Sony Ericsson T300 Review

Esato corrections
The author of the review claims that the T300 have a smaller display than the T68i. This is not true. The T300 and T68i have the exact same display dimensions. The author of the article also mention downloadable games for a Nokia 5410i, but there is no such Nokia model. The model he is referring to is probably the 3510i. You can also download games to the SonyEricsson T300. Compare the two phones here.

INTRODUCTION

The T300 phone from Sony Ericsson is in our view a very important device both for the company specifically and MMS adoption in general. The T300 is a mass market entry level phone featuring MMS, polyphonic ringtones, colour screen, GPRS and the like. Unlike the mid-tier T68i the T300 does not support Bluetooth or Java, although the T300 has polyphonic ringtones whereas the T68i is monophonic sounds only. The T300 is the low end to compliment the much talked about high end integrated device the P800. It should retail for under 100 euros in most major European markets, an aggressive price point which has the potential to take MMS into consumer markets

HARDWARE DESIGN

The first impression of the T300 is that it is thick. The next is that is has a small screen- certainly smaller than that of the T68i, but more generally small compared to the size of the surrounding casing. The resolution of the screen seems to be of a similar lowish quality of that of the T68i.

The next problem is that the battery rattles within the casing because the thin battery does not clip into the back of the keypad. As a consequence, when the rear casing is removed from the phone, the battery also comes away and the device powers off. Sony Ericsson is far from the only handset manufacturer to suffer from these finishing issues- the Nokia 6310i solves a similar problem with a small thin plastic part that is added to the phone to close the gap between the battery and the back of the phone. This is not a huge issue since the noise from the rattling is minimal, but sub-optimal nonetheless. The T300s are made in Malaysia and the factory may still be tolling up (we received an relatively early handset before the phone shipped, although it came complete with packaging and the like).

However these initial concerns are balanced against an improved joystick design- a button with a protruding knob rather than the actual foam knob that has a tendency to fall off the T68i. There is a new version of the CommuniCam clip on camera which is a big improvement over the previous version.

One good thing is that the annoying flashing light on the T68i is absent from T300. Since many people use their mobile phone as an alarm as well, flashing lights in the dark that serve little purpose are an unnecessary annoyance for many.

SOFTWARE DESIGN

Turning to the phone software on the T300, the visual menu names and icons are exactly the same as the T68i. However, within the Messages menu, instead of “SMS” we have “Text” and instead of “MMS” we have “Multimedia”. This is a small change to use more end user friendly terms rather than industry acronyms and a welcome if somewhat belated change from Sony Ericsson.

The text entry itself has also been modified since when you enter a letter a drop down dialogue box opens up and you need to confirm that the word you have entered is correct. This extra button press is annoying to fast texters but on the other hand the alternate words are presented and can be scrolled down to, so as usual with these things it’s a trade off. I would rather not have the extra key press myself. There may be some way to switch this default new feature off. There has to be a very very good reason to mess with my texting interface, and this isn’t important enough to have warranted a change.

The T300 phone is easy to use out of the box for all Sony Ericsson and non-Sony Ericsson users. There was no learning curve at all for me since I went direct from a T68i to a T300. I have rarely found changing devices so easy but of course not all that many people are going to make that change in the end user community.

The T300 is annoying in that the default sound setting is increasing volume and the device is hard to hear since the Normal settings are quite low volume. I missed several calls because of this. Again it can be fixed by changing profiles (leaving an annoying symbol on the device screen) but why would you configure this setting. When you try to increase the volumes beyond the defaults, warnings pop up that excessive sounds may damage your hearing- so perhaps there is some liability issue here that they are erring on the side of caution about.

The T300 supports WAP Push as you would expect since this is a very useful feature for the delivery of content such as polyphonic ringtones and MMS backgrounds. However, there is a feature that allows the user to switch off all WAP Push messages. Any benefit of this must be more than negated by the customer service issues such a setting may allow for content service providers who must check to ensure that this feature has not been switched on when delivering services.

The much maligned slow start of the T68i when switched on seems to have been marginally improved with the T300.

SUMMARY

Having used the T300 for a few days I have still not overcome my reservations about the fundamental hardware design. There is just something not quite right about it- it does not have the immediate classic completely perfect look that the T68i has. This maybe deliberate for reasons of differentiation but it is a shame nonetheless.

I have to keep remembering that many consumers will not have had the equivalent enjoyment of the T68i and for them the T300 will prove a compelling draw compared to their heavy and black and white screened devices. Indeed an informal poll of the Mobile Streams FC team members who don’t work for the company found that the phone was met with gasps of astonishment and amazement in a very positive way!

Given that the principle alternative to the T300 will be the Nokia 5410i, (along with the Panasonic GD67 and the Sagem MY X5 in some markets), the phone stands up very well as the preferred entry level colour screen phone. The Nokia is larger and heavier and ugly looking in its own right and the T300 has 24 channel polyphony compared to 16 channel polyphony. But with many people selecting the 5410 for its gamers, some consumers will prefer that. Getting the T300 quickly into prepay and free handset upgrade programmes of the network operators will be important.

Overall, Mobile Streams predicts that the T300 will be a big success (but not a new classis platform like the T68i) for Sony Ericsson and help bring MMS to a wider audience.

Simon Buckingham
Mobile Streams