Sony Ericsson K700 & S700

PhoenixRising

Has anyone heard anything about the release dates for these phones in Ireland, and whether or not any of the networks have plans to pick these phones up ?

I gather that the K700 is due out in the next month or so, and that the S700 is due in Q4. I saw that Carphone Warehouse are expecting the S700 in October. Here

I must say I can't wait for the S700. It'll definitely be my next handset. Looks like an amazing phone.

flywheel

best place to hear this kind of news, dates/first sightings would be on esato.com...

K700 was a decent handset pity about the lack of memory expansion though...

the S700 was still in pre-production stage when i had a chance to play with it in March, the screen size was great and good to see the memory expansion capability, i came away liking it but will have to have some time with production model to put it through it's paces a bit more

anyhow here's some pics with the device in hand... again they have carried on their 'double face', with the back looking like the front of a camera...



BrianG

PhoenixRising

Thanks for those links Brian. Those pictures are great. Any idea when reviewers might get a few test models from SE to review ?

The expandable memory is definitely a bonus, with it's imaging and MP3 capabilities.

kevmac

First review here:

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/sonyericsson-k700-en.shtml

This Russian guy tests all the new phones first.

My K700 is on order from Expansys.

SE Dutch site says that it will cost €489. See here:

http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=nl&lc=nl&ver=4000&template=pc1_1_1&zone=pc&lm=pc1&prid=1655

flywheel

Originally posted by PhoenixRising
Any idea when reviewers might get a few test models from SE to review ?

the mobile-review.com site kevmac mentions with the K700 is one of the first places to review most handsets so the S700 should appear there too when it comes out - mobileburn.com is also good at getting early reviews up too

keep an eye on esato.com anyhow as they will either have a review or news of others available when they appear - they currently have some video footage of the S700 (same handset as the one above!) available here if you haven't seen it already

BrianG

kevmac

Yeah, I forgot about Esato's review:

http://www.esato.com/reviews/sonyericsson_k700/

PhoenixRising

@ Brian, I had a look at that video and the handset is definitely smaller than some of the pictures would lead you to believe. What is it like "comfort-wise" when the keypad is out for texting etc.. ?

@ kevmac, have you paid for your K700 yet ? If so what did you pay for it ? There's no price quoted on the expansys site. Mphone in the UK are selling it for £329 Stg. (approx €492).

flywheel

Originally posted by PhoenixRising
[Bthe handset is definitely smaller than some of the pictures would lead you to believe. What is it like "comfort-wise" when the keypad is out for texting etc.. ?
[/B]

it's not huge - but not 'small' for anyone thinking along the lines of a T68i or even the T610 - more along a smaller 'volume' than the P900 - the S700 is a bit smaller/shorter (when closed) but just as deep as the p900 (with flip attached)... their S700 spec quotes 107.5x49x24.5 - to compare the P900 (with flip attached) is 115x57x24 and the T610 is 102x44x19 - [all measurements (height x width x depth in mm)]

they weren't really up for people interacting with the OS much as it was was just a partial build - but holding it in the open position it felt ok - i would have to write a real email or sms/mms before i could say exactly how comfortable it was though and it wasn't possible at that demo...

BrianG

kevmac

I buy a new phone every 12 months and because SE phones work seamlessly with Apple's Mac OSX, I always opt for them.

Once a week I turn on Bluetooth and my phone book is updated on my Mac and phone through iSync.

I now appreciate how intuitive SE phone's are after spending weeks trying to get a mate's phone book transfered to his new Motorola V525 - absolute hell as the V525 doesn't use vCArd as standard.

I have had good experiences with Expansys over the years and their price is usually competitive.

I expect to pay around €500 including Fed Ex charges.

Going by my T610 experience it took Vodafone six months to bring that phone out in Ireland after I got my SIM free version in June 2003 but the Vodafone Live version had all the crappy branding on it in the menus.

Ste.phen

Originally posted by kevmac
[...] but the Vodafone Live version had all the crappy branding on it in the menus.

That can be removed though, right? I have a May 2003 T610 myself (SIM free from Asia) and i even though my software is woefully out of date i prefer it to the voda-badged ones, even if they work better :P

PhoenixRising

AFAIK the Vodafone software cannot be removed by a firmware update.

Ro-76

Originally posted by PhoenixRising
AFAIK the Vodafone software cannot be removed by a firmware update.

It can be removed by flashing the phone, but not merely a firmware upgrade.

PhoenixRising

Just looking around expansys.com and found that they are taking pre-orders for the S700 already.

S700 expansys

A bit premature I would have thought for a phone not due out until October at the earliest!

kevmac

I have also booked the S700 with Expansys - it'll be my Christmas pressie from the wife!

They give you first refusal for a product when you order from them and if you say no then they ask the guy behind you in the queue.

I will make up my mind when I see what www.mobile-review.com have to say about it and the €700 plus price will also make me think twice.

As the S700 will probably be the coolest phone around for most of next year getting in line is probably wise.

whizzbang

Try out the UI for the K700 yourself here!

http://www.mobile9.com/jump.php?url=www.sonyericsson.com/trythephone/k700/en/try/index.htm

looks nice

sharkman

According to this site the K700 will be available from 5th of June @ $589.99 .

sharkman

Now available on E-bay for $679.00

PhoenixRising

There are some great pics of the S700 over on the esato forums. Here (you might have to register on esato to view them)

I really liked the pic which compares the size of the S700 with the T610.

Stephen

That S700 is sexy, but I don't think I will ever be spending that much money on a phone.

PhoenixRising

Originally posted by Stephen
That S700 is sexy

Yeah it's a beautiful looking phone when the swivel is closed, not so sure though when it's open for typing etc..

They'll probably be around €450 when they are first released. It is a crazy amount of money for a phone, but considering it's an MP3 player, a megapixel camera and it's very sexy looking, I think I'll just have to get one!:D

Fidelis

Looks as though the K700 won't be offered by Vodafone Ireland due to high unit costs! :dunno:

PhoenixRising

Well I finally caved in and ordered a K700 to keep me amused while I'm waiting for the S700.:D It's with the Fedex man at the moment so I hope to have it in the morning.

sharkman

Did you get it yet . I have one on order from Expansys . Where did you order yours ??

PhoenixRising

Yeah it arrived this morning at 11:30. I've been playing with it all afternoon, and I have to say that's it's a superb phone. By far and away the best phone I've ever had. I've tested most of it's features and have had no problems. The radio is great and it plays MP3's really well, either through the headphones or it's speaker. I've also tested bluetooth to synchronise my phonebook and to transfer some files to and from the phone with no problems at all. It's definitely a big improvement over the T610 in nearly all areas. The camera quality is miles ahead of the T610, the menu's are much better, and the texting lag problem found in the T610 has been completely fixed so it now texts at nokia-like speeds.

I got mine from mphone.co.uk. Their service is excellent. It's the second phone I've ordered off them and I can't rate them highly enough. The most impressive thing is their speed - in both cases I had the phone at my door in less than 48hrs.

sharkman

Cant wait .. They are in stock so should ship on Monday .. Please post more . Can you post a photo from the phone ?

PhoenixRising

Here's a pic taken this morning from the phone.


The first thing that will strike you when you take it out of the box is how small it is. It's smaller and lighter than the T610. Another thing I've noticed is that WAP browsing seems a lot faster and smoother than the T610, and the K700's WAP browser can also handle HTML. One thing which I'm still getting used to is the fact that the joystick right shortcut, which on the T610 brought you to the desktop menu doesn't on the K700. When you first press it asks if you want to assign a shortcut. I haven't been able to figure out a way of getting it to assign a shortcut to the desktop so at the moment I have it set to bring me to the organiser for my calender and notes etc. So the only way to get to the desktop is to press the joystick down.

There have been some issues raised about the battery life, especially over on esato. I fully charged the battery yesterday morning before switching on the phone for the first time, and it lasted until about 1AM before it started giving me the low battery warning. I charged it then overnight, so I'll see how long it lasts today. Bear in mind that I was playing around with it a lot yesterday, using bluetooth, playing the radio and MP3's through the speaker etc.. The battery life should improve though after I've given it a few full discharge and recharge cycles.

Thats about all I can think of for now. If you've any other questions just ask.

kevmac

Mine was shipped by Expansys on Friday so should get it on Monday.

sharkman

Did you get it Kev . Any updates on the phone ....Too early for a review ???

See some shams are selling the S700 on e-bay .....

jesus_thats_gre

I thought I was gonna spend the day playing with a Vodafone branded K700 today but the bleedin thing would not accept my sim card. A Vodafone sim card at that!


From just holding it though, the keypad is going to be a pain in the ass for some people. Not only are the keys close, i.e. no space between them at all, they are mounted on a sort of gel base which allows them to more up and down slightly. This really annoyed me. However, the design of the phone is good and the short experience I have using the screen (message telling me to "insert correct sim" have left me with a good opinion.

Will see what I can do tomorrow.

kevmac

My first impressions of the phone.

Best screen on the market.

Very fast action compared to the laggy T610.

I can't think of anything that SE left out.

Bluetooth iSync with my Apple Mac is, as usual, seamless with all my numbers on the phone in less than a minute.

Can hold about 30 minutes of video so I downloaded an episode of the Simpsons and showed people - they were amazed at the quality.

BTW DO NOT get a Vodafone branded K700 - there are huge problems with Vodas buggy software as detailed on Esato.

Why does Vodafone ruin perfectly good phone software with their crappy logos and icons.

I buy one new phone every year and it's always Sim Free.

All in all, I'm very happy with the K700.

sharkman

It has just arrived . Bloody nice . will have to charge before I can really get to work on it .