In a nutshell: Sony Ericsson's new flagship Cyber-Shot phone
lives up our high expectations. This is an outstandingly good camera
phone with a 5 megapixel camera with face-detection autofocus, LED
flash, and easy to use camera controls. It also packs in a music
player, FM radio, 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth and loads of memory. In addition
it's a superslim stylish handset available in Black or Red. We have
deducted one star because of occasional freezing and crashing in
early releases of this model. Best buy: *Free* with free line rental or £210 auto
cashback from Mobiles.co.uk
(Black); or £94.90 on PAYG from Mobiles.co.uk
(Black) or £94.95 from the Carphone
Warehouse (Black).
Review:
June 2008.
The C902 is the first in a brand new range of Sony
Ericsson phones: "C" for Cyber-Shot™. Previously
all Cyber-Shot phones were part of the "K" series, and
the C902 is the replacement for the Sony
Ericsson K850i. The Cyber-Shot phones have been enormously successful
over the past few years, but we felt that SE had made a few mistakes
in recent models with dodgy keypads and unreliable firmware. It
looked like SE had hit a rough patch, so let's hope that with the
C series they can leave all that behind and move on to greater things.
The C902 is the flagship Cyber-Shot model,
and so our expectations are high.
Physically, the C902 seems to be back to the old
Sony Ericsson style at its best. It's a classic-style handset, but
ultra-slim at just 10.5mm. The keypad is a good old-fashioned one
that has good-size square keys giving tactile feedback and enabling
fast texting. Hooray! We're also delighted to find a 5-way navigation
pad that just works. Looks like SE have learned some hard lessons
about keypads and have gone back to a design that works. It feels
like a quality handset too, with a combination of metal and plastic,
and an elegant finish. It's available in a choice of Black or Red,
and both colour schemes look very nice indeed.
The screen is slightly smaller than the K850i's.
This is because of the touch-sensitive shortcuts added to both sides
of the screen. These are used to activate the camera and switch
between still and video. They can also change the autofocus mode,
flash and other camera settings. We have to say that these work
really well in our view. As camera phones become more and more sophisticated,
accessing the functionality from a phone becomes more of a challenge
for the user (it's not a dedicated digital camera after all.) The
C902 shortcuts are an excellent solution to this problem and give
the user a lot more control over the camera settings than most other
camera phones. It's a shame that the display size has been reduced
to make way for the shortcuts, but at least the screen has the same
high resolution as previous Cyber-Shots (240 x 320 pixels). It's
a bright and sharp display that works well in most lighting conditions.
Let's take a peek at the camera next. The camera
is actually concealed beneath a mini sliding cover. When you slide
the cover open, the phone switches to camera mode. The camera is
a 5 megapixel beast with autofocus, image stabiliser and flash.
The camera quality is very similar to that of the K850i. The autofocus
uses face-detection software, so it will automatically focus on
a face in a picture. The image stabiliser software we're less convinced
about, but it may help to avoid camera blur in low lighting. The
camera also has the BestPic™ feature which can automatically
take nine photos in a second, so that you can then choose which
one to keep. An Accelerometer feature senses which way up the phone
is being held, and will automatically rotate your pictures into
portrait or landscape mode. The main difference between the camera
in the K850i and the C902 is that there is no Xenon flash in the
C902. A Xenon flash is more powerful than a regular LED flash, however
SE had a lot of problems with the Xenon flash on the K850i, so at
least we can be confident that they have chosen a safe option for
the new C902. The LED flash used for the C902 is more powerful than
a standard one, and should give good results. Video recording is
also comparable with the best of the K series phones, and video
calling is available too, on a 3G network. A new "Storyteller"
application lets you create presentations from pictures and show
them on Facebook and other social networking sites.
Although its a Cyber-Shot phone, the C902 has great
music capabilities too. The media player is fully featured, with
support for album art. Sony's MegaBass™ ensures that you get
rich sounds out of the small speaker. The PlayNow™ feature
lets you personalise your phone by downloading an MP3 ringtone (you
have to pay for downloads, however.) MP3 and AC ringtones are supported.
TrackID™ can identify a song from a few seconds recording.
An FM radio with RDS is also included. You can plug in a stereo
headphone, or use an optional Bluetooth
stereo headset. One thing that we really like is the large amount
of built-in memory available - at 160 Mbytes this is big increase
on what's available in the K850i, and makes it much easier to manage
files. The phone supports Memory
Stick Micro™ (M2™) cards up to 4 GB, which is enough
to store 1,000 music tracks. For some reason though, there's no
support for microSD cards.
Connectivity is very good, with support for Bluetooth
and USB. The USB connection enables the phone to act as a USB mass
storage device, so moving music and images between phone and PC
is drag-and-drop simplicity itself. As already mentioned, this is
a 3G phone, with HSDPA support enabling an "always-on"
internet connection with download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps - comparable
with a home broadband connection. As well as being 3G, it's a quadband
GSM phone, so should be usable anywhere in the world.
Battery life is adequate, but ultraslim phones
tend to have shorter battery lives than conventional phones, which
isn't surprising. The smaller screen size does help to reduce power
consumption, and we don't think that the battery life will be an
issue for most users.
We had hoped that the C902 would be free of bugs,
but a number of users have reported problems with the phone freezing
or crashing occasionally. It seems that Sony Ericsson still need
to improve the reliability of their firmware. We hope that firmware
updates will sort out these problems soon. Despite
this, we really like the C902. Although it lacks a Xenon flash,
we feel that its a much better all-rounder than the K850i, and is
probably Sony Ericsson's best camera phone so far. It can probably
match the Nokia N95 too, especially
in good lighting conditions.
By the way, a couple of people have asked us what
the difference is between the C902 and C902i. There's no difference.
Just Sony Ericsson confusing everyone by calling the same phone
by different names in different countries!
