Review of Sony Ericsson's 2 megapixel K750i

Megapixel cameras on phones are not only all the rage, they are now actually starting to matter. While a good quality 1 megapixel camera can let you print a small photo, a good 2 megapixel camera should let you print 5"x7" prints with abandon - and if you are lucky, you might even be able to squeeze an 8"x10" print out of a particularly good shot.

But there is more to a camera than just megapixels. One of the steps towards making cameraphones more like their dedicated camera counterparts is to start equipping them with things like auto-focus and optical zooms. But those features make the camera modules a lot larger, and larger is not a word that manufacturers like to have associated with their flagship phones. As the technology develops, though, it shrinks. So much so that we are starting to see auto-focus systems on normally sized phones.

Phones like Sony Ericsson's K750i, which just happens to be the subject of our review.

A special thanks to Wireless Imports for providing us with the K750.

K750

K750

K750

Sizing Up the K750

At first glance, one could be forgiven for thinking that the K750 was perhaps just a black variant of Sony Ericsson's popular K700 handset. The K750 shares much of the same basic shape as the elder handset, but the look has been further updated, and is much more refined. Gone is the hard edge at the top of the phone that dug into the user's ear on the K700. The K750 has softer lines and surfaces, swapping out silver and chrome for a more understated black and silver scheme that I find to be a vast improvement. While I find the K750 to be more attractive, I don't care as much for the keypad as I did with the K700. The new keypad feels fairly cramped - especially the 2 key, which has a notch cut out of the top of it in order to make room for the joystick. But other than feeling a bit tightly packed, the keys have a reasonable action to them. The joystick is very good, and the addition of the new shortcut key above the joystick is a welcome change. All of the keys and controls sit under the new 262k color TFT display that offers 176x220 pixel resolution and has a reflective backing that makes it easily readable in direct sunlight. The display is reasonably bright, and very crisp, giving one no reason to complain.

The other side of the K750 has also been updated. The K750's "back" looks just like the front of a conventional point and shoot camera. That is no coincidence, since it operates pretty much like one. An active slider automatically turns the camera on and off when it is opened and closed. When being used as a camera, the K750 should be turned sideways so that the dedicated camera shutter button that is located on the side of the K750 is at the top right position, while the dual purpose volume/zoom control is located on the top left. Everything you need, right at your finger tips.