The Sony Ericsson K850i has one of the most attractive designs we’ve ever seen, with a lot of details and sleek colours. The box layout and presentation are also worth to notice and contribute to the general design of this device.

The camera is obviously the main focus of the K850i, so a design was necessary so that the phone resembled a camera, but at the same time looked as a a powerful multimedia phone. This affected placement of ports and keys. The K850i surely had more than we expected, and in this case, you can judge a book by its cover, just because the cover is wonderful.

Read on as we take you on a journey exploring the K850i’s presentation.

The Sony Ericsson K850i Cybershot retail package includes the following:

• Sony Ericsson K850i Cybershot handset;
• Travel Charger;
• Stereo Headset HPM-62;
• USB cable;
• 512MB M2 memory card;
• Cybershot guide in 3 languages;
• SAR information;
• User Manual in 3 languages;
• PC Suite CD

If you read my usual reviews, you would know that I’m fussy about boxes, even though I don’t do unboxing videos. The retail packaging should always be original and attractive to the eye. Most of the time it should be simple, clean, neat, but always original.

Picture: K850i’s box

The K850i’s box is somewhat similar to the K800’s one. I always complain about NSeries boxes as they all have the same boring basic design and layout. This box has the same layout and design of its predecessor, but there are so few Cybershot phones around that you don’t really get bored of seeing these boxes. They are very glossy, simple, and attractive.

Picture: K850i’s box from another angle

The layout continues very simple. There is a top cover in black with a blue line and a small circle with a blue outline cutting through it, matching the phone’s camera keys’ blue backlight. There are no fancy graffiti such as the ones we saw on the Samsung i450 box.

Picture:K850i on the top platform of the box

The top platform is a landscape drawing, a very detailed landscape, but yet, simple. There is a lot of grass, few mountains, trees, and a path somewhere in the middle. The sun is covered by clouds, but its rays shine through them. Most people won’t ever take notice of it, but I truly enjoy it.

Picture: K850’s box layout

After you remove the two platforms, you find two black boxes. One contains all the cables: the USB cable, the headset, and charger, while the other box contains all the books: user manuals, SAR information, and the PC Suite. Once you open these boxes too often, the black part starts wearing off to a white colour. Cheap decoration? Hmmm…

Picture:K850i’s accessories organization

Picture:K850i’s accessories

Picture:K850i’s books and PC Suite

Picture:K850i’s stereo headset and USB cable

The features aren’t listed anywhere on the box, not at the bottom such as in Nokias, nor on the sides, such as Samsungs. On the accessories side, I’m disappointed that the earphones don’t have an audio controller, even though this isn’t a music phone, it would be a pleasant addition; there is no tripod, such as the one featured on the user manual. It would certainly be a consumer winner; and there is no TV-out either, it would be great to connect the phone to a TV and play media, such as the one captured by this Cybershot.

Although the K850i was launched at a time when it should compete against the N95, Nokia quickly released a response, in the form of the N82, and as both the N82 and K850i are candybar in form factor, they are suitable to compete against each other…or maybe not.

Picture: Nokia N82 Black, Nokia N95 8GB

The K850i has fantastic cosmetic details all over it, Sony Ericsson has done a hell of a job on it. I’ll go over them slowly and not just give you the most attractive bits.

Picture:K850i next to a N82

The front and back piece of the K850i’s housing has a reflective black colour, while the sides are of a grey colour. There is a dark blue line going around the phone. The colours of the frontal keypad are divided in three: blue for the d-pad, black for the numeric keys, and grey for the call, clear, and “My Shortcuts” keys. The D-Pad is one piece only, but as there are bumps  on each side, it becomes comfortable to operating it.

