Sony Ericsson T700

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Most people these days probably won't remember the T610 from five years back. It had a squarish outline, a two-color paint job and a decent set of connectivity features then. Despite a few quirks, the T610 made it as an Editors' Choice pick with its all-round quality. The T700, announced in August this year, follows the same design philosophy as the T610, but is equipped with more advanced features.

Upside

Like the T610, the T700 is your regular candybar, but one of its key highlights is its lean 10mm profile. In the hands, the T700 feels very light due to its compact size, but fortunately delivers a rather solid experience. Although the keypad is tiny, it has great tactility. We also like the control cluster, especially the left/right softkeys which are ergonomically shaped to fit the convex surface of the thumb.

The T700 comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera and LED light, but doesn't have autofocus capability.
(click for larger image)

For wireless connectivity, the T700 has a quad-band GSM radio, so those who travel often shouldn't have any problems making voice calls when roaming. There's also HSDPA for fast data transfers and Bluetooth stereo for steaming music to a pair of wireless earbuds. Completing the lineup are a 3.2-megapixel camera with an LED flash for snapshots and an FM radio, though the latter requires the bundled headset to be plugged in as an aerial.

The T700 comes preinstalled with Google Maps for Mobile, but you'll still need to invest in an optional Bluetooth GPS accessory for more pinpoint navigation. The phone doesn't come with a dedicated GPS chip. Instead, it uses the Cell ID information to give a rough estimate of the location you are in.

The 2-inch QVGA display is a little small by today's standard, but it's something we can still live with for a phone this size. Like most of the Sony Ericsson models, the panel had crisp color reproduction and there's an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness level.

Downside

Given its list of features and S$428 (US$304.63) price tag, the T700 would have been an inexpensive yet well-specced handset. However, we can't help but feel that there are a couple of things which could have made the T700 an even better-rounded device, from autofocus for the shooter to a front-facing camera for 3G video calls. That said, you could still use the main camera for video calls.

Outlook

There's always a market for compact and thin handsets, though we haven't seen many this year. There was the Nokia 6500 classic earlier in January, followed by the Samsung Soul^b in June with much better specifications. Now we have the T700 and, if you ask us, what's most attractive about this Sony Ericsson isn't its form factor, but the low cost of owning it, especially after you factor in a two-year contract with it.