Our Review of the Sony Ericsson C702
The Sony Ericsson C702 is a new cyber shot phone from Sony Ericsson. You may have seen the C902, which was announced at the same time. But the C702 is totally different. You can understand this as soon as you see the handset. Although the C702 has the same "candybar" design, it has a very different feel. The handset is actually 5.5mm thicker than the C902 but it has an interesting rubber finish at the bottom of the handset which gives you false sense that the phone is indestructible (it really isn't) and feels similar to the old Nokia 5210 that was virtually bombproof.
The keypad on the C702 is totally different from the keypad on the C902. It has done away with the smaller buttons and reverse terracing that graced the C902. Instead the C702 has relatively large rectangular buttons that don't offer the greatest ergonomic experience but it looks great in the dark, so you won't have any problem texting in challenging light conditions. Like the older K850i, the right hand column of keys on the C702 doubles up as controls for the camera. They are shortcut keys to camera functions such as shoot mode, scene mode and flash. The memory card slot appears on the left hand side and is covered with rubber to make it splash resistant (like the rest of the handset).
The camera on the Sony Ericsson C702 is a 3.2 megapixel affair like the old K800i. It performs reasonably well and has a dual LED flash, which is unfortunately not as powerful as the xenon flash on the K800 but it saves a considerable amount of power. The camera even out performs the K810, which also had a 3.2 megapixel camera. The camera software is easy use and navigating around all your snaps is quick and relatively seamless.
The Sony Ericsson C702 also has an impressive roster of multimedia features. The media centre is the place where you can access all of your music and video on the move. For music, the C702 is equipped with the Sony Ericsson Music Player version 3.0 which supports all the major file formats and it also has a MegaBass setting. The video player on the C702 is also impressive. You can rewind and fast forward through video clips and also play them in slow motion. To handle this raft of multimedia features the C702 has 160MB of internal memory and an M2 memory card slot. This helps as the C702 is also HSDPA compatible which means you can download video and music at near broadband speed. The web browser software itself even has an integrated virtual mouse pointer and is a joy to work with.
In conclusion the Sony Ericsson C702 has a great deal to offer. While it may not have the powerful camera that the C902 possesses, the C702 appeals in other ways. It is certainly a handset for more active users with its sturdy casing and GPS abilities but it does not skimp on multimedia performance. In short, the C702 is a winner.
Pros
Fast HSDPA browsing speeds.
Solid durable build.
Cons
Camera not as power as others in the CyberShot range.
Our Rating
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The Sony Ericsson C702 has a great deal to offer. It is certainly a handset for more active users with its sturdy casing and GPS abilities but it does not skimp on multimedia performance.
