Less than four months after our first preview, the much-vaunted and highly awaited Sony Ericsson K750i is finally here in Asia. Jam-packed with megapixels and MP3s, we're happy to report that this smashing new handset retains the hallmarks of a Sony Ericsson with new additions to its sizable multimedia armory.

Design
Coupling classic black, which seems the rage at the moment (see other black beauties like Samsung's D500), with a sleek chrome finish, this is one elegant-looking handset. Shedding the bulk of its megapixel cousin, the S700i, the K750i is handy-sized yet surprisingly lightweight. The phone garnered nothing but nods of approval and admiring looks whenever it was shown in public.

Two thumbs up for the K750i's gorgeous screen which shows crisp, sharp images with rich colors. Although you cannot adjust brightness or contrast levels, we had no issues viewing the interface under direct sunlight.

All the external controls of the phone are well-placed. Individual numerical keys are ridged, suitably spaced out and produce sufficient tactile feedback for swift messaging. The top left music shortcut button can be mapped to launch the media player, radio or last used multimedia application. Together with the volume controls on the right, music playback can be adjusted even when the keys are locked.

Another useful shortcut key sits in the middle, offering quick access to new messages or events, missed calls and Web bookmarks, as well as a customizable list of your favorite functions. Take note that resuming applications like Java games may take as long as a minute. The upper row of softkeys seems slightly loose and possibly more prone to wear and tear. Those with larger hands may find the petite joystick a tad less easy to operate as well.

The rear of the handset is representative of the K750i's imaging capabilities, sporting the sliding lens cover--which conveniently triggers camera mode on or off--and impressively powerful photolight. Holding the phone horizontally in landscape orientation as you would a normal digital camera, your left index finger operates the 4x digital zoom while your right digit rests naturally on the shutter button. The numerics also double as camera shortcuts: "4" for macro mode, "7" for night mode, "*" for light, etc.

Features
Gone are the days of laggy, painfully slow menus of previous Sony Ericsson models. The newer menu interface is generally very smooth, responsive and intuitive. You can customize the four-way navigational joystick to trigger often-used functions like messaging and alarm clock. Most menus show as a scrollable list of options, while others with multiple categories such as settings have separate tabs which can be navigated sideways. Usual applications like Calendar, Tasks, Notes and Stopwatch can also be found.

If you're reading this review and hoping that buying a top-of-the-line camera-phone will render your digicam obsolete, you'd be sorely disappointed for quite some time to come. But once you realize that camera-phones are here not to replace but to complement your digital camera, then the K750i is right up there with the best. Sporting a 2-megapixel CMOS camera sensor with autofocus (this was incorrectly listed as CCD earlier), you can easily develop photo-quality, 4R-sized prints from the maximum 1,632 x 1,224-pixel snapshots. Furthermore, you have other options like macro mode for excellent close-ups, night mode, self-timer, effects like sepia and solarize, as well as white balance for different lighting ambience. You'd be hard-pressed to find better image quality from a camera-phone at the moment.

The loading times are sometimes disappointing, though. Saving images onto the Memory Stick DUO takes about up to 4 seconds, while the initial loading of pictures for viewing can take a while as well. Users also have to go into camera mode before accessing their photos. Video quality at the limited 176 x 144-pixel resolution is nothing to shout about, either. On the plus side, the pre-included slideshow mode is a nice way of showing off all those precious baby candids.

While some phones seem to throw in music playback and MP3 support as an afterthought, the K750i serves as a genuine alternative to any flash-based portable player. The number of tunes is limited only by the size of the hot-swappable Memory Stick DUO which supports up to 2GB. Although you can use only Sony Ericsson's proprietary stereo earpiece, sound quality is excellent. Add an equalizer with preset modes (try Mega Bass for that extra "oomph") as well as manual adjustment plus FM radio, and you have little reason to travel without any music

With Bluetooth, GPRS and infrared onboard, the only noticeably absent feature in the K750i is 3G.

Performance And SAR
Call and reception quality was good, though the unusually high placement of the speaker holes mean that users may have to hold the phone slightly higher up than they would normally do, to avoid muffling the sound with their ears. We managed about 3.5 days of usage, including music on the morning commute and the odd tennis Java game, before the phone's 900mAh battery died on us, which is pretty impressive. The highest SAR value for this device is 0.66W/kg which meets international guidelines for exposure to radio waves.

Conclusion
It isn't the cheapest phone in the market by any means, but for a sleek-looking phone that's user-friendly with excellent multimedia features, you get what you pay for. If you've some dough to spare and aren't eager for 3G, the K750i comes well-recommended as one of the best phones money can currently buy.