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The release of Sony Ericsson txt pro adds another phone to the long list of phones that are targeted at tapping into the market created by social networking phenomenon. So, being a feature phone with a touchscreen, it’s bound to be compared with the Android phones from the low end category. Is it going to be able to win the masses especially with such comparisons?
Design
The Sony Ericsson txt pro comes with a 3 inch screen that is scratch resistant. However, it has a resolution of only 240 x 400 pixels. Measuring 3.66 x 2.05 x 0.71 inches, it’s not exactly one of the thinnest phones out there. Nevertheless, it weighs just 100g, so it won’t be such a hassle to carry around. Although the phone gives a plastic feeling when held, given all the plastic material used to build it, it is still however built to last. The 4-row QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the side is relatively small but the keys are well spaced, so not much to worry there. On the front and bottom of the screen, is the home button that is in the shape of a semi circle. It has become a Sony Ericsson trademark now to include that button, and the one on this phone is big and easy to press too. On the top is the power and lock button. On the right is the volume rocker button as well as the dedicated button for the camera. Meanwhile, the back reveals the 3.2MP fixed focus camera and the trademark Sony Ericsson logo and name. The slide sliding mechanism is definitely a highlight to the design as it makes you want to open and close it as many times as possible. Even then, it didn’t feel like it would just come off in pieces. However, each time u slide the keyboard out, there is a loud clicking noise to be heard, so you can forget about texting while in a meeting.
Features
Sony Ericsson txt pro is a feature phone, which is important that you have that in mind before starting all sorts of software comparisons with Android. This phone comes with the Touch UI which is pretty basic in many ways. The capacitive touch screen was a real downer. It took a while before it responds to your touch, every time. The Sony Ericsson txt pro comes with a QWERTY keyboard, so it’s only smart that you make full use of it, and that’s what Sony Ericsson has done with this phone. It has provided rich messaging applications. The Friends app is perhaps also worth a mention in an otherwise normal UI. This app tries to provide some integration with the social networking world as no stand alone Facebook app is available on this phone. So you grant the app access to your Facebook account and from then onwards you can start contacting your friends through Facebook. It also shows your five top contacts with a big icon. There is a reason why this UI is called corner Touch UI, there are four icons in the four corners of the screen. In the middle you find the three home screens that are side scrollable. The Sony Ericsson txt pro rather oddly, lacks functions like copy, paste or move.
As mentioned previously, the phone comes with a 3.2MP fixed-focus camera, adding to the low megapixel is the fact that there is no flash. If you were planning on taking the picture of a pretty girl walking past you, you might want to think again with this phone as you can’t disable the shutter sound. However, the camera button on the phone definitely helps us to snap pictures quickly. This camera on the Sony Ericsson txt pro is really basic without any customizable options provided, however it takes good photos with a good attention for detail. Moving on to the video side of things, we realize the 320 x 240 pixels recording quality wasn’t good enough as we can only view it clearly on the phone itself.
The Sony Ericsson txt pro has support for GPRS, EDGE and Wi-Fi. However, what Sony left out was 3G support, and this move might leave them with a few less buyers. The Internet browser that comes with the phone was terrible as it has to load some pages on many subpages as it can’t fit them all into the tiny 3 inch screen. For those who want better Internet browsing out of this phone, then Opera Mini might be a brilliant idea. The QWERTY keyboard is a reason to cheer for those Facebook and Twitter fans but then again, there’s no stand alone app for those two social networking sites so you have to rely on a rather bad browser to update your status.
A feature phone like this Sony Ericsson txt pro has to have good call quality as that’s what it’s primarily required to do. However, we are once again let down by this phone as the microphone had really bad audio quality while our friends on the other end also said they came across a lot of noise. The 1000mAh battery that comes with the Sony Ericsson txt pro is more than enough. This is mainly due to the small screen size. Average use of the phone can get you three days of uninterrupted use before needing a recharge.
Pros and Cons
The QWERTY keyboard was really a plus point for this phone. Besides, Sony Ericsson txt pro comes at an affordable price.
The interface that lags almost all the time was a real turn off, and the browser needs some major rework. Customization on the Sony Ericsson txt pro is almost nonexistent. Adding on to this is the fact that you can’t connect to 3G.
Conclusion
As mentioned numerous times in this review, the Sony Ericsson txt pro is a feature phone, so that’s what is to be expected. It’s got all a phone needs, so it’s a safe buy for those who use their phone mainly for making calls and some light internet use.
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