| Product: |
Sony Ericsson T630 |
| Date: |
16/10/05 (254 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good quality for its price. Fast and clear, and easy to use
Disadvantages: Can be fiddly. Lack of fascias makes it hard to customize
So this is it. Phone number five in under a year. So far I have managed to write a review for each of them, and this is going to be no different. Now, as anyone who read my (recently updated) NEC 338 review will know, I was severely dissapointed bu the lack of features which are often considered standard on most modern mobile phones. I dispised the picture size, and the low sound quality. I was gutted to learn it had neither Bluetooth, nor infrared. I was annoyed that I had payed out so much money for such an under-advanced phone. After putting up with it for about a month, I started trying to find excuses to get a new phone. Indeed, the only reaxson I hadn't returned it to the store within a fortnight was because I dropped it on my way to work, whilst biking, leaving it with a mahoosive scratch down one side, rendering it useless for a refund.
Then along came a small package of gold, in the form of an O2 genie sim card. See, my girlfriend decided that buying two of them would be great, as the 300 free texts that it offers would be perfect for staying in touch. The only problem (if you can call it that) was that the NEC couldn't be unlocked. So, unfortunately, it looked like I would have to get a better phone, eh?
So off I trotted to the city centre once again. My experiance form last time told me that the Link was a good place to go. I looked around for what felt like hours but was unable to find a phone within my £90 budget.So I left the store to go home, feeling slightly dismayed and a bit daft. It was then I noticed the Carphone Warehouse practically next door.
I had already decided that the Carphone Warehouse is a good place to buy phones, as that was where I had been helped out greatly buying my A835. I also knew they had a massive selection of phones, and that they are a lot cheaper than many other places. Proof of this is the fact it took less than five minutes to find a small, cheap-ish, attractive phone, with all the functions I wanted.
My dad had a T610 for a long, long time. I really liked it as well, since it was one of the first camera phones with recognisable quality. I had wanted one for so long you wouldn't believe it! So the fact I was about to buy one better had me feeling very excited, with high hopes.
After parting with eight thousand, nine hundred and ninty nine Great British pennies, I walked out of the store, once again considerably poorer but yet another phone richer than before. Bus home, yada yada, open the box, and so on.
First impressions were actually not that great. There was a huge and blatant attempt to make money in the from of a CD containing software to transfer sounds, pictures, and the like from the phone to the PC. What's the problem with that, you cry? Easy. There is no data cable included! How's that for cashing in? Well, dispite that, the software is usually expensive, but never the less this annoyed me. You know, as if parting with ninety quid wasn't enough!
The charger was there, but no hands free kit, which I was also a little dissapointed at since the last three phones I owned came with one... and they were a damn sight cheaper than this phone I can tell you! There was also a lot more leaflets than I have ever seen in any phone. As well as the O2 promotion ones, there were also leaflets promoting Sony Ericsson! As well as this, there was an exceptionally chunky instruction booklet... which I used purely to find out what buttons to press. I decided that since I didn't fancy a sleepless night of reading the instruction manual I would teach myself what does what.
But to the thing you are reading this review for... the phone. Sitting in a snug little cardboard bed, it gleams slightly as the light hits the shiny lamination of the buttones and screen. Very nice first impressions. There is an internal aerial, and the sides are a different colour to the front and back. In the centre of the back is a small silver capsule-shaped oval, housing the camera and view finder. The buttons on the side have clear marks indicating what their functions are. The phone itself is small and light, even with the battery in. So all in all, good so far.
Putting the SIM card is was, it has to be said, a bit of a mission. It is basically touch and go as to whether you get it right, since it involves sliding a really small and stiff metal panel back and forth to hold the card in place. The battery sits over the lot and is held very securely in place by a slide on battery cover. Very safe, no chance of it popping off and you losing your SIM card anywhere.
After plugging it in to charge, I turned it on. This is done Nokia-style, with a button on the top of the phone as opposed to the increasingly popular method of holding down the hang up button. The screen flashes on nice and bright, displaying the Sony Ericsson logo. But the best part about turning it on is the sound. A loud, sharp, crystal clear tone sounds out, pounding the puny NEC 338 sound capabilities into the ground. It isn't as loud as the A835 but it is far clearer.
The main screen consists simply of a wallpaper, time, date, and all the usual expected info such as battery life and reception quality. There are no shortcut pictures, asides from the soft keys to access recent calls and the quick menu, which includes the options to check your number, put the phone on silent, and lock the keypad. This leaves the main screen looking very neat and tidy, and since the quick menu features the most used functions it doesn't really matter that there aren't any shortcuts.
