Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot Mobile Phone

It’s very hard to tell what denotes a particular brand or segment of mobiles from a given company. Normally I would have perceived that the ‘C’ in some Sony Ericsson handsets, like this the C510, stood for Cyber-shot, but since it bears a certain resemblance to the K850i which is also a Cyber-shot handset, I’m inclined to wonder if it’s just random association of some kind. But that’s a whole other story. Here we have the C510 Cyber-shot form Sony Ericsson with its three megapixel lens and this is what I have to say about it.

Form Factor
Like I said before, there’s a certain likeness to the K850i especially because of the blue stripe that runs around the handset in between the silver border. Of course this handset is almost half the depth of the K850i so it’s easier to carry around and in keeping with most other SE handsets, the C510 has quite a style statement.

The 2.2-inch TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixels) is quite clear even in direct sunlight. The nav-pad and keypad are well laid out for easy usage. On one of the slim sides is Sony Ericsson’s ‘famous’ or should I say infamous proprietary one-point-for-all port and the M2 card slot. On the other side is the volume/zoom key and shutter release for the camera.

The camera can be activated by sliding back the panel that cloaks it at the rear. It comes equipped with a Dual LED flash.
Features and Performance_Interface_

There’s really nothing major that sets this handset apart form any other Sony Ericsson in this price range or even a little lower. The only difference is that this one has a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, whereas most of the others have fixed focus. The interface is only highlighted by the highly animated themes that look very attractive but are a drain on the battery.

A couple of things to talk about would be the new SMS conversation interface which is quite similar to that of the iPhone’s. It simply stores all the messages sent to and from a particular contact in one easy to follow display like an IM chat screen. The Accelerometer is also available but of course only for specific menus like web pages, not the entire browser, the Media interface and one of the games that’s preloaded.

_Media
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Since the prime focus of Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot series is the camera, all other media tends to be neglected. The music player is simplistic with average features like Stereo Widening, EQ presets and a Customizable 5-band graphic EQ that does diddly-squat for the overall volume or quality. The volume is way too low to enjoy or even hear in this noisy city, unless you’re holed up in a bomb shelter or a sound proof room. Even then it was too low for my liking.

__PAGEBREAK__Videos played well enough, but irrespective of the conversion to the acceptable formats (MPEG 4, 3GP) the videos were clear but should have been better. Even the pre loaded demo videos look the same with plenty of anti aliasing and ghosting throughout. Still, it’s not all that uncomfortable to watch, if you can get past that. A YouTube client is preloaded onto the handset for quick and easy access to online videos. It’s no different than the one found in other handsets like the W705 et al.

The Stereo FM radio with RDS was really very average. In most outdoor locations it picked up the signals quite well, but didn’t seem to be able to locate all of the available station. During the commute, the radio was quite useless as all it seemed to do was pick up static, even in those parts of the city where I would normally get a decent signal. Sony Ericsson’s TrackID feature for music recognition can be applied to the radio as well as stand alone using the handset’s microphone to record samples of audio from external sources. A voice recorder is also available for voice memos.

Sony Ericsson’s VideoDJ, MusicDJ and PhotoDJ applications are available for creating and editing various forms of media, but of course, only to certain extent. They’re nevertheless very entertaining and can help pass the time while traveling or when you’re just sitting around doing nothing.

Connectivity
The C510 is a 3G ready device with HSDPA. That’s quite redundant right now but it’ll be ready when WE are. For the time being we’ll have to settle for its EGDE/GPRS/WAP capabilities for net access. It has support for downloading IMAP and POP3 email as well as SE’s proprietary IM application. It doesn’t have a GPS antenna but does support A-GPS via Google Maps that’s preinstalled and adds to the cameras settings with its Geo-Tagging feature. The Play Now Application is also available for users to download content. However for some strange reason I could not seem to access it. It could be because I’m a Loop Mobile user as the error message I kept getting was for me to contact my operator. This was evident even with the W705, but never before. Strange prejudice.

The freebie applications included with the handset had AccuWeather and PhotoMate that does nothing more than consider you a real noob and explains the camera settings in simple English. Helpful, but a little silly. __STARTQUOTE__The C510 is a 3G ready device with HSDPA. That’s quite redundant right now but it’ll be ready when WE are. For the time being we’ll have to settle for its EGDE/GPRS/WAP capabilities for net access.__ENDQUOTE__There’s also a standby world clock. Photos can be uploaded to sites like MySpace and eBlogger. The problem is that the images don’t actually get uploaded via the web but are sent out as an MMS. You’re paying for those. A ShoZu like application would have been more useful. The RSS news reader is also present to keep you updated on the latest happenings from the sites that you usually follow.

__PAGEBREAK__Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP worked just fine for transferring files form one device to another or using a Stereo Bluetooth headset, but I couldn’t get the handset to connect with my PC for anything. When it did find the PC it refused to pair and ended up simply hanging the handset all the time. Of course this could be some issue with my PC but it didn’t seem to have a problem connecting to other handsets.

Misc. Features
Every standard feature is clearly present in the C510’s feature list. These include – A Calendar for keeping appointments and schedules, Alarm Clock, Task manager, Notes, Times, Stopwatch, a Code memo feature and a calculator.

Camera
The camera is the best feature that the C510 possesses, other than its chic design of course. It’s equipped with plenty of settings, the main one being Smile Shutter which works with the camera’s face detection technology to provide clear images of subjects in the frame.

Other features include a manual Panorama mode, various scene modes, White balance and Burst mode. As usual the self timer is set for 12 seconds only with no other option to change it.

The macro mode setting was quite impressive. I liked the reproduction of colors and textures in the images and I was also able to get quite up close and personal with the subjects.

Normal daylight images were also quite good with a fair level of details retained. In landscape mode however, if not set on a timer and the handset kept absolutely still, the images didn’t look as good with a slight blurring in certain portions. Same issue with the Twilight landscape setting.

__PAGEBREAK__Battery
When it came to battery life the W510 is cast into mediocrity. It doesn’t stand out here either. On a single charge with average use of calls, messages and net usage (no camera), I got not more than a day and a half of battery life. Talk time by itself, amounted to just about 2 hours and 35 minutes (give or take).

The Bottom Line
Irrespective of the price, I just didn’t really enjoy using the handset at all. The camera was about the only thing that sets it apart from the other Sony Ericsson handsets in the same price range and that’s only because of its autofocus lens and Face Detection feature. It’s priced at Rs. 11, 545 and comes with NO memory card so you’ll have to invest in one yourself or be content with its meager 100MB of internal memory. It’s a simple handset that’s got nothing except its looks going for it.