Sony C905 Mobile

Ten days ago, I got the new mobile phone that I’d been whittling on about – the Sony-Ericsson (SE) C905. It was an upgrade from my old SE K800i, and so far I’m impressed with it.

While I don’t use it that often, the 8Mp camera on the phone is impressive when it comes to everyday photos. I haven’t played with night or low-light shots etc. yet, but I’m sure I will at some point. But (as last weekend’s photos of the snow show) it certainly brings out some good results in general use.

There are annoyances, but they’re more down to decisions by the maker than the phone itself – for example, the simple changes of function buttons, so where one used to use the right-hand control button to get to an option, it’s now on the left. (which the “Back” or “Cancel” button now being the right-hand one) I know I’ll re-learn the muscle-memory to take me to the correct button before long, but while getting used to it, it’s an annoyance.

And the thing is, there’s a lot that hasn’t changed. The menu system is much the same as it was on the K800i, so you kind of expect the option buttons to remain the same too.

The a-GPS is still incredibly slow when it comes to finding itself, and the navigation software isn’t all that great (although that may change over time) but it’s better than nothing, and will probably get tested over time. We’ll see.

The keypad takes some getting used to – there’s no real definition between the keys on each row, so it’s (currently) very easy to hit the wrong key while touch-typing a text message (Yeah, I can do that. I know, I’m sad.) or whatever, so you do need to check the screen before sending. But it’s a good responsive keyboard, which helps.

Call quality is the same as I had on the K800i – no problems, no issues, and all calls come through nice and clear. Because we’re out in the sticks, we don’t have full 3G coverage, so I can’t comment at all about video call quality – but then, I’ve never used them anyway, so *shrug*.

Internet and GPRS access are decent – even better, the phone also has Wi-Fi, so it can connect over a wireless network if one’s available – and generally pretty usable. Email send/receive over the mobile network is slow, but acceptable if I need to use it instead of the laptop for some reason…

Overall though, it’s a really nice bit of kit – of course, I’m sure it’ll be completed outmoded within 18 months, but that’s the way of things at the moment. As it is, it’s a good phone, and I’m pleased with it.