The T600 is an attractive mobile phone and certainly one of the lightest we've tested. But is it light on the features too? Read our Australian review.Simplicity and good looks are what the T600 is all about. Its compact and light design allows the mobile to slip effortlessly into the smallest of pockets. It measures only 92mm x 41mm x 20mm and weighs a mere 60g. The "Marine Blue" model (pictured here) is comprised of a dark blue case and a metal faceplate. The silver-coloured keypad lights up blue and the monochrome screen has stylish white backlights that fade in and out. Sony Ericsson also offer the T600 in "Moonlight Silver" if blue isn't your particular cup of tea.
The battery cover on the back contains a little plastic copy of the Sony Ericsson symbol, just in case you forgot who made your phone. When the cover and battery are removed the SIM card can be quickly removed and reinserted through the side of the handset. A wrist strap is provided with the T600 and attaches via a small nook on the top of the phone.
Although the T600's rectangular-shaped number keys are narrow they are easy to distinguish due to a wide space between each one. The six keys at the top are close together and protrude more than the number keys. In between the standard yes/answer, no/reject, left, right and cancel keys is the option key.
The option key presents you with alternate choices for the selection function--similar to a right-click on a mouse. For example, if it is pressed while a name is highlighted in the phone book, the screen shows a drop-down box prompting you to edit, SMS, move, delete or call the number.
There are five games on the T600--some fast paced, some not. We really enjoyed the speed of CarRace, BrickSmash (a ball, bat and brick game) and UnderAttack (an enhanced Space Invaders-like game). The other (more laidback) games are called and Triango and MindPuzzle.
The vibrating function is utilised very well in CarRace. At the start of the race you can feel the motor of the car whirring slowly and when you increase in speed so does the vibration.
PIM functions on the T600 include the calendar, calculator and code memo. Through the calendar you can add a new events such as a meeting, task or a phone call and give you the option of setting a reminder and the recurrence. It will also notify you of any conflicts in your schedule.
The Code memo function can be used to store confidential information such as bank account details and passwords. After setting a 4-digit PIN you can add a memo containing two fields; a name and a password (both of these can be letters and/or numbers). If the wrong PIN is entered, passwords will display incorrectly.
The T600 is not polyphonic but comes with fifteen pre-programmed (monophonic) ringtones. Composing your own melodies is possible on the T600, but the interface is somewhat challenging. The composer allows for a lot of melodic creativity. There is a four-octave range, the available note duration ranges from semibreves to demi semi quavers as well as rests, and dotted (and double dotted) notes can be used. The tempo can be specified as can the style. It's also possible to set the phone to vibrate only on specific notes.
EMS is supported and you can add basic pictures and sounds to messages. There is a range of pictures on the T600 and more can be added through the picture editor--although painting pixel by pixel takes quite some time.
For SMS there is predictive text input using the T9 dictionary and you can use the option key to insert new words. Concatenated SMS is also available for text messages up to 459 characters. The 100 x 65 pixel screen can display five lines of rather small text.
There is a WAP browser that can be used to provide information such as news and entertainment but is quite slow, as the T600 does not support GRPS.
One problem we had when we started using the T600 was hearing through the earpiece. The earpiece on the handset is tiny and at first we found it difficult to position in the correct spot. After testing it for a while, we found that increasing the volume via the sliding key on the side negated that predicament.
The T600's responsiveness is impressive. Menu navigation and selection is fast--perhaps due to no high overheads for memory-intensive graphics or applications. The mobile is tri-band capable so travellers will be able to use it most GSM networks around the world.
As the phone does not have a colour screen, we expected the battery life to be fairly long. Sony Ericsson claim a standby time of up to 180 hours and talk time up to 5 hours. With normal use the battery lasts an average of about 3 days in our testing.
There are many more phones on the market at the moment with added functionality, colour screens and polyphonic capabilities (including Sony Ericsson's own budget-priced T310). If all you're after is a tiny phone and don't mind forking out a lot of cash for it, the T600 is for you. Those feeling flush may want to opt for the flashier Siemens SL55.
Sony Ericsson T600
Company: Sony Ericsson
Price: AU$569
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1300 650 050
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i bought mine in malaysia, and it has a problem where it displays "no network" a lot of the time, for no apparent reason, wehn i know i have lots of reception.
i really like the phone otherwise, so im hoping i can get it repaired or replaced somewhere here.