Sony Ericsson - T610 Cell Phone Review

The Sony Ericsson T610 has been a faithful friend for almost four years now. That's the longest serving cellphone I've ever had - and it's still going strong.

The size is slightly wider than a Mars chocolate bar, but the thickness and length are about the same. It has all the features one would expect on a cellphone these days. The camera is one of the weak points - to put it simply - it's crappy. The photos are very fuzzy and of low resolution. At best you need strong daylight to make anything out. But that is not the primary function of the camera - the call quality is decent (I use T Mobile primarily in the Chicagoland area),though I can't say that I've ever been completely satisfied with the sound quality on any cellphone on any network. Perhaps the most annoying "feature" is the hold button - it's the call answer button that changes function to hold once a call is answered. More often than not, I end up putting the call on hold just by answering the call!

Battery life is also decent. I'm a light cellphone user, so my battery lasts 3-4 days before needing to be recharged. Lately I've been connecting my cellphone to my laptop (Apple MacBook Pro) via Bluetooth so that when a call comes in I get a caller ID message displayed on my screen and the music I'm listening to gets faded down and paused while I take the call, and then resumed once I hang up. When Bluetooth is running all day, my battery usually doesn't last beyond two days.

One other gripe I have with the phone is its limited memory - I can't upload my complete address book (about 500 entries) without getting an out of memory message. On the positive side, the small joystick at the center of the phone is pretty reliable and easy to use to navigate menus.

The Sony Ericsson T610's color screen is quite good, though in direct sunlight it can be quite hard to read. The icons are easy to understand and keep you up to date on signal strength, messages, e-mail, battery and Bluetooth status.

The choice of cellphones seems like a never ending torrent, though the Sony Ericsson T610 is a classic that has lived way beyond most product life cycles. It is also one of the most supported Bluetooth phones out there.

Overall, the features that keep me from switching phones are: 1) small size, 2) Bluetooth connectivity, and 3) decent battery life. Oh, and it does have stylish good looks.