Sony Ericsson have consistently held their place within the top 5 mobile phone manufacturers for over 10 years, this is in no small part due to the vast range of new handsets that the manufacturer releases on an almost weekly basis.

It does not seem that long ago when a Sony Ericsson mobile phone would conjure up images of square, brick shaped devices with a massive antenna poking out of the top of them, having said that these were still far smaller and feature rich than their competitors’ offerings, which were sometimes better at holding the door ajar than making wireless phone calls.

The merger between Sony and Ericsson took place 5 years ago and the combination of these two very capable manufacturers has produced some of the most sophisticated and functional mobile devices ever to grace the mobile market.

Sony Ericsson have catered for every users requirements, from the technofobes who shy away from new fandangled technology but realise they do have a need for a mobile phone if just for emergency situations right through to the gadget hungry, self proclaimed ‘geeks’ who relish the fact that they can own a the latest and most feature rich handsets.

At the bottom of Sony Ericsson’s portfolio where the handsets are simply for making and receiving calls and text messages there are the budget range. These include models such as the Sony Ericsson J100i and J230i.
These handsets are easy to use and do not include high-end features such as cameras, mp3 players and email support, they are simply there to make calling and texting a no hassle task. Because of the lack of these power draining applications these phones hold some of the longest battery lives of the Sony Ericsson range, ideal for people who literally just take their mobile phone with them in case of emergency.

Moving up the scale the next range of handsets encountered are the K-Series, these range from low specification, budget models with simple VGA cameras right through to 3.2 megapixel camera phones. This range is easily recognisable for its candy-bar design, there are no flips, clamshells or slider models, they are simply incased units with the display screen on the front of the phone with the keypad situated underneath and a camera lens on the back.
The low end of the K-Series offers models such as the K310i, a simple camera phone offering Bluetooth, Mp3 Player and 3D gaming. This model is small and light and not over fussy on design, ideal for users looking for a camera phone on a budget.
The mid range of K-Series features more technologically advanced models such as the Sony Ericsson K610i, a 3G enabled phone with a 2.0 megapixel camera and support for face to face video calling, this particular model is a great entry phone into the world of fast download speeds and mobile video that is 3G.
At the top of the K-series range there is the Sony Ericsson K810i, this device takes the camera to a high quality 3.2 megapixels with cybershot technology allowing for autofocus, zoom and flash. Other K810i features are Bluetooth, MP3 Player, FM Radio and 3G support.

The top of the range Sony Ericsson models and probably the most known of all of their phones are the W-series Walkman devices, this is where Sony really has their input of years of manufacturing Sony Walkman products such as portable CD players and MP3 players.
These are music orientated mobile phones, starting with the W300i that is a low budget, flip phone offering Walkman applications for uploading music tracks from a PC and creating playlists, finishing with the Sony Ericsson W880i, a slim and stylish music phone featuring a 2.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and 3G support, it is at the very top of the W-series and a gadget hunters dream device.

As Sony Ericsson move into the future they are already giving consumers a taste of what is to come, expect more and more megapixels from the cameras, new versions of the Walkman software for even more user defined options and new technologies for helping professionals in their businesses lives.

The mobile device is set to take over from standalone products such as cameras and MP3 players, in the future consumers should only need to leave the house with just one item to communicate, capture and amuse themselves and Sony Ericsson are certainly heading in the right direction to fulfill that dream.

By: Susan Hargreaves