| Sony Ericsson T610 |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 / Gsm 1900 |
| Announced | 2003, 2q |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 102 X 44 X 19 Mm |
| Weight | 95 G |
| Display |
| Type | Stn, 65k Colors |
| Size | 128 X 160 Pixels |
| | - Wallpapers |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Polyphonic (32 Channels) |
| Customization | Composer, Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| | - Ringtones Can Be Assigned To Phonebook Entries |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 8 Fields, 510 Items, Photo Call |
| Call Records | 30 Received, Dialed And Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| | - 2 Mb Shared Memory
- 300 Organizer Entries |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 8 (4+1 Slots), 32 - 40 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes, V1.0b |
| Infrared Port | Yes |
| Usb | |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms, Ems, Mms, Email |
| Browser | Wap 2.0/xhtml |
| Clock | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes |
| Games | Deep Abyss, Five Stones, Minigolf And Downloadable, |
| Colors | 3 |
| Camera | Cif, 352 X 288 Pixels |
| | - Java
- T9
- Calculator
- Image Viewer
- Scheduler
- Voice Memo |
| Battery |
| | Standard, Li-ion (bst-25) |
| Stand-by | Up To 310 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 14 H |
|
Sony Ericsson - T610It's finally here! The much awaited Sony Ericsson T610. There has been much chatter about this phone among the cellular phone community. Since its prerelease notice, everyone has been awaiting the launch of Sony Ericsson's flagship phone.
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Sony Ericsson boasted a phone with 65,000 colors, 32 instrument polyphonic ring tones, MMS, a build-in digital camera, and Bluetooth technology. Many cellular phone enthusiasts were praising it as the perfect phone, even before they had a chance to hold it.
But with tough competition coming from the Nokia 7250, Samsung V205, and Panasonic GU87, Sony Ericsson will have to work hard to stand out. All these phones have great color screens, polyphonic ring tones, and built-in cameras. If you're one of the gadget loving consumers that cellular phone manufacturers are drooling to court, then you might be wondering if the T610 is the phone for you.
Don't worry, we have tested the phone and bring you all the pros and cons about the successor to the hugely popular T68i. Everything from the design, to menu, and reception. So proceed forward and find out why everyone is waiting for this phone to debut.
Design
The Sony Ericsson T610 was much anticipated. Being the successor of the hugely popular T68i is a tough shoe to fit. But Sony Ericsson has improved and added features to make the T610 the flagship model to compete against the top cellular phone contenders such as the Samsung V205, Nokia 7250, and Panasonic GU87. Considered the cream of the crop of cell phones, these high end phones have 4,096 and 65,000 color screens, beautiful polyphonic ring tones, MMS, and built-in digital cameras.
From a design standpoint, the T610 has very traditional lines and curves. It currently comes in 3 colors: Aluminum Haze, Abyss Blue, and Volcanic Red. The T610 is made from aluminum with plastic around the screen, so the phone feels much sturdier. However, the new materials attract fingerprints, so if you care about the appearance of your phones, you might be wiping the T610 excessively. Good thing it comes with a cleaning cloth.
The T610 is just as impressive in multimedia. Starting with its 65,000 color 128 x 160 pixel STN screen, Sony Ericsson has also added 32 instruments to its polyphonic ring tones. But what really stands out is Sony Ericsson's reputation for versatility. What the T610 has that the others don't is the ability to change practically everything about your phone to your tastes. If you've owned a T68i you know how fun it is to create your own themes. The T610 has increased the customizability. Now you can change everything from desktop pictures, to toolbars, text, and practically everything else you can dream of. Nokia and Samsung have something called color schemes, but they pale in comparison.
A digital camera is also built into the back of the T610. The camera takes pictures at resolutions of 120 x 160 and 288 x 352 pixels. In addition, there is a self timer, and 3 effects: black and white, negative, and sepia. In normal and outdoor lighting the T610 camera performed well. However dim lighting made the pictures very dull and lifeless. Compared to the Nokia 7250, the image quality was very similar, which is decent for a camera phone. Overall cameras on phones are meant more as a novelty item for taking pictures of your friends to put as their caller ID. Don't expect to be printing out photo quality pictures from this camera.
