GSMArena.com GSMArena.com

Tip us

2.0m
150k
RSS

EV

Merch

Log in

Login

I forgot my password
Sign up
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Featured
  • Phone Finder
  • Deals
  • MerchNew
  • Coverage
  • Contact
ADVERTISEMENT
GSMArena team, 20 May 2010

Earth, wind, green heart


Sony Ericsson Hazel review: Earth, wind, green heart

  • Comments (62)
  • User reviews
  • Hazel

3. User interface, phonebook
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Retail package, 360-degree spin, design and construction
  3. 3. User interface, phonebook
  4. 4. Telephony, messaging
  5. 5. Music and video player, image gallery
  6. 6. FM radio, audio quality, camera
  7. 7. Connectivity, web browser, organizer
  8. 8. Applications, GPS navigation, games
  9. 9. Final words
  10.  
  11. Sony Ericsson Hazel specification
  12. User opinions and reviews
  13. Review comments (62)

Sony Ericsson

The regular user interface, with some widgets on top

The Hazel uses the regular Sony Ericsson feature phone UI that's used in most of their midrange handsets. The Flash UI is well familiar and deservedly praised for its looks, speed and multitasking ability.

The standby screen is arranged in the usual manner with information on top indicating signal strength, currently used data carrier and battery status. At the bottom of the display, just above the context keys are their labels.

The options for the menu layout are the standard foursome - theme-dependent, 3 x 4 grid of icons, rotating view and single icon view.

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
The well-known Sony Ericsson home screen • Main menu • Greenheart and Breeze themes

The rotating view features three animated front icons on the display, the center one showing the active selection. The other two icons are half-hidden, just as an indication of what comes next. Five other menu icons can be seen in the dim background.

The icon view displays a single icon at a time and a vertical bar featuring tiny icons for the other main menu entries. Neither of those view modes works with shortcut keys. Only the Grid view allows quick numeric keypad access.

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
The alternative main menu layouts

The well-known Activity menu offers quick access to a user-defined list of favorite features, web, recent events and, of course, the Running Apps tab that takes care of multitasking.

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
The well-known Activity menu

Flight mode can only work with a SIM card in the device and requires a restart.

The interface is visually appealing and snappy. There’s auto rotation in the Media Center and it is generally quite responsive.

There is one important upgrade on top of all that - the homescreen widgets. Sony Ericsson tried this concept on the C901, where the Facebook app had a handy homescreen shortcut with live updates.

There are now a total of five homescreen widgets: Calendar, Walk Mate, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Each of the preloaded widgets takes almost the whole standby screen, so you can only have one visible at a time. But they can all be working at once and easily switched between using the D-pad.

You get to select which widgets will be active and you may choose to enable all of them. Pressing the Up key on the D-pad, lets you manage the widgets and set their behavior.

The Calendar widget is a shortened version of the actual app, showing the upcoming events.

Walk Mate should be familiar to Sony Ericsson users – a simple step-counter, which works in the background. It has a green twist this time around and is aptly called Walk Mate Eco – it converts your walking exercise into saved CO2 emissions. Which of course only makes sense if you’re walking outdoors.

Sony Ericsson Elm Sony Ericsson Elm Sony Ericsson Elm
Widget list • Calendar • Walk Mate Eco

The three social widgets are convenient shortcuts to the actual Facebook, Twitter and MySpace apps, with on-screen live updates. They show your friends’ profile pictures and their latest activities – just like the Facebook app on the Hazel.

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
Facebook, Twitter and MySpace widgets

Standard-issue phonebook

The phonebook has space for 1000 contacts and 7000 numbers. You can choose to view contacts in the phone memory or on SIM, but not both. Either way, you can set up the phone to autosave to SIM all contacts that are being saved to the phone memory. You can also back up your entire contact list on the memory card and restore it from there.

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
The Sony Ericsson Hazel phonebook

Editing a contact employs a tabbed interface that’s well known for anyone that has used a Sony Ericsson handset in the past couple of years. There are five tabs that group related contact details. The first tab is for names and numbers, next up is web addresses such as e-mails and URLs. The third tab is for storing a picture, a custom ringtone, group, message tone and voice command, the fourth is for postal details and, finally, the fifth has fields for a note and a birthday (which you can add to the Calendar too).

Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel Sony Ericsson Hazel
Viewing a contact • Tabs keep things in order

The name of the contact is written in only one field, but you still have the option to order contacts by first or last name. The phone guesses which is which and it does it very well. Naturally, you can search the contacts list by gradual typing.

Next Page » 4. Telephony, messaging
3. User interface, phonebook
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Retail package, 360-degree spin, design and construction
  3. 3. User interface, phonebook
  4. 4. Telephony, messaging
  5. 5. Music and video player, image gallery
  6. 6. FM radio, audio quality, camera
  7. 7. Connectivity, web browser, organizer
  8. 8. Applications, GPS navigation, games
  9. 9. Final words
  10.  
  11. Sony Ericsson Hazel specification
  12. User opinions and reviews
  13. Review comments (62)

Reviews Sony Ericsson Hazel reviewPage 3
  • Comments (62)
  • User reviews
  • Hazel

Phone finder

  • Samsung
  • Apple
  • Huawei
  • Nokia
  • Sony
  • LG
  • HTC
  • Motorola
  • Lenovo
  • Xiaomi
  • Google
  • Honor
  • Oppo
  • Realme
  • OnePlus
  • Nothing
  • vivo
  • Meizu
  • Asus
  • Alcatel
  • ZTE
  • Microsoft
  • Umidigi
  • Coolpad
  • Oscal
  • Sharp
  • Micromax
  • Infinix
  • Ulefone
  • Tecno
  • Doogee
  • Blackview
  • Cubot
  • Oukitel
  • Itel
  • TCL

All brands Rumor mill

ADVERTISEMENT

Popular reviews

Honor 400 Pro review
Honor 400 Pro review
OnePlus 13s hands-on review
OnePlus 13s hands-on review
Sony Xperia 1 VII review
Sony Xperia 1 VII review
ADVERTISEMENT

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

China's EV market booms as North America hits the brakes China's EV market booms as North America hits the brakes Peugeot beats Volkswagen to the punch with new E-208 GTI electric hot hatchPricier and heavier Tesla Model S and Model X refresh leaves fans unimpressed
ADVERTISEMENT

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

© 2000-2025 GSMArena.com Mobile version Android app Tools Contact us Merch store Privacy Terms of use Change Ad Consent Do not sell my data