Sony Ericsson Vivaz, Point and Shoot!

Sony Ericsson has managed to emerge from anonymity with the launch of Vivaz. Even though it's been a while since they started selling this phone, I can say that Vivaz still is a good smartphone and rich in features. Symbian has its limitations, but it's not bad at all, actually is the most efficient OS, resource wise.

Vivaz can take eight megapixel still images and 720p video with continuous auto focus, from this point of view he have a predator of point-and-shoot cameras. Yet, this is not just a camera phone though, it’s a smartphone as well – a tricked out Symbian running on a 720MHz CPU with a 3.2” nHD display to show it all off. 

Key features

·         3.2" 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution

·         8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, face and smile detection, geotagging and touch focus

·         HD 720p video recording @ 24fps with continuous auto focus

·         Symbian OS 9.4 S60 5th, topped with a custom-brewed homescreen and media menu

·         720 MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX dedicated graphics accelerator

·         Quad-band GSM support

·         3G with HSDPA 10.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps support

·         Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS

·         microSD card slot (up to 16GB, 8GB card in the box)

·         Built-in accelerometer

·         Turn-to-mute

·         TV out

·         Stereo FM Radio

·         microUSB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0

·         Web browser has full Flash support

·         Preinstalled Wisepilot navigation software

·         Office document viewer

·         Decent audio quality

 For full specs, you can visit   Sony official website here.

The phone comes in a small box, nothing fancy about this, with strictly necessary accessories, that includes the charger, a stylus, data cable, hands free headset and many leaflets and manuals.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a model with a special design that is thinner on the top and bottom. Looks good and is very easy to hold. It has the usual dimensions for a smartphone with a length of 107 mm, a width of 51.7 mm and a thickness of 12.5 mm. Its weight is one of the smallest that I have seen on a smartphone, it weighs only 97 grams. The phone is available in many colors, namely pink, blue, black and silver. For its impressive list of features, it’s a very compact phone.

On the left side of the phone we find the micro USB port; It is protected against ingress of dust with a soft plastic cover. Here we can also find the 3.5 mm audio jack.

The rear camera has 8 megapixels with LED flash. Lenses are not protected against scratches. Under the back cover lies a 1200 mAh battery, which should provide a range of approximately 430 hours in 2G and 440 hours in 3G. Autonomy during calls is also very good, about 13 hours in 2G and 5 hours and 20 minutes in 3G. During testing the battery lasted for 3 days with pretty heavy use.

The body of the Vivaz is almost entirely made of plastic but this phone is among the rare few that don’t make us miss metal so badly.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz uses the Symbian S60 5th Edition. The user interface is the one we know from Nokia touchscreen phones. It is an operating system slightly dated but useable.

Most of the front of the Vivaz is taken up by the 3.2" touchscreen with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. The resistive unit supports up to 16M colors and is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the device. It has nice picture quality with excellent contrast for a TFT unit. Unlike other resistive touchscreens, the Vivaz screen response is excellent. The resistive technology is certainly not a drawback here.

In terms of telephony, I didn't experience any problems with the in-call performance of Sony Ericsson Vivaz. Reception levels are good on both ends of a call, the earpiece is loud enough and there was no interference whatsoever.

The phone has task manager, meaning that you can switch between applications. To do this, you must hold down the menu button and then choose the application you want to open.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz runs the Symbian OS 5th edition but you'd never tell by just looking at the home screen.

Vivaz’s 720 MHz processor is excellent in all applications; the OS is running smoothly all menus and all applications.

The phone has only 75 MB of internal memory for storing files, but you can expand it with a micro SD card up to 32 GB. The good news is that Vivaz comes with an 8 GB card included.

The Walkman music player is adapted for Symbian. The user interface is easy to use and has many functions. It can create playlists with your favorite songs and is able to run in the background. It is also easy to find a song name, artist or genre. It can recognize many of the most used audio formats, including MP3, WMA, WAV and AAC.

