Japanese Phone CAsio W53CA Review

Casio have fired a shot across Sony Ericsson's bows by launching its new Casio W53CA Exilim mobile phone. Up until now, Sony Ericsson has pretty much had the high-end camera-phone market to itself. Sure, other mobile manufacturers have released phones with more megapixellage (such as the 5 megapixel Nokia N95), but none can match either the quality or the sheer brand presence of the Sony Cybershot name.

With Casio, however, it's different. Casio's Exilim super-slim cameras compete head on with Sony's Cybershots, and the brand is just as well known and just as high in quality. Now that Casio have released a camera phone with the Exilim brand, Sony Ericsson have some real competition on their hands.

More pictures and details of the Casio W53CA Exilim phone after the jump.

Just like Sony Ercisson's Cybershot phones, the Casio W53CA Exilim phone focuses heavily on the quality and functionality of its camera. However, Casio's phone goes further - much further. Sporting 5 megapixels (compared with Sony Ericsson's current range-topper of 3.2 megapixels), the W53CA also comes with 9 point auto-focusing, a 28mm lens, autofocus and a high-speed shutter (which is unheard of for camera-phones).

It also offers a huge 2.8" internal display with a stunning 480×800 pixel VGA resolution - that's twice the resolution of most phones' QVGA screens.

In addition, you also get the usual mobile phone features - MP3 player, email client, IT Simple (super-fast InfraRed) and a a microSD slot that supports 2GB cards.

All this means that the new Casio W53CA Exilim phone trounces Sony Ericsson's Cybershot phones, and makes the Casio more of a camera than a phone. It's certainly one of the first phones that can be used to completely replace a camera, and should have camera manufacturers quaking in their boots, never mind Sony Ericsson.

The only downside is that it's currently only available in Japan, as part of KDDI's latest line-up of phones. That said, Casio recently announced that they intend to expand heavily into the mobile phone market, so it could find its way further afield later in the year. We'll keep you posted, as this is one phone that could give Sony Ericsson just the kick it needs to beef up its phones' features.

[Source: FROM MOBILE SITE]