Aug 11, 2007 11:54 AM
6826 Views
(Updated Aug 17, 2007 05:48 PM)
I have been forced to swap my brand new Dopod D600(reviewed here as well) for another new phone. The Sony Ericsson S500i. Nothing wrong with the Dopod except it was too tempting for my wife and she grabbed it from me:(
The S500i is a big surprise. I was fairly uninterested in the phone till I got it in my hands. The first thing you will notice when you get it is the quality of the build and the styling. The damn thing is incredibly light and sleek. The finish is incredible as well - it looks amazing. The plastics etc are really top notch, the metallic colours are also really well done.
The phone has got a large 64k colour screen which is useful when surfing online(size) and viewing pictures/videos(size and colour depth). One crib I have is that the screen goes blank after 10 seconds of inactivity. Given the high quality screensaver etc. I would have liked an option to keep it on if I want to. I assume this is to increase battery life, but thats another crib - coming up.
It has a metallic finish to the keys and to the inside of the slider area. very high quality as far as I can tell. Additionally two extra multi-colour led lights on either side give it the'cool' edge over other phones in its price range.
The slide itself feels assured and reliable. again, given that its a new phone its too early to comment on this, after about 100000 slides in the next 6 months lets see how it holds up:)
The buttons are a bit of a disappointment. Either my hand is too big or they are too cramped, I tend to believe in the latter. It would have messed up the really sleek form factor of the phone but I would still have preferred bigger buttons.
The phone has been packed full of features. the only two things I dont see in it are WiFi connectivity and FM radio - While the phone supports POP3 Emails, I havent been able to get Hutch to behave itself so far so I cant comment on the phones ability to handle Office attachments as yet - will update this review as soon as Hutch decides to cooperate.
Overall its a phone that is suited more towards a feminine hand. the styling and packaging is clearly targeting the 25-30 single career woman who wants a phone with all the gadgetry and gizmos needed in the corporate world without losing touch with her girly side. This also makes it a real nightmare for me to be seen using the phone, but I dont have much of a choice in the matter.:|
Bottom line. gift it to your girlfriend. Watch her sit with it in a pub/disc - play with your trusty big boy PDA and smile at your wisdom!
