Review GSM phone Sony Ericsson J230i
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Package:
* Handset
* Battery
* Charger
* Manual
Any attempt of creating an adequate low-end solution faces
resistance inside the company of Sony Ericsson. Some products
are released despite all the estimations of marketing specialist
(and a good example is T310), some products are postponed as the
current models should be realized first. Nobody can decide on
canceling old developments to start with a blank page losing
low-end models, for they should be developed anew.
The result of this slow down is both morally and technically
outdated models. And the J230i is one of them, which is
positioned as one of the top solutions in a low-end segment. As
the market specialists think, the only thing that youth needed
in this segment is radio. The company accounts on success after
integrating a radio into the J210i, having changed the design
and setting another price. However, the hopes are vain, and an
example of other makers, which tried to offer a similar
solution, proves this. Let's remember Nokia 2300, which is a
good youth phone with radio and monochrome screen. The launch
was followed with a great pomp, good perspectives were expected.
However, the first months of sale forced to reduce the price,
the product was not popular. And by the way, one should remember
that was one of the first mass models (that means cheap) with
radio, and also a popularity of Nokia trade mark added to its
benefit. On a new development turn, Sony Ericsson tries to
repeat an unsuccessful Nokia's experience. And the situation is
worsened with the fact that other makers have created similar
solutions. For instance, the company of Motorola, which is very
strong in the low-end segment, produced its Motorola C168 with
integrated radio.
Besides the radio, Sony Ericsson J230i the developers claim a
simplified interface. An interface "innovation" represents
integrated Nokia UI typical of low-end phones by Nokia of the
previous generation. That is for sure you can set a second view
of the main menu besides a matrix of icons. It shows a large
icon on the screen and a tip for it, you can scroll the menu in
a vertical line. Now the company of Nokia moves its budgetary
phones to another type of the menu widely, as the company
considered it plainer and intuitively clear. That means Sony
Ericsson tried to jump into a train that has already left the
platform.
The design of the J230i is typical of the J-series. That is a
classical candybar with smooth edges, various body colours.
There are no interchangeable panels for this device, so you will
have to select of three standard colours - blue, orange white
and red. Phone characteristics are 102x44x18 mm, 85 grams. It is
comfortable in a hand and you can carry it as you like.
To diversify the device several cuts were made on the back, they
carry no sense except for the esthetic component.
The screen here is 65K STN 128x128 pixels. It shows 5 text
lines.
The screen fades in the sun. The picture can't be called good or
saturated. The grain is noticeable. At least that model belongs
to the previous generation in the screen quality. However it may
be considered to be a couple of years behind (that is a question
of only the price and positioning of this solution, it will not
raise if the price were 50 USD, then it would be even a
bestseller).
The keypad is made of plastic. It is average in comfort; the
backlighting is orange and well seen in various conditions.
There are no side buttons, no IrDA (it was present in the J210i,
and here it is refused). A considerable change is placing a Fast
Port interface connector on the bottom. In this parameter the
phone coincides with the latest company's models.
The back cover is removable with a loudspeaker for call signal
under it (gaps are present in a corresponding place of the
cover) and a 700mAh Li-Ion battery. In Moscow the phone worked
for 3 days in case of 20 minutes of talks and 30 minutes of sing
other functions a day. Full recharging takes about 1.5-2 hours.
Menu
The main menu is represented as a set of 9 icons traditionally
for Sony Ericsson. Quick navi using numerical orders is present.
Also the main menu in Nokia UI style is available, one icon and
a tip for it.
Access to these or those menu items may be assigned to joystick
deviations in standby mode. Up deviation is assigned to FM-radio
always.
Phonebook. The handset's memory may contain up to 200 names and
one of them can have a single number assigned. A picture and a
melody may be correlated to a contact, besides you can create
caller groups. There is a first letter search in the list. Both
phone numbers from SIM-card and phone memory are displayed in
the total list. Fast dialing for 8 numbers is present. Also you
can save e-mail address separately (name and address).
Phonebook capabilities are enough for a modest user with a big
contact base.
Messages. This is rather commonplace once more. EMS standard is
supported and some pictures are pre-installed for that. The
memory permits to save up to 50 messages. Group message is
supported.
You can work with MMS, which also distinguishes this model from
the predecessor. MMS editor is plain and clear making no
troubles.
Call info. All the data about dialed, received and missed calls
and call timers.
Connectivity. All the network and data transfer settings are
here.
Parameters. Here are phone settings. Adjust profiles from here.
For a display, choose wall-papers, set contrast and
backlighting.
Entertainment. Three games are present. They are well known by
the previous company models. Simple melody editor is here.
Choose and set one of the four preset themes.
Besides folders with all the melodies and pictures are here. For
extra melodies and pictures download you can use 500 KB of
memory.
FM-radio. Radio interface is similar to elder models, automatic
search for stations, saving them, a possibility to assign a name
to a station. The settings are ascetic, no RDS, and other
capabilities (for instance, you can't set a radio playback to
alarm signal). Radio quality is medium, and subjectively it
loses to Sony Ericsson K750/ W800. |
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