Snail speed
Written: Feb 02 '02 (Updated Feb 05 '02)
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Pros: Cheap. Lots of features.
Cons: Unstable, slow, many bugs.
The Bottom Line: The menu interface is very slow for a heavy user, and the phone freezes quite often. Should be used as a starter or backup unit.
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| imreasztar's Full Review: Sony Ericsson R320sc Cell Phone |
This was my first phone ever (R320s). I bought it because it was the less expensive unit with built in IrDA. I wanted this to use it with my handheld computer. I had been using the phone for three month, but finally I have sold it at eBay. Let's see why.
Summary
The Ericsson R320s has all the bells and whistles that it can have. But the slow menu, the annoying bugs and unstable software makes this phone difficult for heavy use.
In the box:
- Ericsson R320s
- Li-ion battery (94 hours of standby)
- Travel charger
- CD-ROM
- Manual
- Setup flyer
- Accessories guide
- Hands-free with button
- Belt clip
Hardware side
The phone is quite large by today's standards, but I really liked the size. I have large hands, and the size was just comfortable. Key response is somewhat hard, you have to really press it, instead just touching them.
The unit is light as it uses Li-ion batteries. The battery lasts about 3-4 days, depending on usage. The remaining power is shown in standby hours, the fully charged unit shows "94h". Plugging in the travel charger is not a simple task (same on every Ericsson phone), I never managed to plug it in in the dark.
Above the LCD screen there is a small green led, showing the state of the phone:
- slow blinking: on
- quick blinking: SMS/voice message arrived
- continuous: charging
- red: low power
I have found this led very useful, especially to check from the other end of the room whether I have a new SMS or not.
There is a special up/down button on the top left for up/down browsing in the menu system and quicker SMS writing (number + side Up = second letter, number + side Down = third letter).
The build quality is good, the handset survived several drops and kicks. The screen is good, backlight power is sufficient.
The belt clip is really funny: you have a screw to fix in the corner of the phone (the hole is covered with a rubber plug initially), and the belt clip attaches to this screw. Very innovative, but I had not much success using it, I switched for an original leather belt case.
I have rather used the phone with an original Ericsson leather belt case. Closes with a strong magnet clip, and vibration alerts are transmitted quite well.
Phone Features
At this price range, probably this is the best featured phone you can find.
The manual is very extensive and well written, a model for other manufacturers. All the features and procedures are covered, and the step-by-step instructions are given throughout the book. If you read cover-to-cover, you will get to know all the features of the phone.
The menu system is well organized, but not very efficient after later use. Hopefully there is a user customisable menu for the frequently used features.
The built in Data capability via IrDA is great, worked well with my Psion S7. The phone was recognized as an "IrDA modem", and worked without problems.
However, I had problems with the phone manager software on the PC. Using it with a PC via IrDA is problematic, because Windows 2000 needs an update from Ericsson that is hard to find on their website. Once I have found it, but I don't remember where I have saved it so no more PC connectivity via infrared. The original software does not support Windows XP at all; maybe the connectivity software of a later model can also handle the R320s? Windows 98 and Me should work with the R320s without problems.
Sound quality is rather average on the R320s. The earphone is not very strong, I preferred using the provided hands-free kit in noisy environments. Another advantage for using the headset is to see the elapsed time on the phone screen, so you can hang up when you want. Ex. my service provider charges the price of 30 seconds even for calls that are shorter than 30 seconds. So, I usually hang up after 00:30.
Reception was good, but not better than on any other phone with such a large antenna. I did not mind the antenna, as I usually kept the phone in my belt case.
Profiles are not so extensive like on the Nokia 6210, but are very usable. I took the habit of using profiles on my phone with the R320s, and this was an important feature I wanted on my later device. You can also filter calls, by individual numbers, or by call groups. Filtered calls can also be redirected to your mailbox or to another number.
SMS writing would be excellent if it would not be so slow to type. Very-very slow. I did not use it that much (I rather used my PDA to send and manage SMS). You can browse in your message in all four directions (not just left/right), remaining number of characters are displayed. What I really liked: a small list pops up with all the characters associated to a button if you press it, useful to type in special characters.
The front buttons have extra features. The top left up/down button shows the current profile, date, and remaining battery power. A long press on the Yes button activates voice dialling. A long press on the No button switches the phone on/off. A long press on the Right button accesses the first item in the custom menu page, while the Left button shows the first item of the first menu. A long press of a number key starts searching in the address book at the given letter. You can also reach an exact memory location by pressing [number]#, ex. 21# dials the number at the 21st memory location.
