Well, on first glance it appears to be just that. The golden handset we played with tonight at Sony Ericsson’s summer party was a medium-sized candy bar that might seem a bit chunky for what it is.

That’s until you slide the front up and reveal the decent-sized keyboard that pops out below.

A quick test writing a text and making simple notes showed the keys to be very easy to use, allowing a pretty decent typing speed. A bit of practice will no doubt improve that even further.

The screen is obviously restricted to the candy-bar’s oblong shape. However, a handy scroll button on the right-hand side gives easy access to the parts of the page that would otherwise be a hassle to view.

Our only big worry with the handset so far? It’s not out in the UK until October.

(Continued on the next page)