Man, do I love this phone. Sorry, I'm probably supposed to start with some introduction about Sony Ericsson smartphones, but despite the fact that this handset looks unassuming and doesn't pack any particularly unique standout features, I really like it. It's easy to use (for the most part), features everything I ever use on any regular basis and a couple of things I don't.
Until now, the vast majority of smartphones I'd had any close acquaintance with had Windows Mobile as the OS of choice. All very well and good but it was time for a change and a chance to get my hands on a Symbian phone. I very quickly fell for the OS.
It's clearly laid out, uncluttered and apart from a few peculiar icon choices which gave me, oh, 3 extra seconds pause, it was as intuitive and usable as I could have asked for. I know plenty of Windows Mobile users who choose Opera regardless and indeed surfing was straightforward and, being a 3G phone, fairly fast. I confess to being an extremely moderate surfer, but even video was not a problem.
Simple functions are the litmus test for me; if I can't send a text without chucking the handset to the ground in frustration something is seriously wrong. What was interesting was that I very nearly did have a hissy fit with this phone, but it was entirely my fault. It simply took me far longer than a tech blogger should admit to get used to the SmartType-esque two-letters-per-key keypad. Pressing to the left or right defines what is selected. Once I got the hang of it, however, all was plain sailing. I found in the end I was most comfortable playing stab and click with the stylus and the on-screen keyboard. The handwriting recognition was not great; I found myself writing a lot of sentences that went "WMVMVMVMVVVM NN" and so forth, so I'd probably ditch that feature if I were Sony Ericsson, or do a lot of work on it.
Because the usual features - push email, browsing, texting, etc - functioned perfectly, I found myself devoting more time to the icing features - the ones that you don't need but that are thrown in to make the cake look real pretty.
Such a one was the business card scanner which is so-so. Scanning my boyfriend's plain, white, conventional business card which demarcates the numbers by "tel" and "mob", it got about 90% of the information correct. Scanning mine, which comes in proud Shiny fuchsia and has a slightly unconventional design, I came up as L7EE OUMB with no number, address or even email. 5/10 for that feature, then.
Design-wise this appeals to my old-fashioned form-follows-function side. It's only just larger than the average candybar (perhaps a tad thicker all round than the BlackBerry Pearl) but light and with a generous touchscreen so it looks attractive but unassuming. I'd characterise it as a smart and modest offering from the inside out. For a closer look, check out my video review.
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Very Nice review including Video review. I am posting it on my blog. Thanks
HI, I got this phone 5 days ago on an o2 contract. being an ex-windows mobile user I was quite wary of switching to symbian, but it is quite good, the today screen in its basic form is much better than the windows mobile today screen.
However I am finding the lack of UIQ3 3rd party software quite annoying. Windows mobile has a massive wealth of freeware and low cost software available but the range of stuff available for UIQ3 is giving me a bit of a nightmare. This really is my only issue. Other than that its a fantastic phone.