Review: Sony Ericsson's Mirrored Z610i Folder

Sony Ericsson Z610i

Sony Ericsson Z610i

Sony Ericsson Z610i

Applications

The Sony Ericsson Z610 comes with a decent variety of miscellaneous applications. The most important one would be the full HTML Access Netfront Browser. With that, you can have websites created for traditional computers rendered just fine on the Z610i. RSS feeds are also supported, but are grouped with your SMS, MMS, and email messages. I did not have the chance to compare this head to head with the Open Browser found on Nokia's S60 devices, but I consider the Netfront browser a great addition to a midrange phone. For your information, HTML 4.01, xHTML 1.0, CSS, Java Script, and WAP 2.0 content are all supported.

Apart from the browser, the phone also has the usual PIM functions that you would expect. The calendar and schedule, to-do lists, notepad, calculator, alarm, timer, stop watch, and code memo. You can have a note posted on the standby screen, which is handy. If you have a personal reminder, you can make use of the code memo which allows you to lock the message with a 4 digit code of your choice.

The Z610 supports JAVA MIDP 2.0 applications. The actual installed games will depend on which version of the phone you are getting, but you can expect the usual 3D games from Sony Ericsson.

Conclusion

Overall I have to say that the Z610 is a capable midrange 3G phone, though overall it leans a bit more towards "design" rather than "function." The most obvious example of that would be the keypad. In trying to fit into the role of a fashion phone, the price has been raised similar Sony Ericsson handsets, putting it close to Motorola's KRZR.

If you are looking strictly at functionality, the Z610 would not embarrass anyone either. With the excellent reception, full HTML browser, good battery life and multimedia capabilities, this device should be a reasonable companion during your day. The phone does everything reasonably well, but there really is not much that sets it apart other than the exterior design.

If you are looking for even higher specifications, you can look into the Sony Ericsson K800 or Nokia N73. For midrange 3G folders, you can either go for the cheaper LG ones, or devices from Sharp if they're available in your country. For the rest of us, the decision is rather straight forward: it is either the Z610 or the Motorola KRZR. It is simply a matter of taste.

You'll find more sample photos taken by the Sony Ericsson Z610i as well as a few more screen shots on the following pages.