Slider W995. So, let's go directly to the SE Hazel review.
Contents of delivery
• Sony Ericsson Hazel phone;
• Stereo headset;
• Charger;
• microSD memory card for 4 gigabytes;
• USB data cable;
• User's manual.
Appearance and ergonomics
As we have already said, Hazel is very similar to the Sony Ericsson Elm. First of all, this similarity is explained by the common concept of both models - the rounded back of the case. The manufacturer calls this element Human Curvature, that is, the bend of a human hand. This shape really makes the phone more convenient to use: it is well balanced in weight, fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, and at the same time does not look overly strict.
The body of the phone is made of plastic, except for the metal edging on the sides of the five-way key, which is also made of metal. The back panel has a nice-to-touch and interesting-looking relief coating. In the slider mechanism, an automatic finishing system is implemented, thanks to which both halves slide out and converge clearly.
The display of the device was equipped with a special mineral coating, which is designed to protect it from minor scratches and other damages. Under the 2.6-inch display there are 2 control buttons for working with the menu, call accept / reject buttons, the main five-way key, as well as auxiliary buttons for the quick menu and delete. Each of the buttons has a clear stroke, while they are spaced at a sufficient distance so as not to cause discomfort when working with the device.
There are 12 buttons on the sliding keyboard unit. They are located in four rows, with three buttons in each. It is convenient to dial a number or text on this keyboard, accidental presses are extremely rare.
In general, in terms of ergonomics, the Hazel phone will not cause complaints from the vast majority of users. Thanks to the optimal size of the case and the slider form factor, each button received enough space, they all feel good, because are of considerable size.
There are two windows above the display: a front camera for making video calls and a lighting indicator. As you already understood, the device can work in third generation networks.
On the left side of the case there is a connector for connecting various devices: data cable, stereo headset, charger. On the right side face there are two buttons: a swing button, which is responsible for adjusting the sound and a camera activation key. A small lanyard compartment can be seen at the top of the case.
If we talk about dimensions, the phone doesn't look tiny, but it can't be called big either. The dimensions of the phone are 102x49.5x16 mm. For a modern slider, this size is, one might say, standard. It should be noted that the build quality of this model is at a high level, no squeaks and backlash between the parts were noticed.
The manufacturer emphasizes that the model belongs to the environmentally friendly Green Heart phones. In the production of this model (as in the entire line), water-based paint was used and a minimum of printed materials inside a small box. In addition, the charger is called energy-saving.
Battery
The phone uses a rechargeable lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 1000mAh. Officially, the battery life of the device is 4 hours of talk time and 430 hours of standby time. In practice, these figures are much more modest, but still we had no complaints about the battery life. With active use of all functions, the device worked for us for about two days. With an average load, the battery charge may well last for 3-4 days. Removing the cover of the battery compartment is quite simple, for this there is a special protrusion at the bottom.
Display
The characteristics of the screen are quite good. Quite a large diagonal - 2.6 inches, QVGA resolution - 320x240 pixels.The screen is capable of displaying up to 16 million colors. The quality of the display is at a decent level, however, as in most models from Sony Ericsson. The color rendition is normal, the graininess is practically not visible, the viewing angles are not bad. In the bright sun, the text is hard to see, but you can read it if you cover the screen with your hand. This behavior is due to the presence of a protective coating. It's kind of a sacrifice for scratch protection. This coating also "loves" to collect fingerprints. As already mentioned, the phone has an ambient light sensor, due to which the optimal display brightness is selected.
Camera
The SE Hazel phone has a built-in 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. 2592x1944 pixels - the maximum available image resolution. No changes have been made in the camera interface in comparison with the previous models. Horizontal menu, in which the right navigation button returns to the previous item, and the left navigation button moves to the photo options. Traditionally, the swing button is responsible for zooming during photography. Using the "up" and "down" keys of the 4-way button, the user can adjust the brightness during shooting, and using the "right" and "left" switches to viewing the footage and to the video mode. The keyboard unit does not participate in the shooting process (in this regard, Hazel is noticeably different from Elm), except for the "0" button, which is responsible for calling the graphic menu of tips.
The camera is able to recognize faces and smiles in the frame. There are also two interesting options: PhotoFix (automatic image brightness correction) and GeoTegging (coordinates are anchored to the image, then in Google Maps you can see the location where the photo was taken). Macro, infinity, and a wide variety of white balance adjustments are also available. You can set the resolution with which the camera will take photos: VGA, 1, 3 or 5 megapixels. The user can set the self-timer for 2 or 10 seconds.
