Sony Ericsson Z750i

Sporting a glossy, mirror-like surface with a disappearing external display, the Sony Ericsson Z750i looks almost identical to the Z610i. This HSDPA-capable handset is exclusive to Telstra's Next G network and is one of a handful of Telstra handsets bearing the 'Blue Tick' for recommended coverage in rural areas of Australia.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to drive out to a rural area to test the handset's reception, but suffice to say, coverage is excellent in metropolitan areas. The Z750i offers above average voice quality and decent volume levels. Of course, it offers full access to the BigPond content portal, including the Foxtel Mobile TV service and WhereIs Navigator. Speeds are reasonable for a HSDPA phone, though the display isn't really recommended for long viewing; it's a little small for watching video.

The outstanding aesthetic feature of the Z750i is the external OLED display. Virtually invisible when not in operation due to the reflective, mirror surface, the display only appears when you receive a new message, call or calendar notification. Although the surface is a fingerprint magnet, it's quite effective. The curved edging means the phone slides easily into a pocket, but the flip mechanism isn't spring operated and doesn't feel smooth. Inside, the keyboard and controls are excellent with the five-way navigational pad bearing the grunt of the work.

The included media player supports playback of MP3 and AAC files and the A2DP Bluetooth profile means you can wirelessly stream your music to a compatible set of headphones. There are basic play settings such as shuffle and loop, a five-band preset equaliser and stereo widening settings. Unfortunately the MP3 capabilities are let-down by the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The 2-megapixel camera lacks flash and autofocus, but it does a decent job for the odd happy snap. Panorama, 2.5x digital zoom, frames and burst shooting mode and a 10-second self-timer are all included and the camera doubles as a video recorder, albeit quite a poor one. For video calling on the Next G network, a VGA camera is mounted above the internal display. RSS feeds and blogging are also included. In a couple of easy steps you can take a photo, write a small snippet of text and publish it on the Internet as a blog – all through the phone itself.

The Z750i includes just 32MB of internal memory but it supports Memory Stick Micro (M2) and a 128MB M2 card is included in the sales package. PIM functions include alarms, calendar, tasks, notes, calculator, timer, stopwatch and synchronisation with a PC. The Z750i should also keep you entertained with Java games, video, photo and music DJ applications and a sound recorder.