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Sony Ericsson K850i

By Jeremy Roche on 22 November 2007

Sony Ericsson's K850i is a decent, if somewhat bulky, camera phone. Its 5-megapixel resolution is on par with the best, but shutter lag and strange navigation keys let it down.

Editor's rating:6.6 User rating:6.6

Comments (65)

  • slrsandy gave 6/10 on 09/07/2008 14:10

    • Good: camera size, memory expansion, display size, ease of use (although has taken a little time to adjust from old phone)
    • Bad: picture quality (not as good or clear as I expected for 5 mp), navigation key/ring (needs to be wider and further from soft keys as I keep selecting things I don't want) I miss the selection button in the middle, Key size could be bigger, headphones are

    I updated from w550 wanted a good everyday camera on top of the features from 550.
    I think if SE had gone for a slide (or swivel which i loved but know many hated as it was easily broken if you were heavy handed) option they could have increased the size of the display more and had bigger keys.
    Truthfully I prefer the w550 design

  • dreamer gave 7/10 on 13/06/2008 19:57

    Guy below me, it's flaws, not floors, people often disregard reviews with spelling errors.

  • Ecky gave 2/10 on 11/06/2008 15:41

    • Good: sick camera and features, massive screen
    • Bad: way too many floors, touchscreen buttons

    The K850i is definetly the best phone i have ever used but it is too good. It has way too many floors such as it shutting down whenever and probly the biggest floor is the 3 touchscreen buttons breaking. I had my k850i for 1 day and i was extremely careful with the buttons (because i thought this was all from pushing down too hard) and they still decided to die on me. Take my advice and buy another phone or just wait some time and hope SE brings out another phone that actually works.

  • happy gave 8/10 on 30/05/2008 18:16

    • Good: Great photos / configurations
      Fast internet browsing
      Semi-Touch screen
      Back lighting of keypad is really fancy, and does not look cheap.
    • Bad: in Australia, only quicksilver blue is available... I liked the look of green / blue ones.

      It WILL collect finger prints n grease overtime.

    I've used the phone for about 2 weeks now - finger prints on it aren't that bad yet as I keep my hands dry / oil free.

    My previous phone was a razr and this is my first SE phone.

    Now let's deal with some of the complaints that people have been putting on

    - shut downs - haven't experienced it so far

    - Camera taking darker photos with flash on than without flash - I've played around with the camera a fair bit since I enjoy taking photos - whenever a flash photo turned dark, I adjusted the setting (just buttons push aways) and with correct settings, photo was mostly great. (Night Portrait for pics taken of ppl on streets at night / Night landscape for pics of scenery at night / Normal for in-office lighting conditions / portrait for daylight portrait photos / daylight landsacpe for.. well.. daylight landscape). Xenon flash is great, however if you're a cam-**** it'll take you few tries to get the right distance for the flash. (you'll get the hang of it). Great camera overall.

    - Cracks - I have been careful with my phone, no signs of any damage as of now. touch wood. it's only been one week and a bit anyway.

    - Touch screen - actually, I love the touch screen thing. gets rid of space from k800i and gives slightly bigger display area.

    - Small keys - I wouldn't recommend it for people with sausage fingers... but skinny - average size finger handlers will have no problem texting (takes few days to get used to it). D-pad is troublesome at first but you do get used to it.

    All in all, I am very happy with the phone at the moment :)

  • sjolli gave 2/10 on 16/04/2008 21:53

    • Good: NOT MANY
    • Bad: TOO MANY
      NO WI-FI
      NO built in GPS Like Nokia.

    I would give it 1 out of ten but the slider wont allow me. it has too many Flaws.
    After 2 painstaking services & many phone calls, sonyericsson say they will replace it but i have to send it away for a week, which i refuse to do as it is a major inconvenience after being serviced twice, I would like to do a straight swap from the 3 store close to me, but SE are too tight to Help Me & show no compassion for their Customers with faulty Handsets. Sony Ericssons greed to get this model released leaves it with too many flaws. The Blue on the 0 Navigation key is falling off from use &
    S.E service centre says 10 days to get 1
    after being serviced twice im still waiting.
    Music Volume is Not Loud enough.

  • sjolli gave 2/10 on 16/04/2008 21:15

    • Good: Not Many.
      Dont be sucked n by its Looks.
    • Bad: TOOOO MANY.

      ITS A LEMON!!!!!!!!

    3 months on & this Fone is a DUD.
    Constant software issues. Mine Has been in for Service Twice... & came back with more problems than it Had. What a Nightmare.
    Sony Ericsson's Customer Support Are rude & incompetant. Steer Clear of this Mobile!!!!! Do yourself a huge favor & get the Nokia N82 it has wifi, Gps & recieves Tv Rececption.... I am.

  • KuKuYi gave 9/10 on 14/04/2008 11:45

    • Good: Good battery life. Quality pictures. Very smart phone with all those spectacular functions.Touch screen made it cool. SE is upgrading the firmware ocassionally, find it getting smoother and quicker. Love waiting for bus now for the games that it's capable of to support. Accelerometer is really something.
    • Bad: Very fingerprint-prone.
      Hate the brandings that took the left right soft keys. Volume could be louder.

    Very awesome phone, dont find it bulky like others said, it's actually somewhat stylish. The pictures taken are more than satisfied under appropriate settings, so stop complaining about dark pictures while not having the settings properly set.

  • bennyben32 gave 5/10 on 15/03/2008 04:33

    • Good: Generally a good phone, does most things pretty well.
    • Bad: Camera - shutter lag, touchscreen, could be thinner. need a cover over the camera lens.

    The last phone i had was the k810i, this i thought was a prity good phone, so when i bought the k850i i thought it would be even better, especially with the 5mp camera. However this phone is soo annoyin! the camera for one does not take a decent picture, unless ur lucky, they r always dark and sometimes full on black. Also 2 take a picture you have to hold the phone on the edges and hope u dont drop it.
    Also the centre touch button keeps geting pressed accidentaly while pressing up ( and i have small fingers)

    This phone seems to me that it was brought to quick out just to get it onto the market with out getting rid of the flaws.

    This would be a very good phone the annnnnnoyin flaws were taken out

  • pacwrat gave 8/10 on 04/03/2008 02:40

    • Good: Great photos
      Similar features/systems to K800i, logical progression.
      Good to have integral lens cover instead of slider of K800i, that reduces dust trap zone and bulk.
    • Bad: Subtle changes to SE menu system annoying, but easily re-learnt.
      Centre touch (soft key) often mistakenly activated when using "up" on "joystick"
      Hate the branding. The Telstra and Foxtel functions are not my primary uses for the phone, and the respective soft keys would be better used for other programmable shortcuts.

    Great upgrade from K700i and K800i.

  • bill gave 4/10 on 28/02/2008 18:28

    • Good: good battery
    • Bad: laggy,bad software

    on my third repair vodafone

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