Features of the Sony Ericsson C902 include:
3G video calling
5 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus,
16x digital zoom and lens cover
Video camera
Display: TFT, 262,144-colour, 240 x 320 pixels
Media player
FM radio with RDS
MP3/AAC ringtones
Speakerphone
Voice recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
3D Java games
Animated wallpaper
Web browser, RSS feeds, blogging
HSDPA (3.6 Mbps)
Personal organiser functions
Flight mode
Vibration alert
Memory: 160 Mbytes plus support for Memory Stick
Micro™ (M2™) (up to 4 GB)
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
30th Jul 2008
Had this phone 2 weeks, from Orange. Came without MMS or internet
settings installed. When i used the Sony Ericsson Update service,
i lost the ability to send SMS messages. Otherwise, this phone seems
very good, althought the softkeys can be hard to press unless you
use your nails. Apart from the settings problem, i would recommend
this phone, though it may be worthwhile waiting a month until it
is more established. Rating:
Reviewed by southcoastdj from uk on
30th Jul 2008
Great phone apart from the prob of switching off and rebooting,
but since i have switched it to GSM only it has'nt done it,it seems
a few of you have this prob. Rating:
Reviewed by Jeff from uk on 29th
Jul 2008
Having had the K750i, K800i & K810i myself this phone is simply
not good enough, it just keeps crashing & every time you have to
take the back off & bang out the battery, with-out this problem
it would be a 4 star phone as it is thin, stylish & easy to use
however the flash on the 5 mega pixle camera is rubbish as the range
is only around two meters unlike is predecessors around 4-5. You
can read down this list & see all the 5 star ratings saying "this
phone is wonderful" but if your wanting this phone & want the opinion
of a very loyal yet honest Sony fan............do NOT buy this phone! Rating:
Reviewed by Rich from united kingdom
on 29th Jul 2008
had this phone a little over a month now and my god its awfull i
had the k850 before this and wish i hadent botherd changing, what
a joke this phone really is, the speaker decideds to crackle and
distort when ever your on the phone to say ' that important lady'
which really irritates me, ive always had sony ericssons and never
had an issue untill now, the camera is average, nothing special
at all tbh a freinds n95 is much better, the phone decides to reboot
and cut its self off when it feels like it, restarts it self again
when it wants to, it also hangs up when it feels like, the flash
on the camera is a joke compared to the zenon in the previous k
series, im sorry but this phone has put me off sony ericsson for
a while to come. samsung here i come Rating:
Reviewed by Annie from England on
28th Jul 2008
Had this phone for a few days now and I love it!Its lovely to look
at,nice and slim and red!!! I adore anything red LOL.The battery
lasts two/three days but I do use it loads,the camera is excellant
and so is videoing.The sound is good,and I keep finding new things
on the phone to play with.Only thing I wish is that it came with
a memory card but I can buy one.All in all a great phone and Im
very happy with it :o) Rating:
Reviewed by Anj from England on
28th Jul 2008
Had this phone now for almost a month ,the camera is brill nice
slim and not too heavy. shame about the battery life but nevermind...brill
video sound and quality ..however after two weeks the phone started
turning off ,screen freezing so got it replaced no probs up to now
that is... same probs back but with more probs with freezing waiting
for 3rd replacement...:( Rating:
Reviewed by yvonne from england on
28th Jul 2008
Had 2 phones now in 2 half weeks, 1st one went back next day as
froze several times then just died all together and wouldnt start
up again just vibrated for a second then nothing, got a replacement
which was fine for a week, was charging up battery just before it
ran out but on holiday ran out completly then the phone died, wouldnt
charge up not even registing charging just vibrated again then nothing
so sent it back and not getting a 3rd Rating:
Reviewed by pHiL from UNITED KINGDOM
on 26th Jul 2008
I WENT AND BIT THE BULLET AND FINALLY UPGRADED FROM MY BELOVED K800I(AMAZING
PHONE) AFTER READING MANY REVIEWS OFF THIS AND OTHER WEBSITES I
CHOSE THE C902. THERE ARE A FEW ISSUES I HAVE FOUND THAT ARE NIGGLING
ME. FIRSTLY THE SLIGHLTY SLUGGISH NAVIGATION CAN BE A PAIN (I AM
VERY IMPATIENT), THE MP4 QUALITY VIDEO CAN SOMETIMES BE OUT OF SYNCH
WITH THE AUDIO, AND THE BATTERY LIFE IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE K800I(BUT
THAT COULD BE BECAUSE I HAVEN'T PUT IT DOWN YET). OK NEGATIVES OUT
OF THE WAY THE PHONE IS SLEEK AND SEXY, SLIMMER THAN THE NOKIA 6300.
NOT BIG AND CLUNKY AS SOME PEOPLE HAVE COMMENTED AND YES THE CAMERA
IS FANTASTIC WITH A LOAD OF TWEAKS TO GET YOU THE BEST SNAP. THE
LIGHT THAT HAS REPLACED THE XENON FLASH OF THE K800I WORKS EQUALLY
AS WELL IF NOT BETTER EVEN IN LOW LIGHT CONDITIONS , THE KEYPAD
IS SMALL SO PEOPLE WITH BIG HANDS MAY HAVE A PROBLEM BUT OVERALL
5 STARS AS I AM SURE A FIRMWARE UPDATE OF SORTS MAY IRON OUT THE
MINOR BUGS. ALL IN ALL A FANTASTIC PHONE. Rating:
Reviewed by Sukh from UK on 25th
Jul 2008
I have had to replace mine three times now due to bugs. Mine is
the red model- DO NOT get that one! It may look a little more unique
but the guy in the shop said for some bizarre reason the red model
is the one that freezes/has a back that doesn't fit properly etc.
Black is weirdly far more reliable. Aside from those, my only gripes
are the fiddly/slippery keypad, and that the slider will collect
oodles of dust in a few months time. If you take it off 3G mode,
battery life vastly improves, and it is a great little phone as
long as you can muster the keypad. Very annoyed I now have to give
my third handset back! Rating:
Reviewed by ian from uk on 23rd
Jul 2008
i have just upgraded from a sony ericsson k800i, a fone that i highly
recommend! although this new c902 is a fantastic fone there are
a few things i am unhappy with (to be fair i have only had it a
week) the fone screen is very dark when the key lock is on. i seem
to be forever charging up the fone, the other thing ive found at
the moment is that it will only have 1 ring tone! on the k800i i
could have a dedicated ring for different people. all that said
and done the camera and its fuctions im still getting used to but
its better than my digital camera. as with all new fones its taking
me time to find my way around the fone but all in all another great
fone from sony ... Rating:
Reviewed by Garry from UK on
23rd Jul 2008
It's a great phone lol since I had 11 k850 they kept breaking down
so they replaced it with c902 lol but when I got the phone the keypad
wasn't stuck on properly and the 9 button was stuck! getting a new
one tomorrow the phone is very impressive no lag with the menu,
and the picture movement has greatly improved also orange this time
hasn't messed the firmware with all it’s software and stuff
like the k850 :) I just hope that sonyericsson really get to grips
with QC as I had a k750i with no problems for over a year? this
is the only reason it not getting outstanding result from me. Rating:
Reviewed by Keir from UK on 23rd
Jul 2008
Got this phone from vodafone 17 days ago. I have had a mixture of
problems, freezing. rebooting whilst in the middle of calls, i have
been late for work because the recurrent alarm has failed to go
off and much more. I have always had sony erics and never had a
problem but this battery also seems awful. i would advise anyone
who is thinking about getting this phone to stay well clear. even
the shop supervisor said he had 3 phones in the space of two months.
Sony Eric have made a right mess here. what has happened? i have
made all my settings battery saving friendly, no 3g, lowered lighting
etc etc. THIS PHONE IS A POOR REFLECTION OF WHAT SONY ERICSSON IS
CAPABLE OF. Rating:
Reviewed by Erfan from uk on
23rd Jul 2008
best phone going Rating:
Reviewed by DJ from UK on 22nd
Jul 2008
Overall I like this phone but there are software problems. The MP3
players has glitches i.e it jumps or skips just like a cd can when
scratched? The alarm does not go off everyday as per the program,
I have had this phone a few weeks and have tried various ways to
test this, but it's a fact that sometimes it just does not ring.
It shut down on me for the first time today although there was half
battery life. Battery life is ok though not what I have gotten used
to from SE... Infact my N95 8gb had better battery life. Sometimes
the menus are slow, and when sending a text I have to wait a second
or two for the letters to appear on the screen. The build quality
seems good, I like the weight and size of it and to me it looks
good. I'm guessing the software really needs upgrading, if this
can be done soon I'll keep it as I think it will do everything I
need. In saying that, my ONLY real gripe with SE is that they don't
have a file protection like Samsung do?? Rating:
Reviewed by Ryan from UK on 22nd
Jul 2008
So So Mobile , so its got a 5MP camera with touch buttons SO WHAT
!!!! The screen is tiny the Zoom aint that great and the flash is
ABSYMAL. The keypad is a bugger to text off with the odd shaped
buttons you need really tiny finger n thumbs and it freezes regualar
causing Images being unable to open and Caller Ids pics vanishing
making you have to turn the power off n on to restore it. Its plus
points are its size and slimness and also it rings quite loud too
other than that its no W910i beater , jeez Sony Ericsson bring a
cracker out !!! Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from UK on 22nd
Jul 2008
As far as phones go can't really grumble but same as emma below
my alarm after working for a week no longer works. Has anyone else
had this problem? It seems the recurring setting only allows for
a one week time frame... very annoying when use it every morning!
