Trusted Reviews reviews the Sony Ericsson K550i and writes, "Image quality is pretty good especially for photos taken outdoors. The sunflower was photographed using the phone’s macro mode setting and the yellow is quite a true reproduction. The purples on the other flower photo aren’t quite up to the same standard. The lighter coloured flower is a deeper bluish purple in the real world, but this photo shows that the K550i can capture a reasonably good level of detail. ... The K550i delivers much that is familiar in Sony Ericsson’s handset range. It is in many respects an average mobile phone, though. The camera can be bettered and the screen is small. Still, if you need long battery life it could well make your shortlist."

3G reviews the Sony Ericsson K550i and writes, "You’re no doubt sniffing around the K550i for the camera and, while you don’t get the Photo Fix or BestPic photographic trickery of fellow Cyber-shooters, the phone still retains the brand’s quality camera control. The active sliding lens cover is a tad sticky, but is sturdy protection and fires up the camera. It shoots in a 1632x1224-pixel resolution and is comparable to the W810i and K750i for picture quality. The auto-focus works well, but sadly, the flash isn’t a proper automatic Xenon job like the K800i/K810i, but is an LED light that needs manual activating. It’s pretty crude, but you must expect some sacrifices lower down the rung. ... We can understand where Sony Ericsson has positioned the K550i, but right now, it’s too close to the K800i on prepay to represent a bargain Nevertheless, it’s still one of the most user-friendly and feature-packed mid-range camera phones out there." More