Review: Sony Ericsson G502

Sony Ericsson G502 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: A lightweight 3G phone with a classic design, user-friendly keypad and a good range of features, including a 2 megapixel camera, a music player, an FM radio, and a memory card slot. In addition the G502 excels at mobile email and web access.
Best buy: *Free* from Dialaphone (Black); or £69.99 on PAYG from Three (Black) or Three (Hazlenut).

Review: October 2008. Updated May 2009.

Sony Ericsson have a lot of mid-range 3G handsets that all look pretty much the same, and at first glance the G502 seems to be just another one. Its specs are very similar to the K660i, for example, and it looks quite similar to the K660i too. But the clue to the G502's purpose is the G in its model number. The "G" range is PDA-flavoured, and G series phones include plenty of tools for organising your life.

The G502 is good for mobile emailing, with a nice functional keypad, push email (messages are sent directly to your phone as soon as they arrive) and support for Exchange ActiveSync®. This allows you to synchronise the phone with Microsoft Exchange on your PC, so you can manage your email accounts whether you're at the PC or on the go. With HSDPA giving you download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps, you can easily send and receive emails with attachments.

The G502 is also a good platform for accessing the web. As well as a web browser, the phone supports RSS feeds via handy RSS widgets. There's also a built-in weather application that shows you 3-day weather forecasts, wherever you happen to be. With Google Maps, blogging support, and easy access to Google search, the G502 provides a rich environment for mobile information access.

The display is of high quality, but we would have liked a larger screen than the 2.0 inches provided. This would make the web access just a little easier.

As well as the mobile internet and messaging applications, the G502 has a 2 megapixel camera. This produces acceptable results, although it cannot compete with the cameras on high-end phones. The phone also has a good media player and an FM radio with RDS. Memory is limited to 32 Mbytes, but the phone can also accept memory cards up to 4 GB. Connectivity is by USB cable or wireless Bluetooth. Finally, battery life seems to be excellent.

The G502 is not an expensive phone, being priced at under the £100 mark, or free on contract at around £20 per month. It's a good phone for anyone looking for mobile email & mobile web in addition to other standard features.

Features of the Sony Ericsson G502 include:

• 2 megapixel camera
• Video capture, 3G video calling
• Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.0 inches)
• Music player with PlayNow™, TrackID™
• FM radio with RDS
• Speakerphone
• Polyphonic ringtones / Music tones
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, instant messaging
• 3D Java games
• Personal organiser functions
• Memory: 32 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro support (up to 4 Gbytes)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
• Internet: WAP 2.0, Web browser, RSS feeds, HSDPA
• Flight mode
• Vibration alert
• Triband (GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900) plus 3G (UMTS 2100) HSDPA
• Size: 103 x 46 x 14 mm
• Weight: 84g
• Talktime: 4.5 hours (3G) - 9 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 330 hours

Sony Ericsson G502 Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 35 reviews:

Reviewed by Amanda from New Zealand on 28th Jun 2009
Hi I have had my phone for a couple of weeks now. It is a good phone. Fast internet, clear pictures, good mp3 player. Only thing that bothered me was that it don't have a second camera/video calling. Oh yeah, my phone has restarted a couple of times which was annoying at the time. Overall it is a good phone, I will eventually change to a 3G phone that CAN video call in the future though.
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Reviewed by Ayleisha from UK on 17th Jun 2009
Great phone, does everything useful, reccomend it
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Reviewed by Ross Thompson from United kingdom on 17th May 2009
Hi have had my G502 for about a week now and i bourght as an upgrade from my k550i. Inisually i bourght it so i could go on the internet whilst out and about but i have now realised that i can also get gps on it by adding an extra HGE-100 add on. All in all i think this phone is absoulte brilliant. And passes the other more expensive phones with flying colours. Especially when you can get the G502 for about £80-£115 its absoulte brillll. 5*
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Reviewed by Steve mcgrath from U.k on 14th May 2009
My k530i bit the dust sadly so,i purchased the g502.at first i found it very slow browsing the net but,it has a mind of its own+turns itself off.it also displays 'inactive usim'+turns off again.i'm going to try+return it as,i'm not at all happy.the k530i never did this to me,i used it for 16 trouble free months.its a shame the g502 cant compete.
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Reviewed by Kojo from Canada on 3rd May 2009
I`m having problems with this phone...the screen turns black anytime I put it on then it goes off again...
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Reviewed by Sam from New Zealand on 14th Apr 2009
My phone and my friends constantly restarts, it really gets annoying because it usually happens when sending a txt message, also, im not sure if its the networks fault, but skype, ebuddy and palringo applications cant access the internet and dont work, but the mobile web browser works fine, otherwirse, appart from the constant restarting. great phone and good value
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Reviewed by dhivyadharan from india on 11th Apr 2009
the phone is quite excellent to use
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Reviewed by winstonbadoy@yahoo.com from philippines on 26th Mar 2009
awesome phone! so impresive! keep it up!
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Reviewed by Mark Javier from Philippines on 24th Mar 2009
with the old software, the phone always restarts. After the update, everything is great
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Reviewed by Edi Imanto from Indonesia on 16th Mar 2009
Great phone! Great Internet Access! Love this phone.
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Reviewed by Imul from Indonesia on 7th Mar 2009
I have used Sony Ericsson since the first, from T100, K500i, K530i, and G503. G503 have sofware problem, which sometimes can turn off or restart it self. For anything else, compare to it price, its nice
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Reviewed by lee from England on 6th Mar 2009
Good phone. Swapped from nokia 3120 classic cause the battery was abysmal. Battery much better on sony. Mp3 Sound not as good as nokia though even with sony ear buds. Sim card locator not good enough. Come unregistered twice now in two months. Top phone though!
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Reviewed by madesh from India on 6th Mar 2009
Nice looking mobile. But there is a software problem. Try to clear it.
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Reviewed by Pinku from India on 1st Mar 2009
Simply outstanding. I suggest the best phone b'wn rs 5000-10000 range & fully paise basul.
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Reviewed by Pete from UK on 22nd Feb 2009
Music fault must have been fixed as mine is fine – I also had a memory card thrown in WOW what value at only£9 p/m. I have the hazel colour and am really pleased, Worms and pool have been downloaded and they are great, the speed of the internet is fantastic I am really pleased (even though I don’t live in a 3 area……. yet) so I have to put call onto divert as I arrive home) Only down side is the screen saver trips in too quickly when playing games.
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Reviewed by sabari from India on 18th Feb 2009
Dear All, Nice phone with futures Budget phone with sexy look With regards Sabari.S 9345201715 Madurai India
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Reviewed by Aryan Mann from India on 18th Feb 2009
No regrets buying this.Best phone the range 7000-10000
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Reviewed by WmK from UK on 3rd Feb 2009
Fantastic phone, ergonomically fantastic, fantastic high resolution screen (at 240x320 262,000 colours) which very good contrast and brightness on the LCD, good video recorder (at 320x240 15fps) fantastic Walkman 3.0 player, fantastic CyberShot 2.0 camera interface, hard to understand why it's marketed as a low-end phone. Only downside is the camara which could have had autofocus otherwise no regrets on upgrading from a W810i, yet) still does not make it a low end phone (W910i has the exact same camera, common faults and is double the price...)
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Reviewed by karthik from india on 2nd Feb 2009
ilove this phone at the same time i could not found any games which is supported by this phone
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Reviewed by MS from UK on 24th Jan 2009
Bought this on PAYG for my son. Music player has a software fault on Three which means it can't play music unless it's at a slowed down speed. SE apparently finding a software fix. Useless and has been sent back. Apart from that, a nice looking little phone. Giving it 1 star. Had music player been working, phone would have got 3.5*
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Reviewed by TC from Somerset UK on 20th Jan 2009
Just received this on contract renewal. Nice looking phone with lots of useful features. That's all well and good, but it's as a phone and as such I expect it to send and receive calls which it doesn't. I can only make emergency calls within my house whether 2G or 3G, whereas my Nokia using the same SIM has good connectivity.
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Reviewed by Praveen Muttikkal from India on 15th Jan 2009
I am praveen here ,I have brought this cell with 7350 rupee. Disadvantage : 1.No flash on cell 2.auto focus on camera is not there 3.Inbuilt memory is 24mb only 4.earphone is not good 5.cell getting heated up while speaking long time causing head ache 6.for catching the range ,it is poor Advantage : 1.It is value for money 2.camera is good in clarity 3.music clarity is also great 4.display clarity is also good 5.menu options are excellent 6.weight less,good looking 7.I will suggest if u are looking for low coast good mobile with all facility go for g502
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Reviewed by kamal hamdi from indonesia on 7th Jan 2009
i love this phone and i love sony ericsson,and easy to mod
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Reviewed by Rahul Mehta from India on 1st Jan 2009
Outstanding phone with all the latest features.Really impressed with the camera resolution,bit disappointed with the sound as compared to walkman series phones.
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Reviewed by Josh from New Zealand on 25th Dec 2008
Awesome phone!
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Reviewed by Danu from Indonesia on 19th Dec 2008
Great overall phone, my only regret is chipped paint on the keypad (I must be touching it too often, because it's soooo useful).
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Reviewed by Haidar sadat from Sweden on 19th Dec 2008
Hi, i was searching for a mobile set with full function. But they were so expensive finaly i read a ad. That i find the one i was looking for. So now i'm using my sony ericsson g502 and i really like it. It is full of fun and functions it is best choice. Bye and happy new year 2009
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Reviewed by NDIBAZ from Indonesia on 9th Dec 2008
Never regret with this phone. Nice music,nice java games & HSDPA network. Best price for a pretty simply smart java virtual machine and HSDPA phone.
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Reviewed by HAWK from MALAYSIA on 4th Dec 2008
GOOD MUSIC,EASY TO USE, EASY TO SURF THE INTERNET,BUT NO VIDEO CALLING AND NO FLASH.ITS CAMERA 2 MP OK AND IT IS A LIGHTWEIGHT 3G PHONE IT IS QUITE CHEAP
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Reviewed by muthupandi from india on 27th Nov 2008
i really pleased with the design and the music...... atmost it is cheaper than other phones with this specification.camera is decent and music menu was really a treat to watch and move around..
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Reviewed by king from india on 19th Nov 2008
it gonna b 1 of d execellent set,dat grab all attention of market.
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Reviewed by thomy from uk on 2nd Nov 2008
I bought this phone it is very good, it got internet, 3G, and with a 2mp camera.
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Reviewed by H from UK on 21st Oct 2008
Really nice wee phone, simple to use and lightweight. Not had a problem with it, and its been a week now since it popped through the letterbox. Very happy. The only thing i would check though, is that this review says there is a flash. Unless I am particularly dim, there doesn't actually seem to be one...
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Reviewed by akim from libya on 7th Oct 2008
this phone is increadible,specially the design and the screen resolution.I bought one and it is brilliant.
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Reviewed by princess from Uk on 31st Aug 2008
amaaaazing phone my dad has just recently got it from work... easy to text....decent camera... im jealous...
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You can read more Sony Ericsson G502 reviews at RecommendedBuys UK.

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