Other features are great camera, video and sound quality. Rating:
Reviewed by chris from wales on
22nd Jul 2008
Had this phone for 2 weeks now and like all Sony Ericsson's I have
had before it is well worth it's 'Outstanding' 5 Stars. Yes, for
taking photos where lighting is a bit dim it is not as good as a
dedicated digital camera but remember folks, this is a phone after
all... Photo resolution is excellent when uploaded to a PC. The
phone is slightly heavier than previous handsets I have had but
until reading the reviews of people complaining about it's weight
I had not even noticed it! Connectivity to a PC is outstanding with
either USB or Bluetooth. Synchronising with Outlook, the PC Suite
or even Thunderbird (with additional software) is flawless. I highly
recommend this phone for anyone who wants an excellent mobile phone
with an excellent camera! I'll be happy with this for my 18 month
contract, maybe even longer! Rating:
Reviewed by Professor Flange-custard from
England on 21st Jul 2008
Great phone, however like Lisa below(Reviewed by lisa from england
on 10th Jul 2008)my new phone has a habit of switching itself off.
As i use the phone as my alarm clock this could be a big problem
for me at somepoint. Rating:
Reviewed by col from uk on 20th
Jul 2008
I've had mine a couple of weeks. Plus points, nice screen, nice
weight in the hand and doesn't feel plasticy, plenty of features,
music player good. People have commented on the keys, they are angled
a bit strangely but you do seem to get used to them. If you want
the battery to last more than a couple of days then firstly turn
the screen brightness down. But most importantly just switch the
3G network off, with that off the battery will last 5+ days on standby.
It takes a few seconds to switch it back on if you need the functionality
for something specific. Personally I use it as a phone mostly. I
assume like most of the 3G ones it expends a load of energy staying
(or trying to stay) hooked into the network. Camera is ok, but frankly
its pretty poor compared to a compact camera, especially the digital
zoom - but then what do you expect... Rating:
Reviewed by Rusty from England on
20th Jul 2008
OMG. Just got this phone today. Couldent be bothered to get the
C905 coming out in october. To long wait. The phone so far is fantastic.
A really quality key pad. The pics are amasing compared to my N95,
for some reason they are better. Strange giving they are both 5mp.
Anyway. Lots of interesting gizmos on the phone which have kept
me from being bored so far :D Really good speakers. The phone seems
so freeze for couple of minisecs once in a while when taking pics
or browsing through files which is odd and never happened on my
Nokia. The phone looks like a work of art, although doesent feel
like good quality becasue of its weight. Could have been abit more
heavy for some reason. What do you think? All in all a brilliant
phone and i highly recomend it to people are just out and about
taking pics of randome things they see. well :) Rating:
Reviewed by Emma from England on
19th Jul 2008
I love this phone which is why I hate to say that so far it has
had a lot of teething problems (which should have been dealt with
already. It keeps restarting itself, the battery life is appaling
i have to charge it up every night and its nearly dead at the end
on the day, it also freezes quite a lot and the camera flickers
whilst its recording. Has anybody else experienced these problems
or have I just got a dodgy model! Rating:
Reviewed by Charlotte from UK on
18th Jul 2008
Well what can I say. I had a k800i which I replaced for a Samsung
g600. I found the k800 better so I decided to go back to Sony Ericsson.
I chose this phone at first sight. It feels great. Slim and Sleek
yet still solid in the hand. The camera is great! I love the touch
sensitive keys, they're really useful and speed things up a lot.
What i didn't like about the camera is it only has an LED flash,
I would've preferred a xenon flash but we can't have everything.
The music player is good too. Not as good as my friends walkman
phone but its a Cyber-Shot phone so the camera is its main feature
anyway. Besides that this phone has some very nice apps such as
google maps which i had fun with. Overall I would highly recommend
this phone to anyone who's looking for a feature-rich phone yet
doesn't want to be carrying round a brick. Rating:
Reviewed by steve-e from england on
18th Jul 2008
great phone, except the alarm that doesn't go off. alarm 2 does
ok most mornings, alarm 1 did the first day and never since... should
I really have to set all 5 alarms just to be up at 5.40 for work!?
like the camera, like media player,i like the look of the thing
compared to my old 910 - not keen on battery life being so short
but turning off 3g helps. Rating:
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
18th Jul 2008
Had this phone 2 days and conclusions : great photo quality, good
volume level from ringtone, texting works effortlessly as in the
phone I am replacing (K810i). Feels solid - lovely to hold although
the small keys may be a bind to large fingered folk. Gripes - still,
Sony Ericsson have ignored our request for text alert reminders
- if you don't hear your text alert first time, there's no reminder
2 minutes later as most other manufacturers do - after 20 seconds
the screen goes black so there's no way of knowing you've a text
unless you press a button to fire up the display. Come on guys,
it's not rocket science - sort it with a firmware update. For this
reason alone, it's only getting 4 stars - otherwise superb. Rating:
Reviewed by elton from albania on
17th Jul 2008
realy good phone that i have used so far? well done Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from UK on
17th Jul 2008
Had this phone a month now, after 3 weeks the speaker broke! Got
it replaced and its been great since. Apart from that its a fantastic
all round phone. Would be 5 stars if the speaker had not broke on
me. By the way Chris how do you set it up to your hi fi? Rating:
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
16th Jul 2008
Fantastic! Brilliant shots from the camera. Incredible sounds from
the Music Player, even when played through a full home HiFi system.
Texting not as easy as on a K750i or K800i due to to more resistant
keypad but not a disaster, by any means. Definitely recommended. Rating:
Reviewed by James from Wales on
16th Jul 2008
People say it is heavy? What phone have they had before this? It
is slim and light! Rating:
Reviewed by JAB from England on
16th Jul 2008
Just brilliant! I moved over from the Walkman series having had
two before which I loved, but I wanted a better camera. (When will
Sony E bring out a Walkman with a 5mp or bigger camera in it?!!
Soon please!!!) So I went with the Cybershot range and luckily the
new C902 came out just as my contract ended. No complaints bar the
short battery life but I can live with that. What a phone, it's
a real pleasure. And every time I use it I seem to find another
gizmo, another shortcut, another great idea that SE have inserted
into this phone. The move from Walkman to Cybershot was worth it
as the camera is fantastic and the MP3 player is great too. All
I need now is a dedicated music button and I'm laughing! Well recommended. Rating:
Reviewed by john from england on
15th Jul 2008
The phone is a work of art. it is very nice to look at and feels
solid in the hand. However i had to send back my 1st c902 as the
camera in video mode had a severe lag when trying to zoom in and
out, also the media player isnt as good as it could be my mp3 tracks
sudenly stop for about 1-2 seconds at random times. and finaly the
phone froze on me today for about a minute and the screen went blank
for no reason. apart from the above mentioned it is a very good
phone and i would recomend having one over th n95. Rating:
Reviewed by emma from uk on 15th
Jul 2008
hi guys, had the new c902 bout 2 wee now...i love the style and
all the functions and not diapointed at all.....over the last week
my alarm is set to go off every day at the sam time but for some
reason it does not work also today my actual tones have stopped
as though its in silent mode, also my media player will not function
music or videos.....will be taking it back to the shop in the morning
as i'm guessing the phone has malfunctioned..........i will replace
it with same hand set but if problems persist on new handset i am
sorry but will have to chage it soory SE Rating:
Reviewed by adam from england on
15th Jul 2008
20 days old and the scroll button doesnt want to play anymore. i
took it back to the shop who informed me that another three phones
had the same problem. good phone, easy to use but so much bleeding
technology, something was bound to go wrong sooner rather than later.
fix the teething problems (they already should have) and this will
be an awsome bit of kit Rating:
Reviewed by steve from uk on
14th Jul 2008
Had this phone for 2 days on upgrade.(My former being a se k800i
wich done the job).The cameras awesome and I noticed the video recordings
slighty better than the k800i.I recorded some videos with loud music
and it seemed to pick up the sound much better sounding much more
crisp and not as distorted.Call qualitys good I was speaking to
a mate and had to turn it down it was hurting my ears!It seems to
work fine its nice and slim with an expensive feel.If you get on
with sony ericssons then its worth gettin one of these its stunning.
