Sony Ericsson T290i

Author's product rating:   

Look & Feel	Good
Durability & Robustness	Strong
Battery standby time	Excellent
Value for money	Good
Range of features	Few

Advantages:	Colour Screen, MMS, Email, Stylish and Easy To Use
Disadvantages:	No Camera, Small Keys

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

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Review Of The Sony Ericsson T290i

I have read many reviews of the Sony Ericsson T290i online and decided to give my say on this very controversial mobile phone. This entry level mobile phone will suit the user who wants a mobile phone to do what it is supposed to do: make phone calls and, if you wish send SMS messages. Forget about camera, mp3 player and wireless connectivity it simply isn't available on this model. If you just want a phone that is extremely compact, reliable, and makes phone calls then this stylish model is for you. Do not in any case consider the mobile if you want any of the "cool" features such as camera and mp3 player.

I would recommend the mobile for technophobes, people who want a basic phone and for people who work in industries where it is going to get bashed around a lot.

The best thing about this phone is its excellent price. I purchased mine recently from high street retailer Woolworths at the fantastic price of £39.99 (inc vat). The price is inclusive of £10 airtime. As an Orange pay as you go customer you receive an extra £1 when you register the mobile. This is part of Orange's loyalty scheme, which I will delve into further in my review.

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The Technical Specification

I wont list the full details as these are widely available online.

101 x 44 x 19 mm
Weight 73g
Screen Resolution 101 * 80 pixels
Email/ SMS/ MMS
Stand by up to 300 hours
Talk time up to 12 hours.
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Where do you start on a review regarding a mobile phone? I don't use one a lot my self so this will be tough. As a user who only requires basic functionality, this review is aimed at beginners seeking advice on an entry level mobile phone.

So, presumably you've been looking around and want further information, and you've come across this phone? I don't think you'll be disappointed. The first thing you'll notice is the size of the mobile it is really small and light, and will fit into the palm of your hand. The size of the mobile, its black and silver body and colour screen make it attractive and easy too look at. The size of the mobile means that the numeric keys are smaller than most, which may be of disadvantage to those of you with larger fingers, as you may accidentally press the wrong key. The colour display is of a comparably small resolution to most and only displays around 4000 colours. It takes up a good proportion of the body, which means that caller id and texts are fairly easily seen on the screen. In terms of aesthetics, it probably won't suit your hip-hop, tres cool teenager as it looks really quite simple in design and there is no onboard camera or mp3 player. If there were, the pictures would be stylistic and cartoonish due to the low resolution. However if you like the phones design and would like the functionality of an onboard camera, Sony Ericsson provide the customer with the option to purchase a camera as an add on from their website.

The most important aspect of a mobile phone is obviously to make phone calls. The Sony Ericsson has an internal antenna and has a good to excellent reception on the Orange network. While travelling amongst the Scottish highlands today, in most parts I had a high reception, except when between some hillsides and valleys, where reception was admittedly poor. The onboard phone book can be easily navigated using the intuitive menu system. You need only press one button to start up the phone book or write a text message.

The graphical user interface (GUI), is basic, cheerful and does the job. When you access the menu, by pressing the enter button, you are presented with a number of icons, which are animated when you highlight them. The icons are easy to understand too: for example the phonebook is represented on screen with an image of what most people would associate as a telephone directory. I have heard people say the screen may appear blurry but I don't see this really. Its fine, clear and easy to read. Ok, it may not support a huge range of colours, but honestly, what do you expect? You are effectively getting the phone for £29.

If you wish to send text messages it supports these without any problems. Typing may be hard though if you have large fingers. The software's processor was a little slow: don't worry if your like me and a beginner to texting, the phone will process the text on screen, but not too quickly that your away infront of what's being displayed. It also has options to add pictures to your text. Multimedia messaging is supported. I cannot comment on this, as I have not used the feature.

It can also send and receive e-mails simply through the menu system. Information is provided too on how to do this.

The games on the phone are basic and include Deep Abyss and V Rally 2. They may well remind you of the days of sega and Atari! The graphics are simple but effective. They should keep you amused for some time, as the layout of the controls are easy and shouldn't get you too annoyed at yourself!!

One of the benefits of having this mobile is that it supports voice recording. If your out on a lecture or business trip and want to remind yourself about something then the speaker provides good playback and the microphone is fine.

The choice of ringers are average. A mixture of poly and mono ringtones are available, from classic ringers to beaty tunes, you will find something to suit your taste although there isn't as big a selection as other phones I've seen. But hey, it's a huge leap from my Nokia 3410. The ringer is also very loud, so if you are on a building suite or in a highly populated area you should hear your phone.

The Orange GPRS system provides up to the date info such as news, entertainment etc. Its also quite cheap, and can cost as little as one pound for a full days usage.

Most of the usual extras are also there including, Event Diary, Alarms, Stopwatch and Calculator. It may also come across to you as disappointing because there is no Calendar feature.

In terms of features, that's basically about it. I will now take you through the tariff: Orange 24/7:

Calls cost same day and night!

Prices
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Orange to other network - 35p per min
Orange to Orange and Landlines - 15p per min
Text Messaging - 10p per text

Bonus Top Up Scheme
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Basically increments from 10 to 50% bonus reward so:

£10 top up - £1 reward
£50 top up - £25 reward

You also get 2 free reserve calls when you run out of top up!

All in all I think this is an excellent entry level phone, which will provide the user with plenty of usage for years to come! The Orange pay as you go tariff is also really good and provides sound value for money.