The software of the T610 is much improved on since the T68i. Many people had problems with the slow menu of the T68i. You'll be happy to know that the T610 has a much faster menu with minimal delay. The T610 has added picture and music editors too. Now you can make minor change to your pictures. One of the problems with polyphonic ring tones was that you couldn't make them on your phone. Well Sony Ericsson has solved that problem with its Music DJ. Now you can create polyphonic ring tones by overlaying up to 4 tracks from 128 samples.
If there was a weakness in the T610 it would have to be in the memory. The phone comes with only 2MB of internal memory and no way of upgrading. That means you'll be doing a lot of deleting and memory management. If you plan on taking frequent pictures with the camera phone you might need a computer near by to empty out the phone.
Screen
The T68i had the most advanced screen when it came out over a year ago when all other phones were black and white. This time around everyone has flooded the color cell phone market.
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The T610 has a 65,000 color 128x160 pixel STN screen. Now you might have read that other phone displays contain a TFT screen. The main difference between the two is that the TFT has the circuit transistors placed on the glass at the pixel location. This results in greatly increasing the response time and allows for very fast refresh rates.
Unfortunately, the T610 uses a STN which do not have the circuitry on the glass and has to scan the pixel locations. This slows the response time and produces what is commonly referred to as "ghosts." Ghosts happen when you change to a new screen and the old imprint can still be seen on top. Most phones use STN because the need for fast refresh rates aren't needed, and ghosts aren't a big deal. However, if you plan on playing a fast action packed games with a lot of motion, then this could potentially be a problem.
For a STN screen, the T610 performs very well. The refresh rate is high and minimal ghosts occur. Fading occurs pretty significantly when used in bright sunlight. Almost to the point where you can't see anything on the screen. However for most everyday use, you'll find the screen bright and clear.
Controls
A 5-way joystick was great on the T68i, and the T610's is even better. If you've never touched a Sony Ericsson joystick then you are truly missing out. Navigation is incredibly fluid, and playing games gives you greater control. The 5 directions are up, down, left, right, and press.
Sony Ericsson added a new red light in the center of the joystick. It lights up to tell you when your batter is low.
Battery and Charger
The Sony Ericsson T610 comes with a 750 mAh Li-Polymer battery. Sony Ericsson claims that the battery has a standby time of 315 hours and a talk time of 14 hours.
Mobiledia tests reveal real-world times of 475 minutes of talk time and 260 hours of standby time. The company's estimates are inflated for "optimal conditions" (which is no surprise) but the tests do not disappoint, especially considering the color screen. To conserve battery power, the phone should be put in sleep mode whenever it is not in use, meaning that the "always-on" backlight setting should not be used. The phone takes about 2 hours to recharge.
Connections
The Sony Ericsson T610's connections are located on the bottom of the phone. That's where the plug is connected when it's time to recharge the phone. All old accessories are still compatible with the T610 which is very advantageous if you used to own T68i accessories.
An infrared port is included so you can transfer pictures, ring tones, themes, and all the other customizable feature to your phone. The T610 allows you multiple ways to get multimedia to it so you can have fun with its functionality.
Additionally the T610 comes with Bluetooth. That's right, one of the few. If you don't know much about Bluetooth technology, it allows you to pair devices to your phone wirelessly. It can be connected to a network card in your laptop so you can use your T610 as a wireless modem. Or paired with a Bluetooth enabled PDA to allow browsing through a handheld device. But most common usages are connecting a wireless headset so you don't have wires to tie down your mobility.
Sony Ericsson has mentioned the addition of its QuickShare software. Supposedly the T610 has the ability to share images with other users seamlessly through this program from just a few clicks away.
If you're a Mac user you'll be happy to know that Sony Ericsson plans to make the T610 compatible with iSync, Apple's free synchronization software, much like the T68i was. Now users of Apple computers can synchronize their calendar and contact information with the T610 using iSync.
Overall the T610 has great connectivity. With all the ways to transfer and connect stuff to the T610, you can add on many other options that you normally couldn't with other phones.
Sound Quality
The audio quality of the Sony Ericsson T610 is quite good. Many of the problems with the T68i are solved in the T610, mainly the annoying hissing in the background.
Incoming and outgoing calls are clear. Audio from the earpiece was sufficiently loud, and outgoing voices were fairly clean and shielded from background noise. Overall, there isn't much to gripe about over the sound quality of the T610.