Picture:Close-up on the K850i’s keypad and touch keys

The selection keys don’t have a colour to them really, as they are touch keys. Unlike the LG Chocolate’s ones, these keys actually feel nice, and they are so close to the screen that they make you feel that the bottom of the display is touch sensitive. This was done on purpose, as even the GUI acts like you are pressing on the display when you touch the keys. I’ve imagined having a full touchscreen, and even though the display is quite small, it would definitely suit the GUI. It would be a welcome addition, but the touchscreen market for camera-phones isn’t developed yet, the only ones who are playing tough at it are Apple, LG, and HTC.

Picture:Close-up on K850i’s keypad

Also on the numeric keypad, there are two keypad backlights: blue and white. The white backlight is used for almost every function of the device. The blue light comes on for the camera function only. The keypad backlight itself is controlled for an individual key, for example: when put to charge, the light acts like a wave, going from the bottom row of the keypad to the top, and back again. When in the camera mode, the blue backlight affects the right column of keys only, providing light to the camera option shortcuts located on that side. Not easy to explain, but certainly very well done indeed. I hope the video helps to explain:

If you look at the keys themselves, they are very, very small, but they are raised and have large spaces between them. A bit more surface area would be welcome, but the keys provide a comfortable press already. The only way to test this is to go on MXit, South Africa’s IM client.

On the top of the device there is a small top button – which is used not only as the ‘on/off’ key, but also as the profile change, keylock, and flight mode activation key – and the blue line going around the phone. At the edges, the housing bends at an angle, making the phone look less like a cube, and giving it a nice form.

Picture:K850i’s top button

The left side of the phone is empty, there are no buttons, just the blue line that goes around the phone. The right side of the device has more than just keys, there a switch which sets between either image capture, video capture, or media playback. There are zoom buttons, an autofocus button, and a camera lens button. The latter button opens the camera lens automatically, much different from the usual manual lens covers such as the N82’s one, N95’s one, or even the G800’s one. The K850i’s details are a lot more different to other phone’s details in its category, making it very original. They are always welcome as it’s something new. It’s also much better than having no camera lens, such as the N95 8GB.

Picture:K850i’s camera switch, button

Picture:N82 above the K850i, comparing the camera keys sizes

Picture:N82 over the K850i contrasting an empty side of the K850i, to the one of the N82 with memory card slot, USB port, and charging port

Picture: K850i and N82 with camera lens covered

Picture:K850i and N82 with camera lens cover open

Picture:K850i’s camera lens cover and G800’s camera lens cover

The K850i has an ambient light sensor located on the top left corner, a speaker located on the middle top section and divided in 7 holes. On the top right corner there is a camera for 3G video calls. On the back part there is a camera situated on the middle of the housing, a Xenon flash on the left top corner, and just below it, a LED that functions as a flash light, as an autofocus assist lamp, and flash for video recording. A speaker is also situated on the right part of the back cover, and you might be asking yourself how the sound comes out….There are two almost invisible bumps on the bottom right corner and on the top right corner which life the device so that the sound can come out.

Picture:K850i’s top of display featuring the speaker, ambience light sensor, and camera

Picture:Back part of the K850i featuring the speaker and camera

A surprise to me is the lack of a back cover. I was getting used to see Sony Ericsson incorporating small back covers, but this time they scratched it out in full. You can only remove the SIM card and the memory card by popping out a slot such as on the Nokia E90 Communicator. There doesn’t seem to be a way to read the IMEI number on the device, besides via software (press *#06# on the dialler).

Picture:SIM Card and M2 memory card slot of the K850i

Picture:SIM card and M2 memory card popped out from their slot

The bottom part of the phone has the microphone, Fast Port, and the slot for the neck wire. Sony Ericsson should start including USB ports instead of the Fast Port, not just because it’s becoming widely used, but also because of the ease-of-use when compared to inserting and removing a Fast Port cable.

Picture:Bottom part of the K850i

There are only few design faults which I have noticed: the glossy surface, although it doesn’t attract fingerprints in excess; and the light leakage from the bottom, and lateral sides of the numeric keypad, which is only visible in dark conditions.

Picture: From left to right: Samsung G800, Nokia N82, Sony Ericsson K850i, Nokia N95 8GB

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