The main features of the Sony DSC W170 are 10 megapixels and a 5x wide angle lens. The advantage of a wide angle lens is that you can squeeze wider scenes into your shots. This comes in especially handy for landscapes, groups of people and interiors.

This model is 24mm wide, so it will fit into a decent sized pocket. It comes in three colours silver, gold and red.

Other useful features include a 2.7 inch LCD screen. As with other models in the Sony W range there is also a viewfinder for composing photos. This can be useful on sunny days when it can be difficult to see the LCD screen clearly.

The DSC W170 has image stabilisation built in. This helps to compensate for small hand movements and can lead to sharper looking photos.

For portrait shots there is face detection technology and also a smile shutter mode. This fires off a snap automatically when it detects that someone is smiling.