Sony Ericsson T610 Cell Phone
The Sony Ericsson T610 was much anticipated. Being the successor of the hugely popular T68i is a tough shoe to fit. But Sony Ericson has improved and added features to make the T610 the flagship model to compete against the top cellular phone contenders such as the Samsung V205, Nokia 7250, and Panasonic GU87. Considered the cream of the crop of cell phones, these high end phones have 4,096 and 65,000 color screens, beautiful polyphonic ring tones, MMS, and built-in digital cameras.
From a design standpoint, the T610 has very traditional lines and curves. It currently comes in 3 colors: Aluminum Haze, Abyss Blue, and Volcanic Red. The T610 is made from aluminum with plastic around the screen, so the phone feels much sturdier. However, the new materials attract fingerprints, so if you care about the appearance of your phones, you might be wiping the T610 excessively. Good thing it comes with a cleaning cloth.
The T610 is just as impressive in multimedia. Starting with its 65,000 color 128 x 160 pixel STN screen, Sony Ericsson has also added 32 instruments to its polyphonic ring tones. But what really stands out is Sony Ericsson's reputation for versatility. What the T610 has that the others don't is the ability to change practically everything about your phone to your tastes. If you've owned a T68i you know how fun it is to create your own themes. The T610 has increased the customizability. Now you can change everything from desktop pictures, to toolbars, text, and practically everything else you can dream of. Nokia and Samsung have something called color schemes, but they pale in comparison.
A digital camera is also built into the back of the T610. The camera takes pictures at resolutions of 120 x 160 and 288 x 352 pixels. In addition, there is a self timer, and 3 effects: black and white, negative, and sepia. In normal and outdoor lighting the T610 camera performed well. However dim lighting made the pictures very dull and lifeless. Compared to the Nokia 7250, the image quality was very similar, which is decent for a camera phone. Overall cameras on phones are meant more as a novelty item for taking pictures of your friends to put as their caller ID. Don't expect to be printing out photo quality pictures from this camera.
The software of the T610 is much improved on since the T68i. Many people had problems with the slow menu of the T68i. You'll be happy to know that the T610 has a much faster menu with minimal delay. The T610 has added picture and music editors too. Now you can make minor change to your pictures. One of the problems with polyphonic ring tones was that you couldn't make them on your phone. Well Sony Ericson has solved that problem with its Music DJ. Now you can create polyphonic ring tones by overlaying up to 4 tracks from 128 samples.
If there was a weakness in the T610 it would have to be in the memory. The phone comes with only 2MB of internal memory and no way of upgrading. That means you'll be doing a lot of deleting and memory management. If you plan on taking frequent pictures with the camera phone you might need a computer near by to empty out the phone.
LCD Monitor
The T68i had the most advanced screen when it came out over a year ago when all other phones were black and white. This time around everyone has flooded the color cell phone market.
The T610 has a 65,000 color 128x160 pixel STN screen. Now you might have read that other phone displays contain a TFT screen. The main difference between the two is that the TFT has the circuit transistors placed on the glass at the pixel location. This results in greatly increasing the response time and allows for very fast refresh rates.
Unfortunately, the T-610 uses a STN which do not have the circuitry on the glass and has to scan the pixel locations. This slows the response time and produces what is commonly referred to as "ghosts." Ghosts happen when you change to a new screen and the old imprint can still be seen on top. Most phones use STN because the need for fast refresh rates aren't needed, and ghosts aren't a big deal. However, if you plan on playing a fast action packed game with a lot of motion, then this could potentially be a problem.
For a STN screen, the T-610 performs very well. The refresh rate is high and minimal ghosts occur. Fading occurs pretty significantly when used in bright sunlight. Almost to the point where you can't see anything on the screen. However for most everyday use, you'll find the screen bright and clear.
Controls
A 5 way joystick was great on the T68i, and the T610's is even better. If you've never touched a Sony Ericsson joystick then you are truly missing out. Navigation is incredibly fluid, and playing games gives you greater control. The 5 directions are up, down, left, right, and press.
Sony Ericsson added a new red light in the center of the joystick. It lights up to tell you when your batter is low.
Battery and Charger
The Sony Ericsson T610 comes with a 750 mAh Li-Polymer battery. Sony Ericsson claims that the battery has a standby time of 315 hours and a talk time of 840 minutes.
My tests reveal real-world times of 475 minutes of talk time and 260 hours of standby time. The company's estimates are inflated for "optimal conditions" (which is no surprise) but the tests do not disappoint, especially considering the color screen. To conserve battery power, the phone should be put in sleep mode whenever it is not in use, meaning that the “always-on” backlight setting should not be used. The phone takes about 2 hours to recharge.
When reading our reviews, you should view the test results of mobile-phone battery talk time and standby time as relative information only. Many variables, including carrier signal strength at your location, signal consistency (including incoming and outgoing calls), display and ringer settings, and battery charging methods and history, will affect performance. When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Note that manufacturers of dual-mode digital and analog handsets publish battery-life rates for both digital and analog modes, as analog mode consumes much more power than digital mode.
Our Tests: We tested digital-mode talk and standby times with each phone. Prior to each test, we fully charged the phone's battery according to the manufacturer's directions. To test digital-phone talk time, we turned the phone on, established a digital carrier signal, dialed a number in our test lab, and, when the call rang through, took the receiving phone's handset off the hook. When all went well, we didn't do anything else except record the time when the phone died. In a couple of cases, the phones lost the signal and dropped the calls. If we were right there and could redial, we did so immediately and continued running the test. Otherwise, we halted the test, recharged the battery, and started the test over. Assuming consistent carrier-signal strength, this test should represent best-case talk time. And it's worth noting that several phones' talk-time performance significantly exceeded the manufacturers' ratings.
To test digital-phone standby time, we turned the phone on, established a carrier signal, and left the phone in standby mode. We checked the phone every few hours (for what was often days on end) until the phone finally cut out. Since no outgoing or incoming calls occurred during testing and because the phone was not moved, this method should represent best-case standby time, again assuming consistent carrier signal strength.
Connections
The Sony Ericsson T610's connections are located on the bottom of the phone. That's where the plug is connected when it's time to recharge the phone. All old accessories are still compatible with the T610 which is very advantageous if you used to own T68i accessories.
An infrared port is included so you can transfer pictures, ring tones, themes, and all the other customizable feature to your phone. The T-610 allows you multiple ways to get multimedia to it so you can have fun with its functionality.
Additionally the T610 comes with Bluetooth. That's right, one of the few. If you don't know much about Bluetooth technology, it allows you to pair devices to your phone wirelessly. It can be connected to a network card in your laptop so you can use your T610 as a wireless modem. Or paired with a Bluetooth enabled PDA to allow browsing through a handheld device. But most common usages are connecting a wireless headset so you don't have wires to tie down your mobility.
Sony Ericsson has mentioned the addition of its QuickShare software. Supposedly the T610 has the ability to share images with other users seamlessly through this program from just a few clicks away.
If you're a Mac user you'll be happy to know that Sony Ericsson plans to make the T610 compatible with iSync, Apple's free synchronization software, much like the T68i was. Now users of Apple computers can synchronize their calendar and contact information with the T610 using iSync.
Overall the T610 has great connectivity. With all the ways to transfer and connect stuff to the T610, you can add on many other options that you normally couldn't with other phones.
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