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Samsung’s i8910HD was the first phone capable of shooting in glorious 720p high definition when it launched back in summer 2009. And with no challengers emerging to take it on since, it’s been free to strut down easy street – until now.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz matches the i8901HD’s ability to shoot 720p video and also runs the Symbian Series 60 OS. But the similarities end there; while the Samsung can intimidate the iPhone with its brutish physique, the compact and lightweight Vivaz is immensely pocketable. In fact, it might be the smallest HD recorder we’ve seen.
Curvaceous model
The Vivaz also sports Sony Ericsson’s new ‘human curvature’ design, bringing some much needed style to the slabbish touchphone genre and providing a comfortable feel in the palm. The blue tinted side panels also add a dash of subtle colour.
Disappointingly, the Vivaz apes its 12MP-papping stablemate, the Satio, by featuring a resistive touchscreen. It’s a familiar tale of double taps to get a response and fitful scrolling, while typing out messages on the virtual QWERTY requires aggressive prods.
At least Sony Ericsson has skinned the Symbian OS with its own likeable homescreen design. It follows the Satio’s format of five sliding screens for favourite contacts, customisable shortcuts, Twitter app and media, accessed either by tabs or by a quick swipe of the finger.
The Vivaz’s overall performance is generally pretty nippy, but as we’ve found with most Sony Ericsson phones, the accelerometers are slow to react with much lag during the transition between portrait and landscape.
Straight to video
The fact that the Vivaz has a dedicated video button next to the camera shutter key shows it takes its HD video responsibilities more seriously than the i8910HD, and it took just seconds to fire up the camcorder.
It’s also the first ever phone to feature continuous autofocus and this proved very quick to find its eye when the handset followed a moving subject.
The Vivaz may lack the i8910’s richer colours and stronger contrast but it delivers smoother footage, reaching its 24fps more efficiently. And once you’ve finished shooting you can upload straight to YouTube or eBlogger via Wi-Fi.
But be warned: HD video gobbles up memory like fat kid in a pic n’mix so you’ll need to invest in a high capacity microSD card, especially if you’re stashing other multimedia clobber like music and photos.
Photo opp
With Sony Ericsson’s fine cameraphone pedigree, it’s no surprise to find the Vivaz is a pretty mean photographer, with the 8.1MP snapper taking vibrant pics and particularly excelling in lowlight conditions, even without the help of its LED flash. Standout photo mods include touch-focus and Smile Shutter tech and our only gripe is the lack of lens protection.
Sony’s now familiar ‘Media cross bar’ ushers in your photo, music and video content. Like the Satio, the music player is bereft of any audio enhancements, although thankfully it does boast 3.5mm headphone jack. The Vivaz’s tapered design does mean it’s shifted to the side rather than up top but it’s certainly better than nothing.
Review continues after the break...
If you’re looking to supplement the Vivaz with a range apps from Sony’s PlayNow Arena then you’ll be severely disappointed. Not only is choice very limited but there’s a serious shortage of free apps to get you started, although Spotify is certainly worth downloading.
If you can live with the erratic touchscreen, then the Vivaz is a stylish little smartphone. It edges the i8910 HD as the best video recording phone but can’t match similar 720p shooting pocket camcorders for quality. That said it’s still a capable stand-in if you don’t want to clutter your trouser pouch with too many gadgets.
Comments
Melancholia
1 year ago
Modern technologies far exceed forecasts made a hundred years ago by the specialists. This gadget is a perfect example.
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Melancholia
1 year ago
The competition in the telecommunications gadgets business is becoming harder. It will be very hard to any company to keep itself on top.
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vickychao
1 year ago
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jasonhowie
1 year ago
Antallet af mennesker, der har forretninger viden som en vare er ikke meget, hvis man sammenligner med den samlede befolkning i et samfund, samfund, nation eller stat. De er i kredsen af økonomiske eliter på forskellige niveauer og har meget let adgang til magt og store virksomheder.
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petermarco
1 year ago
Vivaz is a good cellphone I should say. I like the phone totally a good multimedia phones I ever saw before.
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
Nowadays, phone with android operation system are booming in everywhere. People prefer to use it and the graphics are very good.
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1 year ago
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erickpurple
1 year ago
Comics with a picture of the robot at the beginning of this article is very sharp. I got to smile, because they feel sarcastically by the image. It's really a funny picture. arc flash
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1 year ago
It's amazing how a mother could have such a solid day, but everything can be resolved properly and in accordance with the schedule. discount memory foam mattress
ickypicker
2 years ago
had mine 3 months now battery crap phone crap thinking of swapping it for a piece of string and 2 empty soup cans
Memx
3 years ago
Well, I'll write a proper review when it arrives in a few days, but in the mean time, Id like to say that I got this phone on Orange with UNLIMITED texts and 300 MINUTES for £20 per month. And with that, I got the phone for free. Its a 24 months contract but definitely worth it. Its a Sony Ericsson only deal, so click on Vivaz on their site, click buy, and simply click on the Orange deal below it. Its great!
grahamrix
3 years ago
I’ve had my Vivaz for four days and I’m quite pleased. But it’s rather like a new girlfriend: who’s quite cute but isn’t going be long-term 'special'. Some folk have suggested the Vivaz feels cheap and plasticy, but this is unfair. She’s made of plastic and is lightweight but she is well-made and seems like quality to me. The touch screen has also been criticised, but that too is unfair. It’s a resistive touch screen, and for typing that’s ideal. It’s a very good resistive screen; - though for ‘kids’, who want to ‘play’ with their phones, a capacitive screen might be more amusing. For ‘grown ups’ a resistive screen (or capacitive with pull-out qwerty keyboard) is best. The main problem with the Vivaz is the operating system. It’s not very elegant. It seems to have been written for a non-touch screen phone, and then very hastily modified for the Vivaz. My last phone, an LG Viewty, was a much nicer phone in this respect: everything worked as you’d expect. With the Vivaz you go through too many screens for even the simplest commands. Of course, the Vivaz can do a lot more than a Viewty. For example: she'll list the fifty nearest restaurants (or pubs, or cultural events, etc) give you their details, a 3D view of the route and audible instructions on how to get there (complete with details of how far, how long it'll take, depending on whether you are walking, jogging, cycling or motoring). It will even warn you of speed cameras enroute! And the Vivaz camera is amazingly good. The Vivaz is also very good value. You can pay less then £200 and then £10 per month for unlimited texts and more talk-minutes than I’ll use. My first ever ‘mobile’ phone, in 1985, was £2000, and had to be permanently connected to my car, and could do nothing other than make and receive phone calls. So, things are moving in the right direction for us old fogies. GR