Small phone but perhaps a bit fragile (Ericsson T28 World)

Member Name: gawright

Product:	Ericsson T28 World
Date:	07/05/01 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, Standby time shown in hours

Disadvantages: Flip a bit fragile

The first thing that strikes you about this phone is its size. It is incredibly small and thin. Having said that the aerial is a bit on the big side. It is NOT a tri-band phone as is often mistakenly claimed. It is a dual-band phone but is GSM900/1900 as opposed to the usual GSM900/1800. This is very important because it means that in the UK it can only be used on Vodafone or Cellnet. However it can be used in North America unlike the 900/1800 variety of phone.

The main disadvantage to me is the flip – it seems so fragile that I’m always worrying it will get broken off. Since the microphone is in the flip this would be disastrous. The release button needs to be pressed quite firmly to open the flip, which has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand this prevent the flip opening accidentally but I have found that if I let someone else use the phone (when people see it they often want to try it) they start to pull at the flip to open it.

The battery operating time is reasonable and the remaining standby time and talk time (in hours/minutes) can be displayed on the screen. This is useful but I find it tends to overestimate the remaining time – although it gets better as the battery runs down (which I suppose is where it is most important). The Lithium polymer battery means it can be charged at any time without affecting overall battery life.

The vibrating alert is useful but I find it is not very strong and it can often be a while before I notice the phone is vibrating. This is the first phone with vibrating alert I’ve used so I’m unsure how this compares to other phones but it is poor compared to my Motorola pager.

If you want to use a hands-free kit with this phone it is essential to have the type with the ‘end-call’ button on the cable if you want to make calls without opening the flip. It is possible to initiate a call without opening the flip (by holding the slider on the side to i
nitiate voice dialling). It is also possible to answer a call using voice control. However I have been unable to find a way of ending a call without the ‘end-call’ button or without opening the flip. Many hands-free kits for this phone do not have this button.

Overall I think this is a nice phone but perhaps a little fragile

Summary: