Is Sony Ericsson too late with the new G705?

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3.2MP 3G slider... it's just so last year

Slim and beginning with a G - like a certain Beavis
Slim and beginning with a G - like a certain Beavis

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the new G705 handset, and while it's fairly well stocked with features, it still fails to impress.

With low-end phones gaining a device category of their own, thanks to worldwide emerging markets, consumers in Western Europe and the US are expecting more from their handsets.

Well-stocked

And while the G705's appearance seems to be a reaction to other handsets from Nokia and Samsung, the feature list is well stocked.

A 3.2MP camera (more than adequate), GPS with Wayfinder software inbuilt so it's actually worth something, and an HTML browser with a upload function to YouTube via a Google shortcut key.

The addition of DLNA, already seen on Nokia and Samsung handsets, is a welcome addition, as it will allow the device to talk to other things in the home and share content, namely the PS3 and PCs running the latest version of Windows Media Player.

Also unveiled is the G705u, the first UMA phone from the Japanese-Swedes. This allows users to switch seamlessly between GSM and Wi-Fi capabilities, and will be operated by Orange exclusively in its territories, including the UK.

Available in Q4 this year, in Silky Gold or Majestic Black. Why, oh why, can't we have normal names for colours? Gold or black, what's wrong with that?

Gareth Beavis
Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.