Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
As the Sony Ericsson Vivaz isn't a smartphone to rival the likes of the iPhone 3GS or HTC Hero, it is fairly conscientious about its internet use and only connects when you open an application requiring the internet.
Great if you're on a budget or don't have an unlimited data plan, but quite annoying if you do.
The Vivaz asked what connection we wanted to use every single time we accessed any internet application, despite the fact that we had set post-pay internet as the default connection.
This got very frustrating very quickly, and the three dialogue boxes to go through made even a quick glance at Twitter a chore.
The plus side is that switching between 3G and Wi-Fi is really very easy.
Browsing web pages over the SIM card data connection was changeable – at times it was very speedy to load image-intensive web pages, but at other times it took up to a minute to download all the images with seemingly the same levels of reception.
Wi-Fi, though a little slower, was much more constant.
To avoid using the stylus while browsing the internet, the zoom function (denoted by two magnifying glasses) is great.
It allows you to zoom right in on web pages, but not onto specific bits so you have to scroll around to get to the part you want to see.
Another helpful addition is the 'find' function so you can locate the relevant bit of the web page once you have zoomed in.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz isn't Flash compatible, so Flash-based sites will just render as plain text.
We were really impressed with the mobile version of YouTube, however – as a widget option in the Vivaz's video player, clicking through to YouTube was quick and the videos loaded without much delay.
We also applaud the in-menu BBC iPlayer web shortcut, although this requires a Wi-Fi connection to let you download content to your mobile.
Social networking apps generally work without a hitch, although having set Twitter as a tab on the home screen we were disappointed to have to repeatedly enter log in information - in fact, it was a terrible way to work with a phone that offers 'native Twitter'.
It also lacks access to DMs, @replies or anything else other than the last 20 or so updates in your timeline, so you tend to be better off using the mobile site.
