Sony Ericsson G502 preview: First look

Sony Ericsson G502 360-degree spin

Sony Ericsson G502 is on the compact side of handsets currently available on the market. Measuring the modest 109 x 46 x 13.5 mm and weighing only 83.5 grams, there is just a handful of handsets to take less space in you pocket than the G502.

Design and construction

Designwise Sony Ericsson G502 is quite characteristic of the company's portfolio. Except for the somewhat unusual D-pad, you can tell it's a Sony Ericsson right away. It is rather neat and elegant with glossy front panel and opaque plastic back.

The body of Sony Ericsson G502 is entirely made of plastic, but it still looks nice. The handset has successfully avoided the cheap feeling some other completely plastic devices just can't seem to help. Instead, it gives a rather solid impression and raises no doubts about durability and strength.

The earpiece is placed at the top of the front panel right above the display. Sony Ericsson G502 features a 2" 262K-color screen of QVGA resolution. Looking at the current market trends, 2 inches is about average in this class.

The earpiece is located above the 2" display

The display excels in picture quality. Sony Ericsson is known for producing displays with good brightness and great contrast, which does whatever you're looking at look great. However the sunlight legibility issues are still standing, making the handset hard to work with outdoors on a sunny day.

Below the display are the D-pad and six keys arranged at its sides. Those are the two context keys, the Activity Menu key and the Clear key, along with the call and end keys. All of those are easy to work with, even if their size may seem doubtful. The wave-like layout does help a lot, with enough space between the elevated parts of the keys to ensure good tactility.

The layout of the controls around the D-pad offers great usability

As far as the alphanumeric keys are concerned, we are equally pleased with Sony Ericsson G502. These aren't the largest keys around, but elevation and spacing between rows make typing quick and typo-free. The nice press feedback also earns G502 a point here.

The keypad is very comfortable

The left side of Sony Ericsson G502 is where the M2 card slot is located. However, it's placed under the battery cover, which will have to be removed every time you want to access the memory card. Not the most comfortable solution in our point of view. On the other hand, it benefits the design of your Sony Ericsson G502.

The M2 slot is located on the right of Sony Ericsson G502 but is hidden under the battery cover

The volume rocker and the dedicated camera key are on the right of the G502. They are both rather thin but still easy to find even without turning the phone. They are also easy enough to operate, offering good tactile feedback.

The volume rocker and the camera key are on the right

The top of the phone is completely bereft of controls. Turning to the bottom of Sony Ericsson G502, we find the lanyard eyelet, the Fast port and the microphone pinhole. As usual with Sony Ericsson handsets, the Fast port is used for connecting a charger, data cable or a set of earphones.

Nothing interesting to see at the top • The microphone pinhole, the Fast port and the lanyard eyelet are at the bottom

The back side of Sony Ericsson G502 features the 2 megapixel camera and the loudspeaker. The latter is quite stylishly hidden in the cleft right above the camera lens.

A 2 megapixel camera is the star backstage

Sliding the battery cover open reveals the Li-Polymer battery with a capacity of 950 mAh. The manufacturer claims the impressive 10 hours of talk time and 340 hours of stand-by. We are at this point unable to comment on these numbers and will leave this for the detailed review.

The battery of Sony Ericsson G502 is said to have amazing performance

We are so far pleased with the build quality of the Sony Ericsson G502. A few metallic parts here and there might have improved the general feel but it is still good enough as it is. Apart from being a bit too light for our taste, it fits perfectly in hand, and single-handed operation is no problem at all.

The phone is quite nice to hold