Review: Sony Ericsson K700i

Sony Ericsson K700i Review

Phone rating:

Note: the K700i is now obsolete. For an updated version we recommend the Sony Ericsson C902 from Dial-a-Phone.

The Sony Ericsson K700i adds additional functionality to the popular and highly-rated T630 model. What's new in the K700i? Firstly, the VGA camera has been enhanced with a camcorder capability for recording videos. The TFT screen is 65,000 colours, like the T630, but it has been increased to nearly twice the size of the T630 - great for photos, videos and games. Ringtones have been upgraded from 32-voice to 40-voice. There's also an integrated FM radio and MP3 player. Another improvement is the increased memory - at 41Mbytes, this is more than virtually any other phone on the market, and is ideal for storing photos, videos and music.

The brushed aluminium finish of the phone and the curved shape make for a very sexy image, and the phone definitely deserves 5 stars when it comes to looks.

Sony Ericsson claim that the K700i is "as much a camera as it is a phone". That's a bit of a wild claim, considering that the camera's resolution of 0.3 megapixels is less than that of even the cheapest digital camera, however let's not forget that Sony are one of the top 3 manufacturers of digital cameras and when first released this was one of the best camera phones. The integrated camera can be activated in one click, with one more click to take a picture. Sony Ericsson's new QuickShare™ technology enables you to easily share pictures with your PC or other phones, using Bluetooth™, email, MMS or data cable. The camera is equipped with a 4x digital zoom and a camera light. The K700i has been designed very much with this camera-phone dual concept in mind. From the front, the device is very much a functional mobile phone; from the other side, it's a camera!

The K700i does suffer from occasional reliability problems (mainly freezing or random shutting down) and has now been replaced by the K750i.

Features of the Sony Ericsson K700i include:

• Colour display (65,536 colours, 176 x 220 pixels)
• Integrated VGA camera with video recorder (including sound)
• Bluetooth™, infrared and cable (USB & RS232) connectivity
• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) - send pictures and sound like text messages
• Downloadable 40-voice polyphonic & mono ringtones, plus ringtone editor (MusicDJ™)
• Downloadable Java™ games
• FM radio and MP3 player
• WAP 2.0 (GPRS), email
• High Speed Data (HSCSD - up to 28.8 kbps)
• Speed dialling & voice dialling
• Joystick, camera button, navigation key, menu shortcuts
• Predictive text (T9)
• Mobile chat
• Voice memo / recorder
• Speaker phone
• Picture phone book
• Wallpaper, screensaver and themes - all downloadable
• Calculator, calendar, alarm, stopwatch
• Sync ML
• Memory: 41 Mbytes
• Size: 99 x 47 x 20 mm
• Weight: 93g
• Battery standby: 300 hours
• Battery talktime: 8 hours
• Vibration alert
• Sleep mode
• Tri band

Sony Ericsson K700i Consumer Reviews

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!

Average rating from 100 reviews:

Reviewed by Steve from England on 8th Nov 2004
"ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!" -those 2 words are all that are needed. Looks cool, functionality is way and above any other phone I have seen, and on top of all that, it's free! Full Marks Sony Ericsson!! Go out and get one now! There are absolutely no compromises with this phone! You definately wont regret it!
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Reviewed by amso from uk on 7th Nov 2004
well this phones O.k but the battery life is poor if u don't mind charging it everyday then go ahead and buy it but my advice would be not to buy it !!
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Reviewed by Pro_Shopper_2k from England on 6th Nov 2004
I am 15 and therefore a younger user of phones. The first phone I got was a Nokia when I was 11 and I used Nokias ever since. My Mom decided to get me a contract just before Halloween 2004 and we got this phone free. I was very happy as it was a camera phone and everyone already had one! Below are a list of positives and negatives about the Sony Ericsson K700i. Overall I would reccomend this phone to the younger side of the generation because of the functions and content. It is a great phone. Good luck choosing your phone x x x Positives: - Great quality screen. - Entertaining games, easy to use. - A good media player which minimizes so the phone can multi-task. - Great effects on camera (balck & white, negative, etc). - Different picture sizes and zoom x4. - Video capture (have not yet testeed how long for, only needed to do up to 40 seconds so far). - Great message storing system. - Easy to use storgae system for songs, videos, pictures, games, etc. - Lots of organizarional functions. - Great phone book layout, add lots of information about contacts. - Bluetooth is compatible with most phones. I have tested Nokia 6310, Motorola V500, Nec616 and computers. - Great signal on radio. Negatives: - You can only open the menu by pressing the joystick down, if you accidently tilt to the side you end up somewere else. - The games are soundless. - If you move to fast when video recording it goes blurry. - Takes time to get used to texting (having come from a Nokia background). - Profiles took me some time to work out. - Hard to dial a number with gloves on (but what phone isn't, hehe). - I sumdge the screen (wipes off easy but it's irritating. No permenant damage left though). Pro_Shopper_2k x x x
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Reviewed by Hamza from England/London on 6th Nov 2004
What can i say? a wicked phone, Heavy features! the only problem i have with the phone, is the damn battery!! wassup wid the manufacturing of this 'new technology' ?? am very dissapointed with this. However i do like the phone.
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Reviewed by John from England on 5th Nov 2004
When I first received this phone I thought I'd made a big mistake. Small buttons, stupid joystick that connected to the internet at the touch of a button, stupid charging cable that was a nightmare to get connected. Then I started using it - it is fantastic, I've had it for over a week now and I find new features and tweaks every day. It is incredible simple to personalise and the photos, whilst not the equivalent of a £700 Olympus, are perfectly adequate for what is, after all, a telephone. The radio is excellent, as is the MP3 player. Whilst it support both bluetooth and IRDA, I find that connecting it to a DSS-25 is by far the best option - mainly because it charges at the same time and get rid of the problem of the fiddly charging cable. My biggest worry at the moment is how to use all of the software - since they don't appear to have included any help files to tell you waht you are supposed to be doing with it - but maybe that's down to my age. I'd reccommend this phone to anyone, it's packed ful of features, looks good and provides excellent reception.
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Reviewed by Jape from UK on 4th Nov 2004
After reading all the reviews of the K700i on this website, and a load more on another site, I was awaiting the arrival of my phone with dread. I really thought I had signed up for a dud - even though it was free on Vodafone! However, the reality was better than expected. Yes, the Vodafone branding was dull 2 colour, and I was getting the 3 second delay on answering a call. But on the plus side, the battery life has been identical to the T610 that I changed up from. The call quality is great, and the signal strength is much better than the T610. I've used the other features a bit, but as a phone, the K700i does all that it should, and is a definite improvement on the T610. The good points: 1. Ring volume is louder and clearer, and there is the option to turn off that most annoying 'increasing ring tone' feature that meant loads of missed calls on the T610. 2. The phone is the same size as the T610, but feels lighter and less bulky. 3. The screen on the K700i is much brighter and clearer to read - even in direct sunlight. In fact, although I had been preparing to send the phone back before I got it, I'm now really pleased with it. After a week or so, I took the plunge, and de-branded/updated the firmware using total multi server. Although this will invalidate the warranty, the phone was free, so no big deal. The de-branding process was straight forward, and now the phone has all the beauty of the SE designed graphics and menus AND it has eliminated all of the bugs mentioned on earlier phones. No call delays, and battery life now better then the T610. Coupled with the fact that I can now record and use MP3 files as ring tones! Overall, I would recommend this phone highly.