When shooting video, you can turn on sound recording and backlight. Provides night mode, multiple effects and white balance adjustment. Movies are recorded at a maximum resolution of 640x480 in MP4 format. You can set the MMS mode, then the resolution of the recorded video will be 320x240. The used audio codec is AAC.
Below are some pictures. The quality of the obtained photos is similar to other 5-megapixel cameras from SE (C903, Yari, Elm) - it is at a decent level.
Sample video:
Software part
The phone runs on the standard Sony Ericsson platform, often referred to as the A200. In the company itself, this platform is called differently, but this is not so important. The A200 has been used in SE phones since 2007. More recently, Sony Ericsson devices have the ability to install widgets on the desktop using the Widget Manager client.
There are four widgets available on the Hazel firmware: Facebook, Walk Mate, Twitter and Calendar. The user can choose how many widgets will be displayed on the desktop in idle mode. Switching between widgets is done by pressing left and right 5-way buttons. Unfortunately, you cannot add a widget from the outside.
This time, the developer has paid special attention to sound processing. The phone has three new functions responsible for sound processing: Clear Voice, Noise Shield, and Intelligent Volume Adaptation (intelligent volume adjustment system). All of these features are proprietary Sony Ericsson.
Clear Voice is responsible for the clarity of speech and sound. The essence of its work is as follows: the transmitted voice is encoded without extraneous noise and distortion. Naturally, a lot depends on the way the operator encodes the sound, as well as on the signal level. Note that with poor reception, the effect of Clear Voice is noticeable.
The Noise Shield function analyzes the level of sound noise near the interlocutor. The Hazel microphone is capable of filtering noise, separating speech sounds from extraneous interference. Thanks to this, the user can comfortably communicate both in quiet places and in the subway or in the supermarket.
Intelligent Volume Adaptation allows the phone to automatically determine the optimal voice volume level. At a high noise level, the volume will increase automatically, and in the absence of interference, it will decrease accordingly.
Menu
The menu of the Hazel phone will seem extremely simple and understandable to those users who have already come across Sony Ericsson devices. We haven't noticed any major changes, except for the appearance of widgets. The display of the menu can be customized with a 3x4 grid of icons, one icon on the screen, or by rotating (with a ribbon of shortcuts).
Phone book, calls, messages
The address book can store up to 1000 entries. Each record contains twenty fields, which include: phone numbers (home, work, mobile), physical and email address, birthday, website, etc. The phone stores a maximum of 150 outgoing, incoming and missed calls. Each contact can be assigned a separate melody.
Calls menu is implemented in the form of a list: outgoing, received, missed calls, as well as general. Each call is marked with a special icon that determines whether it belongs to outgoing, incoming or missed calls. In addition, the time and date of the call is indicated. For convenience, a time counter is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen during a call.
The implementation of SMS messages is traditional - in the form of a chat. Messages are immediately displayed on the screen, which many users don't like.
Mobile Internet
There are many ways to connect to the World Wide Web: E / GPRS, Wi-Fi, 3G / HSDPA. The NetFront browser is preinstalled. If NetFront is not satisfied with something, then you can install any other modern browser, since the model can work with Java applications.
Media player and radio
The Media menu has hardly changed. A kind of manager is responsible for working with music, video, photos and games. The speed of work, as always, is on top. From the Walkman lineup, the Hazel phone inherits many of the options for working with music. Songs can be sorted by date, artist, genre, alphabetically, and more. The user can create playlists. The player lacks the Shake Control (song change by shaking the phone) and SenseMe (ordering music tracks by mood) functions.
There is an equalizer with wide frequency control options, as well as an extended stereo sound mode. In terms of the quality of music reproduction, this model is one of the best in its price category. However, Sony Ericsson phones have always stood out for their high-quality sound. Hazel has no innovations in comparison with other SE devices. It would not be superfluous to mention the presence of the Track ID function, which allows you to recognize the song title and artist name. To do this, you need to record a fragment of the track and send it to a special service that will give you information about the composition (if it is in the database).
The possibilities for working with photo and video content are implemented at an intuitive level. Everything is quite simple here. We will not dwell on this point, because we did not notice any fundamental changes in comparison with the previous models. In the "videos" section, in addition to accessing videos, you can open the YouTube application or go to the PlayNow portal.
Built-in FM radio supports RDS function. You can add up to 30 radio stations to it. When the headset is turned off, the radio refuses to work, since it plays the role of an external antenna. Sound can be output to an external speaker. The application can work in the background.
