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By Damian Koh and Juniper Foo, CNET Asia
Jul 18, 2006

Sony Ericsson continues to blur the line between cellular phones and dedicated digital cameras with its latest Cyber-shot-branded camera-phone, the K800i, by offering a full photo-taking experience, together with 3G and Bluetooth connectivity. Throw in a Picture Blogging function, FM radio, Web browser and onboard multimedia player, and you've a handset that's almost the ideal companion for those on-the-go. The only caveat is probably its price. At a recommended retail tab of S$938 (US$617.11) (or S$798 (US$525) with a two-year contract), it's likely this new 3G-enabled phone will witness a battle of wants versus needs and form versus function.

Design
The velvet-black K800i is a beauty to behold. On the front, this Sony Ericsson bears faint resemblance to the K750i but it's a world of difference at the rear. As the maiden unit adopting the parent company's Cyber-shot brand, the back of the K800i sports a sliding lid which looks like a mini version of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9's lens cover. Like its Cyber-shot cousins, the lens and mirror hide behind this protective shell on the handset.

Not surprisingly, since the K800i is marketed as a Cyber-shot phone, Sony Ericsson has taken due care to ensure that it not only looks like a proper camera, but feels and handles like one, too. The shutter button is positioned along the right edge of the unit where it can be conveniently reached by the right index finger. One minor gripe. We'd have preferred a more solid feel when hitting the shutter after half-pressing the button to autofocus.

The zoom lever is found on the same side of the phone, but to the left. Alternatively, number keys "3" and "6" double as telephoto controls. Naturally, the K800i favors right-handed users more--which camera doesn't anyway? More on the camera functions later.

You get the usual dedicated shortcuts and Web access keys on the top row of controls. The joystick is housed in the midst of, and flushed with, the surface of these buttons. Our initial impression of the keypad was the lack of tactile feel to differentiate between numbers. This shouldn't cause undue concern, unless you have really big thumbs. Our only grumble is the rather loud "tiak" when using the pad, making it virtually impossible to do reconnaissance typing.

Overall, the Sony Ericsson K800i ups the ante in terms of design and styling. The quibble lies with the sliding lid of the camera, which no doubt is the phone's strongest feature but also causes the unit to have non-uniform thickness on the rear. We also feel that unless there's a protective film shielding the lens cover, that lid would be most prone to scratches.

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