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Reviewed by Lee from England on 4th Nov 2004
got my phone today, I like the phone don't get me wrong, but its a pain in the arse for people with larger fingers, the keys are too small and too close together, and that joystick thing, well, if you don't have long pointed nails, then its a nightmare. but it looks lovely, sound good, and have a great disply and camera.
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Reviewed by suresh singh from INDIA on 4th Nov 2004
most of the functions are easy to use but the battery talk time and standby time is very poor.
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Reviewed by ismail jiad from maldives on 3rd Nov 2004
the sonny ericson k700i is avery atractive piece. the size, look very intresting. screen just the great size. menus and all vary easy. if it had a memeory extend card and a camera protect cover as in k500i, it would have been the real one af all
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Reviewed by Ginja Jon from England on 3rd Nov 2004
Ok, the phone is good. Be careful with your providers though - just got mine on Orange and they have taken away the Shortcut menu option to make room for their internet options. Not only do you have the button on the side, but 2 options on the menu itself to access their internet! The shortcut option may not be important to some, but having just left my trusty T610, it's very annoying. Vodaphone have taken away the ability to use MP3's as ringtones (unless you buy from them) and also the shortcut to camera (I've been told). O2 seem to be the best at keeping the core functions, but you pay for this by having terrible customer service. O2 are currently having problems allowing you to upgrade firmware via SE website, but are working on it. Just a word of warning before you sign that contract, otherwise enjoy the phone.
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Reviewed by leannielou from birkenhead on 2nd Nov 2004
Just had my fone delivered all i can say is oh my god go out & get one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Jay Jay from UK on 1st Nov 2004
The phone is soo good. I reccomend it to anyone! Its confusing for the first three or four days but then it gets a whole lot easier to use and then you have the phone of your dreams!! Buy this phone
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Reviewed by Ross from England on 1st Nov 2004
This phone looks and feels great and feature wise is the bomb. However, has anyone else experienced this phone crashing, I've only had it for about 3 hours and I've had to take the battery out twice already, due to it freezing up. The first time I was taking a photo and when I went to delete it the screen went white and I eventually had to take the battery out and restart. Then moments later I took a photo, nipped of to the kitchen to grab myself some food, probably a ginsters chicken and mushroom slice. When I come back, yep you've guessed it, the screen has frozen with the picture I had previously taken. I really like this phone but I hope this doesn't continue. Also, rumour has it sony made a mistake during the programming implementation of this phone, which might explain it's 'discontinuous' and somewhat inept behaviour!
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Reviewed by bw from uk on 31st Oct 2004
How do you down load mp3's to the dam phone thanks
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Reviewed by Pete from UK, Manchester on 31st Oct 2004
Well, When i got this phone i was complete amazed with the stuff you can do on it.. its like gadgets galore. The Battery life has never been a problem since i upgraded from a Samsung V200 and the Battery life on that lasted me a day regardless of use. Overall a good Buy and would definately recommend to a first time buyer. Also Bluetooth is essential.. u can even play with little remote control cars on bluetooth :) how cool is that?
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Reviewed by Neil from UK on 31st Oct 2004
I think that I am the hardest person in the world to please, and I am very fussy, especially when it comes to electrical items. I simply have to have the best. Needless to say, the K700i is perfect. It does everything, and it does it all well. I have a T610 as well, and the difference between the two would take ages to describe. The K700i is 5 times better than the T610 in terms of looks, feell, quality, software and usage. I took ownership of a Samsung E800 5 days ago. It was a good fone, but was lacking. I saw a K7001, ordered one, then sent the Samsung back. I am so very glad I did, cause since the K700i arrived yesterday, I have not been able to stop playing with it. Its great, but I can only award it 5 stars on here, cause there are no more.
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Reviewed by Sam from England on 31st Oct 2004
This phone is brilliant, and only has one fault which is the battery, it does run down pretty fast but only really if your playing lots of games (the games rock) or taking loooooooads of photos or making long films. The camera is brilliant and really clear and sharp, really clear radio and the camcorder thingy is better than any phone camcorder thingy i have seen before. It comes with loads of ringtones and pictures and a really cool music Dj thing, (i'm not sure if this is present on earlyer models) where you can make your own tones in the style of that playstation Music game. All in all this phone is brilliant with one hitch, but, if the battery matters to you that much, say your using the phone for buisness and need it on all day, carry a spare round with you, i dunno where you get them from, but you must be able to.
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Reviewed by Stevie B from England on 30th Oct 2004
Had this phone for just over a week. Undoubtedly the best phone i've ever had. MP3 player and radio are a real bonus, as is the VGA camera. I agree with most about the poor battery life, but if we all play with it so much then it's gonna die innit!. Had a problem connecting it to my PC via Bluetooth, but this was a prob with SP2 on my pc and not the phone, and if you google search you'll find the fix. My advice, you go buy yourself one now :-)
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Reviewed by Jonny from Ireland on 30th Oct 2004
I think this phone is one of, if not the, best phone on the market. And we're talking about quality and value here. Everything is neat, contacts are sorted well, quality of camera is of a good standard, and the games included are also quite good. The connectivity, although I myself have not used it, is very good so my friend says, and although the battery life is poor, it is no reason to take away a star (or four in some cases!). This phone is light, the radio and earphones, mp3, and interface of the software included is very good. I highly recommend this phone.
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Reviewed by Binnsy from England on 30th Oct 2004
Had this phone for 3 days now and after reading the reviews i though the battery life was going to be terrible but was plesently suprised when after the first charge the phone lasted for 2 days under heavy usage, and ive read that the battery life improves after more charging so thats all good. The screen really is amazing its so much clearer and sharper than anything else that ive seen the colours are vivid and everything is very sharp. Im a heavy texter so was quite conserned about the buttons but ive found them to be very easy to use and am able to text just as qucikly as on my last phone (sony Z7) The ringtones are fantastic quality even though the pre loaded ones are ..... strange (why would i want a baby crying as my ringtone) but transfer your own over or pick some of the decent ones and they sound fantastic. The bluetooth and infrared connections are both superb and ive benn able to use them both easily. Now to those who moan about the memory of this phone ask yourse lf ARE YOU BUYING A PHONE OR A MP3 player if your wanting to load hundreds of songs on to your phone buy a mp3 player thats what there for. 42mb of memory is more than enough i currently have all the pre loaded stuff around 3 mins of video 2 more full songs some random ringtones and about 50 pictures and i still have 32 mb of free space bear in mind around 6 mb of that is my two mp3's. Overall this phone is fantastic now i know that most people have a love affair with nokias i recommend you change i never saw the appeal with nokia and chose my previous phone and this on features not just because all my mates have one. I strongly recomend that if your reading this and want this phone you go buy it you will not be disappointed 5 Stars Binnsy
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Reviewed by craz from England on 27th Oct 2004
i have had this phone for four days and is without a doubt the best phone i have ever had and quite possibly the best phone there is in my opinion, it can litteraly do everything a phone can and the memory is fantastic the only thing it can't do is video call, but if your hesatating to buy this phone don't just go and buy it you wont regret it, now stop wasting time reading this and g out and buy it !
