I first caught a glimpse of the Sony Ericsson S710a back at the 2005 CES show in Las Vegas. As an avid tech geek, I'm always looking for a gadget that breaks traditions and offers users a more advanced, or at least different, experience. The Sony S710a is undoubtedly a unique offering that truly stands on its own.

Leading Up to a New Phone

I'm now on my third Sony Ericsson mobile phone. I started with the Ericsson T68, which was one of the first color phones ever produced. This phone was quickly re-released as the Sony Ericsson T68i when Sony and Ericsson merged their mobile units in late 2001. After my T68 experience, I later picked up a Sony Ericsson T610 paired with service from T-Mobile. The T610 was easily the second best handset I ever owned (the Qualcomm QCP-1900 from the PrimeCo days will always hold a special place in my heart), but certainly best in the newer generations of handsets that I've used. It was simple to use, small, good battery life, and every function built in worked like a charm. It was also my first phone with an integrated camera, though it was a token gesture to say the least.

I didn't make the decision to switch carriers lightly; I really liked T-Mobile. However, their delay in making any improvements to their wireless data network had me itching for something faster since GPRS just wasn't doing it for me anymore. In the end, I decided that Cingular's EDGE service and a new phone would be in my near future.

I've been stuck in a dilemma for the past 3 months. The S710a has been ridiculously overpriced at near $400 since its launch, so I nearly opted to forego the Sony S710a in lieu of a Treo 650 from PalmOne, given that the price was identical. Don't get me wrong, the Treo is a fantastic phone, but I can't see myself lugging around a phone that size on a daily basis. Finally, my dream had come true, and the price of the S710a was reduced to $299 before a $100 mail-in rebate. I could easily justify $200 bucks for the S710a.

So I finally hit a local Cingular store, and signed a 2-year contract on a shiny new S710a.

Specs Overview

Brand - Sony Ericsson
Model # - S710a
Form Factor - Compact swivel
Network - GSM 850/GSM 1800/GSM1900
Data - EDGE/GPRS
Camera - 1.3 Mega-pixel with LED light assist
Screen - 240x320 Color LCD 262K
Internal Memory - 32MB
Media slot - Memory Stick Duo (max 128MB)
Speakerphone - Yes
Bluetooth - Yes
MP3 playback - Yes

Out of the Box

The last few times I've bought a cell phone, I've been disappointed when I opened the box. This time I was expecting to see a phone, a battery, a basic wall charger, and a cheap corded handsfree headset. I was pleased that the S710a came with more goodies than just the essentials, which included a hand strap, a 32MB Memory Stick Duo card, a Memory Stick Duo to Memory Stick adaptor, and a 3-slot flash card reader/writer capable of writing to Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, the PRO versions of each, and Compact Flash (a perfect accessory for PSP owners). The handsfree headset also doubles as a pair of stereo headphones, which is essential for MP3 playback (more on this below).

One thing I was happy about is that all the accessories but the leather case I currently own work on the S710a, including the desktop charging cradle I bought for my original T68. It's quite a bonus not to have to purchase car cords, travel chargers, and other do-dads all over again.

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