If you are looking for a cell phone that doesn`t necessarily have to fit a category or another, trying the Sony Ericsson U100, codenamed Yari would be a good idea. This new device is one of the few handsets not belonging to a certain class without being a low-budget phone either. Yari is a slider form cell, but the common look does not put it in the appealing class phones in terms of design. But once you tried it you will realize that this is only the first impression, as the slider exposes his potential after few minute of usage.

With this new device, it seems that Sony Ericsson did a good job, as in terms of ergonomics and the components used in the manufacturing process have been carefully chosen. Yari features everything an advanced user could need, including the entertainment parts.

The Sony Ericsson Yari was launched in September 2009 and is available for the price of 240 USD, varying with the location and the plan. The item is available in there color variants: Achromatic black, Cranberry White, and Metal Rose.

The design of Yari is not something to clearly differentiate it from the crowd. It could easily pass as an ordinary handset, but at a closer look users could observe the care invested in it when it was built, as it have been featured with some cool tweaks in order to target the entertainment side of the device.  This is visible starting with the dedicated game keys and the big rounded D-pad easy to use and to gain quick access to the music player. These features are a nice addition in terms of look but the most important aspect is their functionality.

The device in itself is a bit larger than a business card, measuring 100x48x15.7 mm and weighing around 115 g with battery in. It features a 2.4 inch display, protected by a thin plastic layer. Above the screen, users can find a secondary video call camera together with two white plastic keys that are meant to be used in games. When clicking on the recently mentioned keys, the Game folder will open. This can be found deep in the menu tree. It also features another two keys, looking exactly like game ones only longer, placed below the screen that can be used as soft keys.



The front part of the phone seems to have been made from two parts, split by two plastic soft keys. The lower part includes the usual Accept and Reject call keys, the delete (C), and also a shortcut menu key. The round D-pad is also made from white plastic and has a music note imprinted, indicating its use. The compound covering of the front part of the phone look quite stylish and shiny, without being a fingerprint magnet.

The right side of the slider includes a long dual volume key, a dedicated camera key, and a small micro SD memory card. The keypad of Sony Ericsson Yari is very well spaced and it feels nice to touch, but it has been covered with a rubber-like material which makes it the worse part of the slider. It looks nice but it`s hard to use. Simple operations such as typing a message can be quite difficult, giving the impression of not having been enough tested. A five megapixel camera with LED flash can be found on the back side of the slider, together with two stereo speakerphones.

The new Sony Ericsson C702 with its 3.2 megapixel camera and built in GPS receiver  is considered to be a smart move, as the company targets the youth and tries to appeal to more active people than the usual customers. The phone comes in three interesting variants: Speed Black, Cool Cyan, and Energy Black.<

As regarding the design and the looks of this new Sony Ericsson device, the bar casing with round edged will give the user a nice solid feel in the hand. It features an average alphanumeric keypad with its layout as it`s crammed between the slim and the long keys. Very interesting, it would be pleasure to look at the keypad in the night with its beautiful blue-black light. A soft key and the usual Activity menu can be found on the left side of the D-pad controller, and on the opposite direction it can be found another soft key and the backspace.

A very good news to the users can be the fact that Sony Ericsson C702 is a dust and splash resistant handset due to the fact that it has been manufactured from a mix of rubber and metal like plastics. This material also protects the headset from fingerprints. The device features a 2.2 inch screen and the ability to produce 240x320 pixel resolution and 256 k colors. A matter of concern would be the outdoor visibility as the phone is not really able to live up to a strong sunlight.

The rear of the phone features a truly impressive 3.2 megapixel camera protected by lens cover, and while slid down shows up the self portrait mirror and the camera lenses.  It also provides Face detection, geo-tagging, and macro mode while overall improving on the camera capabilities in its league. The geo tagging feature is built in and with its help the geographical identification  data is added along with the picture taken.

The videos taken with C702 are captured in QVGA resolution at 30 fps in MPEG 4 file format. An FM radio is also available and supports RDS while being able to memorize up to 20 stations. Both radio and music player can be run in the background.

As it is a mid-end handset, the phone provides a HSDPA 3.6 Mbps technology which has amazingly improved the data transfer. It also supports 3G and EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 standard connections. Infrared options are not available, as the device is a quad band set with good signal reception but with a lower audio clarity on the phone.



