In what may seem like a blatant attempt to snag a share of the new market created by the iPhone, Sony Ericsson has just released a new mobile phone line that focuses on touch screen capabilities. On the frontlines are the new Sony Ericsson G700 and the higher end G900. Since I was strapped for budget, I decided to buy a G700 so I can do some testing on my own (and I guess I can put it as an expense exemption on my tax declaration too.)
The first thing that I noticed with the gold Sony Ericsson G700 I purchased is that it works more like a multi-purpose palmtop than a mobile phone. In fact, its capabilities are very similar to most higher end palmtops that it made my palmtop ALMOST obsolete. I said “almost” for reasons I will discuss later.
The G6700’s most talked about feature is its touch screen interface, which became a “must have” feature for new mobile phones these past few years, due to the success of Apple’s iPhone, the first mobile phone to boast of a touch screen interface. The G700’s touch screen serves it purpose, and I had no trouble using it. But being the traditionalist that I am, I prefer using the keypad instead, especially since I have big hands and fingers and the relatively small size of the phone makes it difficult for me to hit the parts of the screen that I wanted to touch. It wasn’t unusual for me to repeat the same action twice or twice after accidentally touching the cancel button.
After a few hours of fiddling with the G700, I can say that I’m impressed and it was worth the amount of money I plunked into it. It used to be that I’ve had to carry an organizer, a laptop, and a cell phone but now I only need to carry the Sony Ericsson G700 and I can do almost all of the things I did with three separate gadgets.
The G7000 comes with the standard organizer-type features such as a calendar, with a useful scheduler, and an extensive contact cum address book. With the G700, my vast list of network of friends and acquaintances is just a couple of screen touches away. In my case it’s more, due to my difficulties with the small touch screen, and the included stylus is a wee bit tiny for my taste.
In terms of the mobile phone side, the G700 has everything you expect from a modern phone, with SMS capabilities, a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, TrackID, FM radio with RDS and it even has an opera web browser built in so you can surf the net with your phone. However, the lack of Wi-Fi capabilities makes the G700 a little less multi purpose than it should be. It’s not a deal breaker, but if you really need a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone, you’ll be better off going for the G700’s higher end brother, the Sony Ericsson G900.
By: Mark Hirst
Sony Ericsson G700 Review
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