Your Medway News - REVIEW: Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The video wizard

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Monday, August 30 2010, 14:53

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REVIEW: Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The video wizard

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Posted on 18/05/2010 at 15:20 by Gary Wright

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

The Vivaz will sell on looks alone. People who saw me using it during the test were drawn to it in a way that few others have before.

From Mobile Phone Review

Its styling is dominated by a full-colour touchscreen on one side and the 8.1meg camera lens on the other and, since video and pictures are increasingly a main reason to have a phone, the Vivaz is a huge success.

The phone will also shoot super-wide landscape with continuous auto-focus for HD video (which you can play through your TV straight from the phone). The camera has smile detection, which worked surperbly, to the childlike joy of some people in the office.

Sony-Ericsson boffins know a thing or too about video - the led flash can be left on to light darker scenes for video (clever) - and the Vivaz's quality images beat most other phones... and even it’s bigger brother the Satio.

On top of that the phone comes with some neat editing software for your pics. From adding think bubbles to the person in the pic to changing the mood lighting in the picture, it is very capable.

So with your Facebook and YouTube account sorted and for pictures and video, you won’t go far wrong with the Vivaz.

Music too is well catered for, as you’d expect from the company which invented the Walkman. If you have a Vivaz you really can dump your iPod for ever.

From Mobile Phone Review

;
I was impressed that the Vivaz came with a neat BBC iPlayer app which worked perfectly.

Our test phone came in a pale lilac metallic, which looked better than it sounds and there was a faint purple glow from the side panels. Along with the green and red lights from the buttons at the bottom of the screen there was a touch of the 21st century about it.

However, I have a few reservations but I don't believe they will be of any concern to people familiar with the Nokia operating system (which Sony have neatly modified to improve the appearance).

The touchscreen is actually very good. It’s the resistive type, 3.2inch, and while it comes with a pointer in the box, it works well with your finger, and will keep most users happy.

It’s not as good as the class-leading, and ridiculously expensive, iPhone’s capacitive screen, but not much is. But for Sony Ericsson, this is its best effort yet. The on-screen Qwerty keyboard was pretty decent and surprisingly accurate and no doubt practise will have you dashing off messages without problem.

And the screen has one huge advantage: handwriting recognition. It works beautifully and for some people will be a better choice than any of the on-screen keyboard options. You definitely can't have that on capacitive touchscreens (iPhone, HTC Legend etc). So that's worth remembering and criticism of the screen is unfair. Sony have given the Vivaz a corker.

I hav e slight reservations about the operating system. If you’ve ever owned a Nokia, you’ll be familiar with the way it works. Its called Symbian S60 and Sony-Ericsson has done a decent job of covering that up, and this is Version 5, but you are going to have to delve inside now and again.

The little Vivaz protested occasionally when it was challenged to perform some functions, but I believe most of us have a hanful of things we do regularly with our phones and the Vivaz does them all competently.

The excellent Twitter App, which comes with the phone on the main screen works better than most downloadable freebies. Set up took me a few minutes but once iot was running it was a treat.

Those little niggles aside, the phone has an excellent GPRS function so it can do directions and maps. Getting on the internet was easy, though sometimes a little slow even using Wi-Fi, and older eyes might struggle despite the impressive colour screen but web pages can be magnified easily.

From Mobile Phone Review

The Vivaz ran video on the web without a hitch too. The Youtube app was one of the best I’d seen on a mobile. The BBC iPlayer app was, as I've mentioned, a real bonus.

The Vivaz is stylish, light and fits in the hand well. There is a lot of plastic and if you are looking to preserve its sharp good looks, a case would make a wise investment.

Without becoming too techie, this is a ‘can-do’ phone with a fast processor at its heart that means it performs well. You can have your Facebook, Twitter with you all the time, check the internet when you need to and watch YouTube. You can shoot video- in stunning quality and upload direct to the web. It works.

Its Symbian OS is getting a little out-dated but for millions the Nokia system is familiar, comfortable and does the job well. Be honest about what you really need and the Vivaz might just be one of the most stylish - and lightest -smartphones around.

Overall 7.5/10

Good
Excellent camera performance. Music player. Attractive. Brilliant colour screen. Battery life unexpectedly good.

Bad
Slightly fragile feel, touchscreen not the best

Conclusion
Sony Ericsson could do with winning new friends and the Vivaz might just be the phone to do it.

Full spec click here

Posted on 23/08/2010 at 13:50 by dazb

yeh but no photo apps for editing a bigg let down . They managed it in the past .... Bo .

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