Sony Ericsson K550i

Features :

The phone not being exactly anorexic, weighs about 85 grams. Its styling has changed a lot and the current mood is noticeably flashy instead of the classy exterior of the K750i. The keypad has thin shiny keys on it which are a bit hard to use for messaging. The display is a slick 1.9-inch TFD display which is a standard on most Sony Ericsson phones these days. The upgrade to TFD has made a huge improvement in the contrast ratios, though the increased color depth is compromised with battery life. Phone book capacity and internal memory has also got an upgrade and the phone can now store up to 1000 phone numbers, with 20 additional fields, on its 74 MB internal memory. The K550i supports the tiny Memory Stick Micro for removable storage. Other upgrades include the support of an extra GSM 850 band. EDGE and HSCD support but then, they are of not much use here in India as there is hardly any EDGE content available in most cities, and HSCD in not supported on any network.

Messaging options include MMS, SMS, E-mail and IM. Further, an RSS feed reader has popped into the messaging menu. Other usability upgrades include support for the USB 2.0 standard which makes file transfers a breeze. The phone gets detected as a standard mass storage device in Windows and even the memory card opens up as a separate drive.

The phone is marketed as a CyderShot phone and features a 2 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and features a 2.2x digital zoom which takes some really pretty pictures. The camera application is easy to use and starts by opening the lens cover behind the phone.

A new feature is the photo blogging support in the camera application, which uploads photos to blogs through the GPRS connection. Other new features include Bluetooth A2DP that means now you can use Bluetooth stereo headsets, and track ID music recognition for radio (a feature that is mostly useless in the Indian context).

The media player also opens up MP4 video files and the brilliant display handles them with ease. Customization support is similar to older Sony Ericsson phones, with wallpaper, themes, and MP3 or polyphonic ringtones.

Kit :

Stereo hands free kit, USB cable, Travel Charger, Sling for the Phone, Phone sync Software, Adobe Photoshop Album.

Verdict : It is better than K750i

For : Good feature set.

Against : A tad flashy for us, keys are not comfortable to use.