Audio quality is also very good when using headphones, but the external speaker is not very loud. The stock cans in the package are decent, but you can upgrade for an enhanced audio experience, thanks to the 3.5 mm audio jack.

The camera has 8 megapixels, autofocus and LED flash. It is able to take pictures at a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels and record 720p HD format. Camera application is rich in features and shooting modes. You also have access at plenty of settings such as white balance, ISO and others. Sony Ericsson Vivaz produces splendid photos. The colors are vibrant and rich, the amount of resolved detail is very good and the noise levels are low.

The video recording is in HD resolution (1280 x 720) with 24 fps. Probably the best new feature of the Vivaz is the continuous auto focus during video recording.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz offers a complete and high-speed connectivity, there's quad-band GSM and EDGE support, as well as 3G network compatibility. The Vivaz has dual-band 900/2100 MHz support for worldwide coverage, as well as an American version at 850/1900/2100 MHz. Data speeds reach up to 10.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA.

Local connectivity offers the obligatory Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. Vivaz also comes with Wi-Fi, which includes DLNA support. The wired connectivity relies on the microUSB port.

The Web browser for Symbian S60 is standard. It displays pages correctly and loads them quickly enough. The high resolution is also welcome here, as it allows more content to fit on the screen. 

For business users, Vivaz has QuickOffice preinstalled; it can open Word, Excel, and PDF or PowerPoint files. Documents load quickly.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz has a GPS receiver. The phone uses the Wisepilot navigation application. Maps have enough detail, and the application supports voice guidance.

 If you like Symbian, Vivaz is one of the best phones you can lay your hands on. The display is sensitive, the CPU is speedy and the camera is excellent - and hard to beat really.

You can have one for free on a monthly contract deal here.

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Nokia E5, Texting Fiend

Nokia continues its series of business phones with another model, called simply E5. It was announced in April 2010  and became available in august.

Email  is increasingly becoming an essential means of communication for the lot of us . The E5 has skill to match the E72 down to the last spec.
The phone is compact and uses the Symbian S60 3rd Edition. We must see if this is a worthy successor of E72.

Nokia E5 comes in a medium sized box, inside which there are only strictly necessary accessories ie the micro USB  data cable, a battery charger a  handsfree headset with an audio jack of 3.5 mm  and the manual. I was pleasantly surprised by the 2GB memory card delivered, absolutely necessary for this phone who doesn’t have enough internal memory.

Key features

• QWERTY messenger bar
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE
• Tri-band 3G with 10.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
• Symbian S60 UI, 3rd edition FP2
• 600MHz processor, 256MB RAM; 250MB user-accessible storage
• 2.36" 256K-color QVGA display
• 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera, LED flash
• VGA video recording at 15fps
• Wi-Fi b/g; DLNA and UPnP support
• GPS receiver; Ovi Maps 3.0 with free life-time voice guided navigation
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, Internet radio
• Bluetooth (with A2DP)
• Standard microUSB port (charging)
• microSD card slot (32GB supported, 2GB included)
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Good email and social networking support
• Office document editor; PDF viewer; ZIP file support
• Good audio quality
• Reasonable price
• Microsoft Office Messenger support
• Quick Business and Personal homescreen toggle

 Full specs here.


In size, the Nokia E5 is within normal limits. It has a length of 115 mm, a width of 58.9 mm and a thickness of 12.8 mm. Weight is 126 grams. The phone is available in many colors, including white, black, blue and brown to brick. While it is not a small phone, E5 feels comfortable in your pocket.
No matter how good touchscreen input has gotten these last few years, a good old physical QWERTY is still the real deal. Which is why QWERTY messenger bars like the E5 can survive in a world dominated by touch phones.

On the back of the phone we find a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and the speaker grille.

The metal battery cover has an opening mechanism slightly different from what Nokia uses routinely. It comes off by pressing two buttons simultaneously on both sides of the phone. Under the lid is a Li-Ion battery of 1200 mAh, which the manufacturer says should provide an autonomy of 635 hours standby and 12 hours talk time in 2G and 670 hours of standby and 5 hours talk time and a half in 3G. The battery lasted long enough between two recharges during testing, approximately three days of intensive use.

