Using the S710a

All things considered, the S710a operates nearly identically to the T610, so I felt right at home as soon as I picked it up. Of course, there are some additions that I didn't have before like instant messaging and the media player. But, when you have a good feel to how the Sony Ericsson line of phones work, you can do just about anything you want to in a matter of seconds.

One annoyance I'll point out is the delay on the main menu screen. Using the directional pad to switch from one icon to another takes a good second or so, which is highly irritating when you're used to zipping around on the main screen. There's nothing I can do but learn to live with it.

Making Calls

If the primary reason of owning it is to make phone calls, it should be able to do that well... right? The S710a isn't disappointing for voice calls, but it could be better. It gets better reception in areas that other Cingular customers in my vicinity struggle with, but the phone needs to be in the open position for best results. The earpiece is loud enough to hear on the expressway, but the position of the microphone causes problems. Instead of mounting it at the very bottom of the phone, Sony chose to put the mic hole to the right of the directional pad. It often rubs against my face during conversations, which makes an unpleasant static-like noise.

The Camera

The integrated 1.3 mega-pixel digital camera in the S710a is truly remarkable. The integrated camera on a cell phone is typically a gimmick, but allows you to add small snapshots to your contacts in the phone book. While the S710a is not a replacement for a quality 3 mega-pixel digital camera, I would not describe it as "gimmicky".

What makes the S710a truly unique is that it feels like a real cameral when taking

snapshots. Instead of holding the phone vertically like most camera-phones, the S710a is held horizontally in camera mode. This orientation puts the capture button at the top, just where you would expect the capture button to be on a real camera.

Sony also built in a ridiculously bright white LED light, which is activated by the lock switch or in the settings menu during a camera session. This light serves to make shooting pictures in low-light situations possible.




Unfortunately, this always on LED tends to blind subjects looking at the camera. Too bad Sony didn't give the option to use it as a flash...

This is a real camera folks, and it snaps some pretty good pictures. Don't expect much in terms of night performance, but photos taken in good lighting conditions turn out really well. The camera does exhibit the same "over-sharpening" effect I've seen in other Sony digital cameras, but it's nothing that photo editing software can't fix in 2 seconds. All in all, the S710 camera is implemented perfectly.


Sony S710a (1280x960) vs. T610 (288x352).
Images taken seconds apart. Not edited. Click for full size.

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