Ericsson T28 mobile phone (Ericsson T28 World)

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Product:	Ericsson T28 World
Date:	23/05/01 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dual-band GSM, incredibly thin and lightweight at 83g

Disadvantages: lacks built in modem

Features: Lacks a built-in modem, but boasts great looks, plentiful features and clear call quality in the smallest phone chassis.

In recent years the Ericsson mobile phone range has become as exciting as the boxy old Volvo estate car. The phones have been robust, strong, reliable and fairly user-friendly, but have been swiftly overtaken by Motorola and Nokia in terms of size, and completely left behind in the 'I want it, gotta have it' league. Enter the latest T28 model from Ericsson.
According to the men in suits, T stands for 'trendsetting', and the T28 is "small, beautifully designed and always very smart". The word 'small' is actually something of an understatement. This phone will displace the room taken by no more than just a few credit cards stacked on top of each other, and it weighs only a fraction more than these, at a mere 83g.
It's not quite as bright as the gleaming chrome Nokia 8810, but it is sexier than any previous Ericssons, with a slightly more curvaceous appearance, and it comes in a choice of four colours. The version we tested was supplied in 'marble beige'.
The T28 is certainly beautifully designed and built, with the new active flip opening and shutting with the solidity that we have come to expect of Ericsson, and it doesn't feel quite as flimsy as the rival V3688 from Motorola. Inside, this dual-band phone is stuffed to the gills with features such as programmable ring tones, a calculator, stopwatch, various games, voice dialling and an alarm clock.
A small design touch I know, but nonetheless indicative of the phone's intelligent design, is the battery life indicator, which will tell you down to the last hour or minute approximately how much standby and talktime is left over. As I'm writing this, the usual battery indicator is down to the last bar, which would normally have me scrambling around looking for the charger. With the T28 I just gently nudge down
the side-mounted button with the edge of my thumb to see that the phone will be good for at least another nine hours on standby or 22 minutes of talktime. Panic is temporarily averted.
While the Nokia 8810 and forthcoming 8850 models include a built-in modem, laptop or handheld PC users will need to shell out at least £150 extra for the new DI28 clip-on infra-red modem in order to connect the T28 to a computer for mobile fax and e-mail purposes. The simple truth is that the T28 is a fashion accessory rather than a mobile data tool, and while the lack of a built-in modem is regrettable, it's not going to lose you any street cred.
And on the streets of London the phone performed extremely well - reception was good. It's the best small phone money can buy.
Verdict: Lacks a built-in modem, but boasts great looks, plentiful features and clear call quality in the smallest phone chassis.

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