The future of Ericsson is here! (Ericsson T65)

Member Name: Jpdm

Product:	Ericsson T65
Date:	25/01/02 (1606 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

I was given this mobile phone while I was in San Diego over the past couple of weeks for business. The Ericsson T65 is something special that becomes obvious from the first instant I laid my eyes at it. The manufacturer seems to drastically abandon the tenacities of the past 9including the numerous mistakes), plotting a new course. Modern, practical and extremely functional, this new phone from Ericsson is equipped with features, which surprised me and allowed for my communication with all of my business contacts when I needed it. Unquestionably, this device makes up one of the best alternatives I could find in its class. Among its advantages, what was indeed the main one was the GPRS support, the large display of five lines of text, the EMS support, the Mobile chat, its unique ease of use and a lot more that will be presented as this opinion continues.

Forget what you thought of Ericsson, I surely did so! The T65 does not share many characteristics the older phones of this Swedish manufacturer had. The antenna is no longer protruding from the device, losing precious space and making its transfer difficult, as it has now been implemented to the interior. The little protective door has vanished, something that finds me completely in favour of as I always questioned its existence and functionality. The display takes up a third of the front area, while it can display 5 lines of text in 4 different shades of grey. The side sliding button is replaced by two separate buttons, which are not less practical or useful. In the specialist buttons of this device, I found except for the default YES, NO and C buttons, a new central multi-functional button of four directions. On top of that, there is another button that allows access to certain features. The smart aesthetic intervention, the intense colours and the modern design, just reminded me that this device was not one from the mid-range of the market, but one of the h-end that probably targeted those us
ers who are demanding of their phone and of young age.

Another great detail is the incorporation of the battery in the phone, on the back of a screwing, protective cover, on its back side. The SIM card is inserted in a separate, sliding receptor, which is found on top of the device. By opening this receptor, the phone turns off automatically and will turn on again, while displaying a prompt for the user to insert the SIM.

What follows, is the classic start-up show with the successive presentation of certain images and the Ericsson’s logo, followed by the characteristic melody of the company. However, the unique capabilities of the phone’s display are best shown in standby mode, when the selected “background” will be presented with 4 shades of grey, occupying a big part of the screen. Sufficient space, though, will remain for the different meters of network signal/GPRS and battery, the icons and the name of the network with which the user did connect to. The lines of text, which can be shown at the same time, depend on the selected font size, which can be large, normal or small. By choosing the small font size, 5 lines of text were shown simultaneously, where an extra line was kept for displaying info for the selection function. It must be noted that the T65 also offers the screen protection feature, which brings the display in standby mode after a period of inactivity. What is very thoughtful is that the status line remains visible allowing the user to see the time for example. This way, I actually noticed an increase to the autonomy of the phone. The lighting, as in most of Ericsson’s devices, is in EL backlit with the characteristic diffused green.

The central multi-function button of four directions made my life a lot easier as it allowed me to quickly and easily find the menu I was after. This kind of joypad is surrounded by the classic YES and NO (accept and end calls, commands of positive and
negative character), the C and a light blue button, which promises instant access to the Internet after it’s pressed. What is also obvious is that the area of each of the 12 alphanumerical buttons has been decreased significantly. Personally, I didn’t find that too difficult to get used to while texting or indeed anything I had to do.

The structure of the menu is not so different when compared to the rest of Ericsson’s phones. The desired function is selected with the horizontal movement arrows buttons. The menus of T65 have been structured in 7 main categories: phone directory, messages, information, settings, tools, wap and shortcuts. Entering n e of the categories can be done either by pressing the YES button or the down button of the joypad. The whole process was a bit unclear at first to me. As I did not have the manual for my phone, I was glad to see that after a few seconds a help menu appeared at the centre of the screen. To faster select any option from the menu, the user can also use the numbers to get to the targeted menu as long as the exact sequence is remembered. I remember well, the direct background selection was reached after pressing 4, 5, 3 and 2. The new users, including me, will find the seventh menu category “shortcuts” most useful. Here I could save up to 10 different features that are likely to be used often. For me, the text editor, the phonebook and the voicemail access were all I needed and these three shortcuts made my day. It is most likely you won’t need more that 10 shortcuts ever. For that matter, not a lot of us use their mobile phone for more that calling or texting someone.

The phonebook can accept, except for the SIM entries, an extra 300 entries that are stored in the memory. Every contact can be composed by name, first name, phone numbers (work, home, mobile) and e-mail. What was very funny was that the user can attach an image to each contact as well as a mel
ody. Just imagine the possibilities in that! The only limitation is that the only pictures available are the ones used for EMS.

The T65 also surprised me by its management of voice functions. Every such function is found at the menu 4, 9! Very useful don’t you think? In order for your voice to be recognised, you should either keep the YES pressed while on standby or say the “key word”, which will activate the voice activated functions. In order to set a voice etiquette you only have to add the “key word” after the characteristic tone. The recorded sound will then be heard and you will only be needed to verify its storage.

As it’s already mentioned, the T65 is above all a GPRS device. Thus, uninterrupted and fast access to the Internet is possible in combination with the implemented WAP 1.2.1 browser.

What is also interesting about this mobile is that it has a lot of applications that allow me, you, everybody(!), to keep in contact with our appointments with the opposite sex. The diary of the T65 will allow for its user to review the daily, weekly and monthly schedule, allowing for input of your appointments. There are also 4 fun games (biorhythms, game, e-maze, Tetris) just to help you keep awake while on the tube Monday morning.

This device is the first (and only) one that fully supports the advantages of the EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service). By this, the user can, among else, attach to his text messages one or more pictures or melodies. On top of that, the T65 will allow for text formatting (well not exactly as Word), but the user can make a part of text bold, underlined or even justified to the left, right or centre! This phone’s database holds tens of images, suitable for every occasion. In the unlikely case u can’t find something to your liking, there’s always the Picture Editor. Hold on to your hats!… Here you can draw whatever you like. Yes, itR
17;s Draw in a mobile phone. “What is next”, I hear you say…

Not a lot as my opinion reaches its end. A final characteristic that will make the millions of texts we send every year even faster is the T9 predictive text support. I needed a bit of getting used to it, but eventually I couldn’t do without it.

To sum things up, my impression of the T65 is more than a positive one. It is surely one of the most complete presently in the market. However, there would always be something missing from the perfect phone. In this case, the memory can only store one personal background and there is no infrared port, which would greatly help us computer users synchronise our data with our computer at home. I would suggest this mobile to you, according to your needs. However, as I pointed out in my previous op, this will not be the one for me as I have already made my mind for the Siemens S45.

Summary: