A Look Back at Sony Ericsson's Pioneering Phones of the 2000s
The tech that walked so your smartphone could run.
As a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, Sony Ericsson released several phones that pushed the boundaries of mobile technology. Let’s revisit these forgotten gems, which introduced innovations that were ahead of their time.
2001: The Begining - Sony Ericsson C1002S
The Sony Ericsson C1002S, released in December 2001, was the first phone from the joint venture, featuring a compact folding design with interchangeable back panels. Despite its "Simple Type" label, it offered advanced features like the jog dial, predictive text, and EZweb services. Its stylish design and personalization options made it a popular choice in Japan.
2001: The Color Revolution - Sony Ericsson T68
The T68 was Ericsson's first phone with a color screen, featuring Bluetooth, GPRS, tri-band compatibility, and customizable ring tones. Initially released as the T68m and later updated to the T68i, it included MMS support, a built-in email client, and SyncML. Its innovative features and appearance in the James Bond film Die Another Day cemented its place in mobile history.
2002: The Smartphone Dawn - Sony Ericsson P800
The P800 was a pioneering smartphone, combining PDA functionality with mobile capabilities. Featuring a touchscreen, stylus, and the Symbian UIQ platform, it offered web browsing, multimedia, and more. Its successors, the P900 and P990, refined the concept with improved hardware, 3G, and Wi-Fi, but the P800 set the stage for Sony Ericsson's smartphone legacy.
2003: The Cameraphone Breakthrough - Sony Ericsson T610
The T610 introduced a built-in digital camera, color screen, and Bluetooth, wrapped in a stylish retro design. With a 0.1 MP camera, 128×160 CSTN display, and polyphonic ringtones, it became a significant model in the evolution of cameraphones, despite lacking some modern features like a speakerphone.
2005: The Music Revolution - Sony Ericsson W550i
In 2005, Sony launched the W550i, a Walkman phone with 256MB of memory and a rotating keypad, aiming to replace standalone music players.
2005: The Camera Game-Changer - Sony Ericsson K750i
The K750i was a game-changer with its 2-megapixel camera and autofocus, a rarity in mobile phones at the time. Its superior camera quality made it a favorite among early mobile photography enthusiasts and set new standards for what camera phones could achieve.
2005: The Walkman Legacy - Sony Ericsson W800i
The W800i was the first Walkman phone, combining Sony’s portable music brand with mobile functionality. It featured dedicated music buttons, excellent sound quality, and a distinctive orange and white design. The W800i set the foundation for future Walkman phones, blending music and mobile technology seamlessly.
2007: The 5-Megapixel Leap - Sony Ericsson K850i
The K850i raised the bar with a 5-megapixel camera, Xenon flash, and autofocus, offering high-quality images even in challenging lighting conditions. Its advanced photography features positioned it as a leader in the camera phone market, but its significance faded with the rise of smartphones.
2007: The Motion-Sensing Marvel - Sony Ericsson W910i
The W910i stood out with its sleek design and advanced music capabilities, featuring motion-sensing functions like shake and tilt to control music playback. Despite its playful features, it impressed users with its music quality and user-friendly interface.
2008: The 8-Megapixel Milestone - Sony Ericsson C905
The C905 was the world's first mobile phone with an 8.1-megapixel camera, offering image quality that rivaled standalone digital cameras. With features like GPS for geo-tagging and a durable build, the C905 was a technical marvel, but it struggled to compete as smartphones began to dominate the market.
2009: The 12-Megapixel Phone - Sony Ericsson Satio
The Satio pushed mobile photography further with its 12-megapixel camera, offering a large touchscreen and Symbian OS for high-end smartphone functionality. While its camera capabilities were unmatched, the overall user experience lagged behind competitors, leading to its rapid decline in popularity.
2009: PS3 Remote Play integration - Sony Ericsson Aino
The Aino featured a unique integration with the PlayStation 3 through Remote Play, allowing users to control the console from their phone. With an 8.1 MP camera, 3-inch touchscreen, and multimedia capabilities, the Aino bridged the gap between mobile phones and gaming consoles.
2010: The Audiophile’s Choice - Sony Ericsson Zylo
The Zylo was the first phone with FLAC support, catering to audiophiles who valued high-quality music playback on a mobile device. Its focus on superior sound quality made it a standout in Sony Ericsson's lineup.
2011: The Android Era Begins - Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman
The Live with Walkman was an Android smartphone designed for music lovers, featuring xLOUD audio enhancement and a 5 MP camera. It ran Android 2.3 Gingerbread with an option to upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, blending the classic Walkman experience with modern smartphone functionality.
What did you think?
Are there any other Sony Ericsson models you feel deserve a spot on this list? Let me know in the comments!
i had the W300i and the T715i Sony Ericsson. they were fantastic, ahed of competition (especially the T715) and very solid. oh man, i miss the SE era!
The only one on this list I had was a Satio; fantastic camera, middling on the other features. Replaced it within a year with a Nexus One.
In hindsight, wish I’d had some of the Cybershot phones - not sure why I ended up mostly with Samsung sliders back then, when SE were putting out some great phones.