Rating:
Reviewed by Shani from UK on
14th Jul 2008
I do really love this phone, especially after having a Samsung D900
for the last year which was reliable, but there are just too many
things that annoy me about Samsungs. My gripes are, the buttons
are a bit stiff and it has frozen on me a few times in the last
couple of weeks. I agree that the sound isn't great, so I've resorted
to using my hands free nearly all the time. The sound with the earphones
in is fine though. The alarm is either way too loud on the loud
setting or too quiet on the normal setting, so you either wake up
having a heart attack or sleep through the alarm... lol. Love the
media player and the touch screen buttons. Slow sometimes, but bearable.
Love the way you can arrange all the messages. Camera's not bad;
it zooms in pretty close. Umm... think that's it. It doesn't have
any of the major flaws that the other top phones have. It is a brilliant
alround phone and I love it. :) Rating:
Reviewed by Nick from England, UK on
14th Jul 2008
I have to say I do like this phone, looks good, impressive camera,
and for the first couple of weeks I was very happy. However I am
now experiencing constant problems with the phone freezing - often
taking a couple of minutes to reboot itself. Maybe a firmware upgrade
will help, but until then I'd stay away from this phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Bri from England on
14th Jul 2008
Got this phone as a replacement for my old K810i and have been using
it for around 3 weeks. It was quite a hard decision to make as I
loved that phone and have only used SE phones for the past 3 years.
Anyway, I have to say that I really do like it. It's got a lot of
similar features to the K810i but slightly more refined. I'm happy
with the camera (yes, even though it only has an LED flash whereas
the K810i uses a Xenon flash)) and it suits my needs perfectly.
Not had any problems as yet and the battery life is very good, weighing
in at around 6 days between charges. All in all, brilliant phone,
nice looking and some great feaures. Highly recommended. Rating:
Reviewed by Oliver from UK on
13th Jul 2008
Bought the C902 as Pay as you Go for £260. My previous phone that
I have been using for 2+ years was the K750i and what a fantastic
phone it was. However recently I just felt like a upgrade was needed
and so when the C902 came out I thought i go for it. I got the phone
from the carphone house pay as you go and when I opened it I noticed
there was finger prints over the screen and camera lens! But a simple
wipe with a t-shirt removed those and I was ready to use my new
phone. Looks wise it looks fantastic, and feels solid. The keypad
works fine and the interface is smooth but is occasionly slow at
times but I dont really notice it. The camera is rather interesting.
First of all if you buying this you will want to update your phone
to the latest firmware R3BH002, the improves the cameras performance
alot. You can do this by using the sony ericsson update service
on there website or download it on the phone itself. The camera
is very good and shines at its best in daylight, its actually one
of the best cameras out of there for this. However so far the camera
seems to do not so well in low light shots, even with reasonable
light pictures arnt that great, this may improve with later updates.
But I believe with different settings (I have seen other photos
with look outstanding with low light with the C902) low light pictures
could be achieved. The music is top quality and it also has other
gadgets like mylocation where it takes the location of a picture
and stores it on google map. The flash is good enough but the xenon
flash is still alot better. Overall a great phone and a very good
camera in decent light conditions. Recommended. Rating:
Reviewed by Mark from United Kingdom
on 12th Jul 2008
Great style, good camera and video - average flash (when it bothers
to go off - same as the alarm). HOWEVER!!!!! Reliabilty is awful,
it crashes, hangs and reboots - this is really annoying especially
when making important calls where it often freezes for 20 seconds
or more. Sony sort your act out - RUBBISH!!!! BTW it's going back
- Samsung time!! Rating:
Reviewed by Kirit from London on
12th Jul 2008
I've had this phone for 3 days now - I think its a great phone.
There are a few issues, which, for a Sony Ericsson are rather dissapointing.
Firstly the flash is not xenon, and I think with alot of users of
this phone, it is a concern. I do believe it makes a difference,
I've had SE's for 4 years now, my old K800i is the best phone. If
you compare the two picture qualites, you can see the varience in
picture, although the 902 is 5 Mpxl. The battery life is not that
great, and they have yet again changed the size, so you cannot use
old phone battries as spare - Not very good for the environment.
The other major issue I have is the design of the screen, the touch
screen is great, BUT it can only be used when using camera, and
it restricts the main screen size. It would've been much better
if the 902 had a full bigger touch screen. I think SE have always
had this marketing ploy where you can only have one or the other
until the new model comes out. I like the phone, all SE phones have
always been good in their own ways - But its time to have everything
with one phone, or they will end up like my nokia's, in the drawer
collecting some serious dust! If you don't believe me, check out
the soon to be out C905, and you'll know exactly what I mean! Rating:
Reviewed by Dean from England on
12th Jul 2008
Nice phone big down side is the flash its rubish sonys going two
steps forward one back shame. Whats the point of a camera with no
flash Rating:
Reviewed by Betty Swollocks from UK
on 11th Jul 2008
I thought about getting the Nokia slide but opted for this as I
like Sony Ericsson's. I am glad I did; this phone is the dog's!
The camera is brilliant and it's got loads of other bits and pieces.
It is 100 x better than my last phone which nearly put me off Sony's
for life; the W880i. I can't put it down! A good camera on a phone
is important and I was worried about it after reading other reviews,
but I can take photos in a dark room and they turn out great so
it's happy days all round!! Rating:
Reviewed by Poornima from India on
10th Jul 2008
I own a C902 and its the best sony ericsson phone i have used so
far. It looks great and easy to carry.they have excellent features
too.The speakers are great. The camera is excellent which is 5megapixel.once
you turn the camers they have these setting on both sides of the
phone which is touch scree and is great. In short its simply superb!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by lisa from england on
10th Jul 2008
having recently received the C902 i am having problems with it keep
freezing and just switching itself off also sometimes you have to
press the keys a couple of times to make it work correctly. The
flash is not too good and find the camera touch screen a little
confusing, sorry to moan just wondering if any one else has had
the same problems? Rating:
Reviewed by Jenni from England on
9th Jul 2008
The C902 is by far one of the best phones that have been out and
that are out at present. Pretty confused to why some people are
saying the phone is big and clumsy! Are you sure you're talking
about the right phone?!! It is very slim, slimmer than I first thought
by seeing the advertisements, I was looking at getting the Samsung
Soul but I am so glad I got this one. It is around the same length
as the k800. Screen is just the right size to display the excellent
picture quality, I can certainly tell the difference in quality
to the 3.2 mp cameras. The camera is well protected by being hidden
under the slide up function. I like the touch screen camera settings
when the camera is activated. It takes some getting used to as can
accidently activate something you didn't mean to, like switch to
video or change settings but you also have the option of vewing
the settings the old way by using the phone buttons. The music sound
is great, ringtones aswell. Not too loud or quiet, just fine. Phone
accepts expanable memory, these are now selling at good prices,
I have a 4g memory card. My fiance loves the game Need For Speed
that is on the phone,it is great, you can choose to steer by tilting
the phone slightly, is wicked! lol. Buttons are quite small but
once your used to them its easy, the phone is attractive, love the
shiny buttons, just makes the phone look great. very stylish. also
i get internet for free and it is pretty good for a mobile internet.
is pretty fast and works well. please take a look at this phone
if you are soon getting a new one, its better than you may first
think. and please dont listen to people that are saying it is bulky!
its so not! you cant get a phone this good that is any thinner or
lighter!! Rating:
Reviewed by Andy W from England on
9th Jul 2008
If SE had put a xenon flash on this phone and not used such ridiculous
keys it would have been outstanding, as is it's okay to meh. Keys
are angled in a bizzar way facing towards the bottom of the phone
so that when you writing a text with one hand and your thumb is
pointing downwards it's difficult not to press the key above. Also,
the key back light doesn't illuminate the outside rows of keys properly.
