Sony Ericsson V800

The Sony Ericsson V800 is one of the first handsets designed for use on Vodafone Live! - Vodafone's mobile phone portal for its 3G network.

The handset has a clamshell design, which when opened up reveals a well-laid-out keypad. The central menu button is flanked by keys for viewing images and video, and a four-way navigation button makes it easy to browse the phone's menu.

The V800 has two colour displays. The main screen is not as large as those on other 3G models, but it is of a high standard and ideal for displaying video or images. An exterior display shows the details of any incoming calls, text messages, photos and calendar appointments.

One of the phone's most useful features is a rotating camera, which can be positioned towards or away from the user. This allows you to easily snap self-portraits, or pictures of your friends without having to turn the phone away from you. Bright lights on either side of the lens can be used for taking pictures in dimly lit environments. However, these lights will eat up battery life much quicker.

The camera in the V800 has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, so the quality of your photos will be better than those of the average mobile phone camera. Unfortunately, they aren't quite up to the standard of those taken with a dedicated digital camera.

Our only real design concern with the V800 was its outward-facing loudspeaker. If you make video calls in a noisy environment, such as a bar, it can prove difficult to hear the caller, since their voice is being directed away from you.

Up to 510 contacts can be stored in the V800's 7Mb of memory, but you can upgrade this to 1Gb using a Sony Memory Stick, should you wish. Using more memory will also enable you to store MP3 files and a lot more video.

On the whole, the Sony Ericsson V800 is a good handset. It is slightly on the bulky side, but it is well-designed and should suit anyone who wants to take their first steps in the world of 3G.