Introduction

Recently released by Sony Ericsson, the Z500a is the North American version of the world Z500 phone, both featuring a clamshell design. Although more known for block designed phones, Sony Ericsson has expanded its flip phone portfolio in an attempt to capture the increasing demand favored among Western consumers.

Design

The Sony Ericsson Z500a is a clean, compact device with fun features sure to keep users entertained. Externally, the Z500a contains an external 4096 color STN screen allowing users to conveniently view time, caller information, network status, and battery levels.

Situated above is the lens to a built-in camera, capable of capturing photos at up to 640 x 480 px resolution. While the internal antenna is concealed within the top hinge to provide aesthetic appeal.

When opened, an internal display featuring 128 x 160 px at 65K colors is revealed. While a 5-way keypad allows users to navigate through the Z500a's menu structure.

Camera and side volume soft keys located along left allow users to conveniently access the camera function or record video clips, as well as adjust earpiece volume. A soft key on the right side can be customized to frequently used programs.

Camera

With the Z500a's built-in VGA camera, users will be busy taking pictures; capturing photos or recording videos and sending it as part of a multimedia message or email attachment.

Photo sizes of up to 640 x 480 px are possible with the Z500a's 330K camera. Resolution options include Small - QQVGA (160 x 120 px), Medium - QVGA (320 x 240), and Large (640 x 480 px) for pictures of 24-bit depth and over 16 million colors.

Should shutterbugs need to get closer to the action, a 4X digital zoom is included. However, truly zoom in, consumers will have to walk. Rather than optical zoom, digital merely enlarges the photo much like cropping, as opposed to getting closer. Due to limitations in hardware and moving parts, optical zoom is not yet feasible in camera phones.

Additionally, a robust set of camera features allow users to control Effects (Negative, Solarization, Sepia, and Black and White modes), Night Mode, Frames, and Self-Timer. The Z500a also has a fully automatic exposure control that selects the optimal exposure time needed to get great photos. Exposure times are automatically adjusted when changes occur within the viewfinder.

Encoded in 3GPP codec (H.263 and AMR), video clips can also be captured at either QCIF (176 x 144 px) or Sub-QCIF (128 x 96 px) resolutions. Bundled with Sony Ericsson's Quickshare software, sharing pictures with family and friends is just a few easy clicks away.

Basic Features

The Sony Ericsson Z500a is tri-band 850 / 1800 / 1900 GSM and released exclusively on the Cingular / AT&T Wireless network. However the Z500 world phone model comes unlocked making it compatible with GSM networks in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additionally, the Z500a comes with a 670 mAh Li-Ion battery that has incredible maximum talk and standby times of 10 and 264 hours respectively under optimal conditions.

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