In a phrase, the Sony Ericsson S700 is a camera with a phone, not a phone with a camera. I'm not going to do a full review because this phone is so similar to the K700i, but i will touch on the finer points of why you will want this phone, and the few reasons why you might not.
everything amout this phone revolves around the camera. it looks like a digital camera, and the buttons are placed as if it were a digital camera. the menu system is the exact same menu on my Sony DSC-T1, a standalone digital camera.
ah, but the secret is the phone scissors open into a phone with a keypad! In that case it acts and looks just like a K700, an awesome phone it it's own right. Great photos, good email, and great Java application support including the Multimedia API and the 3D graphics API. I would expect some great games to be written for this platform before it's all said and done.
The S700 has a memory stick duo (but NOT a memory stick duo pro) slot which allows up to 128 MB of video recording of unlimited length at 176 x 144 and shoots pictures at 1280 x 960 which look superb. the best i've seen.
if you don't feel like going there, here's one here:
the camera is a little grainy under low light conditions, but i could say the same thing about my DSC-T1, and almost any other digital camera for that matter.
one of the great things about this camera is a lens cover, which has a switch to easily open and close the cover. I've always wondered how the dust fleeing from my pocket to the lens on your typical cameraphone affected performance of taking photographs, but with a built in lens cover, i no longer have to worry. this is truly ingenious.
the phone itself is totally operable without opening up the keypad in most instances. you can take calls and place calls that are in your phonebook just by using the smartly placed keys, and i must say, this is most intelligently placed "back" button of any phone i've used. it's just in the right place and intuitive to use.
everything else about the S700 is pure sony ericsson. it's expandable via Java applications and great for ringtones and a small amount of mp3s.
my only complaint with this phone is the use of memory stick duo instead of memory stick duo pro, which would have allowed expansion up to 1 GIG, which would have truly made it a real digital camera with a phone attached, and even a decent mp3 player. the way it stands, 128 MB just isn't enough to run anything these days.
ratings
phone: 8
texting: 8
mms: 8
email: 7
browser: 8
pda features: 7
camera: 10
battery: 6
usability: 8
durability: 8
stability: 9
gameplay potential: 9
third party apps: 8
fashion: 10
out-of-box accessories: 9
