Plemix

Those who have been following Sony Ericsson closely will immediately recognize the abnormality surrounding the Sony Ericsson F305. The F series is a completely new series of “gaming” phones, how does the new comer perform? Let’s find out now.

The package is typical enough: the phone, a battery, a handsfree, a travel charger, 2 back covers and a strap plus a user’s guide.

The body may be miniature but it doesn’t make concession on the game controller (D-pad). The D-pad is reasonably large with very good response. Using the D-pad reminds me of the comfort of using a quality game controller. Good job on this, Sony Ericsson!

The keys are pretty small but they should be enough for making a call and texting. I hope I don’t have to use these small keys in any action game, though.

The D-pad has a weak glow, which should make gaming in a dark room a bit easier. The central button has a coarse surface to help locating it accurately.

This design reminds me of the Motorola keyboard, if you have seen any MOTORAZR model before you should be able to recognize the similarity in design.

The 2MP camera is hidden inside the back cover. As you may know, the phone comes with “2” back covers. They do not differ too much from each other and I doubt the necessity of having 2 similarly designed covers. As a backup, perhaps?

The M2 slot is covered by soft plastic, which allows you to change card easily without opening the cover.

The 2” display leaves us something to be desired. Since it is a gaming model, one would naturally want a much bigger screen. Luckily the bundled games go along with the screen pretty well.

Shown here is one of the bundled games. The motion sensor inside can detect your movement so instead of pressing the up and down keys you can actually “swing” the phone as if you are doing some real fishing. There is also a bowling game that utilizes the motion sensor.

Sony Ericsson F305 is a pretty successful phone and its success is mainly attributable to the software. The bundled games are fun to play with (watch the video!) and the motion sensor provides a new way of mobile gaming. However the screen size and resolution make it quite hard for serious, prolonged gaming. If we look at the price tag though, many of its short comings can be forgiven.

 

Video Review