Why does one need a new mobile phone? In my case I am neither a teenager nor someone who needs to make a fashion statement with a cell phone.Simply put, it was time to give a mobile to my wife as the talk time rates have dropped to a level where everyone on the move can afford to have a mobile. So there goes the old Nokia 3315 to wifey dear and time to look around for a new phone.
Specifications were clear:The cheapest colour display phone in the market.It is still time to wait for camera phone prices to drop lower so this was out of the specs loop at this point of time.
A business trip to Dubai certainly helped-just give them your specs and they will display all the phones that match your speces on the table straightaway-neat and simple.The cost factor eliminated the Nokia 3200 besides that phone looked very toyish to me.
Some Alcatel model was also displayed but I was not too sure of this brand.So the choice narrows down to the Sony-Ericsson T230 and is purchased straightway.In Dubai this is available for about 4300 India Rupees.At the time of purchase the features don’t matter much since the phone is going to be used just for making and receiving calls and some stray SMS messaging once in a while and all phones certainly will have these features.And favorable experience with a previous Ericsson phone certainly speeds up the decision.
Now that I have been using this phone for about a month it is feedback time and they are all list below:
1.Whatever others might say, the reception quality of a Sony Ericsson is certainly better than Nokia at the place in Mumbai where I am staying.Mind you I am comparing the reception quality of the two phones using the same service provider at the same reception area.This I think is an accurate comparison as one is not wasting time trying to compare chalk and cheese.
2.Battery life for Sony E is better than the Nokia and the phone has to be recharged about once in 3 days with an average talk time activity.
3.The keyboard of the Sony E is its weak point.You have to press them a little hard and the keypad is not ergonomically designed which results in frequent mistyping of numbers.The enter button in the Navigational area for instance can be pressed accurately only with the thumbnail, so watch out if you have recently done some manicure.
4.Retrieving the last ten call activity is a breeze as the last ten calls received/made/missed appears as a drop down list as soon as you come out of the standby mode.This is a vital useful feature as one tends use these numbers the most.
5.Ever noticed how painful cellphones have become when one is in a meeting?Shifting the phone to silent mode is a breeze unlike the Nokia where one has to actually remember the steps for changing over to silent mode.Also they have a feature-Vibration mode when silent.This feature is priceless as one tends to use the vibration mode only when it is is the silent mode.In this phone shifting the mode to silent automatically activates the vibration mode and vice-versa.
6.SMS is OK but the keypad makes fast typing a difficult job.However there is a menu for ’sent messages’ which is frequently required.One can modify an existing sent message and resend to someone easily.I could not do this with the Nokia 3315.
7.Ringtones:There are a few selections of polyphonic tones but nothing to write home about.However Orange does not seem to have this phone in their list of phones for which ringtones can be downloaded.For an old fogey like me, even a single ringtone will do as long as the phone rings.
8.Size:Really small and cute and and fit in the shirt pocket horizontally.This also prevents the phone from popping out of your pocket and getting damaged.
9.Other features:There are other features like Games and Web services in the main menu but haven’t yet had the time or the inclination to go through these features.
Overall the T230 is good value for money and at this point of time you will certainly not find a better phone in this segment.