Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot Mobile Phone

It’s very hard to tell what denotes a particular brand or segment of mobiles from a given company. Normally I would have perceived that the ‘C’ in some Sony Ericsson handsets, like this the C510, stood for Cyber-shot, but since it bears a certain resemblance to the K850i which is also a Cyber-shot handset, I’m inclined to wonder if it’s just random association of some kind. But that’s a whole other story. Here we have the C510 Cyber-shot form Sony Ericsson with its three megapixel lens and this is what I have to say about it.

Form Factor
Like I said before, there’s a certain likeness to the K850i especially because of the blue stripe that runs around the handset in between the silver border. Of course this handset is almost half the depth of the K850i so it’s easier to carry around and in keeping with most other SE handsets, the C510 has quite a style statement.

The 2.2-inch TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixels) is quite clear even in direct sunlight. The nav-pad and keypad are well laid out for easy usage. On one of the slim sides is Sony Ericsson’s 'famous' or should I say infamous proprietary one-point-for-all port and the M2 card slot. On the other side is the volume/zoom key and shutter release for the camera.

The camera can be activated by sliding back the panel that cloaks it at the rear. It comes equipped with a Dual LED flash.

Features and Performance
Interface
There’s really nothing major that sets this handset apart form any other Sony Ericsson in this price range or even a little lower. The only difference is that this one has a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, whereas most of the others have fixed focus. The interface is only highlighted by the highly animated themes that look very attractive but are a drain on the battery.

A couple of things to talk about would be the new SMS conversation interface which is quite similar to that of the iPhone’s. It simply stores all the messages sent to and from a particular contact in one easy to follow display like an IM chat screen. The Accelerometer is also available but of course only for specific menus like web pages, not the entire browser, the Media interface and one of the games that’s preloaded.

Media
Since the prime focus of Sony Ericsson’s Cyber-shot series is the camera, all other media tends to be neglected. The music player is simplistic with average features like Stereo Widening, EQ presets and a Customizable 5-band graphic EQ that does diddly-squat for the overall volume or quality. The volume is way too low to enjoy or even hear in this noisy city, unless you’re holed up in a bomb shelter or a sound proof room. Even then it was too low for my liking.