Sony Ericsson K850i

Sony Ericsson isn't the first to come up with a 5-megapixel camera-phone and, in fact, Samsung has even higher-resolution mobiles in its pocket. With a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and an onboard Xenon flash, some are bound to wonder if the Cyber-shot K850i can rival that of Nokia's N95. We managed to get hold of a prototype unit to get an early hands-on impression of the K850i.

When we read the specifications, we couldn't help feeling that this should have been what the K810i aspired to. Fans of the first Cyber-shot have waited for a promising successor to the K800i and were no doubt disappointed that these turned out to be chiefly aesthetic in the K810i. In the K850i, Sony Ericsson has not only increased the resolution from 3.2 megapixels to 5 megapixels, three other less-publicized features give the K850i street cred as a camera-phone.

Taking a page out of the Sony Cyber-shot book, the K850i sports a slider switch that toggles between the shooting modes and playback function. Previously, users had to access the onscreen menu to switch from stills to movies. With this new hardware switch, toggling between the shooting modes is a lot easier.

One of the most notable changes (we're inclined to say improvements, but there's a reason we're not) on the K850i is the automatic lens cover. The company has dropped the entire mechanical lens cover on the K850i, replacing it with an automatic one. The catch is that a layer of clear plastic now protects the cover.

This might be a problem when fingerprints smudge that layer. On the K810i and the K800i, sliding down the lens cover automatically activates the camera. But on this new Cyber-shot, there's a dedicated on/off button that does the job.

The last feature, probably also one of the most interesting and innovative ones, is the battery compartment on the K850i. Unlike most mobile phones where changing the power cell involves removing a cover, this Cyber-shot sports a slide-out door that allows access to the battery and the SIM card slot. This feature may be common on standalone digital cameras, but it's definitely a first we're seeing on a camera-phone.

There's also a nifty auto rotate function that keeps pictures in the correct orientation regardless of whether we're looking at it from a portrait or landscape perspective.

Like the K810i, Sony Ericsson has not only given the K850i a glossy front section but also kept the numeric keypad and Call/End buttons equally tiny. The usual directional pad now wraps around the 2 and 5 buttons like a ring. As to how all these will affect daily use, we can only find out after a full review.

One thing that bothered us a little was the top row of softkeys represented by three white dots. These are neither touch-sensitive nor are they hard buttons, but they work like normal controls when we press on them gently.

Other notable goodies on the K850i include a memory card slot that accepts both Memory Stick Micro and microSD card types, FM radio and triband HSDPA connectivity.

The Sony Ericsson K850i will be available in Luminous Green and Velvet Blue and is expected to ship in selected Asia markets in early Q4 this year. No pricing was released.