Sony Ericsson K530i

Before anyone starts wondering, no, this is not an AD. I have recently become the proud owner of a K530i Sony Ericsson mobile phone! :) For the past few months, my old phone was rather poor in getting reception. In fact, there were areas where my friend's phone received full 5-bar reception and mine was getting choppy line. :( Well, to my old phone's defence, it has been used for almost 3 years! And I can't say that I have never dropped it before... -.-" So, you have served me well, old phone. :P

Anyway, as I was scouting around for a new phone, I came across many new models, and I was overwhelmed! Technology is moving so very fast today (gosh! I told myself before, that if I ever said that line, it means that I'm old!!!), that it's hard to keep up with the latest gadgets. In order to make my decision-making simpler, I decided to narrow down to only Sony Ericsson phones. My previous phone was also from SE, so I have faith in it. Not to mention it's also cheaper than the other counterpart and has better value for money. *wink* There were only several models that were within my budget and specifications, so it wasn't that hard to decide. My main concern was I wanted to get a 3G phone and with all the other basic phone functions. 3G phones used to be so expensive, costing at least >RM1k. I'm so thankful that the price has declined tremendously, which is a good thing for us users. :)

There were 2 models that I ended up narrowing down to: W660i and K530i.

W660i

K530i

Both were similar in size and design, but the W-series or Walkman series targets more on the music playing capabilities of the phone. Quoting the salesman, "It's for younger generation users". The K530i, on the other hand, focuses its technology mainly on 0the camera, using Cybershot technology (or so he claimed). Both were equally matched in terms of functions as well as price otherwise. After much consideration, well, not THAT much, considering I own an iPod and didn't have much need for a music player on my phone, :P I chose the K530i instead. It came in 3 different colours: black, beige and maroon. Of course, without a question, maroon was definitely my pick! :)

Tadaa!!! Look at the nice box it came with! *LOL*

Box

The phone came with the basic accessories as well, such as the handsfree kit here...

Handsfree kit

... and a USB connector. Easy for me to transfer files to and from my mobile phone now. :) This USB connector also doubles up as a charger, so it's more convenient for me in case I run out of battery in office!

USB connector

Here is the baby contained inside the box... Introducing the fiery red K530i (it is also the latest colour, by the way :P), in its all new glory! Muahaha

K530i

Look how thin it is... For a 3G phone, this is really impressive!

Profile

The camera of this phone is really good. Since it is 2MP of resolution, it is actually good enough for print quality of up to 4R size. The handy size of the camera phone makes it easy for me to snap nice pictures for my blog, in case I forget to bring out my digital camera! Nah! More pictures for all of you to see. :)

Back view

Front view

The LCD screen of the phone is bright and has vibrant colours. I have tried using it under the sun and it still shows pretty good contrast. So far the battery could last me 3 days with normal usage of SMS-ing daily and maybe 20-30 minutes of voice calls, sometimes even video calls. :) I have just tried using the video call function with my mom... it's so cool! Ok ok, trying not to sound so noob. :P

Menu

I love my new phone to bits! It has all that I want and more! Best of all, it doesn't burn THAT big a hole in my pocket. :P In case you're curious, I got my phone at RM738, with a free 1GB memory stick as well. Plus, this is an original phone, not AP. Which brings me to another question... would you pay an extra couple of hundred dollars for an original phone? I think I just did.

I was also deliberating over this concern for quite some time... Some people might say that AP phones are just the same as the original ones. But why then, the huge price difference? In fact, I have a friend who bought an AP version of SE K700i (my old phone) and when we compared my original K700i and his AP version, there was indeed difference in terms of quality. The casing for AP phone looked a little more rough and less sturdy. I felt the difference mostly in the keypads. They're harder to press compared to the original build. Also, the software loading time in the AP version is noticeably slower. We tried to launch some program or write an sms at the same time and the AP version took longer to load whatever that it needed to load. Apart from that, the warranty for AP phones is only applicable from the shop itself, as compared to the original phone where you get warranty from ALL Sony Ericsson centres nationwide. The thing is, usually shops that sell AP phones are smaller in size and you might run a risk of them closing one day and with that, losing your warranty as well. I know I wouldn't want to take the risk. Plus, if in fact you managed to get the warranty from the AP shop, the parts that they use are also not original. Would you want to live with second best quality products knowing that you actually deserve better? :) So there you have it... my 2 cents' worth on the original vs. AP phones. If you ask me, the only advantage of getting an AP phone is the price! But I think I would lose my peace of mind to get something that I am not comfortable with. :)

Anyway, that aside... What do you think of my new phone? People say it has a very cool shade of red! And I can't agree more... :)