Sony Ericsson S700i/S710a Review

Sony Ericsson S700iMany of us have at one point or another said to ourselves: Why do the Japanese get all of the cool stuff? Well, Sony Ericsson's S700i and S710a read like a page torn from a NTT DoCoMo product catalog. The S700's physical design and camera were very obviously influenced by the likes of the So505i, the handset that started the "spinner" form factor craze. We've all been very anxious to get our hands on this handset, and now MobileBurn was lucky enough to get it in both the S700i and S710a versions.

For those of you not familiar with the differences, the 'i' series phones are meant for the "international" markets, which include just about everything outside of North America. These phones typically support the 900, 1800, and 1900Mhz frequency bands. This is certainly the case with the S700i. The 'a' series phones are designed for the "americas", and as such support the 850Mhz band. The S710a also supports the 1800 and 1900Mhz bands, and adds EDGE data support at the expense of losing the S700i's FM Radio.

For the purposes of this review, "S700" will refer to both handsets, while "S700i" and "S710a" will be used to refer to specific versions. But don't sue me if I slip up somewhere. Things happen.

You spin me 'round 'round....

It is the most obvious part of the S700i: the spinner form factor. Once people figure out how to actually open the phone (be careful not to let them try to pry it open!), they are universally fascinated by the spinning design. I've been using these phones for a few weeks, and I still play with it constantly. One effect of the spinner form factor in this case is the relatively large size of the handset. The S700i and S710a both measure 107.5mm x 49mm x 24.5mm (4.23" x 1.93" x .96") in size, and have a decent heft to them. The S700i weighs in at 132.7g with SIM and 32MB Memory Stick card, the S710a is a tad lighter still (seems the EDGE chipset weighs less than the FM Radio does). While not lightweight, the phones don't feel too heavy for their size.

When closed, you will find that the right side of the phone houses the memory stick slot, the camera button, and the volume controls. The left side is where you will find the IR port, status LED, and the much-loved-by-me manual lock slider. The lock slider switch lets you lock and unlock all of the buttons on the phone in a single, quick motion. Since these controls are on the bottom half of the spinner, they are on the opposite sides when the phone is opened. On the bottom of the handset is the typical SE power/headset connector, only this time it is covered by a rather annoying attached rubber flap. I found it to be a real pain in the neck when trying to attach the power charger. I think it is of a better design than that of the K700i, but I still dislike it. On the back of the phone you will find an external antenna port, the camera assist LED, and the camera itself - quite protected behind a sliding door mechanism that is activated by a sliding switch. I like this very much. The main speaker grill is also located on the rear.

The spinner hinge is located somewhere underneath the d-pad, which has a separate button in the middle of it. When opened, the full numeric keypad is revealed, along with the d-pad, softkeys, and control keys that are always accessible regardless of whether the phone is opened or closed. When closed, the phone can be opened by turning the top portion 180 degrees in either direction. The odd thing here is that you can not continue in the same direction to close the device, as you could with the Motorola V70. In the case of the S700i and S710a, if you open them by turning clockwise, you have to close them by turning counterclockwise. Or the other way around. The spinner hinge itself seems very stable and strong. I've been needlessly opening and closing the S700i for weeks now, and I have not seen any sign of wear or looseness. My first impression of the keypad on the S series phones was negative. The keys are recessed slightly, so as to get out of the way of the spinning upper portion of the handset. The keys are spaced out well enough, though, and I quickly got used to their being recessed. The sparkly dark gray color of the keys, however, is something I will never understand. The sparkles make the keys hard to read in the daytime. Not so much for the numbers, but for the small letters. Of course we all know what letters go with what numbers, but why use a paint that only makes things more difficult to read when a normal solid color would have been fine? The blue backlighting also didn't impress me. I would have greatly preferred a normal white color, even though the blue looks very attractive. White is just easier to read.

The power and web access keys are found in unlikely positions at the bottom of the keypad, just as was the case in the Z600. These keys can easily be mistaken for the '*' and '#' keys, and in the case of the web access key, this can be really annoying. I can appreciate that putting these buttons at the bottom of the keypad means that the rest of the keys are in a higher, easier to reach spot, but after weeks of use, I am still occasionally calling up the web browser by accident. I'd like to see another solution here.