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Reviewed by Steve Shaw from Sweden on 27th Oct 2004
This phone is excellent. The battery life is poor - but there is an update for it so just take it to your local SE dealer and you will get 6 days out of it, it also fixes other stupid bugs.
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Reviewed by Davo from Australia on 27th Oct 2004
This phone is like the t68i. Looks nice, lots of features, but is missing important CORE functionality that phones should do. When is Sony Ericsson going to get their act together? In my opinion they are the pinnacle of actual DESIGN as far as look/feel, but the quality of their phones is severely disappointing. Get your act together. To the people who are writing good reviews, given a few weeks, or maybe even months, i can guarantee you will not be happy with this phone. My bet is you already know that it has some fundamental problems, but you're blinded by the gimmicks, and trying to ignore the flaws. Very bad phone.
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Reviewed by - from UK on 26th Oct 2004
i have had the phone for about a month now, and i read lots of the reviews about the battery life before i bought the phone, i have had no problems with this, apart from the first day i got it (i was playing with it for about 12 hours solid) but you just learn to charge it every night, as i have had to to with all my phones (except the Samsung T100 where the extended life battery lasted 5 days) but i am really happy with the phone and it provides hours of entertainment at school. the camera and its special effects are great to play with. i dont think that i will be going back to use a Nokia or any other make phone, well done SE
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Reviewed by David from UK on 26th Oct 2004
Very good phone with excellent applications and user interface. Plenty of memory to store pictures and video clips. It has an element of class about it, no messing about or overly fancy bits. Like the ease of the calender and how it easily interfaces with Outlook, which I find especially handy. Good range of sound files come with the phone and the rest are so simple to download. Like the shortcut keys to the camera and when using the camera and the ease of sending pictures quickly, without having to mess about saving them first. Definate top buy. Browsing of photo library could be a little quicker when there are many files saved in it.
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Reviewed by fluff from ireland on 26th Oct 2004
best phone ever craig ur phone is balls n so is urs rea.
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Reviewed by Natalie from UK on 26th Oct 2004
I got the sony ericsson k700i yesterday and i could not have icked a better phone. The battry power is poor but i jus charge the phone while i'm asleep. The battery run down really quick yesterday because i mesd on the phone for hours. I reccomend this phone to anybody. My brother got the nokia 6230 and the k700i is miles better. The ringtones are wicked and th things the phone lets you do is incredible. GO OUT AND BUY THE PHONE PEOPLE!! Ya wont rgret it.
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Reviewed by inderdeep from england on 26th Oct 2004
i love this fone, my friend has it and when she showed it to me i absolutly loved it it has everything you need. the camera is not that gd in sum light conditions, but its gd. i myself have the samsung e820, my camera is better, but the k700i has recorder, blutooth, mp3 nd radio wich mine jus does not have. i would like to get the k700i but i have to wait for my upgrade, its a gr8 fone for every1 is has eveythink i think, advice: need a nu fone, buy this 1!!
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Reviewed by trisha marlow from Finland on 25th Oct 2004
I luv it. Its amazin. Its my baby.
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 25th Oct 2004
A friend showed me his K700i and I immediately fell in love with it. I ordered one for myself from Vodafone and instantly fell out of love with it once I saw what Vodafone had done with it. The menu and icons have been replaced with flat 4-colour icons that look as though they've been drawn by a 6 year-old. I immediately sent the phone back and demanded a refund.
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Reviewed by Donvito from England on 25th Oct 2004
I have had this phone for just over a week now and am generally happy with it. It does everything a modern phone should. I only have one problem; when I select 'close browser' after accessing t-zones, the GPRS globe icon doesn't always disappear but remains on the screen. Is anyone else having this problem???
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Reviewed by Smaran from India on 25th Oct 2004
Da pfone is awesome. I have used many nokia's b4 but i wont b goin 4 nokias in da future. many compare dis with 6600. dis is anyday better than 6600. with all possible features present in dis phone, the only drawback, batt life can b overlooked. if u want to buy a phone, look no further the best is here. BUY IT.
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Reviewed by PAUL from UK on 24th Oct 2004
I AV AD DIS FONE 4 BOUT A MUNF NOW N ITS WICKED!!!!da pics n vids rnt exactly WOW but the blue-tooth and background options r WWOOOWW............... PPL GET DA FONE!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by wickedsunny from united kingdom on 23rd Oct 2004
the best phone ever made by sony ericson
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Reviewed by Jack from Australia on 23rd Oct 2004
Had the phone for a week and half now, have not encountered any of the problems that some of the the early reviews expressed. The battery life seems ok too 2-3 days of moderate use,everything about the K700i is superb and would recommend it too anyone, the new firmware has obviously fixed alot (if not all) of the early issues and the memory is more than enough. No lock ups at this stage, outrageous features, for a phone- the camera is excellent and my only 2 recommendations is get one that has new firmware and make sure you charge the phone for 8 - 12 hrs before first use and for at least the first couple of charges run the phone battery down to empty it will stop battery memory. No more nokias for me!!!
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Reviewed by Lou Lou from Kent on 21st Oct 2004
I have had this phone just over a month now and in my opinion it is such a cool phone it has everything you could possibly want on it including mp3 and radio. The music Dj is pretty cool to. The only thing that lets this phone down is the battery life it only lasts a day as I use my phone loads. so I have to charge it every night but that's not really a problem for me as I use to have to do that every night on my other phone.
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Reviewed by ramiro arteaga from mexico on 21st Oct 2004
excellent phone !!!!
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Reviewed by Troy from England on 20th Oct 2004
This phone is one heavy thing(good for you lil posh people)and i think this deserves 5 stars.Its a good fasion icon and feels good carrying a light k700i around wid you.theres 1 thing id like most bout dis fone.wen im on de bus and i see some buff gyal i can simply recird her and pretend im playing a game :P.Heavy fone.lookin for summet every1 wud wish they had,try dis,p.s mp3 player is to heavy wid de earfones.Get this fone.No problems with it so far.
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Reviewed by luke from england on 20th Oct 2004
V. Good. Shame about the battery.
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Reviewed by Mark from UK on 19th Oct 2004
excellent phone,well impressed.shame you cant turn off the silly noises the camera makes.
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Reviewed by Bill from U.K on 19th Oct 2004
A way to solve the battery problem, i heard that if you fully charge the battery as soon as you get it, then let it run down completely then recharge and do the same, completing this 5times increases the battery life by a lot. I am getting this phone soon and i can't wait, :-)
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Reviewed by barry from uk on 19th Oct 2004
Poor battery power
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Reviewed by David Bean from UK on 18th Oct 2004
Had this phone for a while now, and it doesn't fail to impress. Always liked Nokia's but the 6230 was pipped by this phone. Quality piece of kit, and everything I need and more. The ONLY downside of this phone is the battery life. I only get 1 day use as a moderately high user, but the 6230 isn't any better on this score. Other than that, don't even think about it. Buy this phone!
