Finally! A sexy 3G phone! (Sony Ericsson K600i)

Member Name: Lynnie27

Product:	Sony Ericsson K600i
Date:	01/09/05 (2598 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clear screen, good looks, not heavy, 3G

Disadvantages: 3G not available in all areas

I received my K600i yesterday after purchasing from someone on ebay for £220 – a bargain I have to admit! This phone has been overshadowed by the K750i and the W800i but it is a class phone offering a 1.3 megapixel camera and 3G. The phone had originally been locked to orange but the seller had had it unlocked prior to sale. I can see the reason for this, although in my case, I wanted to use it on orange anyway.

When I took the phone out of the box I was surprised to find it felt lighter than I imagined it would, 3G phones are generally heavier and more bulky, this one feels good to hold. So on charge it went and I waited for around 2 hours until it told me it was ready.

It was easy to click off the back cover as there are two buttons that slide across which immediately releases the cover. After this, installing sim and battery was easy too. The screen is VERY impressive with its 262 colours and measures around 4cms x 3cms.

The first thing I always do with a new phone is to switch off the annoying (in my opinion) key clicks, navigating the menus was a simple process, especially as I have owned Sony Ericsson phones in the past, but even for a new user, it’s not a difficult phone to master. The joystick under the screen feels very solid and is easy to press, yet comfortable to work with, I found this better than most others I had used. One press took me to the main menu but I also found that there was a button on the left hand side of the screen which lists any new events (messages etc.), shortcuts (you can set these up yourself to go to messages, music player, Bluetooth etc), and bookmarks which is very useful if you want to go directly to a page on the net. You can set all these things to appear on the homescreen when a new message comes in but I chose to turn that feature off .

On the right hand side of the screen is another larger button (to match the one on the left that I have just mentioned above) which is for video calling. Pressing this button will show a screen with a picture of yourself (the camera on the front of the phone turns on at this point and displays your face) in the bottom left corner, and when a call is made the person you are calling is shown on the large screen, though there are options for changing this so that you can’t see yourself or the other person can’t see you but can see what you are seeing (there is a camera on the front of the phone so that people can see you when they are talking on a video call, but also one at the back so if you prefer for them to see where you are, you can switch to this mode).

As the phone had originally been on orange all the settings were there for wap and mms but if they hadn’t been, I could have easily visited www.sonyericsson.com and had them sent to me in a text message. Talking of text messages, I love Sony Ericsson for this – when a message comes in the name of the person sending (if they are in your phonebook) is shown on the screen. Messages are easy to write and smileys are also easy to create (and they show as REAL orange coloured smileys – I love that!)

The phone comes with two preinstalled games – FiveStones and Vijay Singh 3D pro golf 2005 which are both good in their own way. However, I am a bass assassin and puzzle bobble fan so I had a little surf and downloaded those too.

Talking of downloading, I normally use gprs as I find it fast and simple, but there is a usb lead included with this phone for easier connectivity ( and cheaper downloads) and a cd is also included to help sync the phone. There is no case for the phone included in the sales package and I would think it would be easy to scratch the screen as with any candy bar phone, so I will need to purchase one soon.

Another feature that drew me to this phone was the RDS radio and I have to say, it is wonderful! I have lots of pre-set channels now and I know what they all are because it tells me – bliss! There is also a music player so you can download mp3s, wavs etc. just like the K750i. This works well too and the sound is very good.

The camera in my opinion is as good as is needed. Okay , so the K750i has 2 megapixels but to be honest, I wasn’t impressed with this when I used it and actually prefer the camera on the K600i. The phone is another twin fronted design from Sony Ericsson with a shutter over the lens just like a normal camera. The button for taking photos is on the right hand side of the phone but as you take photos with the phone sideways, this button is then on top and very comfortable and easy to use. There is also a light for taking photos in dark conditions (or finding your keyhole in the dark!)

Call reception is good and I haven’t had a call dropped yet, although I have only made around 6! The volume is certainly loud enough for both text messages and calls and there is an option for the phone to vibrate when in silent mode which is useful.

3G is a strange thing in my area, sometimes it will work and sometimes not. I did manage to get on yesterday and watched a showbiz news video which was very clear to watch and quick to load, but today the 3G symbol hasn’t shown as yet. If I go half a mile up the road it will be a full 3G signal though, go figure! I should also point out that I did see the 3G signal more on the Nokia 6630, this could be a total coincidence or it may be that the Nokia was able to pick up the signal more easily, I am not sure. If you are in a good 3G area though you will have no problem, but please be aware that a lot does depend on where you live or will be using your phone so it may be an idea to check before purchasing whether 3G will work in your area. Personally I bought this phone for its looks primarily as 3G isn’t a must have for me (I can’t afford to use it often).

I used the phone a LOT yesterday and found that the battery was used halfway (showing orange not green, meaning it could use a charge). In fairness though I hadn't stopped playing with it all day and had spent a lot of time using wap, downloading and texting so all things considered the battery did pretty well.

All in all I am very pleased with this phone and hope to keep it for much longer than some of it’s predecessors :-)

Summary: A fantastic phone with clear scren, great looks and 3G!

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