Digital Trends

Sony Ericsson K790a January 16th, 2007 | by Stewart Wolpin

Performance

Every aspect of the K790 is near top-notch. On Cingular's network in Manhattan, voice quality is a bit thick, but loud, clear, and consistent. Ringtones were also loud enough to be heard from a pocket or nearby bag, and the simultaneous vibrate is appropriately violent. The voice toggle also conveniently lowers the ringtone volume.

WAP web access is quick, as is usual on EDGE networks. Without having to deal with HTML graphics, pages filled almost instantaneously once they began to draw. But, as noted, text is painfully small, the smallest we've ever seen on a phone.

You're not choosing the K790 for its phone capabilities or its web access, though, regardless of their quality. You're coming for the 3.2 megapixel camera, which (at this point in time) is the absolute best we've seen in a cell phone. A relatively quick shutter release freezes scenes right when you want them captured, not blurry seconds later; the Carl Zeiss optics and an image stabilizer produce crisp and clean images, deep contrasts, a sharp focus, and true colors that lean a bit more toward the blue and yellow — especially in flesh tones — than we'd like. Best of all is the powerful Xenon flash, which clearly illuminates an entire scene six feet away and more, indoors or out, although it may overwhelm something or someone closer. No flash on any other cell cam even comes close to the brightening ability of the K790 flash.

The K790 is also appointed like a standalone digital camera, with a three-segment panorama mode, seven scene modes (including snow/beach, document, twilight, landscape, and portrait), both macro and infinite focus modes, red-eye flash mode, four effects modes (black and white, negative, sepia, and solarized), and even spot metering. Also, images are auto saved without pressing any additional buttons.

Image Courtesy of Sony Ericsson

Even considering all this, we don't recommend leaving your standalone digital camera at home when going on vacation, but you needn't panic if you left it behind accidentally.

Sony Ericsson claims 7 hours of talk time and up to 350 minutes standby. Our tester was a pre-production model, so we cannot confirm this. However, camera and Bluetooth use could easily sap its battery in a day, so we wouldn't venture far without a charger.

Conclusion

The K790a simply the best camera phone on the market, producing pictures that would challenge any entry-level standalone digital camera. But because it’s unlocked, you'll pay four times as much as you would for that cheap digital camera.


Pros:

• Exemplary 3.2 MP digital camera
• Tri-band world GSM connectivity
• Speedy EDGE web access
• Music player with stereo Bluetooth
• Music ring tones

Cons:

• Unlocked and expensive
• Annoying auto key lock
• Tiny web font
• No external music control keys