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Reviewed by N.Ram from uk on 17th Oct 2004
Ive had this phone for a week and it hasn't failed to impress me.It's a nice slick smartely designed handset which boasts all the features u could handle.So if your thinkin of purchasiang the Nokia 6230 don't bother because compared to the SONY ERICSSON K700I its just a pethatic heap.i have a nokia 8310 and samsung E700 and the sony ericsson k700i.Nokia arn't as good as they were,becarefull nokia sony ericsson are taking over.now what u people waiting for?...go buy the K700I,it's the sexist phone ever made.
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Reviewed by chikomx from UAE on 16th Oct 2004
a crazy problem has hit my k700i since yesterday. i have used the phone for a month and like it. but now, whenever i go to the address book, all my local contacts show the number of the guy who is alphabetically first in the list !! the actual numbers take upto 10 minutes to appear and it's not that the phone is low on memory....
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Reviewed by Cheeky Fella from Singapore on 15th Oct 2004
A great phone with great features which never failed to impress me. I had it for about two months now, and it gave me no problem at all....uh just once. The software hanged..just once. That was the only time that I faced a minor setback and it never happned again. Other than that, it was fun, thrill and joy to use this superb phone. Great MP3 player where you can tweak the bass or treble(equalizer), a great sound FM radio, good camera for taking still shots and video, great design and easy to handle phone, a perfect LCD Display accompanied by moving themes, and great connectivity like Infrared, USB cable connection, Bluetooth all worked superbly. It is so difficult to put it down and I am so addicted to it... REALLY GREAT PRODUCT. Well done Sony Ericsson!!!!
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Reviewed by Chris from England on 14th Oct 2004
This phone is ok for those who want to use it as a fashion accessory or to keep up with the Jones's. As for those of us who believe it or not want to use it as a phone, you will find it both irritating and frankly less than worthwhile. Battery life is very very poor in comparison to most Nokia phones. Granted the screen and colours are superior to most other phones, but you pay for this in having to charge the phone at least every other day, if not daily. Heaven forbid that you make more than 7-8 calls a day. On Vodafone, coverage is often interrupted with a SOS calls only message. Build quality is poor, it creaks and the joystick feels likely to snap at anytime. Sorry for being so negative but it appears that the majority of people who say this phone is good is either under the age of 20 or do nothing more than pose with the handset
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Reviewed by Alfie from England on 12th Oct 2004
good phone. everyday, if you use it a lot it has to be charged!!! picture quality great, games great, buy it.
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Reviewed by Rebecca from UK on 12th Oct 2004
I read the reviews regarding the battery life but decided to get one anyway because let's face it, the Nokia 6230 just doesn't look as good. NO REGRETS getting this phone - battery lasts a good 3 days with pretty heavy use (a lot more than I used to use my old phone as now I play games, lookup ringtones online etc.) The screen resolution is great even in direct daylight and you can do everything you could possibly want with this phone including personalising menus. Regarding the battery - I charged it initially for 12 hours and don't charge it for more than 3 now. I don't know if this has made it last longer but it was what I was recommended to do by the store and it seems to have worked! Two very enthusiastic thumbs up, best phone I have ever owned.
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Reviewed by tom from uk on 10th Oct 2004
i have had nokia,s for the last 7 yrs or so .i am more than impressed with k700i and will not be going back to nokias
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Reviewed by sean392 from malaysia on 9th Oct 2004
ok....the beginning.... many ppl say batt life on this fone is no good..... [i think their still using R2E or R2A] when ur firmware is R2L [latest] i get 3 days of moderate usage n 2 days of heavy usage [1.5 hour how mp3 , 30 min of calls, 10+ sms] the screen is excellent!!! very sharp n bright. the menu navigation is fine. there are occasional hangs maybe once 2 weeks? all fones arent that stable inculding nokia [im an ex-user of nokia] the speaker jacks out loud accoustics whether its midi or mp3 ringers. the mp3 player quality is superb!!! i luv the equalizer on board!!! perfect 2 tune to heavier or liter bass when needed [i luv bass :D]. the sms engine is much improved compared 2 T610. its on par with N6230 but the buttons are just a little cramped. the joystick is luvly. very useful for games n its easy to use. the only downside i could find for this is the quirky speaker fone access. very cumbersome either than that i highly recommend this mobile to anyone who is interestd :D
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Reviewed by sean from malaysia on 9th Oct 2004
oh i forgot to add..... the cam quality is excellent in good liting conditions when transfered to ur com using bt, iR or cable the pics look amazingly sharp for a cam fone.... despite the color noises in low lite areas the cam does a good job in keeping the clarity.... the LED flash is also useful as a torchlite :D i also forgot to mention bout connectivity bt is excellent n stable... fast data transfer rates.... SE`s iR are one of the few which are capable of transfering files[pics sounds etc] using iR...... the others are mitsubishi n alcatel in my knowledge..... i just luv this mobile :D
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Reviewed by Dave from Australia on 9th Oct 2004
I've only had the phone for three weeks. I understand the battery problem is a firmware fault so I'll forget about that. After 4 days my phone turned itself off and wouldn't turn back on. I tried all of the usual tricks like taking the battery out for a period of time etc. Tried a different battery. I contacted sony support via email twice and by phone with no help. The email support took two weeks for a reply from the first email. Support kept telling me to take it back to the dealer. This unfortunately is a 8 hour drive as I live in a remote area. So I'll post it off when i can be bothered. I Found a Nokia 6230 locally and haven't had a problem since. If Sony Ericsson support can fix my phone I'll keep it as a spare. Possibly a good phone but the Australian support service is very poor and after reading the forums the phone seems to be problematic. if you were considering this phone I'd look at the options from other brands. Regards Dave
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Reviewed by Nathan from England on 8th Oct 2004
I recently bought a sony ericsson k700i, it is an amazing phone!!! I was undecided whether to buy a nokia 6230 or the sony ercisson k700i, I had a go on both of them and buy far the K700i is the best. The K700i has GREAT sound quality, GREAT Camera and Video camera quality and the most amazing features a phone could possibly have. Anyone that thinks this phone is not worthy of 4 or more stars needs there head checking. The phone has a huge 65k colour display, a great button layout and a 1 touch button camera. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT. By Nathan. K700i RULES!!!
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 8th Oct 2004
3 faults: a) battery performance is shocking b) voicedial is dreadful as the window it allows for recording a voice label is too short, so it keeps mishearing your intended recipients name c) screen is great, but camera does not live up to it, if you send a picture to the phone from your PC, one which you took with w proper camera, it looks great, but the picture quality from the built in camera is awful. Anyway, going back to the first item, what is the point 20 years into cellular telephony in designing a fab looking phone with a battery that just about makes it through one day! Awful.
