Design
The T610 certainly looks the part. We rarely get to use the words ‘Ericsson’ and ‘sexy’ in the same sentence, but there's little doubt the T610 has what it takes.
This handset stands out with its sleek, squarish outline and clean, two-colour paint job. Although it doesn't have a radically new design, it looks distinctly different from previous Sony Ericsson and competitor phones. At the same time, we found T610's build and finish exceptional -- nothing less than we’d expect from Sony.
Initially, we were puzzled by the small piece of anti-static cloth that came with the phone package. It took all of 5 minutes to discover the need for it: the T610 gets smudged rather easily, and we spent quite a bit of time wiping the phone clean of fingerprints.
In terms of size, the T610 bears almost the same dimensions as its camera-enabled rival, the Nokia 7250, and is just a shade heavier at 95g. This makes the T610 one of the most pocket-friendly camera-phones on the market.
This is all the more astounding given the T610's large 128-by-160-pixel display. Compared to the Sony Ericsson T68i, the T610 allows for an extra row of icons in the main menu. The 65,536-colour passive display is bright and pleasing, and offers rich colours. The viewing angle is, however, quite poor. Even tilting the mobile at an angle compromises image quality. We also discovered banding around the edges of the display -- a result of uneven screen illumination.
One oft-stated issue with Sony Ericsson phones is the clunky interface. The T610 sports a whole new button layout which will, unfortunately, confuse seasoned users. The ‘power on’ switch has moved upstairs to the top of the handset -- similar to Nokia phones. At the same time, two additional softkeys have been installed below the T610’s display. We struggled with this interface in the beginning, but it only took us a couple of days to get the hang of it.
Another common criticism was the sluggishness of previous Sony Ericsson phones such as the T68i. Thankfully, the T610 is generally more responsive, but accessing messages can still require a bit of patience. This is especially true when your inbox is filled, so it will be necessary to clean up your old messages regularly.
Features
The T610 is one of the most powerful handsets we've seen so far, with an enviable list of features that includes an integrated camera, tri-band GSM and GPRS capabilities, wireless Java, Bluetooth as well as polyphony.
Some users may buy the T610 specifically for the integrated digital camera. Unfortunately this is also the phone's most mediocre feature. Although its display performed well as a viewfinder, there are other limitations to the T610's camera function. For one, we discovered a split-second shutter lag between the time you press the shutter release button and when the photo is actually taken. This isn't a big deal for posed pictures, but you'll likely miss the moment if you're trying to surprise someone with a candid shot. The T610 also has a maximum capture resolution of only 288 by 352 pixels, which is less than the 640 by 480 pixels of some of the competition.
However, the T610's Bluetooth capability is well-implemented. We tested the phone with TDK's USB adapter as well as HP’s iPAQ H5450. In both cases, we experienced no hitches whatsoever. Bluetooth quickly became our favoured mode of transferring photographs and music to or from the handset.
Although the T610's 32-tone polyphony is generally of high quality, we weren't so happy about the limited collection of melodies. Thankfully, the T610 seamlessly supports MIDI files without the need for a format conversion. We were able to download MIDI files from the Web, and directly transfer these into the phone where they could be used as ringtones. A convergence between MIDI and polyphony should bring about unprecedented customisation of ringing tones, and we believe that many T610 users will soon grow fond of this feature.
The phone comes with 2MB of memory, but only 842KB of that is available out of the box. Each photo you snap takes up about 15KB of memory, which means you can store more than 50 pictures in the phone. But add a few MIDI files and some Java downloads, and you may have to remove some of the existing games to free up space. You'll probably want to upload some customised wallpapers as well. The T610's gallery of preinstalled wallpapers is quite drab, and includes several monotone or duotone pictures that don't do justice to the handset's high-quality screen.
The T610 also dazzled us with its customisable themes, which aren't merely about changing a bit of font colour here or background image there. The T610's themes, after the lengthy load-up time, change the look quite dramatically, and come complete with new menu headings, selection highlights, and even scroll bars.
Performance
The T610's reception is average. There were slight problems with signal strength in areas of poor network coverage. We also heard a disconcerting hiss when making voice calls, but this wasn't loud enough to affect voice quality. Hopefully a future firmware upgrade will resolve this problem. The mobile’s battery life was also reasonable: we managed two days of heavy usage before the phone died.
Conclusion
You can currently get the T610 for £255.89 (inc. VAT) for the handset only, or just £20.89 with an O2 contract (from Expansys). We think this is an decent price, particularly since Bluetooth, integrated cameras and 16-bit-colour screens still command premium prices. The T610 more than makes up for its raw edges with its overall excellence, and just about qualifies for an Editors' Choice. Technically experienced early adopters will find the T610’s feature set difficult to resist, while even casual users will be much pleased by its wealth of personalisation options.
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