Camera Phones Plaza

It has been over a year since Sony Ericsson last released a 3G folder. But even still, the new Z610i came with a surprise or two. First off, people did not expect a mid-range 3G clamshell this early. Secondly, people did not expect it to be available on the market so shortly after its launch announcement.

The Sony Ericsson Z610i is not meant to be a successor of the Z800, instead it is targeted towards fashion conscious consumers. Stripping off the style, the device is essentially a folder version of the K610i: both being mid-range 3G devices and sharing virtually the same specifications.

The guys at mobileburn made a review of the phone and here are some of their impressions. The Sony Ericsson Z610i is shiny and sleek. No matter which color your chose, blue, pink, or dark brown, the surface would shine like a mirror. In fact, the curves and the color scheme give the device the look of a drop of mercury over a pebble.

Using the same trick as Sony Network Walkman devices, the external OLED hides itself under the reflective cover surface when it's off, and only shows through the surface when it's on. When it does, it is gorgeous. Of course, the bad thing is that the reflective surface attracts fingerprints like you have never seen before, and it is actually quite easy to scratch, more so than the Nokia 8800. I would suggest protecting the phone with a pouch made for sunglasses.

The main display in the Sony Ericsson Z610i is a 2" 262K color, 176x220 pixel TFD screen. The screen is bright, but more pixilated than the K750i's because of its larger size. The colors also looks less vivid. When comparing it to the Sharp 903, the screen on Z610 looks blue'ish, and the yellows looks muddy (greener). But of course this is not too obvious unless you compare them side-by-side. You will have no problem using the main display under direct sunlight, but the external display will be completely unreadable because of the reflections. Just for the record, the external display is a 128x36 pixel OLED.

Out of the two cameras, only the external one can be used to take pictures. The internal one, next to the earpiece, is reserved for video conferencing. The main camera is a fixed focus 2MP CMOS module. You can turn the night mode on if needed, you can also choose from a list of preset white balances. Time stamp and self-timer can be enabled, and there are also some fun special effects and a panorama mode that stitches up three pictures together. The shutter sound cannot be silenced.

Out of the two cameras, only the external one can be used to take pictures. The internal one, next to the earpiece, is reserved for video conferencing. The main camera is a fixed focus 2MP CMOS module. You can turn the night mode on if needed, you can also choose from a list of preset white balances. Time stamp and self-timer can be enabled, and there are also some fun special effects and a panorama mode that stitches up three pictures together. The shutter sound cannot be silenced.

The conclusion is that the Z610i 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.

Read full review on mobileburn.