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Reviewed by Duncan from UK on 8th Oct 2004
Had high hopes but let down because battery life on this phone lasts me about a day where I used to get 3-4 days out of a T68i. There's a delay between answering the phone and the time that someone can hear you of 2-3 sec. Contacts don't always get stored accurately i.e.numbers aren't always stored against a name. They are linked in there somehow as a call from the person brings up their name but impossible to find the number when looking in the directory. For some reason not all contacts are transferred when synching with outlook. Final straw was the screen cracking when I sat down with them in my jeans pocket and this was not covered by warranty. Possibly more anti twist support required for the screen. Admitedly its a nice screen but who doesn't carry them in a their pockets? Overall, too many simple and important things wrong with this phone.
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Reviewed by AlLey from Australia on 6th Oct 2004
Such a great peice of technology... after upgrading my T610 to this phone, i have never looked back, with outstanding features and its nice clear display. Thumbs up!!!
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Reviewed by I Made Ria Kurniadi. from Indonesia on 4th Oct 2004
This phone give me more than I need. Nice looking, full fiture is prefered for my handphone category. In my opinion, the K700i is a phone probably best suited to the more nimble fingers of an Indonesian people. The sound of FM radio is preety good with stereo output and perfect bass and treeble. And you will enjoy this phone with incridible sound of Midi and MP3 player. It's perfect phone.
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Reviewed by emma from britain on 3rd Oct 2004
i had a sony ericcson t610 and thought it was the bees knees exept for the poor memmory storage so when i heard about this phone that had 41mb of storage i just had to have it.Abit dissapointed though my phone freezes when its charging and the most annoying thing is i will store a new contact and all will be fine but then the number of the contact keeps disapearing but the name is there,when i try to ring that name it says currently unavailible i keep having to re enter the numbers,and i cant always remember the telephone number.The camera isnt very good in my opinion,when you take a pic you think its agood one but the one that gets stored is blurred and slighty different to the one showed while saving.the battery power is crud what happened to the decent battery life of the t610,im bored of this already and have just bought the sharp gx20 which is brill as ive had it before but it got smashed up,can anyone tell me if i can get the sharp gx20 unlocked to put my tmobile sim in it thanks
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Reviewed by Nikolai from Denmark on 3rd Oct 2004
Hi! I got the K700i and i love it good menues, good camera and an exelent screen - and i love the FM-radio! The phone is little and nice to write quick sms on or just sending a MMS with picture and sound. It would be diffecoult to make a phone thats better then the K700i with all the funcsions... K700i - A good guess on the best phone of the year 2004-05. Nikolai,Denmark.
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Reviewed by Rob from UK on 30th Sep 2004
Upgraded from Nokia 6600 to the K700i with Vodafone, but had to send it back due to poor bluetooth connectivity. Vodafone don't allow you to update the firmware using the Sony-Ericson site. When phone sony-Ericson support, they advised to return for a refund and get something else! not a bad phone if it worked propoerly.
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Reviewed by Kevin from England on 29th Sep 2004
The K700i is a super phone with just a few problems holding it back from being an awsome phone. It looks superb, has brilliant build quality and feels good in the hand. Pros:- - The best screen on any mobile out there at the moment (excluding some smart phones). You wouldn't believe it but the resolution is higher than a Nokia 6600. - Superb camera. I had a 6230 before this (got bored with it) and this camera is so much better. - Brilliant joypad makes navigating so much better than the standard button dpad. Why all phones don't come with a joypad is beyond me. - Superb call quality and RF. - 42 MB of internal memory - enough for anything. Apart from listening to MP3's but I have never worked out why anyone would want to do that on a phone anyway. The earphones are always rubbish. - Clear crisp speaker sound. MP3 ringtones sound superb. Cons:- - The battery life is absolutely dire - 1.5 days maximum unless you don't use it. Less than a day if you use it for more than just making calls and that simply isn't good enough. Although I confess I'm still on the old firmware and I have heard the newer ones add up to an extra 30%. - A really annoying pause when you answer the phone. The person on the other end can't hear you for about 3 seconds. What the hell is that about? - Annoying pauses when you are navigating the menus. It will sometimes just stop for no reason and then, when it has recovered, perform any keypresses you have done while it's been paused. This can mean you end up doing something you didn't want to. Most frustrating. - Buttons are too close together. I used to have a T610 and the buttons on that were superbly laid out. I have big fingers and it makes texting difficult. A classic case of looks being more important than useability. - Only 510 numbers (not contacts - actual telephone numbers) can be stored on the phone. This will be a big issue for some people. - You can only search names using the first letter. This means if you have 30 names beginning with 'J' in your phone and you want the 15th name in the list, you will have to press the down or up key 15 times. Very, very annoying. A lot of the above cons are apparently fixed with the new firmwares and if thats the case it would get 4 stars instead. Overall though I am happy with it and it is better than the 6230 which is the phone I have come from.
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Reviewed by Derek from America on 27th Sep 2004
Ok, straight to the point. Sony need to make a more powerful battery otherwise they can forget this phone, (full charge, just about got through the day) Ok, this phone does have wonderful photo quality! it really is so cool, and the video is naff, but hey the photos are cool. A great feature is also the frames u can put on the photos of friend faces. Nice. Next, the memory on this phone is awesome, i dun think you will really run out unless u store like loadsa mp3's on it (I recommend getting an mp3 player, just because it would seem more suitable to save ur memory for pictures than music.) However, the phone is slow....I mean, not awesomely slow, but can be very fustrating slow. At first I thought I could deal with it but eventually I got very annoyed with it. It also sometimes goes all white on the screen, and after 30 seconds comes back on again. This happens about once every 3 weeks and I heard from people that it is a software fault and can be corrected. Once every three weeks is a long time, but I'd rather it didn't happen at all. The phone comes with a light (WARNING! may cause blindness!!!) very powerful LED beam and not seen on any other camera i have seen. supposed to be for the camera but i used it to look for stuff at night. lol, very sad. Nice screen size, nearly half the size of the phone, but there are things like the sony ericsson start-up tune i would like to remove but can't, unless u set the phone into silent mode before you switch it off to save your battery life. Also the ringtones when you recieve a message, why can I not make a ringtone or download one for it? All the problems I have, looking back at the phone I think all my complaints were very minor, not realy major problems. The phone got me through some decent times and was a chat up line for conversations. Conclusion: awesome, stylish, cool phone, your friends will be astonished and bewildered! Downside: deep down inside yourself, you know there are minor problems with the phone that if they were sorted out would make this phone truly awesome.
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Reviewed by Loverboy from Singapore on 17th Sep 2004
Words simply could not describe this mobile phone. This phone has it all i.e good functionality, superb LCD display, excellent mini entertainment system and elegant design are some of the items that can be used to summarize this product. I owned a Nokia before, but SE K700i really changed my perceptions about SE line of products. Say "Adios Amigo" to Nokia and "Hello" to SE.
