The awaited product is the fourth entry in the G series labeled Generalization WEB. Previously only smartphones were given the G label, - G700 and G900, - but the recent shift in the Symbian UIQ policy led to the appearance of G-series budget solutions, like G502. It's a bit hard to tell for sure why on earth G502 is marketed as a specialized solutions for web surfers. The only proficiency feature found in this phone is the quick buttons active in the web browser; as for the rest, the phone has nothing that would suggest a high web functionality – even the preinstalled browser is a mere NetFront 3.4 which can't compete on par with the one used on S60 smartphones like Nokia 6120 classic which is sold for a same price but offers much better features. G502 is a stillborn product which hardly deserves a review, aimed at the ignorant part of the audience who can be potentially attracted by the neat design.

Sony Ericsson G705 looks more interesting. The G series smartphones, and G700 in particular, sport very poor sales and price reductions prove to be of very little help. The competitors offer much more balanced solutions, a very characteristic example being the Nokia company. Let's get back to G705 for now. The keypad looks reminiscent of C905; the stuffing is very close to what C905 has as well (both have Wi-Fi which is virtually missing in any other Sony Ericsson phone). The camera is slightly different, nerfed down a bit – a mere 3.2 Mp without auto-focusing, with a LED flash. The same type of camera was seen in a number of earlier models, pointing out another irrational tendency in SE products: mid-end and even hi-end products are often getting non-autofocusing cameras which simply damages the product image. Happen to remember W980i? Sporting a price above 350-400 euros, it utterly fails in every aspect of the camera functionality as compared to the majority of products belonging to the same market segment.

Just like the many other phones by Sony Ericsson, G705 comes equipped with a GPS unit. The reasons for placing or not placing a GPS unit in a particular model are absolutely unexplainable: one was featured in a mid-end music phone; now they place it in a fashion slider. Smartphones like G700 and G900, on the contrary, are ridiculously lacking one, going against all common sense. In the review of Sony Ericsson W760i we speculated about the necessity of a GPS unit in a music slider; after a small poll, it was revealed that less than ten per cent of the people questioned supported the idea that GPS is a necessary improvement in the music phone; only a few said that the availability of GPS was critical in their choice of a music phone. Meanwhile Nokia smartphones sporting GPS capabilities enjoy enormous demand, but their 'dumbphones' – music, camera and fashion ones, - don't have GPS just because it's outside of the circle of interests of the target audience. There's even less sense in notching up the price of a product by giving it a function which would hardly ever make a selling point. Hereby comes the conclusion: W760i and G705 are simply overpriced against the competitive solutions, and will be in a short demand if any.  

By the way, GPS functionality is strictly limited to the Wayfinder Navigator software, which is the worst option of all the navigation programs available on modern phones, and you can't switch for another one (e.g. Nokia Maps 2.0).

The rest of the specifications are rather typical: a 2.4'' QVGA screen (just like the one the W910i has), M2 memory card expansion, accelerometer.

It is expected that the official announce of Sony Ericsson G705 is coming within a few weeks; the model will allegedly sold for 320 euros in the European countries; the price may exceed the estimated value during the first days of sales. The music-oriented W760i plays in the same segment, the price of which is going to fall down to a very reasonable level before G705 enters retail, which makes the latter a disputable choice – its only advantage is the onboard Wi-Fi unit, which is simply not enough to compensate for the substantial increase in price. Another music handset by Sony Ericsson, W595, is totally lacking Wi-Fi and GPS. It will start selling for 360 euros in late October – again we are getting an overpriced solution which loses to competitive products by the native brand (e.g. W760i) and rival manufacturers alike.

A sequel to T650i (an image candy bar) is planned for release along with G705. Unlike the predecessor, the device no longer possesses an auto-focusing capability. The design bears a strong resemblance to W890 (minus the Walkman label) It remains unclear, though, who would ever get attracted by it when W980i still sells at a reduced price, and T650i is even more affordable, offering a better camera.
 

Making up a brief summary, let us note that the only SE product worthy of attention in Q4 is Xperia X1 – a powerful smartphone running Windows Mobile, featuring metal parts and an unusual design; in the second place comes the less remarkable C905, the company's photo flagship. The release of these two devices gave Sony Ericsson some hope for reclaiming the position of a technological leader; both are perfectly balanced and enjoy attention from the customer audience, distributing companies and carriers. C905 has a formidable rival Samsung i8510 INNOV8 which is better in almost every aspect (save probably for the xenon flash), yet it is 200 euro more expensive. There are no working i8510 samples available in Russia, so we were really surprised to learn of one of our homolugues examining the casing of a defunct prototype, and even publishing his judgments on its camera quality. Anyway samples will arrive soon, so we will be able to do an in-depth review.