Digital Trends

Sony Ericsson C902 November 25th, 2008 | by Stewart Wolpin

Features and Design

Take a tour around the exterior of the HSDPA-capable C902 and you'll find no camera lens. Instead of being situated on the outside of the phone, the camera is located inside a pullout section; hold the phone horizontal, the dial pad in your right hand, then pull the earpiece section of the phone above the screen to the left. Out pops a compartment revealing the camera lens and Xenon flash, and the camera function is automatically activated. This clever arrangement keeps the lens hidden when it’s not being used, so it can't get smudged or scratched.

Sony has expertise not only in digital cameras, but in portable music as well. So while its 5-megapixel Cyber-shot camera instantly makes it one of the best camera phones available, it's no surprise that the C902 is equipped with an excellent digital music player as well.

Sony also makes use of its computing competence by equipping the C902 with superb email functionality, although the Web browser is a bit clumsy. Also included are an FM radio (the included headset, which acts as an antenna, has to be plugged in), location-based services including Google maps and turn-by-turn directions, easy-to-configure messaging, and POP3/IMAP e-mail. 

Form Factor

Other than its unusual camera hideaway, the relatively unadorned C902 resembles a great many other Sony Ericsson candy bar models. It's thin, as you'd expect – just .4 inches thick, but at 3.8 ounces, a little heavier than we expected.

Instead of a solid black casing, the perimeter spine of the all-metal C902 is more like a silver-and-black layer cake. If you don't like Sony’s "swift" black, you can get the C902 in "luscious" red, "cinnamon" bronze and all "titanium" silver.

The 2-inch, 240 x 320 LCD screen atop the C902’s face is smaller than it looks, because the active part of the screen is surrounded by a quarter inch black border. Even though the screen may be smaller than you expect, what it displays is crisp, clean, clear, colorful and bright, easily readable off-angle and in direct sunlight.

Below the screen is the tile dial pad. Its keys are slightly angled rather than all flat, but they're so small and tightly packed that it's difficult to tap without error. In between the menu and the dial pad is the menu navigation array and Talk and Send keys, again so condensed that you should expect to hit the wrong key more frequently than you'd like.

On the left side is the Sony Ericsson dual-pronged power and headphone jack (more on that in a bit). On the right side is the camera activation key/shutter release and the up/down toggle, positioned toward the bottom of the phone.

Intentionally or not, this bottom toggle placement is most convenient. When holding the phone in your right hand up to your right ear, the volume controls are right under your right thumb. In your left hand to your left ear, the toggle can be manipulated by either your pinky or ring finger.

On the rear, just beneath the easy-to-remove battery cover is the phone's speaker.

Ports & Connectors

What Sony giveth, Sony taketh away. Instead of adapting the industry standards microSD card and microUSB jack, Sony insists on sticking with its proprietary (and increasingly hard to find) M2 Memory Stick flash memory card and the increasingly dumb and always clunky Ericsson jack.

The C902's micro Memory Stick slot is located under the battery cover. Thankfully, you don't have to remove the battery to get to it, which makes it easier to swap it out without turning the phone off.

Accessories

The C902 includes a 1GB M2 Memory Stick card, a handy M2-USB adapter, a USB connecting jack, and the aforementioned two-piece earbud/headphone adapter arrangement. A CD with the Sony Ericsson PC Suite of syncing and content management applications is also in the box.