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Reviewed by reuben from Singapore on 13th Sep 2004
I love this phone..been having it for a week and all the features are juz great..the design and the display is magnificient.. it has all e features that anyone would like to have on their handphone...previously, i had a nokia and i thought i would not be able to adapt to the messaging system of the SE...I was wrong..its just too user friendly..the radio is clear..the camera is good...good reception and it looks very classyon the outside..it has a good finish..just love it too much..this phoneis better than nokia 6230,7610,samsung e700,e600 and motorola v600,v80.Sony ericsson is my number 1 choice if i want a handphone, why wait..own one SE hp now..u won't regret at all..thanks for reading my review..really appreciate that..:D
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Reviewed by Tom from UK on 11th Sep 2004
I have to say this phone is an absoloute flop. I just upgraded from t610 and thats way better. This one kept crashing and the teting was awful. Compare it, its like the difference between a tortoise and cheetah when it comes to speed. DONT BUY THIS PHONE!!! I AM WARNING YOU!! The only reasonable features where the camera and mp3 which i was dissapointed the t610 missed out on. PLZ DONT BUY IT!
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Reviewed by Madhur Goyal from India on 8th Sep 2004
Hi, I switched over to K700i just 2 weeks back after happily using Nokia 6600 for more than a year.Now i am facing a lot of problems with the K700i and service from Sony. My Problems: 1) On the third day of my purchase the set suddenly started showing "Searching" continously, i contacted the retailer and he took away the set saying "its a manufacturing defect". I got another set after 10 days(dont know whether its a reconditioned one or a new one (looks new atleast) but definitly the EMI no. has changed), the new IMEI No. is 35400800-037487-1. Its only few days i am using the set, my set frequently shows "SOS calls only" while i am sitting in my office, but my Dad who sits adjacent to me in my office and has the same service provider never faces a problem. So many people tell me that you where out of range and its pretty difficult to get your number(while i am in office), but never ever i faced this problem with Nokia 6600. 2) Some problem in the PC suite also, as no icon appears in windows for File Manager, so any images i have to download from the mobile to PC,i have to send them one by one manually to the PC. I have windows 2000 sp4 and IRDA 3)The screen saver in the phone does not work if set to show Images(the image never appear in screen saver mode). 4)There is no way i can put the screen saver off, either the screen goes blank , or it shows time, there is no option to keep it showing wallpaper, signal strength etc. 5) Ocassionally some icons in the menu disappear and then i have to restart the phone to correct the problem. All in all i feel this set has so many bugs. If sony can provide me a solution for these i shall be grateful, otherwise i would not be able to use Sony for another 100 years.
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Reviewed by Stuart Tonks from england on 7th Sep 2004
Having spent the last few years with various Nokia phones I swopped to a sony t610 last year and loved it. Last week I upgraded to the K700i and have not been disappointed. Quality of sound is fantastic both on calls and on the wonderful radio feature (I've yet to try out the MP3). The menu system is easy to navigate and looks even better than the one on the T610. Ringtones are loud and clear which I always thought was a major problem on my other phone. Bad points (all of them minor): Yes, the battery life sucks and I feel that the phone doesn't seem as well built as the 610 but that was an exceptionally well made phone. Biggest problem.... NO MINI GOLF!!! I loved that game... :-( Well done Sony!
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Reviewed by Joe from England on 6th Sep 2004
I just got it it is perfect i was going to get the k700,6230 or 7610 nut i chose this and i am very happy it is amazing
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Reviewed by Lee C from UK on 6th Sep 2004
I've had the K700i for about 2 weeks now and I think it's absolutely fantastic! It has virtually every worthwhile feature, including a perfect quality radio (via the headeset/earplugs) and amazing quality photo capability. The only down sides are the battery life and the lack of quality in the sound recording department. I went to a music festival recently and the bass from the band onstage was so loud that I could feel my ribcage vibrating. I held my K700i aloft to capture the moment in a 2x zoom video recording, but when I played it back upon returning home, the bass noise was inaudible. However, this is not a serious problem and shouldn't put anyone off from buying it. The battery life, on the other hand, could be a problem for people who like their phones on stand-by all the time: you'll need to recharge every 2 nights, or even every 24 hours if you use a lot of videos, which sap the battery, unfortunately. The Sony Ericsson K700i is most definitely a UNISEX phone, although I agree with a previous reviewer in that the keys can be a little fidgety at first for us men with larger fingers. All in all, this phone/camera is stunning and I would recommend it to anyone.
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Reviewed by susie stewart from england on 3rd Sep 2004
my phone arrived yesterday, it really is a good looking phone!, took about an hour to get the hang of using the navigation button,i kept pressing down!, the radio is amazing, quality is great and u can preset loads of stations, the camera is cool, and the computer that comes with the cam is really cool aswell.battery didnt last as long as id hoped but i was playing with the camera a lot, have listened to the radio for two hours this morning and battery is still full. the only thing that has me stumped is how do u put numbers in to the texts?? if any one can help mail me,. givemeawink@aol.com... i was a flip top phone addict till yesterday! its awesome
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Reviewed by Scott from England on 2nd Sep 2004
Only had this phone for a couple of weeks now - but i must say it has proven it's worth, the colour VGA screen is fantastic, and it's main Camera feature works so well - with so many extra feauture you can do whilst taking a picture or recording a video, plus the sound quilty is great. The only negative thing i could say about this phone is that it's too user friendly - and if your a hard buff who likes setting every detail to the way the want, then you might have to do with some of the sony ericsson defult setting - but other then that this phone is Superb.
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Reviewed by lewis from uk on 1st Sep 2004
yer good
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Reviewed by LeeB from UK on 1st Sep 2004
Great looking phone, poor battery life, video playback sometimes guff, seems to crash easy if you work it too fast, uncomfortable on the ear on long calls, other than that it seems to have everything most mortals would need.....
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Reviewed by millie from england on 31st Aug 2004
after having nokia phones sinse i was 11 i then moved on to what i though was the best phone on the market....the 3pay motarolla A835. it was good to begin with but after having it for a month it went away 4 times for repairs. the other thing which realy p*s me off is that i payes £150 for it and it is now selling for about £50!!!! so now after about 6 years i have been signed up onto contract and will be recieving my FREE ;) sony ericsson K700i!!! i just CANT wait....the camera quility is just sooo good and although i don't yet have this phone i think it is very recomendible!!!! 5 stars!!!
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Reviewed by kyle from uk on 27th Aug 2004
I have had this phone for about 3 days I have no complaints with the phone so far it has everything you could ask for battery life is the only downfall,the phone is easy to operate ,which makes this phone one of the best on the market.
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Reviewed by jeremy from london on 27th Aug 2004
i had to get this phone as there was no more nokia 6230 in stock when i brought this it is a great phone but with the lack of a memory card it isnt for me as i can only fit around 7 mp3s and the memory is all gone and i cant do that otherwise there will be no room for the other things like taking pictures and video clips which is really important to me now i only put one mp3 on there and that is my faverite song i have given up and just listen to radio
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Reviewed by Dave from United Kingdom on 26th Aug 2004
Had the phone for about 5 days - still getting used to it's quirks. Limitations on the battery are the only negative I have, then the cost of a spare battery, 3-in-1 charger and desktop charger - one I can cope with. Previously someone said you can't get a time screen saver, well I have on mine! So from a Nokia 7110 to this, is a major jump and not one I regret.
