New Sony Ericsson K700i Phone | August 25, 2004

Being a blogger, a web designer and a technophile, you’d probably imagine I’d have all the latest gadgets and gizmos. However unlike some people I know who always seem to have the latest phone, iPod or laptop, most of my kit is 2 years past it’s prime and in need of replacing. Whereas some people are early adopters, I’d consider myself a late adopter.

Take mobile phones for instance. When they first came out I resisted the urge to get one for years. I just didn’t want to be a Dom Jolly like figure shouting down a brick of a phone at the top of my voice in public. In fact I only bought my first mobile a couple of years ago and it’s lasted me till this day. Yet hanging out with my cool web buddies made me realise what a technological backwater I’ve been living in all this time. While everybody showed off their polyphonic ring tones, colour screens, bluetooth devices, java games and sailing clicker software I was left with a rubbish screen, a game of snake and a battery life of a nanosecond.

So a while ago I decided to start looking around for a new phone. After a lot of window shopping and a good deal of frustration in phone shops, I settled on a Sony Ericsson K700i from Orange.

Sony Ericsson k700i

The k700i basically has all the things I wanted, like a camera, bluetooth and the ability to sync with my Mac, in a small, attractive package. I went with Orange because I know quite a few people who use them and they all have very positive things to say. Also, they were the only shop who didn’t try to sell me a tariff when I went in to ask about phones, actually choosing to tell me about the phone instead.

If you have a Sony Ericsson and haven’t seen this yet, Pete pointed me to a set of OS X Theme for my k700i

OS X theme for the Sonny Ericsson K700i

How cool is that. It’s not quite an iPhone but it’s a step in the right direction.

Posted at August 25, 2004 8:56 AM

Comments

Chris said on August 25, 2004 10:04 AM

Good choice, Andy. One particularly good feature about the k700i is its 40Mb memory (…in 12 months people will read that comment again and laugh.)

Bogdan Manolache said on August 25, 2004 10:07 AM

That is a great choice. From the online presentation it’s a must have phone. It looks great and also has all the features a new phone should have: color display, poliphonic sound, camera, PC/Mac connectivity, Java support.

I really like new gadgets and most of the time if I find a promotion I buy me one. In december I bought a Samsung C100, switching from my previous SonyEricsson T100. It was great at first since it had 65000 colors, poliphonic ringtones, PC connectivity via IR port. But now I only use the call/answer, agenda and the alarm functions :). I am thinking to buy a Samsung E700 now. We’ll see how the projects are working for me :)

Keep In Touch!

Kevin Navia said on August 25, 2004 10:46 AM

Yep, a very nice phone. I bought one rightaway when it got released. Never had problems with it from signals to SMS/MMS and browsing. Nice to look at and comfortable to use too (my GF wants one!) ;)

But I’m also eyeing on the S700 with a swivel-type phone, 1.3mp camera, larger screen and an Memory Stick expansion slot (maybe next year!)

James said on August 25, 2004 11:36 AM

Hi,

I’m also looking to get a new phone and have been looking at the K700. I’ve read loads of really good reviews, but they all say the battery life is pants. Anyone who actually has one care to comment on that?

Cheers.

Tim said on August 25, 2004 12:24 PM

Bogdan said: “It looks great and also has all the features a new phone should have: … camera …”

Call me strange, but I just don’t get that. I’m changing service today (because T-Moble here in the States sucks) and I’ve been looking for a good phone that doesn’t have a camera. It doesn’t exist.

It’s funny looking at reviews of phones and seeing things like “phone clarity is OK, but has lots of great non-phone stuff and kick ass camera. 4 out of 5!” Or negative reviews based along the lines of “phone works great, but the images are blurry… We give it a 3.” Um, it’s a phone. I don’t expect great pictures from it, that’s what my digital camera is for. (Perhaps my Coolpix should allow me to phone home?)

Anyway, I’m just looking for a really excellent phone, since it will be my only phone. The rest if just fluff I don’t use. (Although, I admit the Treo looks enticing.)