The auto rotate is slow and the lens cover is constantly full of
dust. Otherwise, the camera works great in middle to good lighting
conditions. Being able to nudge the brightness up and down with
the navigation key is handy and the camera controls around the screen
are quick and easy to use. The styling is good, although the silver
stripes around the edge look a bit cheaply done and emphasise the
misalignment of the cover slide. Call quality is excellent and I
seem to be getting about the same battery life as my old W850i.
Shame SE seem to be intent on churning out lots of different models
these days instead of taking time to produce a good quality product. Rating:
Reviewed by gsm from india on
9th Jul 2008
amazing phone excellent cam..pity it doesnt have xenon flash.. sleak..and
better that the k850i.. but the music quality could have been improved... Rating:
Reviewed by Alan George from england
on 9th Jul 2008
Ok this phone is and awesome improvement in speed ,web,media ,size
and video over the k800i i had for 2 years. yet it has one major
and i mean MAJOR drawback. one minor drawback is battery standby
time with the high speed networks but thsi asside the flash sucks.
in video its fine its awesome its a big improvement but in nigthclubs
the flash is just no use at all. i have 2 pictures i like to submit
both taken at 3meg pixels of the same sceen with k800i and the c902
and the fills the whole area with flash. the c902 you have to me
half a metre away and aiming it a a person facve and thats all you
get in dark enviroments. all in all i like the phone but now i have
to take a seperate camera into night clubs with me. Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel McT from London on
8th Jul 2008
Great phone, slim, espcially compared to my K800, good camera, secellent
user interface. It has everything I want from a phone. Look forward
to seeing the C905 and Xperia....until then...the best Sony Ericsson
there is. Rating:
Reviewed by Oxygene from England on
8th Jul 2008
Just got this phone few days ago and will have to return it as I
am quite disappointed with the quality of the pictures both in low
lighting and daylight. I've got K800i in the past and I expect more
from C902, I think the picture quality is not much different from
that 3.2 megapixel camera. The touch screen only works when the
camera is on, and it is a bit confusing at first, to be honest I
prefer using the manual buttons. And another thing I don't like
is the key pad buttons which are too small, you have to have small
fingers to type in correctly everytime. However The sound quality
isn't too bad and the speaker is quite loud. The overall look of
the phone isn't too bad either, it's compact and it's not too heavy
as people say. So all in all I'd give this phone 3 star rating.
Rating:
Reviewed by James Kelly from PE on
7th Jul 2008
Good phone. Camera is just quality. Heavy phone. But have fallen
in love with it. Rating:
Reviewed by Grants from Scotland on
7th Jul 2008
Got the C902 yesterday, as others have said I had nokias for as
long as I can remember so changed to the C902 after the excellent
reviews and so glad I got the C902, Easy to use, superb camera,
great radio sound, easy to use phone, looks the part and does the
job! unlike so many other phones which some people just use as fashion
accesories! All in all a big well done to Sony Ericsson keep up
the good work! Rating:
Reviewed by Mal from UK on 7th
Jul 2008
This is a brilliant phone. The camera is excellent quality, i've
noticed people mentioning poor quality in dark environments. You
need to play with the settings, have your focus on infinate or auto,
NOT face recognition, the flash then works better. Also a tip for
battery life, if you dont need it on 3G for video calling etc...,
do a manual network switch to GSM only, I did this and got a whole
day longer out of my battery!! And the memory card it not under
the battery as someone wrote previously, it is under the back cover,
you do not need to take the battery out to remove the memory card
and can leave the phone switched on. Music quality is fantastic
too, extremely loud speaker means you wont miss a call. I've not
had a problem with this phone, far better than the K850i. Rating:
Reviewed by Frazer from UK on
7th Jul 2008
Just got this phone. Great phone great pics, I don't understand
people that say its too heavy. Fair enough it has a bit of weight
to it, but i think if the phone weighs nothing it kinda feels like
a cheap toy. This phone is awesome, I just took it to twickenham
stadium for the most insane iron maiden gig and it's had beer, water
and sweat all over it and it still came out fine with no problems,
so i guess its quite durable aswell. Rating:
Reviewed by Jason from Wales on
7th Jul 2008
Very disapointing with this phone unfortunatly. i have always has
sont ericssons and thought this would be a good one. The buttons
are horrible to get used to, but with a bit of practise you will
get used to them. i found the phone very slow, using all the functions
it was not quick at all. The worst thing is that i exchanged this
phone 3 times as i thought the other 2 were faulty. The problem
i found was that the sound is very muffled. All the phones were
exactly the same. I think it is a design fault as the ear speaker
is partially covered by the casing of the phone resulting in the
sound not being clear at all. Unfortunate as i liked the look of
the phone and upgraded to this one - nevermind. Rating:
Reviewed by ELLIE LITTLEWOOD from UNITED
KINGDOM on 7th Jul 2008
I love this phone! The cameras great and has very cool features.
The themes and and the whole style of the phone is very nice. Having
a slim phon is also an advantage. I would reccomend buting this
phone to many. Rating:
Reviewed by j kelly from england on
7th Jul 2008
Had a play around with this phone, and its very nice. Can't choose
between this and the LG Venus, which is also a nice phone. As usual
though, after extensive research, I can't find one phone that has
everything i want. My PC has a memory card reader built in, but
both these phones hide these under the battery, making them a chore
to get out. The alarm ob the C902 must surely be a very basic problem
(can be fixed in a firmware update perhaps)? It seems to be an unusual
problem, as through my research I've yet to find a phone that has
a similar one. Does anyone know if firmware updates are free and
how you get them? My last phone was my trusty Siemens A50 (over
5 years old - still works!). I am still undecided as to which of
these two phones to go for... Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from England on
7th Jul 2008
The phone is good, normal Sony layout and quality but, the alarm
is prooving to be a major pain !!! (as noted in other reviews) Have
it set up on the daily recurrence but, it just doesn't go off !!!!!
Late for work this morning !!! It seems the only way for it to work
is resetting the time every day, which defeats the object and even
then, you are never completely sure !!! Any news on this issue Mobile
Phones UK ??? Rating:
Reviewed by bob from england on
6th Jul 2008
this is a sick phone and its a great phone 4 taking pictures and
its just great i got it today and i love it man! Rating:
Reviewed by Mawieeeeeeee from UK on
5th Jul 2008
Ok, I work for a phone company and see phones every day and yet,
this one caught my eye. I haven't been able to get it yet but I
want it so badly. It looks small, sleek and the feature are excellent.