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Reviewed by Sancho from Philippines on 24th Aug 2004
I AM RATING THIS SE-K700i PHONE AS 5.5 STARS! This consider to me more than an outstanding phone around. From physical look up to inside features is more than amazing!.....But I know the fact that everything are not created perfect because simply, we are living in this world full of imperfections...And I know there is always way of improving things as we go along.... So I make this review a serious one on its negative side! Hope to reach this review to Sony Ericsson company, this might help them to improve the personality of this K700i phone in the future....I'll just tackle on the negative side to wit; 1. Battery life - Sure! This gadget is a power hungry! Its power easily drains and you have to recharge it everynight particularly while you are sleeping. You can't always stay awake at night to wait in order to unplug the charger when the battery is fully charge, Hey! does everynight overcharging damaged the phone? - Everyday, while you are carrying this phone, it seem that its like a time tomb where you are waiting for a short time period to explode!..its becomes a feeling. 2. Imaging - it seems that a lot of pauses are experience on the screen during navigations(e.g. menu switching) as you increase the storage of data. - 3. Messaging - during text mode, you cannot insert numbers from the contacts to be embedded on the message. - on failed first attempt to send message, you will have to go to drafts folder in order to send the message again for the second attempt, too tedious! - Limited selections of alert tones and inability to use ringing tones and other sounds as message alert tones. 4. Menus - circular joystick for navigation is too sensitive which is ineffective during especially when you have so many things in your mind while holding the phone (e.g. panic time, rushing for communication, etc.) 5. Phonebook - You cannot move phone contacts from phonebook to simpack or vice versa, thereby creating double entries of contacts on both memories, hey! its very hard to delete double entries while you are switching between this two memories checking what entries to be erased. - No options to combine two memories of contact numbers into one because sometimes you cannot remember which of them you have stored the name. For Philippine-Smart subscribers, it is hard to send electronic load to other phone because you will have to type the phone number everytime you want to send, too tasking!.. Those are my negative reviews for the meantime, and i'll tell you back when discovering another problem. Speaking of my positive review, am sorry to tell you I didn't write it here because I'm sure it will consume 10 screen pages here, you might forgot to do some of your important tasks while reading. Suggestion to SE: We need to have a more powerful battery for K700i. It would be nice and worth to make some revision if necessary by considering and integrating corrections on the programs based on the consumer reviews and make it available to all SE phone owners to download so that the old phone will be reprogrammed with the new upgraded software program specifically the K700i.. More power to Sony Ericsson. *****.5
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Reviewed by Samir from Pakistan on 23rd Aug 2004
k700i is the best phone in the town now a days.yesterday i bought this phone, Before this i had samsung d410 but after using this 1 i feel that no match of this phone its realy a gr8 phone. Size is cool,colors r very sharp reception is outstanding Battery time is also good CAMERA is brilliant video is also kool.I think this is a complete phone its better than nokia and samsung.I Wish sony ericsson all the best for their bright future in mobile phones.sony ericsson k700i u r the best Stay best & cool........
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Reviewed by Roblet from England on 22nd Aug 2004
ive had my k700i for almost a month now and am very pleased with it. It takes quite a bit of time to get used to especially the navigation key. It has froze once so far but turning it off and on again has worked fine. Overall it is an exellent phone and i would reccomend it to anyone.5 stars.
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Reviewed by Rachel from England on 22nd Aug 2004
Having previously owned Nokia phones I found this one a joy to operate, the menu system is simple, colourful and responsive. The display screen is of crystal clarity and is both vibrant and sharp. The menu's are (for the greatest part) responsive and there is a generous 32mb of onboard memory for all those lovely pictures and movie clips which I have to say are of a great quality. The phone's design is sleek, sexy (suits me then.. hehe) and looks smart. The brushed metal finish really gives the phone a look which sets it apart from others, and the phone's superb features match that admirably. In my opinion, the K700i is a phone probably best suited to the more nimble fingers of a female user.. my boyfriend (P800 owner) had trouble with the keys (cuz his hands are quite large). On the whole it's a wicked little phone, and if you don't have one yet, you really ought to and have a look at one. Small, yet perfectly formed, a cliche? Maybe, but this is one of the better phones I have owned, there is no doubt as to who is the Rolls Royce (tm) of the mobile phone market, Sony Ericsson have the edge with som incredible phones!
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Reviewed by Simon from England on 21st Aug 2004
The phone looks great and has some good features. I have a few gripes with it however. Considering the excellent features, it misses out on some basics. There is no speaker phone as with the Nokia 6230. This seems crazy as it plays the radio and MP3's through speaker phone. Battery life is terrible, the first time I used the phone, the battery only lasted a day after a full night charge. The recommended initial charge is only 4 hours. It does not have a time screen saver as did the T68i which was one of the most useful features. The camera has a light, but it seems it can only be set to be on all the time or off all the time and does not come on just to take a picture which would be more useful. The handsfree headset needs redesigning as it does not fit in many peoples ears. It is required for the radio and as such makes the radio feature useless. If you can get the headset to fit in your ear, then the radio is great.
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Reviewed by Harry from England on 19th Aug 2004
haven't actually got 1, looking 4 a pay as u go. worth every penny, know friends with 1, amazing picture and video quality. WOW!
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Reviewed by IOS from UK on 19th Aug 2004
I previously owned an Ericsson T28, a Nokia 8310 & a SonyEricsson T610. I got the SonyEricsson K700i yesterday. Compared to the T610, one immediately obvious difference is that the camera is vastly improved. Picture quality & graphics are pretty amazing, and the sound is very crisp. Should make for hours of gaming fun! Now for the down side -the battery began to drain within a couple of hours. Also, if (like me) you are heavily reliant on the calendar functionality to keep you organised, the calendar appears to have been scaled down instead of improved - if there's a way to distinguish btw different types of appointments on the K700i, I am yet to find it! So forget about setting up birthdays & anniversaries just the once - they will not auto-repeat yearly, as they do on the Nokia 8310. May refer this to the manufacturers', as this should be a fairly simple software development change to introduce ...
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Reviewed by Gus from Scotland on 16th Aug 2004
Only had my phone a couple of weeks but very pleased. Just wanted to add to the note below about poor battery life. The guy in my local shop said they'd noticed this - you have to fully charge then fully discharge the battery the first 5 times you - after that you can charge / use as you like. I did this and have much more than 100 hrs standby.
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Reviewed by Vicki from United Kingdom on 16th Aug 2004
Ive had a few mobile phones in my time and this has to be one of the best i've had. It is easy to use - the menu is simple and clear and I find it easy to navigate my way around the phone. The built in camera takes pretty good pictures although the 'night mode' ones are a little disappointing. The video camera option is great too and the videos come out clearly with good sound quality. The phone itself looks sleek and stylish with a large colour screen and large buttons for ease of use. The huge drawback on this phone is the ridiculously short battery life it has. I have to charge mine every 24 hrs so if your going any where, take your charger! If you take lots of pictures or use bluetooth this will drain the battery even quicker. It's such a shame as the rest of the phone is excellent.
