Sony Ericsson C905 Review

[Chris]

Please post your Sony Ericsson C905 reviews and opinions in this topic.

• Sony Ericsson C905 Photos & Specification

[Ghost]

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
Main disadvantages:

• Display is relatively small for a high-end device
• Video recording limited to QVGA resolution at 30fps
• No front facing video call camera
• No office document viewer
• Sliding lens cover of questionable durability
• Exposed connectivity port
• Fiddly battery cover


Design and Construction

Sony Ericsson C905 is almost entirely made of plastic with the padding of the top part of the slider that gets exposed the only metal element. The chrome-colored controls and the sliding lens color nicely contrast with the solid black surface.
All the black bits of the casing have an extra soft rubbery finish for a great grip. The sides of the handset are brushed dark grey panels enclosed in a silver frame.
The flatbed keypad keeps the same solid black styling that makes it quite consistent with the sliding front of the handset. While not exactly explicit high-end, the materials used on the C905 get appreciated for the practical and secure handling and resistance to fingerprints or dirt. A 2.4" scratch-resistant TFT display dominates the front panel. Above it, an ambient light sensor shares a stylish silvery rack with the earpiece. There's no front facing video call camera here - the main camera is used for video calls.
Above the display a pair of shortcut keys encloses the earpiece frame. The manufacturer calls them gaming/photo keys but they have more of an imaging application. The right key starts the image gallery, while the left one is used for opening the latest image. Alternatively, in camera mode they light in blue and are used for toggling Scene and Shoot modes.
Under the display, an ample D-pad is sided by two columns of controls. Each is topped by a soft key, a bulging Call (left) and End key (right) in the middle.
The bottom knobs are Shortcuts on the left and Clear key on the right. The styling of the navigation pad is quite elegant and the controls are adequately usable never mind their short stroke.
The confirm key on the other hand is quite responsive and tactile. In camera mode the D-pad gets some extra functionality and imaging-related controls backlight in blue. The direction keys on the D-pad are assigned to focus mode; exposure, flash control and self-timer.
The soft white keypad backlighting is strong and remarkably even. The D-pad backlighting has a bluish tint - an inevitable spillover from the alternative blue illumination in camera mode.
The controls on the sides of the D-pad backlight is soft and even white. Keypad locks automatically upon sliding the phone closed, and that's non-negotiable.
The left side of Sony Ericsson C905 features nothing but the regular Fast Port and the M2 memory card slot with protective cover. We wish the Fast port was sealed too: would've looked way better.The top part of the phone is completely bare, while the bottom features the loudspeaker grill and lanyard eyelet.The C905 rear is extra slick with the stylish bulge of the lens deck a very subtle camera-centric touch. The lens cover does look great on the solid black background of the rear but we fear it may not be as sturdy.he
The lens cover consists of two parts - when you slide to reveal the camera lens, the lower piece sinks to make room for the sliding bit. The lens cover feels somewhat thin and fragile and the constant rubbing of the two parts may result in excessive wear. There's a tangible wobble in both positions of the sliding lens cover, which we fear will deteriorate with use.
Once the cover is open, the lens and all the entourage get revealed - there's xenon flash, self-portrait mirror, video light and video microphone. The video LED flash is also used as a focus assist beam in darker scenes.

Display: bigger and better

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.

Spacious phonebook

Sony Ericsson C905 is equipped with a phonebook that can store up to 1000 entries with a total of 7000 phone numbers.
Contacts can be ordered by First or Last name. They are searched by gradual typing of the desired name. You can choose whether the SIM contacts or the phone contacts should be displayed by default. Unfortunately, there is no option for displaying both lists simultaneously. The phonebook lets you auto save to SIM card any new contacts that you're adding to the phone memory. When adding a new contact, the available details are distributed over five available tabs. The first is where you put the name and the numbers, the second holds email and web addresses. The third is for assigning a picture, custom ringtone, custom message tone and a voice command. The fourth goes for postal details. The last, fifth tab, is for making an additional note and adding a birth date.When you enter a birthday, Sony Ericsson C905 prompts adding it to the calendar and setting a reminder, which we think, is a handy feature. Finally, Smart Search completes the set of more important phonebook features. It looks up all the contacts whose numbers contain the digits you type on the stand-by screen. In addition, it also lists the names that start with the letters corresponding to the digits.

FM radio with RDS and TrackID

The integrated FM radio of Sony Ericsson C905 has memory for 20 stations and supports RDS. It has nice interface and makes great use of the TrackID music recognition service. The radio can be minimized in the background much like the music player but offers none of the fancy fullscreen graphics. TrackID is accessible through its original location in the entertainment menu. The service itself has seen several changes to include features like "Find similar Music", "Send music info via SMS", "TrackID charts" and a very extensive "Artist info" section.

MP with nice Cyber-shot handling

The 8 megapixel power of the C905 is harnessed in the friendly and efficient interface, which we've known - and appreciated - across a number of high-end Cyber-shot handsets. While the handling and available features are well familiar, the camera quality is what caught us unprepared. Photos are so impressive we're tempted to suspect a complete revision of image processing. A minor fix just couldn't have brought such a boost in quality. 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 user guide claims a manual ISO setting with up to 400 ISO at hand, yet there is no sign of an ISO sub-menu in the camera interface of our test unit, which is a final hardware platform with the latest firmware version. 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.

Tasks & more

The Sony Ericsson C905 offers a wide range of 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, 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; the T9 dictionary can be used here as well. 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 behavior can be defined in case the time it is due to go off comes while the phone is in silent mode. Some other applications include 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. MusicDJ is a very simple application for creating custom polyphonic melodies.

It is a cool phone whit a good camera and other stuff written in the review.

[tinkerbel]

this phone is awesome, the 8mp camera is excellent, the video recorder is better than most s.e.` s the large 240x320 screen is exceptional i could go on forever. i have had s.e. phones for last 10 year and this is definately the best for performance and reliability.

[Beezlebozz]

I think the phone is brilliant though I can't help but feel S.E have been changing hardware but not software. If i got a 5 year old model the O.S is basically the same but still the phones good.