Extras include a wide range of useful functionality:
- WAP (good for checking pop3 e-mail, exchange rates, news, etc),
- stopwatch featuring 9 lap times,
- code memo to store pin numbers and passwords (you have to set a password to access this section, but I have not used it because the phone was so slow),
- voice dialling (not very usable, only works only in silent environments),
- voice commands (did not work for me),
- vibration alert (not very strong, I missed calls keeping the phone in my pocket, but it was OK in my belt case).
PIM features
Initially this phone was released as a business class device. But now it is such a bargain second-hand, that anybody can afford to buy it.
Calendar is really great, and in fact it is even better than that of other business class phones, like the Nokia 6210. You have a daily listing of entries, a weekly busy view with time slots, and a monthly view with busy days shown in bold. You can enter meetings with duration even for the whole day, phone calls, and reminders. Alarm can be enabled disabled and set for any time for any appointment.
You can edit the calendar also on the PC using the provided software. I don't know if it is possible to synchronize it with Outlook, as I did not manage to make my phone communicate with the PC software.
The address book of the SIM card can have up to 200 names with 1 number, and the phone can store another set of 99 names with 1 number. Unfortunately only one entry field is supported per name, so you have to re-enter each number with a different name for the same person, like Mom - Mobile, Mom - Home, Mom - Work, etc. Like that, the 200+100 name limit is really a barrier. However, it is rather enough for all the people I know. You can also beam via the phonebook entries via infrared to an other phone.
The Dictaphone is excellent. To record an appointment, directions, or a phone number during a call is just a press of a button. You can even rename your recordings. The limit is about 3 minutes.
Using the phone
This is where problems start. The operation speed is very slow everywhere on the phone. The phone is always some keypress behind me. This really makes your life hard browsing a long name list, when writing SMS messages, or just when accessing features. The R320s is painfully slow for me. In fact, this was one of the reasons that pushed me to sell it.
The other drawback is the unreliable software and hardware. My phone had the last firmware update in Dec 2001, but even after more than year after its launch, the software of the R320s still hangs quite often. Especially, when the situation starts to be complex. Say, you set up call filtering in a profile, you browse somewhere in the menu system and the phone has to execute your many keystrokes typed in quickly, and then you get an incoming call. Good chance to freeze the unit.
Also, in the same situation it happened to me, that the phone did not answered the call when I pressed the Yes button. Instead, it did not reply to my some keypress and showed 1 missed call when my party finished ringing me. :(
What is more, after 2 month of usage, the internal circuitry of the device got corrupted, and it nearly killed my battery with an inadequate high current. The phone had to be sent to an original Ericsson Service Centre, and I had to wait for my phone 4 weeks to be repaired.
The headset is very bugful too. Initiating or terminating a call with the button on the headset sometimes works, sometimes not. If you plug in the headset when you are talking to someone, sometimes the phone will mute completely. It is best to use the headset "safely": plug in, wait for the phone until it displays "Hands free", and start your call using the buttons on the phone.
The design of the user interface has a very strong disadvantage. The Yes/No buttons are used for both menu navigation as OK/Cancel buttons, and Answer/Reject buttons for calls. It happened to me many times, that while I was browsing the menu system, I got an incoming call, and accidentally I rejected the call with the No button, while originally, I pressed the No button to quit a feature.
Accessories
You can find low priced accessories for the R320s, many stores sell them out.
There was a hands-free included in my box when I bought the phone and I found it very useful in noisy environments (bus, railway, metro).
I have bought the Ericsson FM radio (10 USD, new). It is very simple: one button for scanning forward and to reset scanning to the beginning, and one button for volume control and one for switching on/off the FM radio. After plugging in, the phone switches to the hands-free profile, and you can use the FM radio as a head-set, too, it even has a button. When an incoming call starts to ring, the unit automatically silences the radio and rings you. You can answer the call with a voice command (never worked for me) or with the button.
The radio lost signal easily, so I usually was listening to "some" channel, it was really hard to find the desired channel. You cannot store preset channels. Surprisingly, using the FM radio affected the battery life only by 1-2%, not much at all.
I don't have experiences with the Ericsson MP3 player, but I assume it should be similar to the FM radio in operation. Anyway, it has a parallel port MMC card reader to upload songs, what is very slow, and 32 MB of storage that is enough only for 30-45 min of music.
What I miss
- IrDA PC synchronization out of the box
- quicker user interface
- stable firmware version
- separate buttons for answering/rejecting calls
- customizable logos and ring tones
Should you buy it or not
Because of the slow menu system, I wouldn't use it as my everyday phone. But the low price and the wide feature set turns this phone a possible choice for starters or for to be used as a backup. And I also hope that Ericsson will finally develop a stable firmware for the phone.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 80
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Epinions.com ID:
imreasztar
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Location: Budapest, Hungary
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Bio/chemical engineer who loves mobile tech
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