Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Sony Ericsson G700

Mobile-review posted their review of the Sony Ericsson G700 smartphone. HEre is the final impression.

Impressions
Despite having only one loudspeaker onboard, the G700’s ring tones are pretty loud, actually above the market’s average volume level, being in line with the Sony Ericsson P1i, so it is very hard to miss a call with this phone in pocket. The G700 is a living proof that even a sole speaker can sound very well. The vibro alert isn’t strong enough, though, and you might not feel it on certain occasions.

The Sony Ericsson G700 is set to hit the shelves this June, retailing for around 300 Euro, which automatically makes it the cheapest touchscreen-enabled smartphone around. It packs in a quite decent camera, fairly good sound with, however, very few settings available in the music player, and, more importantly, the paneled interface that makes moving around the G700 a snap, allowing you to control it single-handedly without having to take the stylus (even when texting with the on-screen keyboard). As for the virtual keyboard, it is bigger now, and while it doesn’t seem huge, it turns out to be quite comfortable even when typing with bare hands – the misclick count won’t go way above that of the iPhone that boasts a substantially larger display. So chalk one up for Sony Ericsson.

On the downside, which is inevitable on any phone, the G700 has no EDGE and for many who can’t benefit from 3G data this will be a critical letdown. The lack of WiFi is another feature we would like to have here, but, on the other hand, there is the G900 that gives you that plus a 5 Mpix camera for 50 Euro more, which is a reasonable tradeoff.

Does the G700 have any sort of direct competition offering the same punch for this money? I see none. As far as Windows Mobile based devices are concerned, they come with heftier price tags, plus finger-based navigation is enabled only in specific applications, whereas in the G700 you can take advantage of it throughout all menus and apps of this device. On top of that, its panels are a very compelling option – in fact they can well make the phone’s menu pretty much useless.

However, it is worth comparing it with the Nokia N82, which will be viewed as an alternative to the Sony Ericsson G700/G900 by many? So what are its trump cards? First and foremost, imaging department, for it is a photography-centric solution. But if you take the entire package into consideration, including the ability to input data from the screen, then the G700 seems like the winner. Basically, it has adopted a lot of strengths from Sony Ericsson’s feature phone, like the flashlight (which many loved so much in the Sony Ericsson K750i), XPict Story feature, conventional applications and utilities, etc. So on balance, the G700 is an amazingly viable marriage between the flexibility of smartphone and straightforwardness of feature phones.

Is there any point for the owners of the Sony Ericsson P1i swap their devices for the G700? As far as I see it, they might want to take a look at the G900, but going for it won’t make much sense. The thing is, they would be better off waiting a little more for the company’s new flagship that will come in a superior casing (with metal accents), with better camera and sound and richer sales package (desktop cradle, memory card). Among all other things, the P1i’s hardware thumbboard gives it a certain edge over the G700/G900. They are different positioning-wise, that’s it.

Wrapping it all up, I should note that the Sony Ericsson G700 is one of the finest offerings on the market – it has no alternatives; furthermore, first counterparts to it going for the same money will only appear in a year’s time, which is really long while. While it has no bundled GPS, extra accessories will easily make up for this omission. The developers set off to design a straightforward device and apparently, they have succeeded. The G700 is a treat to use. So you should definitely put it on your short-list if you are keen on touch-sensitive displays in any way.