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The Sony Ericsson Vivaz, the successor to the Satio, features a delightful ergonomic design, with an 8.1 megapixel camera and a proper 3.5 mm headphone jack to take advantage of the Sony Walkman audio we love so much. For consumers looking for the latest mobile phones, this mid-range offering stands up well against its competitors.

We will start with the camera – it is an easy-to-use 8.1 megapixels with separate buttons to launch video and still photo options. Onscreen icons clearly guide you through changing settings, and there are plenty of them to choose from.

The HD video camera function is also simple to use and the phone comes with an 8 GB memory card to facilitate HD video recording. Or you can set the phone to lower res VGA or QVGA, although after experiencing HD, it is a bit of a letdown.

Gone from this phone is the proprietary FastPort connector, replaced by a microUSB port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Needless to say, the sound quality was vastly improved with the ability to use proper headphones. As with most of Sony’s phones, the music interface was easy to use with extra features like album artwork and playlist creation.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz has an ergonomic design that feels nice when held. The TFT screen is also lovely and sharp but has the resistive touch screen we find frustrating to use. Menus, however, are nicely laid out.

For consumers looking for deals on contract mobile phones, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is available on most networks.