Sony Ericsson VIVAZ

The Sony Ericsson's Vivaz Mobile Phone is said to be a cameraman's delight with its 8-megapixel camera that is capable of shooting 720-pixels in high definition video mode.

A touchscreen Dwarf

The Vivaz is small and light for a touch screen mobile phone measuring just 52 x 107 x 13mm. The mobile takes a slightly curved shape giving it a body that is comfortable to hold on the hands. The real back cover has a slightly plasticky feel on it.

The Multimedia Features

As stated earlier the weighty feature of the Vivaz is its 8-megapixel camera that is mounted just at the centre of the battery cover. There are two dedicated buttons for the camera. While one is for video shooting, the other one is for camera mode.

The video quality is also said to be good with its 720-pixels. Even at high-resolutions videos are not overly jerky as in the case of other mobile phone cameras. Since the 8.1 megapixel camera captures a lot of details, it does a very good job especially in the light. The camera has only one single LED flash.

High-definition photos eats up a lot of memory space. But the phone comes with an 8-GB memory card straight out of the box. One has to remove the battery cover to remove the memory card which is not very comfortable. But considering the fact that you do not have to remove your memory card often, that can be done away.

The camera's 3.2 inch display is another multimedia delight with its 360x640-pixel resolution. This is a real treat when you play games and use the impressive web browser to make use of all its graphic abilities.

Performance

The Vivaz is not expected to be very friendly in its user interface thanks to its combination of Symbian S60 software for the operating system and the recessive touch screen. Though the Symbian S60 is Nokia's favourite software, the skin, theme and the application that Sony Ericsson uses is different. The whole of the operation feels a little sluggish and inconsistent.

On the connectivity front the phone is good with support for both HSDPA and Wi-Fi and a range of applications that are pre-installed like the funky You Tube player. The on-board GPS is another feature that works well in the mobile.

The call quality of the phone is also believed to be fantastic with a good battery back up to add to its credit.

To sum up, except the fuss it makes on the OS, the phone's other qualities are pretty impressive. But the unfriendly user interface can be frustrating.