The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and its slide out QWERTY keyboard ought to correct our biggest grumble with the original Sony Ericsson Vivaz: the touchscreen that’s about as responsive as most people at a bar are to chat up lines involving tax returns. That’s the theory, but how does it work in practice? Find out in our full Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review.
Read the rest of our Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review: Symbian S60
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review: Keyboard, build and touchscreen
This isn’t the first time Sony Ericsson’s slapped on a QWERTY keyboard, added “Pro” to the name and knocked off for the day, but whereas the Xperia X10 Mini Pro is a genuine improvement on the X10 Mini and a great phone, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro feels like a ditch attempt to correct the failings of the Vivaz. As such, we’re a tad aggrieved that this model wasn’t sold from the start – if it had to be at all.
At a glance, little has changed between the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and its sibling, bar some new shades. Its profile is slightly thicker at 15mm, sure, and a couple of ports and buttons have been moved here and there, but the same love or hate tapered back remains, along with the 3.2-inch touchscreen which attracts fingerprints like it’s paying out cash for them. The 5.1 megapixel camera is actually a downgrade in resolution from the 8.1MP sensor on the original Vivaz, but it still shoots respectable 720p HD video.
Pop the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro open though and its major twist is revealed: a landscape QWERTY keyboard, with plenty of dedicated keys and space between them. The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro’s Symbian touchscreen software hasn’t changed from the Vivaz: in other words, it’s basic, frustrating to use on a resistive screen, and there’s no auto suggestion for typing as you’ll find on any other smartphone platform.
While we don’t have an issue with the slide mechanism of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro (though it’s not nearly as firm as that of the X10 Mini Pro), the keys do sadly prove disappointing. We’re big fans of physical keyboards still, but this is the worst we’ve tried since the Motorola Milestone last year – and that had a glorious screen to make up for it.
The keys on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro are made of rubber, with such a low profile, that defining them proves a chore unless you stare at them all the time, rather than the screen. If you read our Sony Ericsson keyboard typing test recently, you’ll know that we simply couldn’t hit anywhere near the word per minute speeds we could on an X10 Mini Pro and Sony Ericsson Aspen, let alone a BlackBerry. There are plenty of touchscreen only mid range smartphones you can type quicker on too, not least the HTC Wildfire and HTC Legend.
Adding to this frustration is Symbian S60 on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. Lack of any sort of auto punctuation or correction aside, it’s just as painful to use as ever, and the company’s persisted use of it when even Nokia is dropping it from high end touchscreen smartphones is baffling. We’re just not used to modern mobile software blacking out when tilting between landscape and portrait modes like there was a war on. And while the panels homescreen of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is a nice (ish) concept, that it doesn’t even work in landscape mode is an overstep we’d be surprised no one has a lost their job over.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is better than the Vivaz, yes. But simply being able to type now doesn’t make it a good phone, especially while rival touchscreen platforms and phones have just got better and better in the meantime (Cough iPhone 4 cough Samsung Galaxy S) – and their cameras have too. Symbian S60 must not be allowed to live on in touchscreen phones: Sony Ericsson, please see to this.
Read the rest of our Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review: Symbian S60
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro review: Keyboard, build and touchscreen