Applications
By default, 14 applications are installed in the mobile device. They are: Calendar Wallpaper, PlayNow, AccuWeather, EcoMate, Green Calculator, Facebook, Checkbook, NeoReader, Opera Mini, Tracker, Grocery List, Standby World Clock 3D, YouTube and Wisepilot. Sony Ericsson users will probably be familiar with most of these applications. Calendar Wallpaper is a calendar widget that is installed on the desktop in the form of wallpaper. AccuWeather, as you might guess, is an application for viewing the weather. NeoReader allows you to read bar codes. EcoMate is a proprietary application that is installed in all models of the Green Heart line.It contains tips on how to preserve the environment.
Only one Qadrapop game is initially installed in the game section. In any case, the user can independently install those games that he wishes.
Memory, file operations
The phone has 280 MB of internal memory. Almost all of it is available to the user. In addition, you can expand the memory with microSD cards up to a maximum of 16 gigabytes. Recall that the set includes a 4 gigabyte card. The card is inserted into a slot near the battery compartment. Hot swap is supported, but you have to open the back cover. All file operations are performed by the traditional Sony Ericsson file manager.
Communication and Gps
The developer did not deprive his "brainchild" and communication capabilities. In addition to the standard USB connection, the device supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules. As for Bluetooth, it has support for all major modes, including the A2DP mode.
The mobile device has a built-in GPS receiver. There is support for A-GPS (assistant GPS), thanks to which you can quickly find your current location using cellular networks. GPS applications include Wisepilot and Google Maps. An Internet connection is required to download maps. The speed of work can be called good. Under normal reception conditions, the phone takes about 50 seconds to show the location. True, this show fluctuates depending on the location of the device and the meteorological conditions.
We seem to have figured out this point, let's move on.
Competitors
We will move on to the analysis of competitors after characterizing the hero of our review - Sony Ericsson Hazel. So, we have before us a typical slider with a wide range of functions by the standards of modern phones. Its average price is 2000 hryvnia (data for August). Based on the functionality and price, we have identified the following competitors.
LG BL20. This model has such similarities to Hazel as a 5-megapixel camera, form factor, size, and is in the same price category. The differences include the absence of a Wi-Fi module, a lower battery capacity, a smaller screen diagonal in comparison with the Hazel (2.4 inches versus 2.6), as well as color rendering - 262,000 shades versus 16 million for Hazel. As for the advantages of the model from LG, here is a clear plus, it is an extraordinary design. Hazel definitely wins in functionality.
Nokia X3. This model is also quite a serious competitor to Hazel. The price category for both models is the same. On the Hazel side there is again a large display (2.6 inches versus 2.2 inches for the X3), a large battery capacity, a Wi-Fi model, and a complete 4 GB card (the Nokia X3 comes with a 2 GB card). In terms of the convenience of listening to music, the situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, Hazel has a great music component, but on the other hand, the Nokia X3 has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Competitors can also be found among Sony Ericsson devices. This Elm (essentially a copy of Hazel, but in a candy bar form factor), as well as the music phone SE W995, which is equipped with a 2.6-inch display, GPS and Wi-Fi modules. Of the advantages, the 8-megapixel camera, a standard headphone jack and an 8 gigabyte card are immediately evident. Naturally, with such characteristics, the price of this device is noticeably higher. Another competitor is the C905 slider with a 2.5-inch screen and an obscenely overpriced price. Also Sony Ericsson Yari comes to mind with the same functionality, but without Wi-Fi. But its design is interesting and the price is pleasant - the same 2000 hryvnia.
It should be noted that for less than 2,000 hryvnia, you can buy a good smartphone. The same Nokia 5230 or 5530 (touch-sensitive, the first has GPS, but no Wi-Fi, and the second - vice versa), LG Optimus with a modern Android operating system or Rover PC S8 running on Windows Mobile. Naturally, these models have their drawbacks (lack of GPS or WiFi, average cameras, etc.), but the user gets multitasking and a huge selection of software.Anyway, it's up to you to decide whether it's a good smartphone or a great phone with a good camera.
Conclusion
Sony Ericsson Hazel is a clear example of the fact that the manufacturer has seriously revised its pricing policy in the CIS market. As a result of comparisons with competitors, it becomes obvious that today there are practically no models in the price range of 2000-2300 hryvnia that can boast the presence of GPS, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera, as well as a complete 4 GB memory card. It should be noted that along with an excellent functional component, Hazel has an interesting design. Until recently, this model could have cost an order of magnitude more, but today, under the onslaught of rapidly developing Android devices, manufacturers have to reduce prices for ordinary phones. In conclusion of our review, we will say that the Hazel mobile phone is suitable primarily for those who, along with functionality, put stylish design, and do not crave to buy a smartphone.
Benefits :
• Large screen;
• Availability of WiFi and GPS;
• Excellent sound quality;
• 4 GB card included.
Disadvantages:
• There is no standard 3.5mm jack.
