Joining the Cyber-shot lineup of photo-majoring cameraphones, the Sony Ericsson C702 has been given a more resilient, outdoors-and-active kind of twist than others in the snap-specialist range.

For starters, the C702 has been built to withstand a bit more bit ill-treatment than the average cameraphone, with a splash- and dust-resistant casing that's been given a touch of rubber-feel ruggedness.

In addition, the C702 is the first Cyber-shot phone to incorporate A-GPS satellite navigation technology inside, with software pre-loaded for mapping and route planning, plus a GPS-based tracker application for runners.

Tough phone

Unlike some real hard-case phones, like the JCB Toughphone, the C702 isn't built to withstand serious damage – it's splash- and dust-resistant to IP54 standards rather than fully waterproofed, so total immersion isn't a good idea. But unlike some beefed up hard-case phones, it's far from lightweight in the features department.

Alongside its Sat Nav capabilities, it has a 3.2-megapixel camera with a Cyber-shot user interface and features, including autofocus and a double LED photo light. It's also an HSDPA-enabled 3G handset, offering high-speed download and browsing at speeds of up to 3.6Mbps (depending on network support).

There's video calling capability via a secondary front facing camera, plus a decent spread of mid-tier functionality, including music and video players, and an onboard FM radio.

Fiddly keypad

The added durability and internal GPS receiver doesn't do much to over-inflate the C702's size. It's not as slim as the ultra-thin C902, but it measures an average-ish 106(h) x 48(w) x 16(d) mm and weighs a pocketable 105g.

The screen is a reasonable 2.2-inch colour 262K-colour QVGA display, slightly larger than the C902's screen real estate – though the C702 doesn't have touch control camera buttons around the edges. Instead, like previous Cyber-shots, in camera mode some of the number buttons get shortcut icons appearing on them; in this instance, holding the phone in camera mode, the 3, 6, 9 and # buttons do camera shortcuts for flash, timer, shoot mode and scenes exposure settings.

Its numberpad design isn't what you would describe as rugged; keys are quite thin, rounded and smooth, and larger fingered users – or outdoors types with damp or freezing digits – will find it fiddly. Similarly, the control keys surrounding the navigation D-pad are small and cramped, although the raised D-pad itself is large and usable.

On the back, there's a screw lock protection for the rear panel. The camera lens is protected by a chunky slide down cover, which along with a side camera button fires up the shooter.

The camera employed on this Cyber-shot phone has more quality features than the 3.2-megapixel cameras on recent Walkman handsets including W890i and W980i, though naturally it doesn't match up to the C902's 5-megapixel snapper. Incidentally, you can also set the double LED photo light as a torch.

Multi-featured camera

The Cyber-shot brand means you get a user-friendly digital camera-style user interface, with settings options clearly shown on the display when you click the appropriate softkey; you can switch between and change them quite intuitively.

Among the options, as well as standard autofocus with macro mode for close up shooting, the C702 has a face detection option, which automatically identifies and focuses on the face in any image.

Missing from this model is Sony Ericsson's clever BestPic multi-shot option, and the image stabiliser both of which you get on the C902, but the A-GPS system onboard enables you to 'geotag' images – adding positioning data - with precise location, rather than approximate areas.

The camera is capable of good quality close up shots, and generally images came out reasonably well without delivering a really top class level of detail or colour performance. Colour rendition was bright and vivid, but sometimes looked oversaturated in certain lighting conditions.

The autofocus system worked well, however, and the camera is pleasant to use. In low light conditions, the photo light adds illumination, but not with as much power or precision as a top-end xenon flash.

Post-shooting, there's the usual Sony Ericsson Photo fix option and PhotoDJ editing software to improve results in-phone. As has become standard for Sony Ericssons, there's a Blogger app enabling diret uploading pics to online blogs. Video clips shot on the phone – at average QVGA quality – can be uploaded to Blogger accounts too.

Help from Google Maps

Satellite navigation is the other headline-grabber on the C702. Its A-GPS technology is applied to pre-loaded Google Maps software – another recent staple feature for mid-tier Sony Ericssons – providing precise mapping, route planning and search options for addresses, businesses and numerous other services.

Google Maps, which also offers a variety of zoomable views and satellite imagery delivered over-the-air, is a useful pocket tool in itself. We found the A-GPS system works effectively and accurately and determining and keeping hold of your position.