Sony Ericsson Vivaz for AT&T Review

Introduction:

Back to back, Sony Ericsson didn't waste any time between the recent launch of the Xperia X10 on AT&T as they are following up to it very quickly with yet another long awaited smartphone. Approximately five months ago, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz came storming onto the scene as being the company's first device to sport 720p high-definition video recording which was still seen as a premium back then. However, since its launch, there have been a rash of top notch smartphones crowding the scene that have set the bar in this specialized category. Luckily though, it's sporting a $79.99 on-contract price right from the start which could hopefully attract customers with its wide array of features packed into its shell.

The package contains:

• Sony Ericsson Vivaz
• microUSB Cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide
• 2GB microSD card
• Stylus

Design:

Nothing painstakingly different with AT&T's version of the Vivaz as it retains the exact contemporary look which does well in making it stand out among the usual set of industrial designed smartphones out there. The curved design of the handset cleverly imitates the styling and look of some usual point and shoot cameras, which it's naturally looking to imitate, but especially feels comforting for a smartphone. Its plastic shell might scratch just a little bit too easily, but it undeniably reduces its overall weight (3.42 oz) while still retaining a respectable build quality. In the end, its charismatic look is something that will win the hearts of just about anyone – even more when it could potentially replace a few other gadgets in your closet.



You can compare the Sony Ericsson Vivaz with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

As much as anyone would prefer the saturated colors offered by a Super AMOLED panel, the 3.2” resistive touchscreen which has support for 16.7 million colors handles equally well on its own. Colors have a rich look that easily contends against the higher contrast ratios offered by other superior panels. Combine that with its resolution of 360x640 pixels, the quality is more than enough to view text and fine detail without straining your eyes. However, it handles poorly in outdoor conditions where the sun is in direct view – making it almost unrecognizable unless you're shading it. Finally, the resistive panel might require some force with either your finger or stylus, but we find it more than accurate.

Three decently defined elongated buttons dominate the area directly below the touchscreen and offer a subtle response when pressed – these include the send, menu, and end keys. To the left, we find the 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port hidden behind a plastic flap, and a small notch for the speakerphone. While on the right edge, we're presented to the two-level camera shutter key, video camera button, and skinny looking volume rocker – all of which are reasonably sized. There is a dedicated power/lock button on the top side of the handset while a spot on the bottom allows you to tether the included stylus to it. Sneaking to the back cover, we see the distinct appearance of the 8.1-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash that's highlighted by Sony Ericsson's branding. Yanking off the rear plastic cover will present you access to the usual set of internals such as the microSD card slot, battery, and SIM card slot.

Interface and Features:

Seeing that this is the second domestic carrier offering to feature S60 5th Edition, the Nokia Nuron 5230 being the first, we find the experience to be more than satisfactory after checking out the lackluster performance on the Nuron. The interface of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is personalized in the same way as the version available with the software-updated 12-megapixel Satio – a Flash-based theme developed by Sony Ericsson divides the screen into five separate tabs. Each of them offers varied functionality and conveniences like favorite contacts, Twitter following, browsing of pictures and videos as well as several shortcuts to functions that you are allowed to customize. Our European counterparts may find the platform experience blase since they've seen it before, but for the US market, it provides for a refreshing experience that will require some time adjustment – still, it proves to be more than desirable.



There is no difference between the phonebook and organizer applications available with the Sony Ericsson Satio, Nokia N97 (mini), 5800 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic and all other devices running Symbian S60 5th Edition. The functionality of the programs is just as good as ever and some of their distinguishing features include convenient phone book searching based on the input method adopted in navigational systems, comfortable calendar event entry, handy browsing of calendar schedules, etc.


Strangely, Facebook isn't entwined into the homescreen panel interface, but the dedicated app on the phone handles well versus other platform versions. However, we do like the fact that accessing Twitter can be done directly from the homescreen – plus it works rather well in accepting most of our needs. Sadly, there is no contacts synchronization with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, which is something that can potentially be missed by some. Finally, AT&T throws in their AT&T Social Net app that's frequently found on their quick messaging phones.

Composing messages can be a task in itself due mostly to the small confines of the touchscreen and the slow pace needed in getting things to accurately register. We're presented to three input methods which will require some practice – the alphanumeric keyboard, handwriting recognition, and the full QWERTY keyboard. Naturally, the latter will offer the best experience – but only the landscape offering since you'll need to rely on the stylus in touching the tiny buttons with the portrait one.



The email client is the standard application that comes with the operating system itself. It supports multiple accounts, although switching between them is somewhat clumsy, because you must disconnect from the currently active one in order to log into another. Moreover, the application does not support HTML, which is a definite drawback these days. As we have already had the chance to say in our reviews of other cell phones based on Symbian S60 5th Edition, we would prefer the comfy Nokia Messaging any day (take a look at our review of the Nokia E75 to find out more), but since this is a Sony Ericsson phone, users will have to put up with what's available.


Instant messaging can be accomplished using the app found on the phone – which supports AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.

