Full Review

8 May 2008 - Sony Ericsson's latest handset is a HSDPA-sporting internet-focused mobile phone, but will it give you the web on the go? We get surfing to find out.

The K660i from the outside looks like any other Sony Ericsson candy bar handset. The phone comes in glossy black with purple accents, Sony Ericsson actually call it "wine-on-black", and the keypad is laid out similarly to other models in the K-series under the 2-inch QVGA screen.

Around the edges are volume controls, a dedicated camera shutter button and M2 MemoryStick slot for expanding the memory.

The back sports the now almost obligatory digital camera and here Sony Ericsson has opted for a 2 megapixel offering, with 4x digital zoom although left out a flash or photo light.

The web focus comes in the guise of illuminated shortcut keys that only become active when surfing the net and work in a similar way to the company's Cyber-shot range. Other web elements include a news ticker that provides regular updates from your favourite websites via RSS.

Launch the browser and the screen switches automatically into landscape mode giving you a Google search option, an address bar, web feeds, history, and access to downloads and accessories to buy.

Those shortcut keys are in fact the 3, 6, 9, and # key on the 12 key-number pad and in the web browser mode gives you shortcuts to the address bar, favourites, homepage and zoom.

Typing words in reverts the screen back to portrait mode, temporarily, and it's a case of slowly tapping in the words SMS style without the help of predictive text support.

The shortcuts do come in handy, considering the K660i doesn't have touchscreen, the interface, including the handy zoom feature, isn't overly bad. It indicates when a part of the page is clickable and where text input is possible. You can even zoom in for a closer look at text or images.

Beyond the web focus the Sony Ericsson K660i is a straightforward mobile phone with basic camera and music functions. The 2 megapixel camera is run-of-the-mill and without a flash or photo light won't be great for shots in the pub, however it will get you out of trouble if you need to do a bit of photo-journalism on the move.

Likewise the music side of things on the phone is Sony Ericsson through and through with no surprises. Music is managed via the Walkman player found on all SE handsets and you get the latest software as well as features like TrackID so you can track songs you hear in the pub.

Other features on the phone include an FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0 and the ability to use the camera to record video. There is also a Google Maps application on-board from the start, however the K660i does not feature a GPS chip. The phone also doesn't feature a camera on the front of the phone so you won't be able to do video calling.

Other tech specs include a 2.0 megapixel camera and Sony Ericsson's Blogger tool amongst other SE software.

VERDICT
Like Nokia's 6300, the Sony Ericsson K660i is a simple to use mobile phone that packs plenty of average features but has a skew towards the Internet and browsing thanks to the inclusion of HSDPA.

If you are after a phone that for the most part is a phone and want internet surfing occasionally this is definitely worth a look. However if you're after something a bit more dynamic, perhaps offering an image- or music-focus then there are other models that will service your needs better.

Good but simple.