Sony Ericsson K660i Review

So dazzling are the bright stars of the Walkman and Cyber-shot range that it’s easy to forget that Sony Ericsson launches handsets outside of its music and camera crew. The sleek W890i and 5MP C902 may have you swooning, but if it’s web surfing you’re after the K660i deserves your attention.

On first glance the K660i will hardly get you salivating, looking like your average Sony Ericsson 3G candybar. Its mirrored façade, rounded edges and funky coloured stripe make it sharper dressed compared to similar stable mates like the K530i, but otherwise you’re seemingly in the presence of a respectable mid-ranger.

Web slinger
Don’t be fooled by the apparent workaday rep, though, because the K660i is a web demon. Not only does its surf to the latest HSDPA download speeds but also sports handy browser shortcuts to make your mobile internet experience less exasperating.

Web surfers can choose between seeing the full fat internet in all its glory or trimmed to fit the two-inch display. Plump for the former and you can view the entire page (in portrait or landscape), zooming in and out of nominated sections using the Nokia MiniMap-esque technique with a virtual mouse pointer making web link selection more accurate.

Take a shortcut
With an up-to-date HSDPA engine and a strong signal, pages load like the clappers but it’s the shortcut internet keys that improve browsing no end. When in web mode, the 3, 6, 9 and # keys give one-touch access to the Google search bar, bookmarks, home page and the zoom function, making your on-fly web life so much simpler.

Outside of the mobile interweb, the K660i’s other features are a potpourri of good, the bad and the average. The two-megapixel snapper, for instance, is pretty pedestrian and with no autofocus or flash it’s a case of point and shoot and hope.

Walkman in disguise
Luckily, the music player is way more accomplished, with Mega Bass to boost the low-end rumble, playlist creation and support for Stereo Bluetooth should you live a wireless life. It sounds lively and punchy through the supplied headphones but the supplied 256MB Memory Stick Micro card won’t be nearly enough for it to become your main player.

Sony Ericsson has been more generous with the mobile trimmings, embedding TrackID music recognition software, Google Maps, an FM radio and an under-one-roof multimedia menu system first seen on the W910i. It’s also improved email set-up to involve just your POP3 account address and password.

The K660i is clearly aimed at web-literate and social networkers in their late-teens to late twenties who constantly tinker with the web and email. It’s destined to turn up free on entry-level monthly tariffs or around £130 on prepay, making it an affordable proposition. Camera apart, the K660i is tidy mid-ranger web phone that deserves more than to be overshadowed by its Walkman and Cyber-shot brethren.