Sony Ericsson K770 Cyber-shot Phone

Sony Ericsson have been doing very well in sales recently - last Christmas they hit the number one spot in some European markets, ahead of Nokia. The reason for this was their strong line-up of Walkman and Cyber-shot handsets - and the Sony Ericsson K770i is the latest in this long line of phones, due to hit the market this autumn.

The Sony Ericsson K770i is a lightweight 3G phone, coming in at 95 grams and just 14.5mm thick. There's a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, plus a 1.9" 240x320 pixel display.

Sony Ericsson K770i Because it's a Cyber-shot branded phone, the K770i comes with more than just a camera. There's a built-in "photo fix" application for helping to adjust those pictures that just didn't quite come out correctly. Plus the K770i has stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, Memory Stick Micro expandable memory (256Mb included in the box), a multimedia player, an email client, web browser and RSS reader. If you're familiar with previous Cyber-shot branded phones, then you'll know what to expect.

Sony Ericsson are quoting an astonishing 10 hours talktime when used on GSM, but this drops down to 2.5 hours when used on a 3G network. Standby time in either mode is a maximum of 16 days which is impressive.

t appears to be a good phone, but apart from the slightly peculiar 1970s style brown colour there's very little that makes the K770i stand out from the increasingly crowded range of Sony Ericsson phones. There are a lot.. really a lot of Cyber-shot and Walkman phones in the range and Sony Ericsson are in danger of stretching the brand too far. Yes, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash is pretty good, but the K810i and K850i are much better imaging phones and are far more worthy of the "Cyber-shot" branding.

Still, the K770i is unlikely to disappoint, with it's compact frame and unfussy good looks. Just don't expenct people to go "wow" when they see it - the K770i is far too understated to be a head-turner. Sony Ericsson say that the K770i will be available in selected markets from the autumn.