Review: Sony Ericsson's Compact M600i QWERTY Phone

Sony Ericsson M600i

Sony Ericsson M600i

Sony Ericsson M600i

The Sony Ericsson M600i is one of the first Symbian OS v9.1 devices to be shipped with the new UIQ 3 user interface. UIQ made a name for itself on Sony Ericsson's P series of devices like the P910. In fact, the M600i could easily be thought of as a scaled down version of the upcoming P990 QWERTY smartphone, with which it shares many features and internal workings.

While the P990 looks to cram modern day specs like a 2 megapixel camera and WiFi into the same basic P series form factor as the older models, the M600 instead tries to offer the core functionality in a smaller and more conveniently sized device. It lacks WiFi and a camera of any sort, but supports the same GSM and UMTS bands and touch-screen while shedding 40g (1.4oz) and being far smaller.

Physical Aspects

With its very simple flat block form factor, and simple color schemes (black or white with cyan accents), the Sony Ericsson M600i has a very elegant look to it. The M600i is also very comfortable to hold, thanks to its compact form factor. In fact, considering that it sports a QWERTY keyboard, it is quite impressive that it is only 2mm thicker and wider than the Motorola RAZR V3, and a mere 9mm longer than it. It is equally impressive that the 107mm x 55mm x 16mm (4.2" x 2.2" x .6") device weighs only 115g (4oz) - with SIM and memory card.

Apart from the obvious QWERTY keyboard and large touch-screen display, there is little to the physical design of the M600. On the left edge of the device can be found the 3-way scroll wheel (up, down, select) and the dedicated back button. At the top left corner is the silo that houses the metal stylus, which is accented with the same cyan color as the rest of the device. Continuing along the top of the device, you'll find the power button and the IR port. The right edge of the M600 is home to the M2 (Memory Stick Micro) card slot and the @ button, which is user configurable and by default loads the messaging application. The bottom of the M600 is where the Fast port power/data/headset connector is located, and the rear of the device offers little more than a speaker port and the removable battery cover.

Sony Ericsson M600i

Sony Ericsson M600i

Sony Ericsson M600i

The QWERTY keyboard on the M600 is unusual in that the right and left edge of each convex shaped key serves a different purpose. As such, the A and S letters are on the same key, instead of on neighboring keys. The shift key located in the bottom left corner of the keypad works as one would expect, so that capital letters and additional special characters can be typed. The ALT key, in the lower right hand corner of the keypad, is used for accessing the numeric keypad digits and symbols. When used with the ALT key (which can be locked on), the number keys work like they do on regular phones: you can still push on either edge if you like, but you can simply press the entire key down to get the number as well.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this keyboard arrangement is not going to be as easy to use as that of the Sidekick 3 or a Treo 700p, but I can tell you that while I personally found the keyboard somewhat difficult to use at first, I have managed to adapt to it over the course of a week. It will never be as nice to use as a larger QWERTY keyboard, but unless you are planning to write a very large number of long messages per day, or spend a lot of time editing documents, I think you will agree the compact keyboard works well enough while still keeping to overall dimensions of the device nicely in check. If you prefer not to use a keyboard, then this device is probably not for you - even though you could choose to use the Jot on-screen handwriting system that the M600i supports.

Obviously absent from the M600i's design are hardware softkeys and a joystick or d-pad for navigation. While I commend Sony Ericsson for thinking outside of the box a bit in their decision to forego some assumed "must haves" in a mobile phone, I think these two things really, truly are a must for a mobile phone that is going to be usable with one hand. Even one with a touch screen.