Review of Sony Ericsson's C905 Cyber-shot 8.1 megapixel cameraphone

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

Cameraphones are slowly reaching comparable quality to point and shoot cameras, offering more 'megapixels' each year. A big player in the cameraphone market is Sony Ericsson, branding their image-focused handsets with the Sony 'Cyber-shot' brand. The latest handset to bear the Cyber-shot banner is the new flagship C905. Boasting an 8.1 megapixel camera, WiFi, and GPS, the Sony Ericsson C905 certainly has a great feature-set. We take a closer look to get the whole picture.

Physical Design

The Sony Ericsson C905 comes in a sliding form factor that features a very smooth action. The sliding mechanism is sprung, and flicks into place with reassuring precision. The whole device feels very well screwed together and features an intelligent selection of materials. While most devices are clad in shiny plastics these days, the C905 is instead given a matte coating and some soft touch plastic. Not only does this look great, but feels expensive and resists fingerprints and scratches very well, too.

The C905 weighs-in at a fairly substantial 136g, which, combined with the high quality materials, gives the device a really nice in-hand feel. Actual dimensions are 104mm x 49mm x 18mm (4.1" x 1.9" x 0.7"), and the C905 slides into a pocket with no trouble. The phone can be had in several colors, including 'Night Black', 'Ice Silver', and 'Copper Gold'. Ours was the Night Black version, which looked very classy and understated.

The front of the device is home to the 2.4" QVGA^(INFO) display that is capable of showing up to 262,144 colors. It's also covered with a piece of scratch-resistant mineral glass that seemed to resist fingerprints and grime well. Below the display is the d-pad and two strips of keys. The strip to the left consists of the left softkey, Send key, and 'Toolbar' key. The strip to the right consists of the right softkey, End key, and 'C' (cancel) key. The square 4-way d-pad is made from shiny black plastic, with a chrome outline. In the centre is a silver select button with a spun metal effect engraved on its surface.

Above the display is the device's earpiece, which is hidden beneath a small slit in a mirrored panel. This panel also houses the forward-facing camera lens. On either side of the panel is a small key, used for quickly accessing the photo gallery and changing the camera's shoot and scene modes. Each end of the device is neatly rounded, contributing to its overall pleasant appearance. The top end is completely bare, and the bottom houses only the lanyard eyelet and slits for the loudspeaker.

The front of the device is made from matte black plastic, which changes to soft touch plastic on the rear. The soft touch plastic has been placed where it's needed, providing a grippy surface on the back. The lower half of the rear is dominated by the battery cover, which fits snugly and, like the rest of the device, emits no creaks or squeaks.

Above the battery cover is the camera's active lens cover, which sports a brushed metal finish. With the device in landscape mode, the upper section can be slid downwards, causing the lower section to recess into the phone. With the lens cover retracted, the camera necessities are revealed, and the camera is activated.

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905

The shutter key, camera mode key, and zoom/volume keys are all located on the right side of the C905. This becomes the top of the device when in landscape mode, positioning the camera controls where you'd expect to find them. The left side houses the M2^(INFO) memory card slot and proprietary power/data/audio multi-port. The memory card slot is covered by a little plastic door to keep grime out.

Sliding the front of the device upwards reveals a simple keypad, split into four rows by three chrome strips. The keys are slightly convex, but the keypad is still very flat and is covered by a single layer of plastic that feels quite thin. There are no grooves between the keys, which keeps them free of muck and dust.