Sony Ericsson has again included its Blogger-linked blogging software, so you can send pics with text to an online blog with a few key presses. The video recording function offers typically limited mobile phone shooting quality, at a maximum of 176 x 144 pixels resolution.

The Access NetFront browser is a full internet browser, and can present websites in full screen or small screen rendered mode, optimised for mobiles. It can even deliver them in landscape on the display. Sony Ericsson has set up default internet access so you get Google as your home page. The browser works remarkably quickly, despite the lack of 3G connectivity.

Squeaky slider

Messaging options on the S500i include an email client alongside the usual MMS and text. Additional organiser features include calendar, tasks, notes, a calculator and a stopwatch. You can easily sync calendar and contacts with your PC using supplied PC Suite software. In addition, there are a couple of extra Java apps loaded - AudiblePlayer for downloadable audiobooks, and AccuWeather Light for worldwide weather updates.

More Java apps are downloadable, as are games. Two games are pre-loaded: Brain Juice and Lumines Block Challenge. Sony Ericsson's standard tools for tweaking images and sounds – PhotoDJ, VideoDJ and Music DJ - are also present.

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The S500i delivered a solid performance as phone. It produced fine sound quality on both ends of a call. Sony Ericsson quotes battery life at up to nine hours' talk time and 370 hours on stand-by. While we weren't able to rack up 15 days in normal use - the music player, camera and other functions squeeze those figures - we had no problems keeping the phone active for a good five days before reaching for the charger. Not at all bad when you consider most modern phones need charging every other evening.

Verdict

'Sloany' Ericsson's S500i is a phone that's targeted at a young, style-conscious consumer, though its illuminated charms will not be to everyone's taste. Its colour variations and themes provide a fashionable twist to a competitively-priced model, though the plasticky front casing is disappointing, and the phone's imaging limitations and lack of 3G may turn off some buyers. But it does offer a decent array of features and a design that will be appealing to many. Particularly if you dig that northern lights action, man...