Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sony Ericsson 350i


What attracted me to buy this phone was the classic flip-open look and its special, out-of-the-ordinary design. It costs me RM680, came with the usual package - handsfree, USB cable, charger and a 512MB memory card. After using it for more than a week, I have to conclude that it is not worth its price.

The bad:

  • The camera is just 1.3 megapixel and it doesn't have a video recorder.
  • The keypad on the outside looks and feels rather fragile and needs to be carefully attended.
  • Although I've never let it drop on the ground before (touch wood), I think that if it did, it would be damaged beyond repair. And the 1-year warranty doesn't cover this.
  • When the lid closes, it automatically displays the walkman player. This feature could not be turned off. Very battery consuming, I would say.
  • When the lid closes, normal phone operations (e.g. answering calls, accessing the camera, texting messages, modifying settings etc.) cannot be established. I find that a little inconvenient.

The good:

  • Very good sound system.
  • Nice, slim, compact design.
  • Look cool when flipping open and close to answer calls.
  • Very nice displays. (But I guess all Sony Ericsson phones have nice displays.)

Hmm... So far I can only think of these few good things about it. I believe (without any supporting proof though), that with the same price, it's possible to get a handphone with much better specifications. Hopefully I'd be able to discover more interesting features and advantages in this new model of Sony Ericsson's.

5 comments:

confessions of a medical student said...

new phone!! you will learn to like ur phone more as u use it, ppl usually do... it's call building a relationship ^^

my hp memory card suddenly rosak liao, very frustrating.. can't take pix, lost all my songs, siGh... my life is miserable =(

Unknown said...

Hey I've bought it too, like 3 weeks already!! Probably you should add the nice keypad feel to "The good/pros" list.

To me, what make this phone worth for RM648 (during Megasale :D) is its slim, EDGE enable (better than 3G if u travel a lot in Malaysia, 3G's coverage is still poor) and of course... THE COOL FACTOR!! Pull out the slim phone from my shirt's pocket, flip with right hand and 1 finger and flip back.. hahaha.

And I think luck plays its roll. After a week, I accidentally dropped it while picking it up at my waist height (I'm 172cm tall) with average walking speed onto a concrete floor(outdoor). Its been 2 weeks already, but everything is still intact, except the battery cover feels lose now. Been listening to my songs on my 1GB M2 card thru bluettoth HBH-DS200.

A warning to new buyers: Don't expect it to have a fast processor for a sub RM700 phone. It's fast, but when you have 500MB of songs with full ID3 tag, walkman and lock/unlock phone feature is slow. So far with my own customization longest it took is 3 secs, average 2 sec.

But anyway it has all the features I like, and don't have ALL the features that I like-but-won't-use, except the camera which I prefer not to be part of the phone. Yeah I'm not a fan of camera-phone. Read reviews, see demos, ask around and decide for yourself if it's your cup of tea. Don't rant blindly for what the phone is not suppose to be.

thE gEOgrAphicAlly blind said...

drealar, for me the cool factor and the nice sound is EVERYTHING... but too bad the camera's not so good. i like taking pictures anytime ... u know, blogging use for example... anyway, good thing u like ur phone :)

Anonymous said...

Hey!! I bought this phone as well, in fact just bought the phone. I quite like it, I was searching for a budget phone that looks cool and has good music system. So far I am satisfied with it~ The thing is, I realize the D-pad doesn't have back light, can't see at night... is it just mine or yours is the same as well?

thE gEOgrAphicAlly blind said...

yeah i believe so... hmm... didn't notice tat it doesn't have a backlight until you told me... well it doesn't really matter to me though...