The Sony Ericsson Z200 is indeed a good phone. Sure, it has some drawbacks, but then, which phone doesn't? Overall, as you read through this review, I think it's a phone worth buying as the pros by some margin outweigh the cons.
Phone Details
Firstly, it looks smashing...and I could go on forever about that. Coming in several replaceable covers(blue/silver/white/designed) and a circular LCD on the cover which shows you the time/incoming call/battery backup without having to open the flap, it is simply a phone you can gaze at for hours on end. When you do open the flap, the screen is fairly big, 128x128 pixels having a 4096 colour display but appears to have a much better resolution. No problems in viewing the screen and reading those SMS's at all, unless you select a bad reddish theme provided. The keypad is smart looking,though orange in colour but is still good to look at. Instead of the joystick for four way navigation which often malfunctions after a period of time, Z200 comes with a four way directional key system, so it stays fine for years.
Secondly, all the general options such as inbox,call register works fine, although the call register menu is initially tricky as all dialled/received/missed calls show on a single screen, but they can be distinguished by the arrow that appears beside them.It holds about 20 total calls. Inbox can store over 20 messages, but if you open the battery, all messages vanish.Similar for your stored numbers, as all data here is stored on the phone and NOT on the SIM card, and this cannot be customized, so that may be a small bother.T9 option is available, though writing messages is a bit different in Sony Ericsson phones than in Nokia phones. I did notice that the keypad is not very sensitive when it comes to writing messages-sometimes when you press 4 times for that 's' without gazing at the screen, you'll find you have only gotten to 'r'. Minor problems, these.
Thirdly, the phone is equipped with GPRS services, and I utilized this fact to the fullest. As mentioned earlier, the resolution in this phone appears to be better than the 128x128 pixels mentioned, and the wallpapers look amazing if in jpeg format and even better if they are cartoons/comics etc. The Z200 has polyphonic sound but is a little low on the decibel level.The vibrating alert assures you won't miss any call.
Sound quality is good enough to complete a conversation in most circumstances, but Nokia phones get better grades here.Ringtones stored on the phone are quite melodic, and unlike in Nokia phones, most stored ringtones can be deleted to make way for your favourite tunes.
Fourthly, the games are good as well-three games with pretty good graphics and sound, and you could delete two of them and download new ones if you want. There are about three or four themes in the phone, three of which are good, and one reddish one which is so dark it's virtually useless.
Using the Z200
There are three screens in the phone-the first screen is the usual one which shows the wallpaper/logo/time/battery backup and date. Pressing on the center of the four-way navigational key takes you to the menu, which is basically nine icons on a new screen with a new wallpaper. You navigate these icons with the four-way buttons, one of which takes you to Write Message, one to Phone Book, one to Call Register and the last one is customizable. The SEND/ENTER key if the space between the four-way buttons, and pressing this on a particular icon takes you to the next screen-options for that particular icon.
Coming to the bad part
Now that I have impressed upon you the good qualities of the cell, I must do my bit to touch upon the not-so-good aspects of the Z200.
1) Being a GPRS enabled phone, the memory of the phone should have been far higher that what it is. Effectively, you cannot download all the wallpapers/ringtones you want-you have to remove some wallpapers to allow space for those ringtones and vice versa. A minimum of 2 MB of space would have set matters straight, but all Z200 has got is about 600 kb, and actually even less considering all the preloaded stuff that you cannot remove. I found I had to clear my cache after every use of the Net, and could not download games/wallpapers/ringtones beyond 50 kb.Rather the maximum I ever downloaded at one go(a single item) was about 22 kb. That is unimpressive.
2) Ringtones are not loud enough if you are in a crowded room/walking in a street full of traffic. The vibrating alert comes in handy here.
3) Being a flip-top phone, it goes without saying-handle with care. One major drop and be sure to bid RIP to your Z200. It is better to use a headset-Z200 comes with Bluetooth as well as infrared.
4) Battery backup is not very good. You need to recharge every 24 hours to 36 hours at the most. Also, the phone gets warm if you speak more than 30 minutes at a stretch.I also found that after about a year, the phone hangs(switches off and then on automatically, but maybe that problem was restricted to my set only).
5)Another drawback is that there is no MMS support in the Z200. Also, Java is not stored on the phone so Java-enabled games cannot be run.
Nevertheless...
I would say go for it. It is not too expensive, about Rs 6000-6500 at the most nowadays.However, it needs users who are used and interested in handling new technologies. If you are a long-time user of 3310's or R220's, this might take some time to get used to. Saying that, once you buy the mobile, you will definitely love it. A new cover for each day, good graphics, fair sound quality, smashing looks and stronger(the cover does not get loose even after repeated usage) than most other flip-tops in the market-the pros most certainly outweigh the cons.And if you read through the review, I have just mentioned some quirks, they can really be forgiven(barring the memory) keeping in mind the overall quality of the Z200.
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