Sony Ericsson Z610i – More Fashion Statement Than Phone

The Z610i is the first clamshell phone produced by Sony Ericsson and immediately draws attention. Available in black, pink and blue, it is definitely pleasing to the eye. The shiny, reflective casing is hard not to notice. Is it as good as it looks or are the promises to good to be true?

When you flip open the clamshell, the Z610i is recognisable as a Sony Ericsson phone. The layout is similar to all of their other models. The buttons bear the usual Sony style but are flat to the pad and thus some may encounter problems composing texts and navigating around the phone itself. The screen is LCD and has a resolution of 176×220. Whilst images on the screen are slightly degraded as a result, it uses less battery power thus leaving more for the use of other features.

As far as main features go, the Z610i is technologically sound. It has bluetooth a 2MP camera, MP3 and MP4 capabilities, video calling and an accessible Internet browser. One notable absentee is the FM radio, which is surprising considering the sheer number of media platforms that are supported by this phone. However, the quality and functionality of the features leaves a lot to be desired.

The 2MP camera is easily found on the menu and is simple enough to use, but the pictures are of a relatively poor quality. The images are slightly blurred and photos taken in poor light are not even worth mentioning.

The memory of the Z610i also leaves a lot to be desired. It has only 16MB of inbuilt memory and, although that can be supplemented with a MicroSD, that is significantly less than most of the newer phones on the market. The card that comes with the phone is only 64MB so any extra memory that is required would have to be separately paid for.

The main positive is the Z610i’s appearance. There is little else, as far as I can see, to be positive about. If you are looking for an average phone that looks pretty then this phone is for you. It isn’t hard to use by any means and may be a good starter phone. It is also affordable if you are buying it SIM-free. Aside from that, unless you are trying to make a fashion statement, I doubt that this phone would be a practical option for everyday use.