When people are searching for a high-quality cell phone capable to take clear pictures they usually look for a Sony Ericsson camera phone or newest models from Nokia. Unfortunately, if a built-in digital camera specifies more than 1.3MP for the picture resolution it isn’t the best criteria to measure this capability. There are 1.3MP camera phones that capture high-quality photos and 3MP models that have worse results even compared to a 0.3MP-capable camera. That’s why it is so important to look first at the brand and make some research before purchasing.




As the most wanted camera phones are those from Sony Ericsson cell phone manufacturer, I will provide you some aspects of the models available in the United States and United Kingdom.
In US you can choose a Sony Ericsson camera phone from C902, K850i, Z550a, K550i, Z710i, K790a, K510a, and K750i, while in Europe you can find the C902, K850i, K800i, K770i, S302, C905, C702, K550im, K810i, K550i, Z710i, Z550i, Z530i and the K750i.




Sony Ericsson C902 is available in Europe starting this month and will come soon in the US too, featuring a 5MP camera with autofocus, image stabilizer, video recording at 30 fps, and flash, capable of capturing 2592 x 1944-pixel pictures. It has a secondary video call camera, and its main phone functionalities include a 2-inch TFT LCD display of 256K colors, MP3 player, 160MB internal storage, Memory Stick Micro card slot, 3.6Mbps transfer speeds via 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, push email, Instant Messaging, HTML browsing, RSS reader, FM radio with RDS, TrackID, picture blogging, and up to 9 hours of talk time.
Without a contract, it costs about $530.




The K850i costs around $450 and comes with a built-in 5MP camera of 2592 x 1944 pixels, providing autofocus, 30 fps video recording, Xenon flash, 3LED video light, auto lens cover, and a secondary camera for video calls. The 2.2-inch TFT display has a color capability of 256K and the cell phone has MP3 player, 40MB internal memory, Memory Stick Micro card slot, 3.6Mbps transfer speeds via 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, Instant Messaging, HTML, RSS reader, FM radio with RDS, motion sensor for auto-rotate, TrackID, picture blogging, and provides up to 9 hours of talk time using a Li-Po 930 mAh battery.




If you prefer clamshells, you may take a look at the Z550a, a Sony Ericsson flip camera phone available in the US with its European correspondent Z550i.
Both versions of the same cell phone model feature 1.3MP, 1280 x 1024 picture resolution and video recording capability. If you would compare this Sony Ericsson camera phone with a Nokia E51 you’d see a big difference in the photo quality. Even with few megapixels, the Z550 reveals clear pictures with cool colors, along with other functionalities such as 1000 phone book entries, 20MB internal memory, up to 1GB storage space via an M2 card, Bluetooth, email, HTML, RSS reader, push to talk, FM radio with RDS, multimedia player, voice memo, and 5 hours for talking. A Sony Ericsson Z550Ii is available at about $250.




Sony Ericsson K800i is available in Europe at about $500, not yet in the US, and is an advanced camera phone featuring 3.15MP with autofocus, video recording capability, Xenon flash, 2048 x 1536 pixels for photos, and a secondary videocall camera. The other functionalities are: a 2-inch display of 256K colors, MP3 player, 64MB internal storage capacity, M2 card slot, 384kbps 3G speeds, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, IM, xHTML, FM radio with RDS, picture blogging, and 7 hours talk time.




Same type of built-in camera is encountered at Sony Ericsson K770i launched in Europe, a $300-priced model with 3.15MP, LED flash, secondary camera, a 1.9-inch display of 256K colors, MP3 player, 16MB memory, card slot, 384kbps speeds, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, IM, email, HTML, RSS feeds, TrackID, FM radio with RDS, picture blogging, but providing double amount of time for talking.




Sony Ericsson K550i has a 2MP camera, 1632 x 1224 pixels, autofocus, video recorder, flash, while the main phone features include a 1.9-inch 256K-colors display, MP3 player, 77MB memory, card slot, Bluetooth with A2DP, infrared port, USB 2.0, email, IM, HTML, RSS feeds, FM radio with RDS, TrackID, Adobe Photoshop Albume, picture blogging, and 7 hours talk time.




The Sony Ericsson K550im version, which is only for Europe, differs by the fact that it features http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-mode i-mode, the popular wireless service in Japan, which is an inexpensive method of packet-switched high-speed communication, providing users access to email, sports results, weather forecast, games, financial services and ticket booking. Phone models with i-mode have a dedicated button for the service.




Another Sony Ericsson camera phone is the Z710i, a nice clamshell in masculine style with features like 256K-colors display, secondary mono display, MP3 player, 10MB memory, card slot, EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, HTML, RSS reader, push to talk, FM radio with RDS, 10 hours of continuous talk time, while the built-in camera is a 2MP with video recording capability and 1600 x 1200 pixels for pictures.




The K790a has a 3.15MP camera built-in with 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution for photos, autofocus, video recorder and Xenon flash, while in addition it features a 2-inch 256K-colors display, MP3 player, 64MB memory, card slot, 236.8 kbps EDGE speeds, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, infrared port, USB 2.0, email, IM, HTML, FM radio with RDS, picture blogging, and 7 hours of battery life. It is available in the US at $499.




