Sony Ericsson S700 mobile phone Mobile Phone

The Sony Ericsson K700i features a rotating opening mechanism that is very similar to the Motorola V80. Push the phone gently and it swivels open to reveal the keypad inside (see the image on the right). As well as being a cool feature, it enables a large screen to fit within a compact phone design, as well as providing protection for the keypad when closed. First impressions of the phone are very good, with beautiful styling and bright vivid colours on the display. Build quality is impressive, although the phone is rather heavy and large.

When closed, the phone can be used for making and receiving calls, and for accessing the phone menu. The 4-way navigation button is easy to use and seems to be more robust than the joysticks on earlier Sony Ericsson phone. When opened, the full keypad becomes accessible for texting, dialling and using email or MMS. The keypad can also be opened at an angle of 90 degrees for use when gaming.

Turn the phone over and it becomes a camera! The S700i has a 1.3 megapixel camera, making it the best yet from Sony Ericsson, and placing it amongst the very small number of megapixel camera phones (at the time of writing, the only other comparable phones in the UK market are the Sharp GX30 and the Nokia 7610). The camera comes with a built in flashlight, 8x digital zoom, and picture effects. The camera can also operate as a viedo recorder. It has to be said that the added size and weight of the phone helps when it comes to taking pictures - heavier cameras are easier to hold steady and you can easily use two hands to hold the S700i.

The screen is of exceptionally high quality, with 262k colours and a huge 240 x 320 pixel resolution, making it the largest screen of any currently available mobile. Colours are rendered vividly. This is a fantastic screen which does justice to the high-quality camera and video capabilities of the phone. The size of the screen makes everyday tasks such as writing messages so much easier. It's also brilliant for playing 3D Java™ games.

The S700i doesn't stop there. It's a true media device with a stereo FM radio and MP3 player. You can record MP3 ringtones, or compose your own 40-voice polyphonic ringtones using the MusicDJ™ composer included with the phone. Connectivity is excellent, with full Bluetooth™ support for wireless connection to headsets, car kits and other devices, as well as infrared and cable connections. The phone comes with a 32 Mbyte Memory Stick Duo, and you can extend the storage capacity by buying additional memory sticks, currently up to 128 Mbytes.

Sony Ericsson's stated battery standby of 12 days is probably optimistic, but for most users, battery life should certainly be a few days, which is much better than that of the K700i for example.

In short, the S700i excels in all areas and is genuinely an outstanding phone. We would say it's currently the best in its class, without reservation