Michael said on August 25, 2004 1:15 PM

Because you mentioned it, I actually went out and dug up some themes (iPod and Panther) for my Z600. Ah, now it almost feels like home :)

Stew said on August 25, 2004 1:35 PM

I’m about to buy this phone myself on an Orange contract.

Glad to see theres a Mac theme for it :D

Euan said on August 25, 2004 1:35 PM

Yep, I was the same when mobiles were first around. I didn’t see the need to have one.

I looked at the Sony a while back but went for the Nokia 6230. It’s all I need… radio (for walk to work), mp3 player (for walk home from work), plus camera/video, etc.

Ian McFarlan said on August 25, 2004 2:18 PM

Good choice, Andy. I have a T616 and absolutely love it. In fact, it is my first mobile - can’t even imagine having an older one like you did.

Thanks for the link to the OSX and Linux themes - next thing to an iPhone.

jp said on August 25, 2004 2:27 PM

Hey Andy, give me you movil number! for a long distance call (Chile) ;)

Bogdan Manolache said on August 25, 2004 2:57 PM

Andy: Just noticed this while reading the comments … you have a bug on this page. The column on the right side is under the POST button and it should be right under the menu (like on the home page).

Tim: I said “should have” not “must have”. I meant that these are the features most of the new mobiles have and all the future mobiles will have.

AkaXakA said on August 25, 2004 3:40 PM

Looks nice, but how’s the battery life? I don’t know about you, but I personally can’t stand having to recharge my phone more than once a week…

It is a Sony product though, so you should be ok.

Jay said on August 26, 2004 5:18 AM

Got myself a K700i two weeks ago (in Australia btw). Battery life is definitely less than advertised. I get a couple of days per charge, playing games, making a few calls, SMS/MMSs, taking a couple of pictures, nothing too major. Doesn’t really bother me and I hear there is a firmware upgrade on the way which should improve matters somewhat.

Kevin Navia said on August 26, 2004 6:33 AM

RE: k700i Battery life

Yes, it has a bit of a problem with battery life… If you have the R2L version of the firmware (I haven’t upgraded yet, sorry.), it should give you an average of 3 days.

The initial version of the firmware (R2A), gives me 2 days average battery life.

Heds said on August 26, 2004 12:13 PM

if you haven’t got a Blutooth dongle yet, get one, it takes all the ballache out of getting stuff off and on the phone and on to my Macs.

£22.28 to your door from e-buyer

instead of the joke of a price from say the Apple site of £35, even then they’re not the most expensive!!

Got my K700i two weeks ago and yes the battery life is awful, no where near as good as my Panasonic GD87. But when you’ve got more toys on it (and boy has it got ‘em) then you should expect it to drink the juice.

Presently I’ve got Underworlds ‘Rez” track as the ringtone, and I’m just getting my signature pic ready for the impending Blujack scenario I’m sure to find the time for.

Er, nice site, by the way, i happened across it t’other day while looking for MTB reviews and then lost an hour while looking at your photos and the blogs.

oh well, back to work…

:P

Heds said on August 26, 2004 1:07 PM

oh yeah, nearly forgot to mention. With the use of Salling clicker (already mentioned above) you can control one of those Squeezebox MP3 streamers via iTunes. Yeah, yeah, I know they come with a remote control already, but this is just one of the many concepts a gadget geek dreams of!!

Now, if I can just convince the missus!!

Ian said on August 26, 2004 1:58 PM

I also got a k700i recently and its wicked..being able to use an mp3 as ringtone is just mad.. nothing like hearing the intro to Megadeth’s Holy Wars whenever a buddy rings me ;)

Heds said on August 26, 2004 2:15 PM

MP3s as ringtones…

ok, howabout

Rage against the machine - Bombtrack
Deftones - Be quiet and drive far away
Korn - Thoughtless
Brown paper bag - Roni Size

or pretty much anything by Boards of Canada, Kraftwerk or Underworld

“it’s all good, it’s jiggy baby!”

