GSMArena.com GSMArena.com

Tip us

1.5m
109k
RSS

EV

Merch

Log in

Login

I forgot my password
Sign up
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Featured
  • Phone Finder
  • Deals
  • MerchNew
  • Coverage
  • Contact
ADVERTISEMENTS
GSMArena team, 30 December 2009

First look


Sony Ericsson Hazel preview: First look

  • Comments (29)
  • User reviews
  • Hazel

3. User interface, camera
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. 360-degree view, design and construction, display
  3. 3. User interface, camera
  4. 4. GPS navigation, web browser, apps, conclusion
  5.  
  6. Sony Ericsson Hazel specification
  7. User opinions and reviews
  8. Review comments (29)

Sony Ericsson GreenHeart

This article is outdated. We have already published a full review.

UI: (almost) nothing new under the Sun

The Sony Ericsson Hazel user interface is almost the same as in the latest manufacturer's phones we recently reviewed. It is customizable by Flash Lite themes and is sprinkled with smooth animations all over.

The interface offers many options and settings accessible at great speed - adding to an uncompromising user experience. In fact the latest Sony Ericsson UI is one of the prettiest and most customizable among the feature phone competition.


The Flash interface

The homescreen is the same as you already know it. The same goes for the menu. As before, you can choose between four menu layout options - theme-dependent, 3 x 4 grid of icons, rotating view and single icon view.


The Hazel menu layout options

The interface is visually appealing and snappy. Auto rotation is enabled in the Media Center and is generally quite responsive. There's no noticeable lag involved but we guess that's to be preferred over an over-sensitive accelerometer that can often play up.

The only news when it comes to the interface is the promised updates in the field of social networking. Hazel isn't the first Sony Ericsson device to come with some sort of support for such services but it's the first (along with the Sony Ericsson Elm) to offer you access not only to your Facebook account but also to those at MySpace and Twitter.

Thanks to Hazel's widget manager you can have those apps running on your homescreen.

As we've already mentioned, our preview is based on a pre-release Hazel sample. And, unfortunately, it doesn't have any of the social networking applications so you'll have to wait for the full review to hear our say on how they fare.

For one, you can always jump over to our Sony Ericsson C901 review to see how the Facebook app integrates on the homescreen.

Sony Ericsson C901 Sony Ericsson C901 Sony Ericsson C901
Facebook app running on the Sony Ericsson C901

The multimedia department is also the same as before (it's quite good as it is). As you can see from our recent Elm preview, nothing has changed since the Yari.

You can leave your camera at home

The Hazel sports a 5-megapixel autofocus snapper with LED-flash. For a pre-release unit the Sony Ericsson Hazel camera does a pretty nice job.

Face detection, Smile shot and geotagging are all on board (no BestPic shooting mode though).



The Hazel camera interface

The image quality is nice as well. There is still room for improvement - images suffer from too much noise and oversharpening. Contrast has to be improved, too. But we can safely assume those will be improved in the final retail version.

Here are the Hazel camera samples:

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
Sony Ericsson Hazel camera samples

Believe it or not (we didn't at first), Sony Ericsson Hazel is capable of recording VGA clips at 30fps. As you can see from the sample video, everything is nice and fluid and although there are some visible artifacts, the overall quality is satisfying.

Next Page » 4. GPS navigation, web browser, apps, conclusion
3. User interface, camera
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. 360-degree view, design and construction, display
  3. 3. User interface, camera
  4. 4. GPS navigation, web browser, apps, conclusion
  5.  
  6. Sony Ericsson Hazel specification
  7. User opinions and reviews
  8. Review comments (29)

Reviews Sony Ericsson Hazel previewPage 3
  • Comments (29)
  • User reviews
  • Hazel

Phone finder

  • Samsung
  • Apple
  • Huawei
  • Nokia
  • Sony
  • LG
  • HTC
  • Motorola
  • Lenovo
  • Xiaomi
  • Google
  • Honor
  • Oppo
  • Realme
  • OnePlus
  • vivo
  • Meizu
  • BlackBerry
  • Asus
  • Alcatel
  • ZTE
  • Microsoft
  • Vodafone
  • Energizer
  • Cat
  • Sharp
  • Micromax
  • Infinix
  • TCL
  • Ulefone
  • Tecno
  • Doogee
  • Blackview
  • BLU
  • Panasonic
  • Plum

All brands Rumor mill

ADVERTISEMENTS

Related articles

  • Flashback: Sony Ericsson P910 used an odd flavor of touch Symbian and wanted to do it all
  • Flashback video: the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and how it bet on the wrong OS
  • Flashback: Sony Ericsson Satio and a look at how far camera phones have come in the last decade
  • Flashback: the Sony Ericsson K800 was as versatile as James Bond and the first Cyber-shot phone
ADVERTISEMENTS

Popular reviews

Apple iOS 14 review

Apple iOS 14 review
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra review

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra review
Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G review

Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G review

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Nio prepares to launch 2 more unannounced EVs in next few months Nio prepares to launch 2 more unannounced EVs in next few months Xiaomi demands payout from supplier over leaked imagesCanalys: Indian EV market grows a whopping 223% in 2022
ADVERTISEMENTS

Home News Reviews Compare Coverage Glossary FAQ RSS feed Youtube Facebook Twitter Instagram

© 2000-2023 GSMArena.com Mobile version Android app Tools Contact us Merch store Privacy Terms of use Change Ad Consent Do not sell my data