Sony Ericsson C702 review: Allroad Cyber-shot

Browsing and connectivity

Sony Ericsson C702 uses the traditional Access NetFront HTML browser of the latest 3.4 version. The main improvement here is the integrated virtual mouse pointer. It is a real pleasure to work with.

The virtual mouse pointer is very comfortable

Another interesting and practical feature is the "Find on page" option. When selected, a rectangular window at the bottom of the screen appears. The search is done by gradual typing and the first match is immediately highlighted. More results are available after hitting the find key.

The in-line search option is great

Other than these improvements, the browser does the usual good job and has enough of the other familiar options - you can view the pages fullscreen with no menus showing and you can even browse your Web pages in landscape mode. It supports content created for HTML 4.01, xHTML 1.0, CSS and Java script, WAP 2.0. The supported security protocols are SSL/TLS.

You can also browse sites in pan & zoom mode, and it works much like zooming photos. There's a connectivity sub-menu added, where you can set the preferred connection, default page, or local connection. The NetFront web browser offers an RSS-feed reader, accessible through the main page of the browser.

Browsing GSMArena.com • some of the browser options • browsing in landscape mode

Generally, the Smart-fit function of the browser does well fitting the web content onto the screen, but you may not find it so cool if you prefer to browse sites in the standard way. Scrolling is fast once the page has loaded completely.

Normal screen mode with Smart-Fit on and off • browsing in pan-and-zoom mode

The Sony Ericsson C702 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone with HSDPA (3.6 Mbps). C702 also supports Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP profile, which means that you could use a stereo Bluetooth headset with it. The handset also has the Human Interface Device (HID) Bluetooth profile allowing the phone to be used as a remote control for PC and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Further on, the phone could be used as a Bluetooth modem for Internet access on a PC or notebook. Another extra is the integrated GPS receiver with A-GPS function, which we'll discuss later on.

The phone has five modes in a USB connection - show menu, phone mode, media transfer, print and mass storage. The new one in C702 is the "show menu". It displays the available USB modes when the phone is connected to a computer via USB. If you use a specific mode most of the time, you may opt to set it as the default one. If in the current connection you are interested in another mode, pressing the back button will display the four available modes.

With Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) you can transfer media files and synchronize playlists when the phone is connected to the computer using the USB cable. It is possible to use MTP in Media transfer mode or Phone mode. MTP is supported by Windows Media Player 11 and higher in Windows XP and Windows Vista.

"...In Sony Ericsson C702 the built-in GPS gets used not only with Google Maps but with the proprietary fitness application called Tracker. It allows you to keep track of your speed, distance, route, and calories during training. Using the Tracker doesn't require connection to the Internet..."

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Location services and GPS

In Sony Ericsson C702 the built-in GPS gets used not only with Google Maps but with the proprietary fitness application called Tracker.

Available for free download and compatible with a variety of mobile OS and Java-enabled handsets, the Google Maps for Mobile comes preinstalled in the C702. With Location services you can get help finding your way, view information about your current location and save your favorite locations. To use all features of the Location services internet access is required.

Location services with Google Maps

After defining a start and end location, the possible routes are being calculated with overall guidance, based on the available information in the database. With the built-in GPS, Location service gets full GPS functionality, as well as A-GPS for faster satellite lock. This makes it possible to use navigation on the go, with turn-by-turn guidance.

Two different views are available - Satellite and map view. Traffic information is another important feature here. The user interface is nice and intuitive.

The Map view is very informative • zooming in on a street

Zooming in a satellite view brings you to a street level detail

The Status info application displays the current activity in km/h for a 60 minutes period. The GPS connection status is indicated on the second tab of this application.

The Status info application

Of course, saving your most recent routes is as easy as it could be. Within several clicks, a title, description and position is all you need to save a favorite location.

The Log application in the Location services tracks and saves each position request, which is accessible at any time afterwards. Each entry in the log is saved in descending order by date and displays the date and time, as well as the exact GPS position.

The phone also features the sports application Tracker, which allows you to keep track of your speed, distance, route, and calories during training. Using the Tracker doesn't require connection to the Internet, and there are no costs for using it. When the Tracker application is started and "Start training" is selected the application looks for available satellites. Users can choose between time, distance, route based or no limit trainings.

The main menu of the tracker application

The menu of the Tracker application consists of Start training, Routes, Results, Summary, and settings submenus. Under Routes the routes covered so far are stored. The distance covered is shown in either meters or kilometers. Each route can be viewed in a graphic map.

The Tracker application and starting a new training

Results sorts all the activities in a calendar month view. Sessions saved for the particular month are indicated by a small icon. The same holds true when day view is selected. Each result can be analyzed in graph or replayed. The graph shows the average speed and the activity total time.

Under Summary an overview of all activities is available with the total results, distance and time

In the settings menu there are plenty of customization options for the Tracker - units, energy consumption, personal profile, auto save routes, etc. In the personal profile you are prompted to enter details as gender, height, weight, and year of birth. Having defined a speed zone when starting a training session, you will be prompted with phone vibration and on-screen text to speed up or slow down to keep within the preset speed.

The settings menu and the prompt option

We liked the Tracker application - it proved a handy piece of software. Bear in mind that it requires access to satellites and cannot be used in covered areas such as indoor gyms or the like.