The Sony Ericsson C702 works with a 950 mAh Li-Polymer battery, having an official lifetime of approximately 300 hours in standby mode and 7 hours in talk time mode. As you have probably noticed, this unit includes quite a good battery while being quite a good sounded for those using it as a music player. But overall, the handset does not support anything innovative with its features but is definitely well designed.

Apart from those mentioned above, the C702 features SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging, WAP 2.0/ HTML (Net Front), RSS reader, MP3/AAC/MP4 player, track ID music recognition, picture editor/blogging, organizer, voice memo.

When it comes to redefining the world of mobile devices and the manner in which they are made, few manufacturers can do it better than Sony Ericsson. As one of the leading manufacturers in the industry, the company has shown consistent and constant technological innovation and can be called responsible for the production of ground breaking sets that have managed to change the perspective of people upon these devices. The Sony Ericsson Aino is one of those brilliant examples proving the performances that the company is capable of. What is very attractive about Aino, is the way a certain subtle harmony has been achieved and that has not been witnessed before.



The Sony Ericsson Aino is loaded with some extreme multimedia features. An 55MB internal memory is enhanced by a 8GB included card, and is still capable of further extension. The handset also features an inbuilt 8.1 megapixel camera with a LED flash and auto focus possibility, providing a clarity and picture quality beyond comparison. The extravagant video quality is sustained by a 3 inch screen boasting a 16 million colors display, red-eye reduction, video/picture blogging, photo flash, Geo Tagging, 16x digital zoom, photo feeds, Photo Fix, and Best Pic capabilities. Aino also includes a MP3, MP4 player with a stereo radio and stereo speakers providing an unmatched quality of sound output. The strong battery of the phone allows the user up to 300 hours of standby time  and 8 and a half hours of talk time.



The dimensions of the device are 104x50x15.5 mm and the design was conceived in a pleasing and streamlined manner. The keypad of the Sony Ericsson Aino is easy to use and the colors of the model are included in a wide range of options, from obsidian black to luminous white. The phone also features GPRS, Wi-Fi, 3G and Class 10 EDGE, a WAP Internet browser, GPS and Way Finder Navigator. Other applications included are the monitor based games, Google Maps, , picture editing and blogging, and remote play for Play Station 3. The phonebook  has 1000x20 fields while an accelerometer sensor is also available for auto-rotate, an Organizer, Voice Memo, SensMe, T9 features, and a limited touch screen functionality.



Aino has been created for those who love entertainment on the go, and with its integrated music player, huge player, huge memory and stereo speakers the device is bearing the trademark quality of the company`s music technology. The extremely powerful camera with the photo editing capacities shapes the mobile phone as an entire unit of entertainment in itself.

Together with the Blackberry 9.105 Pearl, Samsung C3510, Sony Ericsson Aino is among the most popular mobile phones that can be found on many online mobile phone shops.

The first thing a user can notice about the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is its very supple and curved design allowing the handset to be held comfortably in the palms together with the possibility of choosing between the Moon, Silver, Black, Ruby and Blue versions, expressing a broad market appeal.



The handset features dedicated applications given to social networks feeds, possesses a digital camera with what you may consider a mammoth 8.1 megapixel lens. Other amazing features are related to the 3.2 inched n-HD TFT touch screen, displaying over 16 million colors. The screen delivers a very convincing performance when playing video files while showing off the vibrant home screens with real bluster.

The device weights 97 grams presenting 107x52x12.5 mm dimensions, so you can consider that it has a good pocket ability also with its lightweight chassis very comfortable to handle. The sharp design of the phone gives the user an almost cosmic feel while the touch screen is very receptive, being able to navigate through the Vivaz`s various applications practically effortless. This model was built with the purpose of taking things further than what the SATIO left off, but the new one is definitely prettier and far more user friendly, with a more sleeker chassis.



Very interesting and even weird is the fact that the company gave the Vivaz an 8.1 megapixel camera while the previous SATIO had a 12.1. Still, user can forgive this mistreatment as the VIVAZ displays its images and videos in 16:9 HD qualities. The 3.2 inched screen is resistive, opposed to capacitive but does not let the user down when issuing commands via the TUI. Sony Ericsson Vivaz smartphone runs on a Symbian operating system, boasting many useful applications.

