Sony Ericsson K750

Sony Ericsson K750

Compatible networks	GSM 900/1800/1900
Dimensions	100 x 46 x 20.5 mm (3.9 x 1.8 x 0.8 inches)
Weight	99g
Memory	34 MB Internal, 1 Memory Stick Pro Duo slot, 64 MB Memory Stick Pro Duo included
Display	176x220 pixels (QCIF+), 262,144 (18-bit) Color TFT LCD
Connectivity	GPRS, HSCSD, Bluetooth, IrDA, USB

The Sony Ericsson K750, introduced in 2005, is a mid-end mobile phone, the successor to the (still available) K700, and which was succeeded by the K800 in Q2 2006.

Design

The K750 is a candybar style phone that weighs 99 grams (3.5 ounces), with its buttons operated by the thumb. It has the 'dual-front' design common to most Sony Ericsson mobile phones since the T610, with the back of the mobile phone designed like a digital camera and intended to be held sideways to take photographs. The K750 is available in three colours, Oxidized Black, metallic red and Blasted Silver (the latter of which is exclusive to Vodafone in the United Kingdom) with a red version later released. The central joystick button is used for selecting options and navigating menus, with the "C" button as an 'undo' or 'delete' button, and the arrow-labelled button as a 'return' or 'back' button. The two buttons labelled by white horizontal lines, known as 'hotkeys' or 'soft keys' perform the function of making binary decisions, labelled on the phone's display. The button in between of these 'soft keys' acts as a shortcut key, which brings up a user-customisable shortcut menu when pressed. The on/off button is located on the top of the phone next to the IrDA port.

There is one side key on the left of the phone; when pressed in standby mode, it opens either the RDS FM radio or the Media Player as selected by the user, allowing playback of MP3/AAC audio files, and 3GP/MPEG-4 video files. The RDS FM radio has 20 user-configurable presets. The phone also features Sony's Mega Bass technology. A press of this button in media player mode plays or pauses the selected media. The left-hand side of the phone also houses the Memory Stick PRO Duo slot for external solid state memory, which is protected by a rubber cover.

On the right-hand side of the phone there are three keys - two for controlling volume, skipping through tracks in the Media Player, changing radio channel, and zooming in and out when in camera mode. If the button is pressed when the headset isn't attached the phone displays a phone status screen showing profile, memory usage, battery level, and, on some mobile networks, phone number. The included handsfree headset is also required to listen to the radio since it functions as the antenna.

MP3 & connectivity

MP3 support is good, but HE-AAC (aka AAC+) support is patchy. When tested with Nero's standalone encoder (build 26/5/06), HE SBR was ignored, HEv2 SBR was played but in mono. Only LC decoding works properly.

The phone can also be used as a Bluetooth GPRS modem. According to the Sony Ericsson website, the K750 has a talk time battery life of 9 hours and a standby time battery life of 400 hours.

The connectivity of the phone suffers from a lack of USB mass storage device plug-and-play support. This means that the K750, unlike many other USB devices, is not automatically recognized when connected to a Windows PC, but needs driver installation (normally unnecessary for alternative operating systems). The phone has a calendar function, but for birthdays you have to enter the date using the contact manager menu. Both problems are fixed in the successor to the K750, the Sony Ericsson K800.

The phone can be connected to a computer for data transfer by using either the built-in Bluetooth wireless or the supplied USB data cable, which connects to the phone using Sony Ericsson's proprietary FastPort connector, which is located on the bottom of the phone. As with many other models, the phone's firmware can be updated using a PC by means of the Sony Ericsson Update Service.

Price

The Sony Ericsson K750 has a current retail price of approximately $250 AU dollars, but can usually be obtained free of charge on contract deals (12 months contract in exchange for a 'free' handset). In Singapore, it can be obtained at a price of around US$198 (as of July 2006) with a 2 year plan which is approximately AU$255. The closest competitor to the K750 as of April 2006 is the Samsung SGH-D600. Since the release of its successor the price has dramatically fallen and is currently available on a UK pre-pay network for £79. In India, the current MRP varies from INR 9100 to INR 10500. In Ireland the current price is €179, on o2 network.

Variants

• D750i - T-Mobile branded version of the K750 with the same case design as the W800 but in blue and white.
• K750c - Mainland China version: Tri Band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM for Mainland China.
• K750i - International version: Tri Band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM for all regions except Mainland China.
• K758c - China Mobile version: Tri Band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM for Mainland China. Comes with the Walkman earphones and 512 MB Memory Stick normally bundled with the W800.
• W700 - Update of the W800 with a new case color scheme but with a less sophisticated camera without auto-focus and a 256 MB Memory Stick instead of a 512 MB.
• W800 - K750 rebranded under the Sony Walkman line with a slightly different enclosure and more advanced music player software. Most significantly, the software features a "flight mode" as previously seen on P900-series Sony Ericsson smartphones (i.e. the P900, P910, and P990), which allows the phone to be safely used as a media device only, switching off the cellphone radio system, as required on aeroplanes for example. The bundled earphones are of a different Sony design which sits more deeply within the ear than the standard in-ear design supplied with the other models. Not to be confused with the forthcoming completely new K800. Early K750 handsets with CID36 can be upgraded with the W800 firmware using 3rd party software to offer these extra features.
• W810 - Updated version of the W800 Walkman mobile phone, adding quad-band GSM and EDGE along with a newer firmware generation equivalent to that of the W550/W600 and W850. The W810 has one disadvantage relative to the earlier K750/W800 models, and that is the absence of an active lense cover. You cannot activate the W810 with a simple sliding open of the shutter. This leads to another fault, the absence of a shutter cover means the lense is more exposed to scratches.

External links

• Official K750 website
  • Official K750 specifications on the Sony Ericsson website
  • Official Sony Ericsson press images of the K750
  • Official K750 whitepaper
• FoneWiki for K750i
• Upgrading K750 to W800 software (unofficial hack)
• Unlock Sony Ericsson K750i
• Sony Ericsson K750i Unlocked TriBand Phone