| Ericsson R320 |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 |
| Announced | 2000 |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 130 X 51 X 15 Mm |
| Weight | 99 G |
| Display |
| Type | Monochrome Graphic |
| Size | 5 Lines |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Monophonic |
| Customization | |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 99 |
| Call Records | 30 Received, Dialed And Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| Data |
| Gprs | No |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | No |
| Infrared Port | Yes |
| Usb | |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms |
| Browser | Wap |
| Clock | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes |
| Games | Yes |
| Colors | Atlantic Blue, Rock Red And Stone Purple |
| Camera | No |
| | - Voice Dial
- Voice Answer
- Voice Memo
- Calculator |
| Battery |
| | Standard Battery |
| Stand-by | 104 H |
| Talk Time | 4 H 30 Min |
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Ericsson - R320Ericsson R320
The first thing that strikes you about the Ericsson R320 is how slim it is. The body thickness of the device is only 1cm.
Our review model shipped with a lithium-ion battery that protruded slightly, but lithium-polymer batteries are available and they lie flush with the phone itself. However, the aesthetics of the thin design did not appeal to all. Some of the Personal Computer World team felt that the R320 looked as if it had been sliced in half.
Another issue with the design of the phone is the large aerial. Aerials are no longer necessary on mobile phones, as Nokia has shown with many of its models, and the one on the R320 adds considerably to its size as well as spoiling its looks.
In its favour, the R320 has a large and clear screen, with an attractive Indiglow-type backlight. Ericsson has decided not to copy Nokia's scroll wheel design for navigating, and instead has positioned four navigation buttons below the screen, allowing up, down, left and right movements. This system works well enough and allows simple navigation through the phone's menus. What is bizarre, however, is the scroll slider at the top left-hand side of the phone. This device is almost impossible to use if the unit is in your right hand - a great bonus to left-handed users, but little help to the majority of the population.
Fully featured
The phone itself is feature-packed, allowing both 900GSM and 1800GSM compatibility. It's blessed with a large array of ring tones and a couple of games to while away long train journeys or meetings. You can also add voice tags to 10 of the numbers in your phone book. You then simply press a button, say the name of the person you want to call and the phone dials them for you.
We used Cellnet's Genie service to test the Wap capabilities of the phone. The R320 took a bit of fiddling to set up, but it was fine once we got the configuration right. This won't be a problem for anyone buying the R320, as it should be configured at the time of purchase.
Accessing the Genie Wap service seemed quite slow via the Ericsson, and navigation was also made difficult because of the way the information was displayed. When connected to a Wap service such as Genie, the R320 wraps the list of active options across each line so the up, down, left and right buttons all have to be used to navigate. This is particularly annoying since the large screen lends itself to each option being given a separate line, thus making navigation a far simpler operation.
Built-in modem
Like the Nokia 7110, the Ericsson R320 has a built-in infrared GSM modem. This means that the phone can be connected to a personal digital assistant (PDA) or notebook without the need for cables or external devices. This is great for the travelling business person who wants to keep in touch with the office wherever they are. Ultimately, this is still the preferable way to access the internet on the move and a suitably equipped PDA will make email far easier than using either of these Wap phones.
The IR modem has to be activated before use. This is a neat feature since the battery would not last long if the modem was constantly polling for devices to connect to. You also get PDA functionality with an in-built diary with alarm reminders, although the infrared modem would indicate that the phone is aimed at someone who already has a personal digital assistant.
If there's one thing missing from the R320, it's GSM1900 support. Without this the phone is useless if you visit the US, and many potential business users will be looking for this functionality in their next mobile purchase. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: ericszon , erikcsson , ericwson , ericssom |
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