Haven't had any faults coming through about it, apart from the low
battery life, is this a problem? I cant wait to get this phone I
only hope it lives up to expections, after reading some reviews
I feel it will :D Rating:
Reviewed by Alex M from UK on
5th Jul 2008
This phone is fantastic, stylish, smooth, and works perfectly. sony
are back on form with this one. I'm 100% happy with everything about
this phone. camera is top quality, media player rocks, can't fault
it in any way. PLEASE NOTE, this is not a smart phone, so all the
reveiews that are saying get a N95 should be ignored, the smart
phones are slow any way, and i have sent 2 back in favour for this
one. if you like sony or not you will fing this phone is brilliant.
i'd give it more than five stars if possible... Rating:
Reviewed by Ben from London - Croydon
on 4th Jul 2008
Got the phone yesterday, so far this is my HONEST TRUTH. SIZE -
small size slightly weightier than it looks but good. CAMERA - Pictures
don't really look 5mp but will probably do when shown on bigger
screen like pc. Camera flash improved i think. VIDEO RECORDING is
amazing with the lighting available for dark videoing. Im disappointed
with the zoom however because My fone freezes when zooming during
recording. MUSIC - quality sounds brilliant through the speaker,
no problems there. USER INTERFACE - Menu viewing options vary so
cant complain, if u dont like 1 switch it up. MEMORY - 160mb is
EXCELLENT compared to the usual 64mb. General View - Ive been waiting
for a small stylish "has everything" phone like this for ages and
its doing the job. WELL DONE SONY! oh yh....c905 has 8mp camera!!!!
cant wait.... Rating:
Reviewed by Liam D'Arcy from England
on 4th Jul 2008
I have had the C902 for a few weeks but seem to be experiencing
a massive issue with the alarm not going off in the morning. I set
the alarm to go off automatically on the 5 days for the week but
twice this week it hasn’t worked. My girlfriend also has the
same phone and the same problems!!! Is anyone else experiencing
this?? Any on got any news on this?? Rating:
Reviewed by ben from uk on 4th
Jul 2008
got the phone thmis morning. No probs at all with it. looks good
camera is good menu's good, whats with all the moaning K85i users.
get the phone, its a class above the rest you chumps Rating:
Reviewed by yo yo from uk on
3rd Jul 2008
very good phone even outstanding Rating:
Reviewed by dAVE from UK on 3rd
Jul 2008
Camera is excellent but phone is rather big and clumsy, It weighs
a tone and without a belt on your trousers could easily lead to
embarrasement. Also is a bit sluggish going through the menus. All
in all Ok but k850i is better Rating:
Reviewed by john smith from Uk on
2nd Jul 2008
Its small, thin, light weight and has great features. I can't understand
some people saying that its heavy because it isn't LOL. Rating:
Reviewed by john from wakefield on
2nd Jul 2008
brilliant handset , does everything but not a lump, had nokias for
years so this phone gets you away from boring, do miss the security
keyguard lock though Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from London on
2nd Jul 2008
Simply Beautiful, best phone I ever had. Tried U900 before but return
within 7 days and I got this phone which is great to having it.
Brilliant camera, sound quality and easy to use. WELL DONE!!! SONY Rating:
Reviewed by Ryan from Manchester , UK
on 1st Jul 2008
Issues i have with this phone is : 1..The poor lighting when taking
dark shots the dual LED may aswell be Singular as the pics are still
dark. 2.. Listening to music the earphones are loud but a call rings
thru and its quiet ???? No smartass'es it aint the settings not
been checked !!! 3.. Screen is so so tiny 4.. For a handset its
actually quite weighty. Sony ericcson outdid themselves with the
W910i and to this day they cant beat it..... Rating:
Reviewed by Tim B from UK on
1st Jul 2008
For those who are worried about the lack of Xenon Flash see my comparison
pictures C902 - LED Flash: i11.photobucket.com/albums/a193/timmyb12345/DSC00006.jpg
K800i Xenon Flash: i11.photobucket.com/albums/a193/timmyb12345/DSC00060.jpg
[Editor's comment: The Xenon flash is a lot brighter in this example,
but there's probably not so much difference after putting both images
through PhotoShop. If anyone else has similar examples, please feel
free to post them here!] Rating:
Reviewed by Leon from UK on 1st
Jul 2008
Nad - make sure you've removed the plastic protective sticker. I
didnt...and wondered why i couldn't open the lens cover lol. Great
phone so far. Rating:
Reviewed by Bob from UK on 30th
Jun 2008
I got this phone at the weekend and I've got to say it deserves
5 stars easily. I can't believe how they can fit so many features
into such a slim, sleek phone. One thing that does bother me is
the camera quality in poor lighting conditions. I wouldn't have
minded if it had wifi aswell, but then again you can't have everything.
Besides these minor problems, it is pretty much the perfect phone
with a pretty good price tag (£250 pay as you go). I give it a well
deserved 5 stars! Rating:
Reviewed by Laurie from England on
30th Jun 2008
Fantastic phone but cant read text messages as text size too small.
Can't understand why the facility is there to increase text size
on e mail and picture messaging but not sms!If you have trouble
reading texts in dark bars beware!Its back to Samsung and Specsavers
for me. Rating:
Reviewed by mike from england on
30th Jun 2008
Nad ur holding the phone in wroung place when opening the camera
thats y u cant open it. hold it on its sides half way down by were
u plug in the charger it should just slide open easy then. Your
probs find like me & a few other people the only really problem
with the phone is battery life at max i get 2 days well 2days if
i dnt use it much. oh & the keys are a tad small but u do get used
2 it pretty quick Rating:
Reviewed by dave from uk on 30th
Jun 2008
This phone is solid. Heavy, but you are not worried about accidental
damage cos it wont happen by accident. This phone is being sold
as a camara phone, and as a camara its not bad, until you use the
zoom. This is a wysiwyg phone, so at maximum zoom you will see the
distortion and that is the inmage saved. Maybe if they said this
was a 'walkman' phone, then I would be estatic, (160Mb is poor,
need more basic memory), but its being touted as a camera phone
with lots of extra features. Unfortuneatly, when it is pushed to
its maximum it fails. [Editor's comment: 160 MB is virtually the
largest memory of any phone currently available. Only a couple of
phones offer more than this! And digital zoom always pixellates
- that's how it works!] Rating:
Reviewed by nad from uk on 29th
Jun 2008
the new c902, is great, but why cant i open the camera. first of
all i found it hard to take out the battery.. Every thing on this
camera is hard toget open. ne1 agree::( Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel Roberts from UK on
28th Jun 2008
Had this phone for a few days now having upgraded from the SE W880.
The phone is not branded as a Walkman phone but the music playing
functions are almost identical - the only thing that appears to
be missing is the Music suite software that can condense music file
size. The only bug bears are minor- *the memory card is under the
battery making access trickier than if the card was accessible from
the outside. *my W880 had non-slip pads on the back which the C902
doesn't meaning that it can slide off a table/car dash quite easily
if knocked. Rating:
Reviewed by Hannah from Denbighshire
on 28th Jun 2008
I upgraded from a K800i which was pretty faultless and I thought
hard to beat until the C902 which is simply brilliant!! Rating:
Reviewed by Grattus from England on
28th Jun 2008
I was probably one of the first in the country to get the C902 having
received it early May. I had high hopes that SE had finally produced
a mobile that ticked all the boxes. Looks wise, it is very attractive
and the slim design makes it easy to slip into a pocket. The keypad
layout looks easy to use but this is where the problems start. The
navigation key is obviously better than a joystick but like the
keypad itself offers little feedback leaving you wondering if you
have pressed a key at all! Many times when texting or navigating
the interface I have had to double and sometimes triple check that
a key has been depressed. The backlight is very poor only illuminating
the centre of the keypad further limiting the ease of use. The user
interface has had a cosmetic facelift giving options for style of
icon display. The transition between screens has altered also with
the previous screen shrinking to a dot in the distance. This is
all very pretty but I am sure is a major contributor to the devices
poor battery life which bears no comparison to my old K810i. In
the course of one day I took 1 ten second video, sent and received
approximately 12 texts, made 3 short calls and this took my fully
charged battery down to 57%, my K810i would have got down to about
80-85%. I have the brightness as low as it goes, volume down also,
the connection set to GSM to ensure battery isn't wasted searching
for 3G networks I don't use but to no avail. Build quality is fine,
the slide mechanism for the camera is solid enough though I have
had the phone freeze in camera mode. Picture quality is fine though
not as good as top Nokia phones and barely better than the K810i
I still have. The touchscreen effect requires very rapid fingers
to operate so I used the menu instead. There are lots of features
which enhance the picture quality. The video is greatly improved
and should satisfy most. Call quality is as ever very good, ringtone
and vibration alerts strong enough. The hspda works well and quite
swiftly giving rapid access to the internet. I have owned several
SE and was looking forward to this one as being the outstanding
phone in any line up but the poor keypad, relatively poor camera,
firmware problems and terrible battery life have ruined what should
have been the market leader. I shall be selling this and getting
the Nokia 6220 classic thereby ending my long association with SE. Rating:
Reviewed by Kelvin Baker from England
on 27th Jun 2008
After having a K850 since last November (one of the few that worked!)
