Analysis : Sony Ericsson C510

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The Sony Ericsson C510 is another new category of phone. While preceding devices have the K-prefix as the product name, the C510 is the first of Sony Ericsson imaging devices with the C5-prefix in front.

The Sony Ericsson C510 is an imaging phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera built into it. From the outside, one could easily mistake it for the Nokia 6300, which recently ended up in the top three of the most-sold handsets for 2008. Obviously, the form factor of the C510 and 6300 is a key factor in marketing this phone. 

The C510 is precisely what its name means. Sony Ericsson had earlier announced new naming conventions at the 2008 Mobile World Congress event. In this case, the C denotes a camera phone. With regard to the 510, the 5 indicates a mid-range device, 1 means the first of its kind, and the 0 indicates a candybar device. Check, check and check. 

Sony Ericsson announced the C510 on 08 January 2009, which is the eve of the landmark Consumer Electronics Show 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

This is the cheapest Cyber-Shot device on the market as at the time of writing. The Smile Shutter and Face Detection are notable technologies that are included in this device. Face Detection focuses on human faces, and Smile Shutter detects a target’s smile and shoots the photo right away. Yep, that’s scary! 

HP’s Snapfish application is built into the device, so sending a photo for immediate printing is possible in areas which have the Snapfish home-delivery service. 

The Sony Ericsson C510 has a 262K TFT colour screen and comes with 100 MBs of memory, which is expandable by means of a Memory Stick Micro slot. 

Our Opinion:
The Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-Shot appears to be a small and highly-functional device that Sony Ericsson hopes to sell many units of. 

It resembles one of the most popular Nokia phones currently on sale, and tops that one’s 2.0 megapixel camera with a 3.2 megapixel camera. Added to the fact that its screen is probably a lot better than the Nokia 6300, I would bet that the C510 ends up in the top 10 list when they compile 2009’s best-selling mobiles 

Again, it would depend on the price, which is unavailable at the time of writing. Sony Ericsson has a lot of goodwill associated with its brand, but they tend to overprice a little, especially on consumables like the battery and the memory stick. 

At sub-RM900, this phone would likely outsell competing products with similar specifications.

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