Will You Get The Most Out of Sony Ericsson Yari?

Sony Ericsson are well-known amongst mobile phone enthusiasts as being a manufacturer who consistently releases excellent handsets that specialise in a certain area, such as having an excellent camera or music player amongst some of the perks, but does the Yari model measure up to the other phones in the Sony Ericsson range?

Marketed as more of a gaming phone than anything else, it is important to first mention how much we love the gesture controlled gaming. An example of the potential can be seen in games such as the Bowling game that is pre-installed, where you move the entire handset much as you would the Wii remote. So, in short, you set up the shot via the keypad then you swing your arm in order to power the shot then release to throw the ball – guaranteed fun so long as you don’t throw your phone out of a window when playing! Amongst the other games, such as tennis, you prop the phone on the stand provided then use your hands in order to move the character and perform the moves you indicate.

Seriously, this method of gaming on a phone is extremely fun, however if you play like this in public you may feel a bit embarrassed! We can’t see anyone wanting to play games such as these motion ones when waiting for a friend in a cafe or when we’re on the bus, but there are plenty of alternatives including the retro-classic Tetris, which rely on the traditional keypad controls. There are loads of games pre-installed on the handset, which kind of makes up for the lack of the Android or Apple experience.

The screen is nice at 2.4inches, and the colours and images are incredibly crisp. When you turn the phone it auto-rotates, which we love, but it’s not in the same league as what you can get on a more recent Sony Ericsson smartphone. The built-in GPS allows you to use the location-based apps such as NearMe or alternatively should you ever find yourself stuck or lost, you can send your location as a text message so a friend can come and get you. These are features that are lost on some of the lower-end smartphones, so the Yari is filling a gap in budget phone handsets.

Again, considering some of the more expensive smartphones from other manufacturers are offering meager camera megapixels, we were pleasantly surprised that the Sony Ericsson Yari included a 5 megapixel camera on the handset. The images come out look beautifully focused and there are a myriad of options for getting the perfect shot, including smile detection technology. There is a flash, which admittedly is sometimes overly strong, but you are able to turn it off if the lighting is good enough. You can also share your photos online or via messages very simply.

Unfortunately the buttons did get on our nerves on several occasions. With so many different keys we often hit the wrong thing when trying to answer a call and the delete button is really easy to press accidentally! We’re sure that if you used the phone over time you would get used to using the keys, but it’s slightly counter-intuitive. It appears that Sony Ericsson mainly wanted you to use the slide-out keyboard when typing, so they went a little overkill on adding buttons, including a further two option buttons place above the four main buttons and a D-Pad with a central Select button. Seriously, there’s no need for this many.

Surprisingly for a Sony Ericsson handset the Yari isn’t the best in the way of a music player. The home screen provides quick access to the player, but the linear menu system looks a bit dated and there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. This is the main problem we have with Sony Ericsson handsets as they are fully capable of doing this, but for some reason they would rather that the user use the headphones they provide, which just aren’t as good as the ones we keep at home.

The Yari is a bit slow to load some of it’s intensive applications and some of the games. You’re not able to customise your phone with add-ons and apps like you can with a smartphone and Web browsing isn’t as fluid as we would have liked. There is 3G connection but no Wi-Fi.

To conclude we liked the motion gaming and the sleek looks of the Yari, but we felt that it was a little complicated to get used to. We would recommend that anyone who wanted additional apps and better internet capabilities to up their budget and purchase a smartphone, but for those who want an excellent regular handset then the Yari is sure to please.

Wouldn't it be nice if you find a deal that offers mobile phone free PS3. This is something that you will surely look forward to as it gives you more than what you have bargained for.