RF Performance
There have been differing RF performances between Sony Ericsson's cellular phones. The T68i was notorious for its less than stellar reception, while the P800 exceeded our expectations. So we were anxious to get our hands on the T610 and test it.
After all the tests were completed, the RF performance was definitely better than the T610 in terms of raw reception, however it was not as good as the P800 was. To put it in perspective, the T610 isn't far from the P800's reception. Although it performs slightly worse. Compared to the T68i, the T610 was in a different league.
When in small signal areas, the T610 is able to make calls very well. When a connection is made, it holds on decently too. Incoming voices are better than outgoing though. Outgoing tended to be choppier, although recognizable on the other end. Therefore, the Sony Ericsson T610 receives a reception rating of:
Average
Phone performance can very significantly, especially when considering how well your service provider's coverage area is, landscape, multiplexing technology, or other varying conditions. The phone with the worst reception can still work well if you live under a tower. These results are just a measure of the raw RF capabilities. Factoring everything else would just be impossible to compare phones.
Pros
· Great 65,000 color display. Large 128 x 160 pixel screen. Even though the display is STN, refresh rates are high and minimal ghosts occur.
· Incredible versatility and customizability. Nothing else like Sony Ericsson. Backgrounds, ring tones, screen savers, and themes. Is there nothing this phone can't change? Oh yeah, faceplates. (Unless it's 3rd party)
· Beautiful 32 instrument polyphonic ring tones. Much improved from previous models.
· Music DJ. Now you can create your own polyphonic ring tones. Overlay 4 separate tracks to compose your perfect unique ring tone. Make heads turn with your unique ring tone.
· Downloadable games. The T610 supports both J2ME and Mophun platforms. Now you have twice the games to choose from.
· Easy navigation. The joystick gives you much more versatility. Games are more fun to play, and menus are faster to navigate through.
· MMS, SMS, EMS, chat, and email. The T610 is strong in messaging functionality. Connect with anyone through a wide range of applications.
· Connect to any accessory. With IrDA, and Bluetooth, the range of devices you can pair with or connect to are huge. Everything from network cards to headsets, the T610 lets you connect them all.
Cons
· Small 2MB memory. You'll need to delete often if you like changing the look of the T610. Not enough memory for a phone with so many customizable feature and a built-in digital camera.
· Increasing ring tones may be an inconvenience. The T610 has an increasing ring where it starts off soft and gets progressively louder the longer it rings. What this means is that if you have it buried deep in your pockets or a purse, you may not hear it until it's 1 or 2 rings from being sent to your voice mail.
· A fingerprint magnet. The slightest touch can cause the biggest smudges. Keep that cleaning cloth close by.
Conclusion
Well, as you can see from our lists of pros and cons that the T610 is a top notch phone. It's no reason everyone was buzzing when they first saw Sony Ericsson release the prototype of the T610. The main 128 x 160 pixel, 65000 color STN display is a wonderful screen. The resolution is sufficiently large, and wonderfully sharp. The T610 can hold its own against the heavyweight Samsung phones that all color screen phones are measured against.
The 32 instrument polyphonic ring tones are very melodic. However, the major addition is the Music DJ application. Create your own ring tones and alerts by overlaying up to 4 tracks. Never before have users been able to compose their own polyphonic ring tones straight on their phones.
Inside, the software has been greatly improved too. The slow menu functions of the T68i was enhanced. Messaging applications such as MMS, SMS, and email were retained and improved upon. And flexibility that Sony Ericsson has been known for was increased to create a complete multimedia package.
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With all the pros the cons are far a few. Perhaps the most significant is the lack of memory. At 2MB you won't be able to add many themes, pictures, ring tones, and camera photos. If you like to change the look of your phone regularly, then be prepared to delete often.
The T610 is Sony Ericsson's answer to the continued pressure to produce top of the line cellular phones. Samsung and Nokia started with the V205 and 7250, then Panasonic came in the its GU87. Even though it comes later, the T610 is well worth the wait. After taking everything into consideration, we give the Sony Ericsson T610 an overall rating of:
Excellent |
| Common misspellings on this brand: erkicsson , ericsslon , sonjy |
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