and praising it on this site, it was clear that Sony had made a
rare error in producing that particular phone. Bugs in the software,
small keys, finger print magnet - the phone just didn`t feel right.
Now for the C902...I`m pleased to report that this is everything
the K850 should have been. Back to classic Ericsson keys, a slim,
sleek overall design and software that actually works! The camera
is superb with easy navigation to all the settings and takes sharp
pictures. People may moan about lack of xenon flash but the flash
on this phone does the job perfectly (unless you are in a pitch
black dungeon for some reasons!) Whilst every one is going on about
the camera the phone is a very good mp3 player with all the Walkman
benefits like Megamass and Playlist options. So to conclude this
indeed is a 5 star phone - the best Sony phone to date! Rating:
Reviewed by Nilsh from UK on
26th Jun 2008
I've had this phone just over a week now after i'd been waiting
for ages for its release and i think its a great phone! The buttons
do take some getting used to but its not a major problem. Its easy
to get around. Only niggles i've had is the battery life isn't too
great but it could be a lot worse. The only other thing i'm finding
odd is the alarm does go off when its supposed to. I've checked
the settings and its all ok but its rather strange it doesn't want
to get me up in a morning! The camera hasn't given me any problems
so far when tested. Def reccommend it though. Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from UK on 26th
Jun 2008
Switched to Sony Ericcson phones at the K700i and they have progressively
got better and better with this being no exception. Got this phone
a couple of days ago and can't fault it in any way. Previously had
a K800i and this is just a better version of that! The functionality
(media, email, web etc) is outstanding and the camera gives crisp
photos (not noticed any problems with the flash) and am overjoyed
they have sorted the lense cover thing so it dosn't open in my pocket!!!
Styling is awesome too, no longer are the SE Cybershot phones bulkey...
10/10 Rating:
Reviewed by aidan from eire on
25th Jun 2008
just gat it da ay lurv it itz class worth every single pound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from UK on 25th
Jun 2008
I've had the SE C902 for a week now, and I am very pleased with
it. I changed the LG secret I had for this phone and I am so glad
I did as the Secret was a real let down for me (see my LG secret
review). The C902 is a good looking phone packed with great features
and a easy to use interface. The camera is fantastic, the best I've
ever come across on a phone. The only downside are the buttons,
they are tiny and compact but I am getting used to them. Battery
life is ok, I'm currently getting about 3 days out of it. Rating:
Reviewed by Jim from UK on 25th
Jun 2008
I've been living with the C902 for a few days now after I sent back
the unspeakably terrible Samsung Soul that I ordered in the first
place. The C902 is great. As a phone (the important bit), it works
just fine. The 3G features are good, with fast (and surprisingly
usable) internet. The media player I love, especially with an 8Gb
card fitted. GPS capability is a major boon (just get a £30 bluetooth
receiver). The party piece is the camera, which gives crisp, clean
photos and decent quality video. The only complaint, and it's a
minor one, is that the keys are a little bit fiddly. You get used
to it. Rating:
Reviewed by Ross from Surrey on
24th Jun 2008
Got this phone as an upgrade from the K800 after spending a LOT
af time looking at Samsungs and Nokia's etc., and nothing came close.I
almost went for the k850i until I heard all those bad reports.But
this phone is fantastic!! I've had it a week now and sure, the flash
may be no xenon but I find that picture fix helps to brighten up
the dark pictures,and maybe I'll get dust in the camera slide but
at least it won't open in my pocket(like the k800). Nice also to
have an ipod style media layout and be able to download album art(good
to hear it takes 8gb card!)Suppose the speaker does get blocked
at the back but its in my pocket most of the time anyway! and now
it lies flat on the table instead of wobbling about. Had no problems
with the battery life even during the first few days. The slim styling
is really classy and will age well and in black looks awesome. Supporting
software is easy to use and I can use pictbridge with my stand alone
printer.only wish they had made screen bigger and removed touch
screen buttons but thats the trend.just need to to get 8gb card
and fm trasmitter then sorted...great phone Rating:
Reviewed by Dan from Devon on
24th Jun 2008
Had this phone for a week now and I think its awesome. Been using
SEs for a while having lost faith in Nokia. The interface is just
what I'm used to so it took no time at all getting started. Only
tiny issue is the battery life, as others have noticed I'm only
getting about 2 days at the minute. I've been assured that this
is a SE thing and the battery life will improve. I've been promised
a replacement if it doesn't improve.. cant argue with that!! Top
phone Rating:
Reviewed by keith from England on
23rd Jun 2008
ive had my c902 for 4 days and im just getting used to the buttons
as i have biggish thumbs..i hope it does'nt break in my pocket as
it does seem a bit flimsy.but the colour and the style it is a bit
of a bobby dazzler.. Rating:
Reviewed by Mike from England on
22nd Jun 2008
ive had the phone for 3 days now & my only problem with the phone
is battery life it last 2days most so iam gonna take it bak & c
if its a faulty battery or sumit coz ive not even used it alot 2
even drain it that much iam gonna give it a 4 star coz the phone
so far is great apart from that Rating:
Reviewed by piers from England on
21st Jun 2008
worst phone ever the camera is not as good as the d500 1.3 it is
shaky i could break it by squeezinit the keys cracked and only had
2 days Rating:
Reviewed by Jon from Northamptonshire
on 20th Jun 2008
I got this phone yesterday in the red and it looks sleek. To add
to this the phone works perfectly, the applications are brilliant
and camera amaizing. This is the best phone I have ever had and
you will not be dissapointed when you buy one. Love this phone and
I agree It's easily a 5-star phone! Rating:
Reviewed by andy from england on
20th Jun 2008
The features on this phone are excellent...BUT the camera is not
a patch on my previous phone, The K800i (This is still the daddy
of all camera phones)! The look, feel and the features of the C902
are still top drawer though...Hence the 4 stars, The upgrade from
this (Whenever that will be) MUST have a xenon flash! Rating:
Reviewed by Derek Jones from Uk on
20th Jun 2008
The first 3 days with this phone were (almost) brilliant. The camera
isn't too bad, nice user interface, etc. The build quality is a
bit creaky, and it doesn't feel like it will last me a year. Fast
forward just over a week, and the same old reliability issues which
plague most Sony Ericsson phones started to appear. It started crashing
and freezing for no apparent reason. I've had enough of them now,
and this phone is going back. Other people warned me about daring
to get a sony ericsson, but i didn't listen - i thought all those
"typical Sony Rricsson problems"(their words) wouldn't happen to
this phone as well. How wrong i was. Bye Sony Ericsson - I've had
enough of your buggy cheap rubbish phones. Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from Southampton, UK
on 19th Jun 2008
What an excellent phone.. SE have come up trumps yet again. Easy
to use, lightweight, looks good, sounds good and a superb camera.
