A true business phone. Review on Sony Ericsson R520m

I was on the lookout for a good business phone to replace my aging (pre-historic) Nokia 7110, when I found this phone on sale on Baazee.

I?ve had it for quite some time now and must say that this is a great phone to have, especially for the price I got it?Rs.3000!!!

The features provided by the phone were choc-a-block with everything that you need, except for a color screen and polyphonic ring tones. And I?m very comfortable with large phones?.after all, how many times have you seen people talking with their hand clasped between their mouth and phone so that they can talk to their small phones. Despite it's size, it's pretty light weight.

I?d researched in detail about the phone on other international sites to get a feel on this model. This particular model was never released in India and was one of the last phones to be made by Ericsson before they merged with Sony.

The phone?s loaded with goodies such as GPRS, Bluetooth, IrDA, Voice Memo, Vioce recording (for 90 sec), Voice Dialling, etc. and all these features work perfectly. I?ve a HUTCH connection and after taking up the GPRS facility provided by Hutch, I now fully appreciate both my phone and Hutch?s service (I?ll write-up on Hutch in another column). Lack of a color screen means you won?t be able to see most of the images, and if you do it?ll be in shades of gray. I feel this is a small pay-off for the price I bought it. Also, most WAP pages are word-oriented.

I also recently acquired a Sony-Ericsson Bluetooth headset and it mates perfectly with the phone. You?ll get a range of approximately 10 meters between the headset and the phone. But the best thing I?ve discovered about a Bluetooth phone is BLUEJACKING. This is great if you?re interested in some harmless fun, and I?ve had tremendous results. I suggest you check the web on details of Bluejacking, it?s a free service.

Since this is a business phone, the phonebook can store detailed information on every contact. The details are First Name, Last Name, Title, Company Name, Email id and 5 different numbers. Now you have to admit that that?s a lot of information on just one contact. This is applicable to all the 500 contacts you store on the phone.

IrDA or Bluetooth can help in converting this phone to a fax modem, too. The software that I received with this phone also helps me align or edit any of my contacts, send SMS, etc. from my computer and through the phone.

The phones also got a shortcut menu, that?ll take you directly which function you need

The trade-off for this early model is that you don?t? get a color screen, polyphonic ringtones, no Java and only 2 games. But, hey, if you?re on business then who has time for games, right?

I?ve read another report on this phone on this site who despises this phone. But I guess he hasn?t really understood the product before buying it or after. I suggest that he read the owner?s manual (CD) thoroughly.

My final synopsis is simple. If you need a business phone that can store lots of details for every contact, use the GPRS to browse the net and compliment it with Bluetooth devices then this is a good phone to have.

If you?re looking for more, then fork out twice the cash I spent to buy another, similarly featured phone in the market today.