Design and Looks
The K550i is a simple but stylish bar that sports a new look: the circular navigation keys are a fresh breath of air. Now while the thin metallic keys of the keypad may scare texters away, it's not as uncomfortable as it looks! On the contrary, these keys offer good feedback and even people with large fingers will not have a problem with them.
Coming to the camera, it features an active lens cover that not only protects the lens but also the self-portrait mirror just below it. Opening the active lens cover activates the 2MP camera, while the camera resolution may sound like it delivers great quality; the shorter focal length of the lens administers a photo quality not worthy of its brand name- Cyber-shot here probably refers to the above par imaging capabilities of the camera phone and not the camera performance per se. The camera is augmented by twin LED flash that also doubles up as a flashlight.
Below the camera is the battery cover that takes up almost a third of the phone's back. The mechanism for opening the battery cover is noteworthy; the right side of the phone sports two sliders that lock the battery cover. This ensures that the battery cover is always secured firmly to the outer body. It would be nice if more phones adopted this.
The display is provided by a TFD screen. The TFD may seem like an antiquated choice over the TFT but it does consume far less power thus increasing the phone's battery life. The trade-off is with the quality ofcourse. But it is reasonably bright and visible under direct sunlight.
The phone is preloaded with some rich applications like the PhotoDJ that helps users adjust levels, light balance, brightness and contrast of their images. The PhotoDJ also lets one remove unwanted Red-Eye effect from photos and manipulate the colours with colour fix. There's also an option to 'frame' the photos.
Then there's the file browser feature that lets the owner mark files, copy them, move them, create and delete folders that are either in the phone's memory or mass memory. A very convenient application indeed that would help the owner organize his or her data better.
The music player is the same on the walkman series of phones but does not give listeners the option of using the MegaBass, but with a good pair of earphones, the lack of bass can be somewhat resolved.
Then we come to the photoDJ application, with its help you can easily adjust levels, light balance, brightness and contrast, remove unwanted red-eye effect, apply some color effects to the picture such as negative and sepia, or you can add a frame or a text to the picture.
The phone is worth the money but branding it a cyber-shot maybe taking it a bit too far.
Features
- 2MP camera with autofocus and dual LED flash
- Active lens cover
- Multiple camera modes and photo editing options
- TrackID music recognition application
- Configurable Navi pad
- Dedicated shortcut key for Activity menu
- Application for RSS feeds
Accessories
- Video Viewing Stand IM920
- Clip-on Bluetooth VH300
- Snap-on Speaker Stand MS410
- Outdoor Speaker MS500
- Bluetooth Car HCB-108
- Phone tripod IM502
- Courtside Case IDC-31/32
- Bluetooth Watch MBW-200 Sparkling Allure/Evening Classic
