Sony Ericsson K310, K510 & Z530

Sony Ericsson K310 (K310i / K310a / K310c)

A straight replacement for the K300, the Sony Ericsson K310 is an entry-level camera phone with a VGA resolution camera (640x480 pixels) and a 128x160 pixel display. The display in the K310 is dubbed UBC ("ultra bright colour"), compared with the STN display in the older K300. The K310 also adds software enhancements such as an RSS reader and Flash compatible browser, while still being a few grams lighter than the K300 at just 82 grams, and with slightly better battery life.There's a multimedia player too, but the K310 only has 12Mb of non-expandable memory, so this will probably not be of much use. The K310 doesn't come with Bluetooth, which is a shame.

The Sony Ericsson K310 will be available in three different tri-band GSM configurations for North America (K310a - 850/1800/1900 MHz), Mainland China (K310c - 900/1800/1900 MHz) and the rest of the world (K610i 900/1800/1900 MHz).

Sony Ericsson K510 (K510i / K510a / K510c)

The Sony Ericsson K510 is the replacement for the 18 month old K500 series. Sharing a similar form factor to the K500 and K310, the K510 comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, 128x160 pixel display, Bluetooth and a web browser with Flash support, email client and an MP3 player (limited by the K510's measly 28Mb of internal non-expandable memory).

It's a fairly lightweight device at 90 grams, with 6 hours talktime and 15 days standby time. Unfortunately, we don't think that the K510 cuts it as a camera phone because of the small screen and lack of memory, and as a multimedia player it's basically crippled by a lack of storage space. If you're after a basic phone, then the K310 actually looks like a better bet.

Again, this will be available in a K510a model for North America, K510c for China and K510i for everywhere else.

Sony Ericsson Z530 (Z530i / Z530c)

The Z530 is essentially the non-Walkman version of the W300 phone, retaining the W300's expandable Memory Stick Micro capabilities, with a multimedia player, Bluetooth, VGA resolution camera and 128x160 pixel display. There's a web browser, email client and RSS news reader too.

It's an attractive handset with a long battery life of up to 9 hours talktime and 16 days standby, but really it doesn't have much else to offer. If you want a music phone, you're probably better off with the Walkman version. The Z530 will be available in China as the Z530c and Europe as the Z530i, expected during Q2 2006.