i can save things on the memory i just cant view, use or delete them. Not the best phone in the world but it is a really good camera phone if your the type of person that likes to take pictures alot. View Full Review

Teeneex from Glasgow gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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Poor Battery Life

Review by: Charvette from Kent, 16th May 2008

I have had this phone now for nearly 10 months. Over this period the battery life has got shorter and shorter. To be quite blunt, its rubbish. I have never had a phone that I have to charge at least once a day. I wouldnt mind, but I hardly use the thing. It just chews up the battery for no reason. Obviously a poor design. If you are thinking of getting this phone, think twice, there are much better phones out there. In fairness I cant knock the phone features... the camera is as great as it first appears... pictures are grainy and certainly not the quality of a 5Meg camera... more like a 2/3. Anyway... role another 14 months when I can upgrade again! View Full Review

Charvette from Kent gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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K850i

Review by: Ginag80 from Essex, 13th May 2008

I think this is the worst phone I could have layed my hands on, upgraded 5 months ago and since then I have had to turn my phone off every day, remove the battery and sim card just to see if I can stop this phone from continuesley freezing, swithing its self off whilst mid conversation, and NO signal.
Wished I hadnt bothered to upgarde! View Full Review

Ginag80 from Essex gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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miss

Review by: arriane from Birmingham, 27th February 2008

it ok phone but have to charge it every day the camera keeps going off and i have only had it 1 month View Full Review

arriane from Birmingham gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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k 850 i

Review by: smabbasi from Crawley, 27th January 2008

Battery life is ver bad View Full Review

smabbasi from Crawley gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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sony k850i

Review by: lildev666 from Plymouth, 16th January 2008

I received my phone today after dropping my other phone down the loo i didint have no insurance!! After usung the n95 i am finding this phone a little awkwrd with the touch sensitive buttons, the number pad is small. Its full of fancy gadgets, the camera seems good. I wasnt impressed with the ear phones supplied as I cant fit them in my ears they are not the bud type you get with the older version od sony ericsson phones, but the normal round ear phones. For a phone so expensive I would have thought they would have made the effort and put decent ear phones in. So far im not impressed... View Full Review

lildev666 from Plymouth gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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K850i A-OK

Review by: josh_rogan from Sunderland, 10th January 2008

Never had any of the CyberShot phones before so I don't kno how this measures up, but I can safelty say that the K850i is a decent multimedia phone, the quality of the pictures taken on the 5 megapixel camera hasd to been seen to be believed.

Disc 2 Phone allows you to easily transfer tracks from your computer to your phone; shame there's not a huge amount of space on here, if your like me and have a few thousand tracks, then you might as well stick with your iPod ;) still, you can upload an MP3 to use as your ringtone (not exactly a new feature I know). You'll probably need the space for pictures anyway.

Bad points: the touch-sensitive keypad is a fiddly widdly nightmare to begin with. You get accustomed to it, but the first few hours I spent with the phone were regularly punctuated with the odd swear word when the phone did something I didn't want it to do. View Full Review

josh_rogan from Sunderland gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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K850i review

Review by: emily from Andover, 8th January 2008

I think the K850i is a great little phone. Camera is great and even the camcorder mode is good - for a phone!

The new touch sensitive buttons take a bit of getting used to and the keys are quite small, but overall the K850i is a good upgrade. View Full Review

emily from Andover gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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K850i

Review by: cadle from Oxon, 17th December 2007

Worst phone I Have ever had, wish I hadn't upgraded and kept my K800i. Camera quality is shocking - automatic flash that works at the wrong times. Phone turns itself off - wish I had waited and got a N95 View Full Review

cadle from Oxon gave the Sony Ericsson K850i a

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