My last phone was the K810i which was good but this, this is by
far better. My only gripe is the slanting buttons but i'm sure I'll
get used to them. Well done SE!! Rating:
Reviewed by Sanchez from Norway on
19th Jun 2008
Awesome phone, and by the way: I have a 8 Gb memorycard in mine,
and it supports it. Rating:
Reviewed by Graham from UK on
19th Jun 2008
Got the C902 a few days ago, although its not a xenon flash the
LED is extremely bright, so should be adequate in most situations.
It also gives you the advantage of having a light when recording
video. I'm impressed with the slimness of the handset, nice screen,
ok battery life although they could have made it a mil or 2 thicker
and made a larger battery. I'm not overly keen on the slanted keys
though, as it makes them slightly difficult to press. I would love
to have seen a repeat of the round keys of the K810i, which although
unusual, were very user friendly and great to text with. The sound
quality is fantastic, i've never heard a handset as loud or as clear.
All round a good phone, but only 4 stars out of 5 due to the buttons
not being quite as good as they should be, but still in fairness
much better than the K850i Rating:
Reviewed by Virus from UK on
18th Jun 2008
I have upgraded to this from the the K800i and 1st impressions are
okay. I did have the K850 a while back but returned it due to major
bugs. The shape of the C902 does make you realise how dated the
K800 actually is, but is it better? Well yes and no! looks-wise
no contest, screen has more contrast and the menus are nicer, it
has megabass which was missing from the K800i. But I have one MAJOR
gripe and that is the flash. Sony were leaders in the camera department
as far as cameras were concerned, the K750i pioneered with it's
autofocus and flash and then the K800i cleared up with it's Xenon
flash, so why have Sony decided to go back to the LED flash? it
is very poor in comparison and whatever flash problems were on the
850, the K800/10 were excellent. Comp;aring the actual 5mp camera
in tests with the 3mp K800 should poorer overall pictures in both
detail and lighting. Shame. Where Nokia are advancing with wifi,
Xenon flash, gps, etc etc, Sony have stepped back and lost the fight.
Plus, as flat as it is, why do Sony continue to put the loudspeaker
on the back. Now without a protruding lens cover to act as a release
the C902 is flat to the surface muffling all sound from an otherwise
good music player. Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from England on
18th Jun 2008
Responding to Gemma's issue surrounding not get the camera to open,
have you taken on the transparent screen cover, which is stuck over
the camera extension section? All in all great phone, only this
I do miss is the Weight / Mass / velocity coverter I had on my N73. Rating:
Reviewed by Alfie from UK on
17th Jun 2008
My brother just got one, and the first thing I said is that it almost
looks identical to the K770i. Menus are hardly different to that
of the K800i as mentioned by other reviewers, so what has changed
apart from the way the camera opens, which is better in the pocket
and the 5mp camera with the inferior flash to the K800i......Not
alot. However, whats the point of changing something that seems
to be a winner for SE. Until the N series for Nokia they were also
very samey....so lets see where SE decide to take the C series. Rating:
Reviewed by pieman from UK on
17th Jun 2008
Basically seems an upgraded K800i. Better built, nicer features,
great 5mp camera, a solid all rounder. Only bad point is the LED
flash isnt as good as the K800i. Overall the C902 is a very good
phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Warren from UK on
17th Jun 2008
I've used this site for a while to pick phones, but this is the
first time I've ever reviewed a phone. I've had SE's for a few years
now, using my K810i for ages purely because I loved it so much.
I upgraded recentley to the Viewty (rubbish) then when I went to
upgrade again I saw the C902. I've got friends who use the 850i
and to me it seemed far bigger than it's older brother the 810i
and the touch buttons were shocking to use, but I can safely say
the C902 is quality! A lot thinner in the pocket, better looking
and all in all a better set-up. I take a lot of pictures and I've
not had a problem yet, I'm sure the flash is slightly dimmer, but
not too much. The slide is also a good feature, although this does
collect dust, but hey, give it two months and the phone will be
scratched and dropped anyway. I'd highly recommend this phone to
any SE lovers or people who are simply bored with Nokias. Rating:
Reviewed by Glyn from UK on 16th
Jun 2008
Amazing! It's just like a k800i with respect to menus and general
navigation around the phone and it's better, much better. Well done
Sony!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Gemma from Wigan UK on
16th Jun 2008
On my Second C902 and sending back again, i cannot for the life
of me get the camera bit to open! No matter how hard i pull it will
not budge, on 2 phones now!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Tom E from UK on
14th Jun 2008
I was looking forward to recieving this phone, as i had heard bad
reports about the K850i and its flash problems. The camera on this
phone, even though it is 5Mp, is far inferior to the one on my old
cheap k800i. where has the flash gone!!!! This is absolutely necessary
to a cybershot phone and i cannot believe it does not have one.
pictures taken on a K850i or a K800/k810 are infinitely better.
i will be returning this phone and hopefully getting a K800 back.
Comon Sony, you can do better than this! Bring the flash back and
this will be an unbeatable phone! [Editor's comment: What do you
mean? Where has the flash gone? It's on the phone!!!] Rating:
Reviewed by Andy from England on
13th Jun 2008
Had this phone for a few days and it is quite simply the best phone
I've ever had. Everything about it is excellent - the camera, music
player, design, intuitive software....the list goes on. There is
nothing in the current market that touches this phone. Buy one now! Rating:
Reviewed by Kieran from UK on
13th Jun 2008
just got this phone today, will be returning it tomrrow, the flash
is absolute rubbish.. i took two photos one with my old K800i and
one with this in a dark room, u could barely see me in the c902's
photo whereas the whole room was visible in my old phone. I am extreamly
disapointed. Rating:
Reviewed by Clear Cut Chap from UK on
3rd Jun 2008
The C902 is a superb form-factor, slim and stylish. It packs the
optimal specifications and features, especially the face-detection
feature in the camera. The slide-out design is unique and really
works well, and I would say is a very clever evolution from all
the other existing mechanisms seen in the market today like the
slide-out/flip-open etc. SE thankfully reverted to the traditional-style
with the Keypad and it just works very well, with good Tactile feedback.
The main grouse if at all I would have with it, is the sacrifice
of the Xenon flash. Considering this is a 'C'ybershot camera phone,
the importance of the Xenon flash cannot be forgotten. The LED flash
is bright, but does not match the performance of the Xenon-what
would have been fantastic is to have the arrangement like in the
K850i where both the LED and Xenon flashes work for the Video and
Photograph capture respectively. The LED also is a useful Torch
light. The other let down is the sacrifice of the Screen size, to
give way to the Blue icons(touch buttons) that get activated in
the Camera mode. Again while this aides for faster access to the
various adjustments on the fly, the K850i arrangement of having
them on one edge of the keypad while maximising the screen-size
was a better arrangement, and in this regard a slight step-backward.
Another point to note which is not too significant a difference
unless you use wired headphones on the go with this phone is the
side-located power connection. Again the K850i arrangement with
the slide-out door was a brilliant design. However I will grant
the advantages of a slim design that SE have achieved with this
model and therefore a requirement of locating it on its side. In
conclusion, it is another brilliant handset, and an all-round performer
which I would award 5 stars, except for the fact that it lacks the
Xenon flash and has a smaller screen than the K850i. I would hence
award it a 4.5 star but since thats not an option here I have to
make it a 4 stars rating. Perhaps in time if the performance and
the ownership experience changes my mind, I might upgrade it, but
I dont think so...for that 5 stars will be awaiting the upcoming
G900i! I will eagerly wait for that phone! Rating:
