Sony Ericsson V800 mobile phone

Sony Ericsson V800 is a dual mode clamshell cameraphone that can work on either the 3G or the GSM/GPRS networks, and being a tri-band model it is possible to use the phone globally in most countries. This is a Vodafone exclusive handset, with a design that combines stylish elegance with great functionality, and at 128 g it is both smaller and lighter than most of the earlier 3G models. The V800 is packed with useful features to suit many different users and situations.

Sony Ericsson V800Among the major features in the V800 are video telephony, Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, GPRS and WAP technology, MMS multimedia messaging, video camcorder, MP3 and MPEG4 media players, video and audio streaming, voice memo recorder, speakerphone for hands-free conversations, Memory Stick Duo™ slot, Java™ enabled, voice control, active flip, and an e-mail client. A useful feature of the V800 is its support for multi-tasking, which allows the user to run more than one application at a time, and this enables you to make a phone call while at the same time downloading, say, a picture. A personal stereo hands-free headset is also supplied with this phone.

As with most clamshell mobile phones, the V800 has two LCD displays: one on the outside of the case and a main screen on the inside. The larger internal screen is an active matrix TFT type of LCD display, offering a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and reproduction of up to 262,144 different colours, which is an impressive screen for viewing images and video. The external screen is a practical LCD of 101 x 80 pixels resolution and up to 65,536 colours, and this displays such information as time and date, battery status, network operator, who is calling, details of your next calendar meeting, and the song titles when you play music.

The big attraction of the V800 is its integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, which is built into the hinge of the phone. The camera lens can be rotated easily with the thumb, so that it either points towards the user (for sending your picture during video calls) or pointed away from the user for taking pictures of the scene in front of you. When the lens is rotated the picture is automatically oriented to be the right way up. There are three picture resolutions available from this camera: 1280 x 1024, 640 x 480 and 160 x 120 pixels. To add to its versatility, the camera can also be used with the phone in either its open or closed position. When closed the external display acts as the camera viewfinder.

The camera is capable of applying up to 4x digital zoom to pictures, but another interesting camera feature is the panorama mode, which means that you can create a panorama photograph by taking three overlapping pictures and merging them into one larger picture. A picture editor is provided, and some optional special effects and frames are available to add some personalisation to your photos. When photography becomes difficult there is a night mode, which sets a longer exposure time, or you can make use of the LED flashlight to illuminate subjects when the light conditions are poor; this flashlight can also be used as a torch. There is a timer to help you get yourself into a picture, and when setting up self-portraits the internal screen can act as a viewfinder, to enable you to line up the shot correctly.

Being MMS enabled means that Sony-Ericsson V800 can exchange multimedia messages with other MMS compatible mobile phones, or you might prefer to send them to an e-mail address. MMS messages can contain a combination of video clips, pictures, sounds and styled text. With QuickShare™ it only takes a few clicks of the keys to send a multimedia message. Vodafone offers users the opportunity to use the live! Studio, which enables you to save your pictures in a Web-based album when you are running out of memory, or when you wish to share your pictures with friends in a virtual album. The Vodafone live! service also allows you to create a picture and text message, and then have it delivered as a postcard to a street address.

One of the features that will undoubtedly attract buyers to the V800 is its video telephony, and just one press of the dedicated video call button is required to initiate a call. You can conduct a two-way video conversation with your contacts, and see yourself and the other party on the phone’s screen. You can also switch the pictures so that either the incoming or outgoing video is shown in full size display.

The V800 has the other useful feature of being able to act as a camcorder, and this gives users the opportunity to capture video at the two available resolutions of 176 x 144 and 128 x 96 pixels. If you wish, you can record a soundtrack with the video clip. The onboard media players not only let you download and play video and audio clips, but you may also stream live video and audio directly to this phone, so enabling you to keep up with all the latest news, sports and entertainment services provided for mobile phone users. It is possible to play MPEG4 format video as well as all your favourite MP3 tracks, and a playlist organiser lets you select the tracks you wish to play and their order, including loop and shuffle play. An equaliser is also provided to adjust the bass and treble settings.

The phone contains a reasonable amount of memory at 7 MB, but this might have proved too limiting for a megapixel cameraphone that can record video and play MP3 tracks. The feature that eliminates the storage problem is the addition of a Memory Stick Duo™ slot, which enables the user to change the removable memory sticks and to expand the available storage capacity. A 32 MB Memory Stick Duo is supplied with the mobile phone, but it will support Memory Stick PRO Duo components up to 1 GB, so providing the user with the means to store massive amounts of pictures, sounds, videos, games, applications, and other data. The only slight problem is that the battery cover needs to be removed when exchanging the Memory Sticks.

The V800 is capable of being personalised to your own tastes by changing the various ringtones, themes, wallpapers and screensavers. Pictures taken with the phone’s camera can be used as wallpapers or screensavers, and sounds recorded with the phone’s memo recorder may be used as ringtones. A handy caller ID feature is that the phonebook can be set up to play a unique ringtone and show a picture, to help you identify who is phoning you. The phone plays 72 tone polyphonic ringtones, but it is also capable of playing the more lifelike MP3 ringtones. When you need more content, to give your phone a new look or sound, then it is a straightforward matter to go to the Vodaphone live! portal to search though the available downloads for something suitable. For those who wish to create their own ringtones, the MusicDJ™ application allows users to compose and edit melodies consisting of four tracks for Drums, Basses, Chords and Accents. These tracks contain blocks of pre-arranged sounds with different characteristics, grouped into Intro, Verse, Chorus and Break.

Being Java™ enabled makes the V800 a phone that can run a variety of Java applications and games. Several games and applications are supplied with the phone, but more Java applications and games may be downloaded over-the-air when you need them. The phone features a 3D Java gaming engine, and includes sound and force feedback to give the gaming experience more excitement. The phone also supports multiplayer gaming, either online or via a Bluetooth™ connection.

The capabilities of the Sony Ericsson V800 are enhanced by its 3G and GPRS data handling, which provides fast transfer of data and an “always on” connection, where you pay for the amount of data you actually use rather than the time you are connected to the network. By connecting to the 3G (UMTS) networks it is possible to use a data rate of up to 384 kbps. The WAP and cHTML browser gives you access to the mobile Internet, which provides users with an excellent choice of sites for all the daily service needs, such as for news, sports, travel weather, entertainment, business, shopping, and much more. The full e-mail client enables the user to enjoy their usual e-mail correspondence while on the move, and this supports the standard POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols. Another valuable feature is this phone’s support for the exchange of business cards.

As you might expect from such an advanced phone, several connectivity options are offered by the V800. A sought after option will be this phone’s support for Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, which allows you to link up to other compatible devices within about a 10-metre range. The alternative wireless option is to use the phone’s infrared port to connect with other IrDA compatible devices. A third option is to use a USB data cable connection to make a wired link. When you have established a connection, by whatever method suits your situation, then it is an easy matter to synchronise the phone with the other devices. By using the synchronisation software on the supplied CD it is possible to update the information in your contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, and e-mail messages with that on your home or office PC. There is also the option to perform remote synchronisations on the Internet using SyncML.

Besides all its other features, the V800 also contains several useful organiser functions, including a Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Clock, Alarms, Timer, Stopwatch, Code Memo, and Calculator. Among the phone’s other standard features are T9™ predictive text input and a vibration alert.

Sony Ericsson V800 Cameraphone specification

Sony Ericsson product page

Manual and phone support

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Last updated 30th January 2008, 14:39 GMT