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Reviewed by Ken from England on 16th Aug 2004
Have had this phone 3 days. Generally it is very good although upgrading from the T630 as I have, there are a couple of issues that need looking at. The midi ringtones do not sound as good on the K700i and the recurrent alarm cannot be snoozed. The buttons are a bit fiddly although I'll probably get used to them otherwise it is fine. The picture quality is better and the screen seems more legible in bright sunlight.
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Reviewed by Lewis from UK on 11th Aug 2004
I have owned many phones over the years and this is by far the best to date! Nokia and Samsung should be quaking in their boots!
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Reviewed by André from Portugal on 11th Aug 2004
Amazing! I also had this phone for two days, and I it's a fantistic mobile phone. Like you said, it can do everything, record video, catch photos (with good quality), send and receive email, make your own ring tune with MusicDJ, play excelent games... It's the faster mobile I have seen (in its category), and QuickShare is really amazing! Really OUTSTANDING! Congratulations Sony Ericsson.
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Reviewed by Paul from England on 10th Aug 2004
I tracked this phone for a number of weeks before taking the plunge, originally intending to purchase a Nokia 6230. I soon changed my mind when I found aout about the software problems with the 6230 and didn't want something as bulky as the 6600. I've had it around a month now and have no major gripes. The main "problem" with the phone is battery life - I don't use the phone that often and I do well to get 5 days out of it. Sony Ericsson claim it to last significantly longer but reading other reviews I see I'm not alone on this one. Other niggles I have are screen is hard to see in direct sunlight (making the camera hard to use) and you can't change the new message alert tones from one of the pre-defined six. Other than this it is a great piece of kit. The menus are easy to navigate, camera quality is very good (zoom only available at 320x160 mode though) and the sound is better than average. Very pleased I didn't go with a Nokia. With features like the camera, mp3 player, java games, e-mail, radio and being able to create and send movie clips it is surprising how they've managed to pack it all in.
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Reviewed by Rahim from England on 10th Aug 2004
Having owned a Nokia 6210 for a number of years I decided to upgrate to a Motorola V600 a little over a month ago, but although this had an impressive featureset on paper, and excellent looks I found that it was unusable as a phone (discussed in the alternate review) and returned it for K700i within the 7 days that Orange allows. In my opinion the k700i is an excellent phone, but could be improved significantly due to some small but annoying oversights. The good: - excellent screen quality and resolution (comparable to the v600), more scratch resistant than I expected - excellent finish, especially the the brushed alunimium rear - excellent reception (much better than the v600, comparable with my old Nokia) - good sound quality - good (although not excellent) interface response times - large on board memory - sensible bluetooth activation period, and good general bluetooth implementation - software provided - survived a drop from shoulder height on to a concrete floor (!) with only minor scratches The bad: - Extremely poor battery life (approximately a half of my 120g non bluetooth, non colour Nokia), do not trust the quoted figures. Battery life seems to have been sacrificed to achieve the low weight (approx 90g). I'd quite happily trade add an extra 20-30g so that the phone didn't require daily charging. This problem is exacerbated by little to no warning of a low battery. - Overly small keypad, uncomfortable position. An extra cm or so of length would have solved this problem. - camera resolution is average for the current generation of phones, but picture quality is grainy and poor, especially when compared to the equivalent Motorola, even more so at night. - Poorly designed power connector which feels loose (much worse than Nokia's simple circular connector, but better than the terrible Motorola one) - Lack of a memory card slot (or a bundled cable) makes the phone unusable as an mp3 player, which it would otherwise be great for. - Overuse of bold font wastes screen space.
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Reviewed by Howard from UK on 9th Aug 2004
Having had to return three of these phones in as many days, I have now opted for a Nokia 6230, which is working fine. I had serious problems with the Bluetooth software which would disconnect the phone from the headset when I attempted to make calls. I also had problems with the phonebook which had a tendency to lock up. The K700i looks good and boasts a host of features, but I don't think the quality is as good as the Nokia's. It seemed a bit "plasticky" in comparison. Very disappointing.
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Reviewed by Nicola from England on 8th Aug 2004
My Dad just bought this phone yesterday and it is amazing. I was all set to out and get the Samsung e700 because it looks gorgeous but this sony has totally won me over. The samsung looks a better cause my heart was set on a flip phone but if your gonna be spendin a lot of money on a new phone then this one is a much better buy! It can take really good quality pics and films, plus it has a radio and MP3 which the samsung doesnt have. It looks great too! The ringtones are cool and one of them features a baby laughing it is soooo cute, that ringtone is worth buying the phone! I have a Nokia 7210 at the mo and I was worried that other phones would be difficult to use especially when trying to text! After a bit of gettin used to the k700i is really simple to use! All on All this is not only a good lookin phone but it has great features as well! I'm off now to try and steal it fom my Father!
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Reviewed by Lewis from UK on 6th Aug 2004
I have been using this phone for over four weeks, and I'm loving every minute of it! Has a ton of features that keeps me occupied everyday - it is absolutely stunning and has everything you need in a mobile phone and a lot more. Plus, everyone who sees the phone is instantly impressed. It is definitely a great conversation piece! Few things that disappoint me though: the battery does not seem to last as long as my old Nokia. That said, I will never go back to Nokia!
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Reviewed by Dean from UK on 6th Aug 2004
In short, this phone is the best, plain and simple. Forget about looking at the current offerings from the likes of Nokia and Samsung because they have nothing that will touch it!
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Reviewed by Sally from England on 6th Aug 2004
I have had this phone for 3 days now and cannot put it down. Over the past five years I have had Nokia handsets and vowed never to get anything else. Well, I just wish I had converted before now. Believe me, having used the K700i for the past few days, Nokia are no longer the King of phones! I will strongly recommend this phone to my friends.
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Reviewed by Grant from England on 5th Aug 2004
I have had this phone for three weeks and Im very pleased with it. Ive owned umpteen phones over the years - normally Nokias or more recently a Samsung. Well, one thing is for sure, I wont be going back to them. This piece of kit is superb - it has everything you need and more! I have even configured it to send/receive my POP 3 email, which is brilliant when you are on holiday etc. My only gripe is the battery life. Sony Ericsson claim 300 hours for standby - realistically, it's around 100!
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Reviewed by wayne from england on 5th Aug 2004
Had this phone for 2 days now..Its fantastic. Clear sharp screen excellent polyphonic tones added bonus of a radio and mp3 player. The software is a lot faster than the t610. So all in all; its got camera video, bluetooth, radio, mp3 player, 40 note poly sounds, clear crisp screen, small light, easy to use. Need i say more. Go out and buy one and see for your self.
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Reviewed by Lisa from England on 4th Aug 2004
I have had my sony k700i now for 2 weeks, it is brilliant. As an ex Nokia owner I was worried whether or not it would be hard to navigate etc..esp as a text fan...! It is so easy to use I am amazed.. There are so many features and they are all very good. I had a Nokia 8310 and 8210 before which were also good but this is much better. I have had a very slight problem whereby twice when I went to save changes in the phonebook it jammed and had to be switched off to do anything but compared to some mobile problems in other handsets this is trivial, may even be my phone is faulty rather than a common problem. I may query it, see if it happens again.
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Sony Ericsson K700i links