Of course, the phone does not include the Ovi Store – something which is alarming in itself. Instead, you're going to have to rely on AT&T's AppCenter to download additional items onto the phone. Although this might not pose too much of a problem for some new owners who aren't necessarily in touch with the Symbian platform, it might be a significant issue with users who want want to get the most of their phones.

Camera:

It's all about numbers, right? As we have seen countless times before though, a higher megapixel count doesn't necessarily dictate better quality images all the time. The images captured with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz are more than good looking thanks to their high detail – but colors still had a soft look to them; lacking the natural tones one would expect. Regardless, most people will be satisfied with the overall quality it has to bring to the table – plus there are a myriad of shooting modes and options to choose from. Indoors though, it manages to retain some decent looking colors, but there is an observable loss in fine detail. Exactly like the recent Xperia X10, the Vivaz's LED flash remains active when it's in use, however, it doesn't remarkably improve the quality in low lighting conditions seeing that it produces a fair amount of noise. All in all, most people will fancy the images captured by the camera and should be more than enough in printing out a quick 4” x 6” photo.





Six months ago, the Vivaz managed to surprise many people with its ability to shoot 720p videos. Since then, we've seen a barrage of smartphones flaunt the high-definition recording option once limited to a select few handsets. The videos captured by the Sony Ericsson Vivaz are passable, of average quality. However, its capture rate of 23fps easily holds it back from attaining the high marks achieved by the iPhone 4's 30fps. We do enjoy the fact though that it's one of the few devices to offer continuous auto-focus throughout a session.



Multimedia:

We're once again greeted to the likeable Flash interface on the Vivaz which ultimately will lead to its atypical music player. The usual set of items are appropriately displayed such as the album cover, track information, and on-screen controls. Although it's quite functional at its core, it doesn't take advantage of the presentation found with the Flash based interface it employs in navigating content. Audio from the speaker is mute sounding and didn't provide the additional power needed in truly exerting powerful tones to make the experience well rounded.


Yet again, the Vivaz excelled in playing a movie trailer we had encoded in MPEG-4 1280 x 720 resolution. Thanks to the sheer brilliance of colors the display is able to muster on screen, it is supplemented with smooth visuals that didn't hiccup at any instance during its entire playback. Sure it doesn't boast some of the larger sized panels we've been treated to of late with competing handsets, but the Sony Ericsson Vivaz still has enough horsepower to present users with an exceptional movie watching experience.


In a way, we're a bit saddened by the fact that the Vivaz is only preloaded with a measly sized 2GB microSD card. Come to think about its 720p video recording prowess, this might prove to be insufficient for some, but thankfully it'll accept cards up to 32GB in capacity.

Data and Connectivity:

Sharing the same quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM options with its European counterpart, AT&T's version actually offers tri-band (850/1900/2100 MHz) UMTS connectivity – which should be a great solution for the international wanderer. Additionally, it packs Bluetooth 2.0 to allow a handful of wireless devices to connect to it. Finally, you can always opt to use the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g that's on board if your connection to the mobile network is inadequate.

The biggest thing we were hoping to see is support for kinetic scrolling with the platform, but unfortunately it's still omitted. Though, it isn't necessarily a deal breaker as the web browser is able to load pages in a timely manner while rendering it exactly like a desktop browser. Zooming is a manual process and can be achieved by either performing double taps on the display or simply resorting to clicking the zoom icon that will allow you to choose a specific level. Although there aren't as many innovations to be found with S60's web browser over something like Android, it still presents an acceptable experience.

Performance:

Calling quality isn't one of the highlights of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz since there is some static noise which can be heard on our end, however, it doesn't entirely interfere with our conversations. Thanks to the strong tones emitted by the handset's earpiece, we were still able to make out the voices of our callers. However, the same cannot be said about the other end of the line as our callers stated that our voice sounded rather crackly. And switching to the speakerphone, it presented some mute and weak tones which makes it difficult to comprehend full words at certain times.

During our time using the Vivaz, we didn't experience any issues regarding signal strength as we used it in the greater Philadelphia area.

Power users will especially find the battery life out of the Vivaz to be more than equipped in providing a solid day of heavy usage. Now that's something worthwhile seeing that we manually set the brightness level of the phone to its maximum setting. Obviously, more juice can be achieved by setting the brightness to a lower position and simply managing running applications better. The manufacturer has the phone rated for 13 hours of talk and 430 hours of standby time.

Conclusion:

Following a similar release schedule like the Xperia X10 we've recently checked out, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz manages to retain that same level of luster we found when it was launched a while back – which is mainly due to its on-contract price. Come to think of it, this has to be one of the better S60 5th Edition handset released stateside by a national carrier that we've been lucky to experience. Although it might not lay claim to having the biggest or baddest camera specs out there, it suffices in achieving a reasonable level that's considerably supplemented with its strikingly good looks. When it's priced at $79.99 and packs all of the goodies that the smartphone platform has to offer, it does make for one rather appealing device – despite being launched much later than expected.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Video Review: