While HD-quality video capture is becoming more common on compact digicams and digital SLRs, there still aren't many mobile phones that can do the same. The Samsung i8910 HD is the most prominent example with its ability to shoot 720p videos and Sony Ericsson has now joined the league with its Vivaz smartphone.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz - Design & Build:

The first thing that struck us about the Vivaz design was how compact it is. It is smaller and lighter than the i8910 HD and Sony Ericsson's own Satio. The device looks sleek with a curved back battery cover and a simple front with edges that taper toward the top and bottom. The body is made entirely of plastic with a translucent glow on the sides, but the handset quickly became slippery after we had our fingerprints all over it.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is a little different. Even though it is largely sold as a “feature phone” rather than a smartphone, it has real smartphone brains under the hood with its Symbian S60 5th edition operating system. Does this make it a really good value for people who want web connectivity and smartphone-like functionality at a “dumbphone”.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro - Features:

The “Pro” part of the Vivaz Pro’s name comes by way of the hardware QWERTY keyboard that slides out the side. In essence, you get a phone that is very similar to the original Sony Ericsson Vivaz, but with a keyboard. The trade off is that the camera is downgraded to “just” a five-megapixel shooter. It retains its 720p HD video recording capability though, making this a reasonably suitable cameraphone.