The background of the Sony Ericcson C702 is interesting in almost every single way – that is, the likes of the C702 (for the mid-tier segment) were devised by the manufacturer as far back as 2005. Back then they were all gathered under the “Sport” tag and intended primarily for youth. However, they never entered production – they thought they’d be better off capitalizing on the wild success of their top offerings, and since Sony Ericsson didn’t have plenty of production facilities or resources, there was little choice in this matter. The launch of this range had to be postponed to some time in the future, and by and large, the whole project got underway only after Siemens made its exit from the market.
We can’t say there were tons of ruggedized solutions on the market at some point in time – all in all, you can count them all on the fingers of two hands. As far as I remember at any given moment the market was literally made by a couple, three models at best, so three was no freedom of choice per se. Such a narrow niche forced the phone makers to emphasize the youth appeal in their solutions. Also, it turned out that step by step, the level of protection offered by those ruggedized handsets wasn’t much different from that of other mass-market products, bar some extra plugs, screws and rubber stripes to ensure a tad better water-resistant qualities. It’s quite another matter though that the “ruggedized” design is nothing but a direct way to cater for the audience’s needs. Truly, one of the most common requirements for mobile phones is a tough and reliable casing, along with decent reception quality and battery time. And that’s exactly what the C702 and the likes bring together in one package.
But don’t think of it as a real “allroad” phone – the Sony Ericsson K800i is pretty much in the same league with the C702 on this front. However, the latter still has a small edge – that is, better protection from water and mud that normally can’t do it much damage.
So, who did Sony Ericsson have in mind when designing the C702? Youth, to be more precise, that part of them who want to own a long-lasting device (or that least a phone that looks like one), and those who are into traveling and long hikes, where the chances of a handset drowning in a river or under heavy rain are not that slim at all. Interestingly, they have focused on extras that have been around on feature phones for a long while, but never seen on ruggedized handsets. The C702 is positioned as an imaging-savvy solution (Cyber Shot), albeit its megapixel count isn’t particularly through the roof at 3.2 Mpix. A bundled GPS-receiver is a must for many contemporary phones, but the C702 can actually make good use of it (geo tagging, routes, exercising, etc). All in all, it’s an appealing device that’s more of a do-it-all, rather than a pure “tough guy” clad in a ruggedized casing. Make sure you don’t put it in one league with other “do-it-all” solutions that pack in almost every feature and application known to man under their hoods. The C702 is “do-it-all” in the sense that it can satisfy just about everyone within its target audience, offering a more or less austere design at that.
Design, size, controls
The C702’s looks stem from it being a phone for everyone – previous solutions from Nokia and Siemens were rigged with festive flavors and weren’t the most discreet handsets around. However Sony Ericsson has taken a different approach to this matter and resolved to go with two not-so-flamboyant colors - Speed Black and Cool Cyan.
In either case, those, the display frame, sides and the area around the camera are silver. The C702’s casing is made of plastic with one seemingly metallic accent running across the spines, however in reality it is just a well-disguised piece of plastic. The rear houses a protruding lanyard eyelet that appears to be metallic, but one again, it’s all plasticky.
The battery cover sports the soft touch finish and thus can’t slip out of your hands. Also clain in soft touch is the color segment of the front face. We have no complaints about the C702’s build quality; it’s a very robust device that won’t utter a single creak even if you squeeze it in your hands as hard as you can. As far as ruggedized details go, we can’t overlook the rubber seal for the M2 memory expansion slot on the last and the screw locking the battery compartment cover (which a generic feature of “tough” phones). If you have long nails, removing it won’t be that much of a challenge, but we still recommend using something along the lines of a rule or paper clip. As for the battery cover itself, we are fully satisfied with how it sits in the slot, especially when it’s attached correctly. Running along the battery are strips of rubber that may be easily displaced, in which case you will see some gaps between the lid and the casing, so that’s the thing you should pay strict attention to. The slots of loudspeakers, microphone and earpiece are quite tiny in size and on top of that are covered with grills, ensuring that should you drop it in water and take it out right away, water won’t make its way into the phone, or even if it will, it won’t be a big deal. However, a 10-second diving session won’t bode well for the C702 – it will start drowning and eventually will give up the ghost. It has fairly protected from water splashes and rain, but obviously it can’t swim. Furthermore, the interface connecter at the base isn’t covered by any kind of flap or seal. The camera lens on the back is hidden under a sliding cover, but it’s not water-proof – you can see it for yourself by putting it under a stream of water.
So the bottom line on the question asked by so many - whether the C702 is really well-protected from most kinds of abuse - is actually two-fold. While it is more dust and water resistant that other mass-market solutions, it is nothing out of this world and breaks no new ground in terms of protection. Unfortunately, you can’t go swimming with the C702, but you still can wash it under a stream of water.
Sony Ericsson, in trying to shield the handset's internal workings, have made the volume rocker quite small, which makes it rather stiff to press. On the bright side, the dedicated camera button is a tad softer and bigger, but it is still not as convenient as we’d like it to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment