Sony Ericsson C905

High megapixel count is the rage these days and Sony Ericsson C905 is adding fuel to the fire. The first 8 megapixel GSM cameraphone to make headlines is shipping as we speak. On top of geotagging, Smart Contrast, face detection, and xenon flash, the elaborate camera-centric outfit hides the extra sweet Wi-Fi, GPS and turn-by-turn voice guided navigation.

Key features:
8.1 MP autofocus camera with Xenon flash and active lens cover
Dedicated camera mode switch, two camera/gaming keys over the display
Face and Smile detection, smart contrast, image stabilizer, geotagging, red-eye reduction
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and HSDPA (3.6 Mb) / tri-band HSDPA for US version
Scratch resistant mineral glass 2.4" TFT 256K-color display
Built-in GPS with A-GPS function, Wayfinder Navigator software
Wi-Fi b/g with DLNA and SIP VoIP support, Bluetooth (with A2DP), USB v2.0
Enhanced user interface with basic multi-tasking
Media Center, Smart search, Manage Messages, extended TrackID
FM radio with RDS and TrackID
160 MB built-in memory, M2 card support, 2GB included

By the looks of it, the Sony Ericsson team is going for a whole page, putting a great effort to dealing with the skeletons in the Cyber-shot closet. Now, that's about the closest it comes to a spoiler.

Whats in a Box?

Sony Ericsson C905 ships in a neat and simple box and the package contents are above the average. You get a charger, data cable, a simple non-detachable headset, 2GB M2 card, and extras as a wrist strap and a Sony Ericsson M2 USB adapter.
When you get the box in your hands, you'll be surprised how heavy it is. Well, that's because Sony Ericsson have put 4 user guides (each 80 pages) and 4 camera guides in different languages plus a CD and a SAR information booklet.

What about Display?

Sony Ericsson C905 employs a 2.4" 256K-color TFT display of QVGA resolution. Mineral glass coating ensures scratch resistance. The crystal-clear screen excels in both contrast and brightness. Dark colors are really dark. Sunlight legibility is better than your average Sony Ericsson mobile but still is far from perfect.
Another thing we love about this display is that it reflects almost nothing, even when it's blank in power-saving mode.As most previous models, the C905 has a dedicated Flight mode. When turning on the phone, you may opt to start it directly into Flight mode but the Sony Ericsson C905 cannot work in Flight mode unless a SIM card is inserted. The other irritating thing is that toggling the flight mode requires a reboot of the phone.

The C905 features the well-known Activity menu. The Running Apps tab of this menu offers basic multi-tasking - for example you can run two Java applications and in the same time listen to the radio or music player. The Activity menu also offers quick access to recent events, the web and My Shortcuts menu, which contains a user-defined list of shortcuts to favorite features.

What about Camera?

8.1 MP with nice Cyber-shot handling.The 8 MP AF camera in the C905 offers a wide range of features like face detection, camera images geotagging, smart contrast, exposure metering, image and video stabilizer, BestPic, auto-rotation, macro mode, red-eye reduction, Xenon and Photo Flash, etc. The C905 is capable of maximum image resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with average file size of about 2.5 MB. The lens is perfectly protected under the sliding cover and camera controls are very comfortable to use, especially the shutter key.Two camera features are notable in the C905. The face recognition system allows you to simultaneously track as many as 3 faces whereas focus is usually locked on the one that's closest to the center of the frame usually. Smart contrast is a new feature, which should be handy for heavily backlit scenes . The image stabilizer is supposed to keep images from blurring in dark environments but, as in all phone cameras so far, it's purely a software tweak of questionable use. Plus, keeping it off can help if your subjects are moving.

What about Browsing?
Sony Ericsson C905 has the latest Access NetFront HTML browser 3.4. Elaborate web pages are rendered well and there are lots of configurable settings too. Although there is no dedicated fullscreen mode, the web page automatically rotates in landscape/full screen mode, if the phone is turned horizontally. The other view modes include Text only, Pan and Zoom and Zoom page. The Panning/scrolling speed is also up to the standard.

What about Connectivity?

The connectivity options of C905 are full service. Quad-band GSM/HSCSD/GPRS/EDGE and 3G are all on board, so there is virtually no spot on earth where you will be unable to connect. In addition, you've got the fastest data transfer around, provided that a HSDPA-enabled network is available. Besides the network-based connectivity, Sony Ericsson C905 offers the usual Bluetooth v2.0 and USB options. There is also support for the A2DP profile allowing listening to music on a stereo Bluetooth headset. The other major connectivity feature is the built-in Wi-Fi with DLNA support. GPS with A-GPS function completes the tally. Last, but not least, there is also the M2 card slot which might just turn out to be one of the quickest means of transferring data on some occasions.

What about Battery?

While the battery is not anything to write home about, it is something that you’d talk about, if you catch my drift. Let me explain. On a single charge with regular usage – calls, messages, music and a few snaps here and there - I got a little over two days of usage. To be more specific it gave me approximately 3 hours and 50 minutes of talk time which is quite impressive. GPS, Bluetooth and of course, in this specific handset’s case Wi-fi, tend to drain the battery a little more than other applications so you may want to keep that in mind.

Good:
Superb audio qualityGood design with a smooth sliderHandy accessories bundledGreat camera qualityDecent battery life.
Bad:
Camera takes a few seconds to start upAccelerometer is not very smoothEmail, IM setup is a bit of an issue.

Conclusion:

With a price of about Rs. 31,000, it may not have the memory capacity of the Samsung INNOV8 but it still manages to deliver very well in terms of battery, audio and of course the camera (even with its apparent lack of too many features). I think the C905 Cybershot is a great handset that sits well in your hand and has that comfortable feel of a handset that has quite a lot to offer its user. With LG KC910 Renoir and Samsung M8800 Pixon poised to take off, it soon won't matter that INNOV8 and C905 drew first blood.