A flip phone with plenty of flair, the Sony Ericsson T707 combines all of Sony Ericsson’s features in a cool package.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova endorsed the T707 when it was released and it is easy to see why she likes it. This Sony Ericsson is beautiful to behold. It is shiny, chic and looks very modern. The handset comes in several exotic colours including ‘mysterious black’, ‘spring rose’ and ‘lucid blue’.  The gloss finish on the front hides an external display you can only see on occasion, like when you close the phone or have a missed call or new message. This front screen is futuristic and fantastic, and makes up for the way the T707 seems to attract fingerprint marks. The inside screen is also neat, with sharp, clear images and good viewing angles.

The T707 is thin (only 14.1mm), which is great, although it can feel a little light and fragile. The opening mechanism isn’t the smoothest, and the top half of the handset moves slightly when open. The keypad and controls on this Sony Ericsson model are round and surrounded by etched patterns. They are also a little more spread out than other handsets. These nuances actually provide good tactility and make the Sony Ericsson T707 simple to control once you are used to it.

Other cute extras for the T707 include a light on the front of the handset that can flash different patterns depending on who’s calling you. This Sony Ericsson model also has gesture control, which allows you to snooze your alarm or mute an incoming call simply by swiping your hand across the front of the phone. Pretty cool, huh? 

Bluetooth, 3G capability, a Memory Stick Micro (M2) card slot for extra storage, and a 3.2-megapixel camera sweeten the Sony Ericsson T707 package. The camera is of good quality and doubles as a video recorder, though unfortunately there is no flash. Also unfortunate is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack, forcing you to use the proprietary headset. There are also games, an in-built video player and a stack of personal management features including notes, a calculator and an alarm.

Sony Ericsson’s TrackID is again present in the T707. This great feature gives you the ability to record a few seconds of any song you wish. This sample is then sent to a music database and if the song is recognised, the track information is sent back to you. I will say it again: the Sony Ericsson T707 is very cool.