Andy Budd said on August 26, 2004 8:30 PM

The battery life does seem to be pretty poor. I get between 2-3 days life at the moment, so not much more than my old, crappy phone :-(

I’ve bought one of those USB chargers which is cool. Although it’s a shame that it’s only a charget and doesn’t allow be to connect to my mac as well. I think a bluetooth dongle is definitely in order.

AkaXakA said on August 26, 2004 9:19 PM

Bluetooth sure is nice, but it sucks battery life even more I’ve heard (some friends of mine have a phone with it).

A tip they gave me (in case I ever get one :) is to turn it off at all times except when you’re actually trying to do stuff with it. Same applies to Infrared of course.

Jonathan Ingram said on August 27, 2004 2:32 PM

The phone looks really good but I’m holding out for the S700 (although I’ve heard it’s now known as the S710a). The features that Kevin Navia mentions above are the same reasons as to why I’m willing to wait for it. Until then I’ll carry on persevering with the Siemens A50 :/

fly said on August 30, 2004 5:51 PM

k700i Very outstanding.Now I still use the t610 of

Jon Secillano said on July 4, 2005 9:20 PM

K700i is great! its almost more than a phone… but i noticed that it can’t hold power that long… well, the power holds longer than my previous phone but it wasn’t that i expected… may i was just doin so many things on the phone at the same time… like playing music while taking pictures and my infra red is on. Over all its a 9 out of 10!!

tom said on August 18, 2005 10:35 PM

the phone is great but i am looking for a drm package for my mp3 and nowhre seems to do it has anyone got any sulotions?

ronnie b said on September 29, 2005 12:51 PM

i have used a number of sony ericson phones ie T100,T80i,T610,T630 in fact they have been so good and frendly,and now i want you frends of mine to give a free sony ericson K700i for i have leaned of its goodness .
i will be greatfull if my request is considered

AKIODE EMMANUEL said on September 29, 2005 5:57 PM

i would like to start dealing with u guyz coz when i bought my phone, most guyz were like dis is too much, so what am saying in essence is dat i want to become a dealer so dat when i buy, at thesame time people can buy from me too,. i must confess d fone is a very good fone dat every one should have.
hope to hear from u soon.
tanx.

+639183837008 said on September 30, 2005 1:10 PM

I just bought my k700i 4 days ago. Battery life is really worst. I mean..I made some calls and used some of its features and usually, it would just be less than a day till the battery totally drains. Bad Battery but i like the features. Quite impressive! Still i hate the battery!

Roselyn Faller said on October 19, 2005 8:51 AM

i like want to have sony ericson 700i.more power!

Soggy said on December 5, 2005 12:42 PM

Well, most reviews seem to be positive with this phone…
I was rather disappointed with mine.
1.Message alert tones cannot be changed to mp3, heck you are only allowed to choose from 6 crappy preinstalled tones.
2.The “notes submenu” in the organizer is SEVERELY limited. It allows only 8 notes to be stored and each note is limited in the number of characters. I expected the notes to be virtually unlimited because it boasts 41MB memory.
3.The calendar function is bad bad bad. You need to “make” an appointment of 30 minutes(the smallest allowed time) just to make a reminder. The “task” submenu does not allow you to scroll the calendar. Making birthday reminders is such a chore with this phone. I am also guessing that the number of reminders eat away at the allowed characters in the “notes” submenu.
4. Battery life is bad. really bad. Full charge lasts only 2 days and i rarely call, get calls, receive text, write text and bluetooth and IR are always turned off.

Nishant Joshi said on January 23, 2006 6:21 PM

sony erc k700i ph has one drawback …. camera sound cannot be turned off .. it makes a laud camera noice .

Jacob k said on April 3, 2006 8:07 PM

hey, where do u get drm packages for a vodafone k700i?? i have got some good tracks on my phone but i want to use them as ringtones!! please help

Ash said on April 8, 2006 1:22 PM

The k700i is a brilliant phone but the only problem is my network (t-mobile) is crap, but what a phone! definetly the best phone iv had,trust me iv had loads of phones lol. from Bash