Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro Pro Reviews

In the end, while the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro has what on paper looks to be a good set of specifications, including coming with an 8GB microSD card, in reality it falls down in several ways, not least the usability and build quality departments, making it rather disappointing.

At £289, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro will put plenty of smartphone fans in a quandary. On one hand you have the excellent keyboard and the capability to shoot 720p videos. However, the phone has an OS and UI that looks sufficiently aged and is still priced close to £300. If you are looking for a QWERTY keyboard, good 5Mp camera combination, then the Nokia N97 Mini is a solid option and costs less. The Samsung Wave shoots really good 720p video and is also an excellent buy. If you are looking for a smartphone that works great overall at that same price range then look no further than the Google Android based HTC Legend. Ultimately, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro does cater to the niche set of users who want a QWERTY based smartphone that can shoot HD videos and it's perfectly suited for those users.

We’ve had plenty of positive things to say about the Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro and some not so positive. In the end, it’s how the pros and cons balance. It looks like a simple trade-off: still camera downgraded, QWERTY keyboard added. But hey, keeping the compact size is quite an achievement.

This could have been a lovely phone, but it has the feel of a 'me too' handset that never really had much love and attention devoted to it. The Symbian OS still doesn't feel as though it's been properly developed for touchscreen phones, with several odd quirks that count against its usability. The resistive screen is the major disappointment, though, and its lack of sensitivity meant that using the phone was generally too frustrating to recommend, despite its quality camera, stylish looks and decent keyboard.

Besides the physical QWERTY keyboard, the other change is the 5-megapixel camera, down from the 8-megapixel sensor on the original Vivaz. Images from the camera were average in details and sharpness. We did notice some purple fringing, especially along the white areas which enhanced the purple hues. As mentioned earlier, 720p video recording remains available on the Vivaz Pro. There were some issues with its auto white balance and focus, but videos were smooth and we did not see any obvious drops in frames.

Aside from good HD movies and quality stills, the Vivaz Pro is a woeful handset. Avoid at all costs

There's no two ways about it, this phone is far from one we can recommend. We like the styling and form factor and were it to have a decent touchscreen and run Android or some other half decent operating system, we'd be more interested. However, with Symbian S60 running the show, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is positively infuriating to use.

Part of the reason we delve into such depth in our mobile phone reviews is to make sure that users can get the right information on the phone they're about to buy, and don't get sucked in by specs. That's sadly what a lot of people will do with the Vivaz Pro – not only will they be enamoured by a keyboard, but they will also love the sound of HD video recording.

Ultimately the operating system still remains a concern, although having the keyboard as the primary route of interaction side-steps some of the problems we had with the Vivaz. The Vivaz pro is a better phone to use, and there is no question that it is packed with features.

If we have to place our utmost verdict on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro, it will be favorable. Despite the fact that the company tries to position it as less of a multimedia capable phone than the Vivaz by shrinking the camera sensor from 8MP to 5MP and adding a keyboard (presuming a lot of messaging or business use), it is basically as good as the Vivaz camerawise.