K510a Sony Ericsson camera phone has a medium performance digital camera functionality of 1.3MP, featuring 1280 x 1024 pixels and video recorder, while coming with a 256K-color display, MP3 player, 1000 entries phone book, 28MB memory, no card slot, Bluetooth, infrared port, USB, email, IM, HTML, picture editor, exchangeable covers and 6 hours battery life.




One of the most popular Sony Ericsson camera phones is the K750i, available in both Europe and US, with a great camera and other functionalities at an affordable price of around $200. It has 2MP, 1632 x 1224 pixels, autofocus, video recorder and flash, in addition to a 256K-color display, MP3 player, 38MB memory, card slot, Bluetooth, infrared port, USB, email, IM, Xhtml, FM radio with RDS, voice memo, and 9 hours of battery life.




It’s time to take a look at the last 5 Sony Ericsson camera phones prepared for Europe and we’ll start with the S302, a new model that will be available in quarter 4 this year. With a 2MP camera, 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution for still images, flash and video recorder you can be sure you’re getting a high-quality Sony Ericsson camera phone without spending a large amount of money on it. It sports a 2-inch display of 256K colors, MP3 player, 1000 phone book entries, 20MB internal memory expandable via a Memory Stick Micro card, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, Xhtml, FM radio, TrackID, and 7 hours talk time.




About the Sony Ericsson C905 we wrote before and now I can consider it the best camera phone deal on the market. It will probably be expensive when it will be released at the end of this year, but it has the most advanced built-in camera, 8MP, autofocus, image stabilizer, 30 fps video recording, Xenon flash, and 3264 x 2448 pixel resolution for still images. There is also a secondary videocall camera.
The autofocus characteristic corrects the focus on a subject automatically, while the image stabilizer is a technique meant to eliminate the blur effect when the camera shakes during shooting.
Xenon flash emits high-intensity white light and can be accurately controlled.
The display is large, measuring 2.4 inches in diagonal, with 256K colors, enough to browse web pages, pictures and video clips on the Internet, using the accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate to view pages in landscape mode when you turn the handset sideways. It comes with MP3 player, 1000 phone book entries, 160MB memory, M2 card slot, 3G HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g module, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, Instant Messaging, HTML, RSS reader, GPS receiver, A-GPS, geotagging, FM radio with RDS, video player, picture blogging, and TV out, while the 930 mAh Li-Po battery provides up to 9 hours of talk time and 280 hours of standby.




Among the Sony Ericsson C702 features we find a built-in 3.15MP camera with 2048 x 1536 pixels, autofocus, 30 fps video recording capability, and flash. The secondary camera is not missing.
This model was released in June bringing a 2.2-inch display of 256K colors, MP3 player, 160MB memory, card slot, 3G HSDPA connectivity for up to 3.6Mbps speeds, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, email, IM, HTML, RSS reader, GPS, A-GPS, FM radio with RDS, video player, picture blogging, and 7 hours of battery life in talking mode. It costs $450.




K810i is another 3G model featuring a 3.15MP camera with autofocus, video recorder, Xenon flash and 2038 x 1536 pixels. In addition there are a secondary camera, a 256K-color display, MP3 player, 64MB memory, card slot, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, 384 kbps speeds, email, IM, HTML, RSS reader, FM radio with RDS, TrackID functionality, picture blogging, and a battery providing 10 hours of talk time.




The Z530i is a Sony Ericsson camera phone with a medium-performance built-in 1.3MP digital model, video recording and lots of other medium-level features such as a 65K-color display, secondary mono display, MP3 player, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, infrared port, email, IM, HTML, RSS reader, exchangeable covers, but 9 hours of talk time.

As you can see, Sony Ericsson handsets have some common features like the RSS reader, which allows you to subscribe to all the news websites you use to read on the Internet, or directly from paper, so you to receive their latest updates on your cell phone. Also, some models provide Picture Blogging, meaning you can upload your coolest pictures made with the built-in camera, directly on blogs.
Having the email functionality enabled you receive messages from your friends with the possibility to send your own emails to the others as well, this when you are not online on any Instant Messaging application to chat with them directly via your phone.
The A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) transfers high quality audio like stereo MP3s from your cell phone to your car radio.
Assisted-GPS enhances the GPS capability by locating your phone after finding the cell site it is connected to, improves the satellite signal, provides orbital data for the GPS satellites to the phone, adds knowledge of ionospheric conditions and other errors affecting the GPS signal so it can make precise calculations.
And lets’ not forget about the geotagging, a new cool technology used with digital cameras, which allows you to add geographical identification metadata to your pictures, so at a later time, using applications such as Google Earth, to remember where and when was each picture taken.

To conclude, I am convinced that a Sony Ericsson camera phone is not only a great tool for taking pictures and filming while on the go, but also a multi-functional high-end device providing all that you need to stay up to date with the world news, retouch your documents to finish your work, and have the best entertainment break.