Sony Ericsson T616
Average Ratings
Mediocre performance + ATT GSM = no good.
What a disappointment - many friends were getting this phone and being all high-tech with photos, text messages and all the neat things you can do. Unfortunately as a telephone, it's not good enough to do the job.
Lots of positives that others have mentioned, but negatives include:
- sluggish UI has inconsistencies that make it hard to just jam a few keys and get what you want. You must wait for it to catch up, and often you end up doing things you didn't intend.
- it "hunts" during calls to find the better band, meaning you get a *lot* of dropped and missed calls esp. when coupled with an insufficient GSM network such as AT&T's in the Bay Area. You can watch the reception meter go from 5 to 0, up to 3, down to 2, back to 0, etc. I'd estimate at least 10% of all calls get dropped even when you're just standing still, not moving a muscle. It's infuriating.
- impossible to see in bright sunlight, no matter what you try to do
- eternally greasy/scratched front
I gave up my classic Nokia 8260 on AT&T's TDMA network for this, and there's no comparison - I'd gladly give up the bells and whistles to have a phone that actually works again. I'm cancelling the service and returning the phone.
Not great
This phone has several drawbacks, so I am returning it:
1. It is so quiet, even on loudest ring, I cannot hear it unless I am in the same room or it is in my pocket. And the increasing volume is always on, even if you set it off.
2. It is so small it cannot be placed in my palm, I have to hold it with fingertips. Gets cramped.
3. It gets greasy really fast.
4. The camera is a joke.
On the plus side:
The screen is nice. The call quality was good. The address book was good. The battery life is excellent.
Sony has a flip-phone version coming out at some point, the Z600, which apparently solves some of the problems.
