Sony Ericsson K750 review: Get excited!

As usual, when I was testing the sound quality I tried to compare the way K750 and Apple iPod performed one and the same song. As I was not equipped with a device to reduce the Sony Ericsson system connector towards a standard 3.5" jack (a device, which is however expected to appear on the market soon) I did not give the iPod any advantage. I used a pair of standard ear-phones with it too. As for Sony Ericsson, I activated both its MegaBass option and its equalizer.

Sony Ericsson K750 and its original ear-phones

I cannot say I did not recognize the difference. The iPod sound is more natural, it is more open into the space; it is just different. Nevertheless, if I had to make a blind test and state which one of the devices - the Sony Ericsson or the iPod - is playing, I would hardly strike home each time. The MP3 sound performed by Sony Ericsson K750 is really fantastic. Thanks to the MegaBass option it has clear bass elements and is perfectly balanced in the entire frequency spectrum. I blame the ear-phones for the above mentioned difference the most, because those of the Apple are just very good, even though they feature standard characteristics. Sony Ericsson is not planning to offer better ear-phones before the new W800 Walkman is launched. I would have appreciated a test with better ear-phones, of course, but without reduction I would have not been able to plug them into the phone.

The phone works with MP3 file in the background too.

Java and a little bit of entertainment

Sony Ericsson K750 supports Java in its Mascot Capsule Micro3D version. The result is a graphic performance of truly high quality. According to the JBenchmark program K750 is the best among all common mobile phones:

• JBenchmark 1.0: 3892
• JBenchmark 2.0: 337

Menu with java applications and games

There are three preinstalled games in the phone. The first one - Super Real Tennis - is well-known from older mobiles. We have already seen the second game - the jigsaw PuzzleSlider too. In it you select a picture, which disintegrates into squares that have to be put back together again. A new one is the Aero Mission 3D fighter, which fully uses 3D Java capabilities.

Fighter • jigsaw • tennis

Running java programs or games can be minimized and then exited. Later, you can always get back and start form the point where you stopped. In the meantime, however, no other java applications can be opened.

Java program can be exited even if not finished

Data communication: still no EDGE...

Sony Ericsson K750 does not support EDGE. So many comments have already been written on this topic that any additional one seems unnecessary to me. Even though I myself consider this a significant disadvantage for SE, let's not make too much fuss about it. Who thinks they need EDGE or expects to have to use it in the future, will just not go for Sony Ericsson K750. Who does not mind the absence of this technology should not be concerned about it and should enjoy the phone. There is no doubt, however, that the lack of EDGE is a minus for every mobile phone on the today's competitive market.

The phone transfers data by supporting the dialed CSD and HSCSD technologies and GPRS Class 10 (4/2 timeslots). The phone has a built-in WAP browser, which manages uncomplicated regular internet pages (HTML) and can get connected through Internet APN.

Main menu of the WAP browser • WAP and Internet pages

Sony Ericsson K750 gets connected to the computer in three ways: through the infrared port, through Bluetooth or by means of the USB cable, which is delivered with the mobile. I set up the connection in the Mobile Networking Wizard program (see further). It was stable... but slow. My advice is: do not lay too big hopes in GPRS.

Sony Ericsson is thinking about giving its customers the opportunity to update firmware in domestic conditions - just like it did with its smartphones. You download the firmware file you need into your computer and then transfer it into the phone by using a cable. To do so, however, you will need a special service driver.

Again, Bluetooth supports the HID technology, which lets you manage certain programs in the computer directly from the phone. K750 is equipped with profiles for a presentation program, a multimedia player as well as for employing the phone as a mouse driver.

How does Sony Ericsson work with computers?

The phone is sold together with a CD, which includes a PC Suite program and a few other programs that help the phone communicate properly with the computer:

File Manager: provides access both to the phone's memory and the memory card. The memory card is also accessible directly from any common file manager, which is basically the only available option if the phone is connected through a cable. In a cable connection the File Manager displays the capacity of the inner memory only.

Image Editor: an application for work with pictures - it helps create wallpaper on the display.

MMS Home Studio: designed to help you create a master form for your MMS. The multimedia messages are recorded into the phone and then sent to the addressee.

Sync Station: a program, which synchronizes data with the computer, i.e. with Microsoft Outlook or the address book in Windows. The first synchronization I started was not only quite slow, but also led to an error in the middle of the process. Synchronizing became much faster as soon as the phone was loaded with data and only information alternations had to be transferred.

Mobile Networking Wizard: its purpose is to quickly set up data connections. Even if my first impression was that the Wizard was not able to detect the network correctly, in the end everything worked properly. The standard setup managed the connection successfully too.

All mentioned programs are available for free download on Sony Ericsson's internet site.

Is this the best present-day mobile phone?

What could I conclude this review with? Sony Ericsson K750 is one of the best mobile phones ever. Its new phonebook comes to correct one of the main disadvantages of the forerunners - the much too small contact list. The new model is equipped with a memory card, which makes the MP3 player usable. What's more, the sound performed by the player is excellent.

As a matter of course, the phone features some less attractive characteristics. I really hope I managed to mention all of them in this article. None of them is however so crucial to make me warn you against buying Sony Ericsson K750… except for the damnable EDGE, which may lure away a significant amount of customers! In Europe Sony Ericsson focuses on 3G in particular.

Here is my final conclusion: Sony Ericsson K750 is a brilliant mobile phone, which is going to hit the market at a relatively acceptable price (if you do not consider the price reasonable enough, just wait for a while).

---

Standard delivery package content

• Mobile phone
• Memory Stick Duo 64 MB memory card
• Adapter for magnetic card readers of standard size
• USB cable
• Stereophonic ear-phones combined with handsfree
• Charger
• CD with software
• Documentation