The case is solid and gives an impression of quality, even though Nokia has used only plastic here. The only metal part is the back cover  but E5  still offers the solid quality feel that any business phone should.. The phone sits well in the hand, which means you will not drop it too often, at least let’s hope so.
The Nokia E5 is powered by Symbian 9.3 and runs on the S60 3rd edition user interface with Feature Pack 2.
The screen has a diagonal of 2.36 inches and is mounted in a horizontal position. It offers a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and 256,000 colors. Nokia has fallen behind with screen resolution  but the good thing is that the phone can be used without problems in bright light.
E5's hardware is very good for a model in this class. It has a 600 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM, making the operating system and applications go unexpectedly well.

Nokia E5 did very well during calls,  the sound is loud and clear and signal reception is good also.
The music player is compatible with most common music formats ie MP3, AAC, eAAC + and WMA. Music sounds pretty good on the speaker and the bundled headphones are surprisingly good. The application is simple and easy to use. Your songs are organized by artist, album, composer or genre. According to manufacturer specifications, E5 is able to play about 38 hours of music on a single charge of the battery. The player has an equalizer and comes with several modes.

The video player has not been upgraded for years. RealPlayer is the same and it can only open mp4 and 3gp video formats MP4, also the video player does not support DivX or Xvid.

The camera of the Nokia E5 has 5 megapixel fixed focus and LED flash. It can capture images at a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. The interface is rich in features, settings, color effects and shooting modes.. Picture quality is not very good, colors are a bit pale, and the level of detail is not one that I would have expected from a 5 megapixel camera from Nokia. The led  flash can be used as a flashlight if you press space.
The video recording is at VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels) at 15 fps. Movies are saved in MP4 format.

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity you get quad-band GSM/EDGE, so  if there’s a GSM network around you can connect to it. Tri-band 3G is also available and offers blazing fast speeds – 10.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA.The E5 has Bluetooth covered too – v2.0 with A2DP – and also Wi-Fi b/g

 The web browser is loading pages quickly and displays  them correctly. Flash support is another strong point. It is true that the screen is rather small, which makes navigation awkward someties. Also, the D-pad seems obsolete for browsing web pages in a time when touchscreens rule the world of smartphones.
The E5 comes with a GPS receiver and the Ovi Maps on board. You can browse the maps, look up addresses, plan routes, and enjoy turn-by-turn voice guided navigation.

Final words, Nokia E5 phone is a nice tool for those  who send many messages or emails, use Internet occasionally and need a battery that will keep them running for days and days. Nokia has spiced up the E5 with social networking support to appeal to the younger crowd as well. It’s a budget friendly business tool.

 You can have one on a monthly contract deal here, for FREE.

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Nokia C7, The Rise and Fall of Symbian

The Nokia C7 has no intention of showing off; it’s just a slimmer and more affordable N8 with a blander design, but features pretty impressive specs for the well balanced C-series. It’s got the same blazing fast penta-band 3G, a 3.5” nHD AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, a 680MHz CPU and 256MB RAM, which are some good figures for the efficient Symbian OS.
Nokia C7 continues the series of touchscreen models from the Finnish manufacturer. Casing is made almost entirely of metal with chrome inserts on the sides.  The phone layout is quite nice. It uses the Symbian ^ 3 operating system and the hardware is strong enough for a middle class business phone.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support
• 10.5mm slim body
• 3.5" 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
• 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video @ 25fps recording; geotagging, face detection, smart zoom in video
• Symbian^3 OS
• 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• TV-out functionality (SD)
• GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
• Digital compass
• 8GB on-board storage, microSD expandable
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• DivX and XviD video support
• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS, FM transmitter
• microUSB port with USB On-the-go support
• Flash and Java support for the web browser
• Stereo Bluetooth 3.0
• Excellent audio quality
• Smart dialing and voice commands


View the full list of specifications and features of Nokia C7

You can check out the contract deals for Nokia C7 here.



I received the phone in a medium sized box, which contained only strictly necessary accessories for an ordinary user, i.e.  one very short micro USB cable,  a very compact charger (which uses a 2mm plug) , hands free headset with a 3.5 mm audio jack and  the phone manual. I expected to find a TV-Out cable but there was none.

Nokia C7 is a compact smartphone,  just 117.3 mm long, 56.8 mm wide and only 10.5 mm thick. The metal housing contributes to the weight of 130 grams, slightly larger than it  would be normal for such a phone. C7 is available in three colors: black, gray and brown. The shape is an elongated oval with rounded corners and the phone is slimmed down – it’s very pleasant to hold, though not everyone will fall in love with its aesthetics.

On the back we find the 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and the speaker. Just below is a secondary microphone, for active noise cancelling. Under the metallic back cover we find the battery, with a capacity of 1200 mAh which, according to the manufacturer, should provide an autonomy of 552 hours standby and 9 hours and 30 minutes of talk time in 2G or 648 hours standby and 5 hours talk time on 3G. C7 can play 54 hours of music continuously. During the test, I charged the phone every two days, but I used it quite extensively.


Nokia C7, just like Nokia N8, uses the Symbian ^ 3, which looks much better than the older versions of Symbian on touchscreen phones. The user interface has been changed, it looks a little better, but still needs more work on it until it equals that of Android or iOS.

The touch screen of the Nokia C7 is a 3.5-inch capacitive that offers a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and 16 million colors. Color quality and contrast are very good; readability in bright light is also surprisingly good. Screen sensitivity is high, a light touch is enough to make things happen. The screen has a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor. Very interesting, the multi-touch function works smoothly.

Nokia C7's hardware is pretty powerful; it comes with a memory of 256 MB RAM, 1 GB ROM and 8 GB of storage memory, a 680 MHz processor and a 3D graphics accelerator. Although it has no HDMI port, TV-Out is a nice feature. During testing, the phone performed well without stalling. Memory is sufficient to avoid crashes and error messages.

Reception, Audio quality and the signal strength are excellent in most situations.
The camera has 8 megapixels and dual LED flash. It can capture images at a maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. Unfortunately it comes with fixed focus, which means that many pictures will come out blurry.
The interface is unchanged from the one we saw in Nokia N8. It offers you several settings such as ISO sensitivity, white balance, contrast, exposure and a few more . Picture quality is good, but the colors are a bit pale. The level of detail and contrast are good too.

The video recording has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (720p) with 25 fps. Video recordings are saved in MP4 format. The quality is good enough for a phone.

The video player offers full functionality. It's a rare thing for Nokia to support DivX and Xvid codecs, but C7 has that feature.
 Connectivity is excellent for a mid-range phone like Nokia C7. To connect to the Internet, you have a choice of Wi-Fi b / g / n and HSPA (up to 10.2 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload).

For data transfers between phone and computer, you can choose the micro USB data cable that comes in the package. The cable is very short, unfortunately, so you may need an extension. Bluetooth is also an option, especially since the new version 3.0 offers faster data transfer than 2.1.

The web browser looks decent and performs vey well; it supports both Flash and JavaScript.

Nokia offers you a wide range of software in Ovi Store.  Here you can find applications, games, wallpapers and ring-tones. Some are free, some are paid and you have enough options to enrich your phone’s functions.

The GPS receiver uses Ovi Maps 3.04 .Voice navigation feature is offered free of charge, so the phone can be successfully used as a sat nav in your vehicle.

Nokia C7 is a great phone for those who still believe in Symbian. You can browse the Internet, connect with Facebook and Twitter, you can watch movies, pictures and listen to music. The GPS function with free voice navigation is not negligible for those who travel a lot. There are also sufficient Ovi Store applications to extend the phone’s functionality.

continue reading "Nokia C7, The Rise and Fall of Symbian"