Sony Ericsson Vivaz review

**Indian** · 02-10-2010

Key features

* 3.2" 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
* 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, face and smile detection, geotagging and touch focus
* HD 720p video recording @ 24fps with continuous auto focus
* Symbian OS 9.4 S60 5th, topped with a custom-brewed homescreen and media menu
* 720 MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX dedicated graphics accelerator
* Quad-band GSM support
* 3G with HSDPA 10.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps support
* Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
* microSD card slot (up to 16GB, 8GB card in the box)
* Built-in accelerometer
* TV out
* Stereo FM Radio
* microUSB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0
* Web browser has full Flash support
* Preinstalled Wisepilot navigation software
* Office document viewer
* Decent audio quality

Main disadvantages

* No camera lens protection
* No auto mode for the flash/video light
* LED flash not powerful enough
* The S60 5th edition UI isn't to the best in class standards
* No proximity sensor sensor to lock the screen during a call
* No DivX or XviD support out-of-the-box
* No smart or voice dialing
* No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
* No stereo speakers
* No digital compass (magnetometer)
* Videocalling uses only the main camera (no secondary one)

Sony Ericsson have been limping on profits lately but their ambitions seem to not have suffered one bit. There is the Satio, now the Vivaz and with the XPERIA X10 on its way, the company is gaining a firm foothold in the high-end segment.

Some people scoff at the sight of Symbian but Sony Ericsson's work on the homescreen and their signature media menu, you can spend quite some time using the phone before you actually come down to the slightly off-putting S60 5th UI.

The size of the display might seem inadequate next to the awe-inspiring HTC HD2. The Vivaz though was built to be compact and screen size was dictated by pocketability, not the other way around.

The interface and screen size are pretty much the things for anyone to complain about. The display is sensitive, the CPU is speedy and the camera is excellent - and hard to beat really. So, the phone is great, but this doesn't mean much until you have a good look at the competition as well.

Comparisons between the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD are inevitable. Symbian and 720p video make the two the bitterest of rivals. Samsung have had plenty of time to chisel out some of the problems the Omnia HD had at launch - audio quality and framerate issues in videos. The audio they fixed early on by switching to AAC, but video is still struggling to make it to 24 frames per second.

The Vivaz has its issues as well, but at least it's capable of delivering all 24 fps - and the HD video recording is quite promising. Sony Ericsson's take on Symbian feels more refined too - the homescreens are simple to use but offer all the basic functionality you need and we always liked the custom media menu - especially in its touch-enabled form. Plus the Vivaz feels zippier than the Omnia HD.

It's safe to say there is no phone just like the Sony Ericsson Vivaz - the competition is a thing or two short or has a thing or two in its favor. For a bigger screen, you'd have to give up either the smooth video recording or go with an OS that barely ranks in terms of market share. The other option is to wait for phones that haven't even been officially confirmed yet.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz design team knew what they wanted right from the start and they have achieved their goal. When the Vivaz hits the stores, there will be a line a mile long of Sony Ericsson fans queing for it but, more importantly, there will probably be quite a few new converts as well.