Another key feature of this device is the YouTube compatibility, so after recording a live action video you have the possibility to upload it instantly to YouTube using the smartphone`s enhanced web services. This feature can be considered beneficial in certain situations such as the ones in which you manage to capture a rare occurrence or a funny moment you wish to share with the entire world.

Regarding the phone`s connectivity it can be said that it`s pretty good, you can gain the Internet access via Wi-Fi, and connections are also possible in a variety of hotspots such as your own home, airport, or coffee shops. The WebKit browser interface is quite easy to use, especially through the pan and zoom functions, Google Search integration.



For social networking fans, a special attention has been given to applications, the device being devoted to both Twitter and Facebook so users can keep up to date the latest happenings and status updates from friends and family. The device also has Bluetooth connectivity for file transfers to and from other compatible devices, PC synchronization, various USB connections, and some good built-in location services such as GPS, Wise Pilot, and Google Maps.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is very focused on entertainment, as the 8.1 megapixel camera supports both Touch Focus and Auto Focus for a premium image clarity, 4x digital zoom, image stabilizer offering a perfect capture, together with the Face and Smile Detection features so that the user can have an easy life. The smartphone boasts a brilliant MultiMedia player, capable of playing a wide range of music and video files at the highest sound and visual quality, Album Art, TrackID.

The last two features can help you recognize and organize your songs,and also equalize various settings to get the sound that you are looking for.

Motorola EM30, the younger sibling of Motorola ROKR E8 has most of its features excepting the 2GB built-in memory and the Omega Wheel. The new Motorola model supports MP3, WAV, AAC, enhanced AAC+, MIDI, AMR , NB, Real-Audio and other AAC+ formats. The good sound quality from E8 has been inherited by EM30, which also features a 3.5 mm headphone jack in order to connect your own headphones to the Bluetooth A2DP profile or your wireless stereo headset.

EM30 has a 1GB card in the bundle, which can be expanded up to 8GB. The battery can last up to 13 hours of continuous music playback, which makes it quite a solid music phone and a good friend for your wallet.

Nokia 5320 Xpress Music has truly earned its place on the list of best music phones by offering solid features and performance for a very good price. The 5320 Xpress Music supports an impressing list of formats natively, including MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA or WAV, and being a Symbian S60 headset a third party software can be installed for playing additional formats such as OGG or FLAC. The 3.5mm headphone jack and its dedicated music keys can help maintain the control over the playback of the music, even when the user is not in the music player application. The sound quality offered by Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is very high, with good clarity and bass. A 1GB bundled card comes along with the phone and can be expanded up to 8GB with the help of microSPHC cards. The battery life is amazingly long, lasting up to 24 hours of continuous playback.

Sony Ericsson W595 reminds us the fact that the very concept of music phone was brought for the first time by Sony Ericsson in 2005, even though now most mobile phone manufacturers have a list of music phones. The top of the list is still being held by Sony Ericsson with 26 models. W595 is one of those amazing little devices with strong features, like dual headphone jack suitable for connecting two pairs of headphones at the same time to the phone, and built-in stereo loudspeakers. Sony Ericsson W595 also supports a wide range of formats such as MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA, also including a support for Bluetooth headset and FM radio.

Sony Ericsson W9801 is one of the most appreciated music phones, and as a proof soon after its launching has won the EISA award for Best European Music Phone. Having an impressive sound quality inherited from the Walkman Phones, Sony Ericsson W9801 can be a delight for audiophiles.  It comes with a pair of high quality in-ear headphones, and with dedicated music keys located on the exterior of the clam shell that can be used for controlling the music possible to be stored on the enormous 8GB built-in internal memory that gives you the possibility to carry your entire library with you.

Self-proclaimed the best iPod ever, the Apple iPhone cannot exactly be called the reinvention of the wheel but we must appreciate the fact that Apple has added some new features to the new model. Having a 8GB or a 16GB built-in memory, a full-screen album art, a Coverflow feature that helps you to browse using the thick of your finger, iTunes store integration so you can download music, videos, or podcasts directly on the phone, Apple iPhone has an excellent sound quality you can enjoy up to 24 hours. Unfortunately, the loudspeakers are of poor quality, a fact also underlined by the absence of A2DP.