Sony Ericsson C905

Sony Ericsson C905 is the latest entrant in The C Range of Sony Ericsson mobiles. The C Range normally represent good camera phones and the C905 has one hell of a camera apart from other class leading features. This is Sony Ericsson’s flagship mobile that released worldwide in October 2008 and if you are looking for the true camera phone, you cant go wrong with C905, this SE phone doesn’t exactly beat the competition, but definitely holds it own.

Lets take a look at what the phone has to offer. I received the package that includes:

* Phone
* Charger
* USB cable
* Stereo headset
* USB adapter for M2 cards
* Hand Strap

Phone Basics (good)

The primary purpose of any phone is its calling ability. That’s the first thing I check when I review a phone. The voice was clear and cloud. Dialing a number was simple and easy, although dialing a contact was not as easy, I had to go to address book and type the first letter of the contact to zero-in, but then thats how most non-qwerty phones function. The keys are accommodative and look classy. The back-lit on the keyboard looks good and works well under low light conditions.

Physical Design (Average)

A phone that shoots like a digital camera is awesome, but a phone that even looks like a digital camera is not that awesome, is it?. Most of us prefer some sleekness to our phones and in this regard the Sony Ericsson C905 disappoints. With dimensions reading 4.1×1.9×0.7 inches, the phone is bulky, however the stainless steel fluid form factor gives this phone some style. The lens cover at the back slides out nicely and the camera button is positioned and designed similar to that of a digital camera. Here’s a bummer, there is no 3.5mm jack and one has to make do with Sony Ericsson’s clumsy proprietary connector.

Interface:

The phone has a classy functional interface and uses the A200 generation software which is the Sony Ericsson standard for non-smart phones, but its slightly upgraded in the C905. Sony Ericsson offers a whole array of beautiful themes and wallpapers with this phone. Even the menu has evolved and there are few theme independent views, you could choose between the standard view, single icon or the rotating view.

Camera (Very good for a phone)

The 8MP camera is the key feature of this phone and Sony Ericsson has been marketing this very aggressively. I spent a lot of time testing the camera. What immediately caught my attention was the impressively low shutter lag that is way shorter than some other competing phones and hence is fully capable of capturing fast moving subjects. The color balance is very good too and I decided to compare it with my DSLR EOS 50D set at low settings, and I must say, for a camera phone, the C905’s camera held up pretty well.
Startup and focus times are impressive, but the storing takes upto 6 seconds sometimes which is slower than most other phones in its class. The phone features an automated smart contrast feature that doesn’t prove to be as smart as advertised, but, the phot-fix feature is a different story altogether and adds subtle contrast to underexposed areas of the photographs. Also commendable is the fast zooming and picture tagging feature. The xenon flash falls well short of expectations and tends to produce overexposed pictures under low light conditions.

The video-recording feature in Sony Ericsson C905 is disappointing. Sony Ericsson phones are traditionally weak in this aspect and the C905 falls well short as expected. the quality is strictly average and the phone can only record QVGA clips.

Music

Sony Ericsson C905 has traditionally been strong in this department and this phone is no different. With an impressive media player and a host of features like buit-in FM,  RDS,  bluetooth stereo etc the C905 fits the bill of a complete music mobile music system.
The player also supports most of the popular formats like PlayNow&trade, TrackID, and album art. One noteworthy feature is RDS that provides the user with visual information apart from allowing the user to save presets of their favorite radio stations. Another feature that really impressed us was Bluetooth Stereo A2DP which made for some very good listening.
The phone is a good music device but the ungainly side-mounted chunky headphone connector is one gripe I always had with Sony Ericsson phones. The ear-phones are very ordinary and you will be well advised to opt for some better earphones to complement this good music phone.

Phonebook:
Phonebooks in the previous generation of Sony Ericsson have been very adequate and this phone carries the same Phonebook profile of its predecessors. You could add add in profile descriptions of your contacts via the Phonebook, with wide array of fields like birthdays,addresses, additional information etc.
The phone also throws up matching contacts based on the numbers typed in the home screen. All in all a good standard phone book.

Organizer:
The organizer too is same as the previous generation Sony Ericsson phones. We do have some remarks. For instance, in the calender, the days which are marked ‘event days’ don’t stand out enough, the alarms are limited to just 5 tones. The notes, timers, tasks and calculator function well. There is also an RSS reader that is located in the multimedia menu and is very useful for porting relevant information from your favorite websites without actually loading the websites.

Messaging and connectivity

I text a lot and the button layout and feel is something I look keenly at. The keypad is classy and well laid out but feels slightly stiff and can be a handicap if you are someone who likes to text a lot.

Sony Ericsson C905 is a quad-band GSM supporting the European 3G and newer C905a even supports global 3G. With the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as standard features the phone has all the connectivity options you need.
I know you guys are keen to read about the phone’s internet capabilities. Absolutely no hassles in this regard, the phone has a capable browser, you can zoom and pan with ease and it serves as an excellent internet phone. The C905 comes with a built in GPS navigation system which provides Google maps and provides the user with directions for any journey they wish to take.

Battery

The battery life is exceptionally good. Sony Ericsson C905 claims a battery life of up to 9 hours of talk and a whopping 15 days on standby. We tested this while playing music and the results were impressive. This phone can play non-stop 12hrs of music before the battery drains out.

Conclusion:

Sony Ericsson C905 is a top class piece of equipment. Its a good phone with one heck of a camera. It also has good multimedia capabilities and the music performance is superb. The phone looks classy, despite the bulk too. All in all the phone delivers most of the time and comes with high recommendation from us.