It’s the k700 or the k700i, depending on where you buy it. I believe they are the same phone with a slightly different name, for no good reason.
I upgraded from a t610, which I really liked. The k700 is bigger, has more sharp edges, and both looks and feels more plasticky. It feels like it weighs about the same. I quite like the size: it falls between the t610 and a Nokia 3310, both of which feel fine in my hands. A small-handed person I know also likes the size of the k700.
There’s only one sharp edge I really notice: the one right above the hole at the top on the front, where the speaker port is. It’s perfectly positioned to scrape your ear as you’re talking. I try to remember not to press the phone against my ear.
Compared to the t610, the buttons aren’t as nice. They’re bigger and flatter, making them harder to pick out with your thumb. Maybe my thumb’s just not sensitive enough, but I’m still making the odd mistake when texting for this reason. The joystick has the same problem. It’s trickier to move around without slipping off it. This is because it’s not as pointy as the t610’s.
There’s a flap on the bottom of the phone which hides the power and headset/data ports. Is this supposed to protect them from dust? The keypad isn’t exactly hermetically sealed, so I don’t see why they bothered. After spending about five minutes trying to open it with my non-existent fingernails and then resorting to a knife, I just pulled the flap off and threw it away.
The ‘Internet’ button is another t610 ‘feature’ which has made it onto the k700. I wonder if Sony Ericsson watched people using the t610 and counted how many times they used this button. I’d guess that if they watched, say, one thousand people, for about a year, they’d get zero intentional presses. If it could be mapped to some useful function, perhaps it would have a reason to exist.
Just a couple more points about the exterior: It looks very 2004. Fine. In 2005, it will still look 2004. The t610 is, though I don’t know why I’m saying this about a mobile phone, a timeless classic. The k700 will look dated very soon. The k700 looks cheap. Grey plastic, with some transparent and translucent bits. Hmm.
So, to sum up the exterior: I don’t mind the larger size, but I’d rather have the t610’s body.
On to the good bits.
As compared to a t610, the screen is larger, brighter and easier to read in daylight.
The software runs much, much faster (no annoying delay before long text messages are displayed!) The camera makes higher resolution pics. There’s no weird distortion when viewing photos on the screen. There’s less delay before and after you take a shot.
There’s an MP3 player. It’s a little basic, but it’s fine for my journey to work. I have to transcode my music to low bitrate (about 64kbps) MP3 to fit two albums on the phone but, with the rush hour accompaniment, I don’t notice too much.
That’s all there is to say about the software, really. It’s like that on a t610, except faster. It has a couple of extra things, such as the MP3 player, and an utterly useless (disappointly - I was looking forward to this) FM radio (reception is pathetic) but the changes are mostly minor.
One more thing to mention: the hands-free thing. It comes free with the phone. It’s headphones with an integrated mono mic. The headphones themselves give average sound quality. I would refuse to pay money for them on this basis. They have other problems too, such as being the wrong size for anyone’s ears. The other person I know who tried using them gave up because they wouldn’t stay in. I can keep them in, but they scratch my ears.
Apart from the sound quality (for music) and the physical dimensions, the headset is fine. I’ve made a few calls using it, including whilst cycling, and there are no problems with either party making out what’s being said.
In summary: I like the phone. I may not be a fan of the casing, but that carries little weight in my overall opinion. I don’t like the hands-free thing either, but I’ll probably find a way to plug some proper headphones into it soon. The reason I like the phone is because it has the two improvements I really wanted over the t610: The software runs faster and there’s an MP3 player. Ok, I would have liked support for Ogg Vorbis, but you can’t have everything.