Sony Ericsson K850 review: 5 megapixel Phone-and-Shoot

Tasks & more

The Sony Ericsson K850 offers many time-management features. There is an Organizer icon in the main menu and it contains several applications: File manager, Applications, Video call, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Synchronization, Timer, Stopwatch, Light, Calculator, and Code memo. The Calendar offers monthly, weekly and daily views. When you add a birth date in the phonebook, the phone prompts adding it to the calendar. Tasks can be two types: simple Tasks and Phone calls. Notes are written similar to messages; T9 dictionary can be used here as well. The Light application let's you control the LED video light and use it as a flashlight.

The Alarms are part of the main menu. There are five alarm slots available. Each one offers a lot of options - you can choose to repeat the alarm on chosen days of the week or everyday. Text and a picture can be added to the alarm. Furthermore, the alarm's behavior can be defined in case the time it is due to go off comes while the phone is in silent mode.

Organizer menu • Calendar • Alarms

The Voice recorder has no limit to recording length, making the free memory available the only restriction. The Calculator is the regular Sony Ericsson one, which you should have already seen. It offers the basic functions, no bells and whistles. The stopwatch and countdown timer are also the well known basic applications.

Voice recorder • Calculator • Stopwatch • Timer

Some other applications include the MusicDJ and VideoDJ. VideoDJ is for making your own video clips by mixing already existing ones with still pictures, text and a variety of effects or for making basic cuts using special transitions and adding background music. This can be a very entertaining, indeed. MusicDJ is a very simple application for creating custom polyphonic melodies.

List of applications • MusicDJ main view • MusicDJ options

As for additional applications, the Sony Ericsson K850 comes with HP Print preinstalled.

We believe the Sony Ericsson K850 lives up to the responsibility of being a landmark product in the company portfolio. With rich camera settings, the K850 comes incredibly close to stand-alone digital cameras.

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Gaming

There is only one game preinstalled in our test Sony Ericsson K850. Marble Madness 3D is a about guiding a ball through a 3D map by simply tilting and shaking the phone. It's motion-oriented game, making use of the handset's built-in motion sensor, and you may find it quite amusing.

Marble Madness 3D game

Final Words

We believe the Sony Ericsson K850 lives up to the responsibility of being a landmark product in the company portfolio. With rich camera settings, the K850 comes incredibly close to stand-alone digital cameras. The novelties in navigation suggest the K850 will not resort to simply being an upgrade to older Cyber-shot handsets and will be aiming beyond the brand-loyal consumers. However, the first 5 megapixel Cyber-shot will be forced to handle a lot of pressure. It's been a year since Nokia N95 was introduced, which indisputably outruns K850 in non-cam features. Other tempting 5 megapixel mobiles as LG KU990, Samsung G600, Samsung F700, and Nokia N95 8GB will soon be crowding the cameraphone market. With an expected price tag of about 430 Euro, some users will think twice before buying a K850 at its very release. If the mentioned rival phones get launched at the same time, the domination of Sony Ericsson K850 will be put to a serious test.