The joystick in the middle of the phone acts as a button and also as the navigation for the phone. From the home page, you can either press it as a button to access the main menu, push it left to write a new text (Straight to the typing.... very fast indeed!), push down to access contacts, press right to access the main menu (for some reason), or push up to view your friends. This annoyed me a bit as well.... the only friend you have at first is, apparantly, yourself! Not nice to feel rejected by a phone, Sony Ericsson!
The next thing to do was to add all of my old contacts onto my phone, as it was a new SIM card. This was actually quite hard to do. It is a fine example of how it takes a while tog et used to the phone. True, it is faster than most phones, but it is done in a totally different way, which confused me. But I got there in the end.
Texting came next, to let friends know about my new number. Texting is so fast that it amazed me.It is literally press left from the main screen, type, select contact, bam. Sorted. After sending a text, it even displays your new balance on screen, although this may only be with O2, I honestly don't know. Picture messaging requires some set up, although again this may only be with O2. This is also fast and easy.
Speaking of pictures, the camera on this is really good quality. Whilst not quite as good as the NEC 313 quality, which also boasted 640 x 480 resolution but at a much higher quality, it beats the A835 hands down, and is way outta the league of the 338. You can even select between four different effects, including black and white, and sepia. There is no video mode, but I can live without it. The coolest feature regarding the camera is the little view finder just below the camera. Line your face up in it, take a pic, turn the phone over and BAM! you managed to take a photo of yourself! Very funky.
Although there is no video, there is the abiltiy to record sound, although chances are you won't ever use this. There is also a music DJ, which basically lets you create your own ringtone by draggin and dropping various sounds into a grid.
The phone boasts all common features, such as alarms, texting, picture messaging, calculator, calender, and everything else that pretty much all modern phones have. However, to share photos and the like it also supports bluetooth and infrared. These allow you to exchange photos and sounds between other bluetooth and infra red phones for free! This feature is becoming more and more popular, although the T630 was one of the first phones to support bluetooth.
The phone comes with several games. Built in are four games to play from the start, and there are a few that can be downloaded for free through the phone. The games are good considering how old the phone is now, and it even has V-Rally! Whilst not particulary addictive, they are good for a bad bus journey and the like.
The wap capabilties on this phone are good, but not great. You can access pretty much any website - indeed, I have managed to read my own reviews on Ciao - although you cannot log in to anything, and most pictures are not shown unless they are found via the Google image search which is accessable through the main menu. But then, it is free to access the web, and chances are you will only use it to read stuff. Typing message-style reviews would take too long anyway!
The phone seems to be very durable as well. I have managed to drop it several times, and it hasn't even turned itself off. The battery case doesn't come off either. It also seems relatively scratch proof, and the buttons don't feel like they are likely to fall out or snap. There is also no external aerial, so that won't break either.
The problems with the phone that might swing peoples buying decisions are the fact that it does not support video messaging or calling, the lack of a camera light, and the fact that it is not a flip out or slide out mobile. However, these are not particulary important on a phone, and it has most other modern features and functions so it makes up for lacking video.
For skim readers, and ease of use for members who can't be bothered to read all that, here is a list of advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
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-Small and light
The phone is very lightweight, and very easy on the eye with a gentle, if slightly dull coloured case.
-Many features for a relatively cheap phone
Supporting bluetooth, infrared, and very high quality pictures, this phone blows away most competition. It also has a ringtone creator, and all the usual alarms and calender features that are to be expected.
-Unbelievably fast
Everything is so fast! It was definately made for the hurried people of the world. Texting, taking photos, locking the keypad, and putting the phone on silence take seconds, literally.
Disadvantages
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-No video
Tis a problem, I won't deny it. But then, who uses video that often?
-Small memory
The memory is very small. We are talking like, 2 or 3 megabytes, and this fills up fast. Possibly another attempt tp get you to buy the data cable?
-Picture quality not as good as hoped
Although the pics are large, they are not as high quality as most phones.
All in all, this is a top notch phone. Yeah, so it has no video on it, but is this really such a big loss? On most phones it is only low quality anyway. So if you want a phone, go out and buy this one!
Links
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http://www.myt630.lasyk.net/ - An absolutely brilliant idea for a website! Without any signing up or paying, you can browse a load of pictures, wallpapers, games, and ringtones.... and then download them for free! This does not even need you to hand out a phone number or pay any money at all. Check it out!
Summary: Get it if you have a budget of about 80 pounds
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