Sony Ericsson Elm user reviews
Should I buy it?
Ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers if you should buy the Sony Ericsson Elm
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews5
routemaster87 19 April 2012
Good: Nothing.
Bad: Over complicated. Impossible to upload pictures onto PC
Comment: Unfortunately I was sold this Pup on an upgrade. I don't do much with my phone. I use it as a phone and take pictures. I have tried every which way to up load the pics onto my PC, even uploading their rubbish Studio suite. Not a hope. Luckily my trust little Nokia is still working which uploads pics easy as falling off a log. Mr Elm is now my spare, to be used only when my Nokia needs repairing. Don't buy this rubbish
Shady Janzeir 4 February 2011
Good: Size, design, and user interface
Bad: GPS and LED flash functionality limited by poor software; please stop telling me to unplug the charger!
Comment: It's easy to like the Elm when you're flipping it around at the store, and the rather reasonable price makes buying it that much easier. But beware - if it's just a phone you want, you'll love the Elm. If you're one of the few who take their phones seriously, the Elm will drive you mad.
It's a great little thing, what with the (almost) complete feature set and those widgets that the socially mobile (no pun intended) adore. But it's when you actually try to use the phone's other features (namely the GPS and camera) that it starts to come undone at the seams.
The C702 I had been using for almost two years had its GPS operation separated from the functionality of GPS-based applications like Google Maps and Tracker. The Elm, by comparison, is a step backward. The same functionality is there, but the user can no longer control and monitor GPS operation independently of the available applications - to start GPS, you must run at least one application, and there is no way to monitor the progress as the phone tries to find and latch on to satellites. Worse yet, you can't get coordinates, speed or heading information (you can only get speed and graphical heading information through Tracker). The death knell is dealt with the fact that when you come to a stop while monitoring your position with Google Maps, the GPS receiver disconnects from the satellites it had taken so long to latch on to, and will only reconnect after you manually reactivate the Maps application.
And good luck trying to take photos in the dark. The LED comes on only briefly to help in focusing, but not long enough for you to compose the shot. And you cannot switch it on or off with the # key like you used to on older SE phones.
The Elm is a great phone if you're into style and have your whole life hanging out for people to see. But if you tend to use your phone to within an inch of its life, you will be disappointed. I wish I had spent the money on refurbishing my trusty old C702.
SOphiee 6 November 2010
Good: everything I have read about it seems good,I like the way it looks like the C902 but a newer version of it.
Bad: I haven't really heard anything bad about this phone so far.
Comment: I'm getting this phone next week and I'm looking forward to it hopefully everything goes well with it.
astrikor 11 October 2010
Good: Keyboard has easy prominent keys - great for clumsy fingers!
Bad: Camera fault OR specification fault?
Comment: I bought an Elm from Carphone Warehouse last week as it was on offer half price - looked good value on the basis of the specification on the Sony Ericsson web page, and my C903 had broken. I was looking forward to using the camera with it's up to x4 digital zoom according to their specification.
Unfortunately, if you try to zoom before taking the photo (to preview a reduced size photo and/or to minimise saved file size) you get a message "Zoom not possible at this resiolution. Select a smaller picture size". The only way to make the zoom work is to select the lowest (VGA) resolution setting or use the movie setting. In both cases the zoom action is very jerky and impossible to control.
I am very disappointed - for me the poor zoom makes the camera unusable. Having tried to return it to Carphone Warehouse I was told that there is no fault with it and consequently they cannot accept a return. I am now £100 out of pocket and will have to find an alternative phone.
If there isn't a fault in the phone, then there is a fault in the specification as it is misleading by making no reference to the limitations of the zoom. I have advised Sony Ericsson of this and they have said that the Elm is not a camera phone so what do you expect. I expect it to do what their specification says, but sadly we can no longer trust Sony Ericsson's own specifications.
Beware next time you buy a phone - check out ALL functions BEFORE purchase. If the retailer doesn't allow this then go elsewhere. CLEARLY DON'T BUY BLIND FROM WEBSITES!
lcrowney 24 July 2010
Good: Eco-credentials! Very easy to use, great battery life, very good photos
Bad: Nothing... well, except not being able to use normal headphones without an adaptor :(
Comment: I thought this phone would be a compromise, trading good features or performance for being eco-friendly. That has definitely not been the case. And this is extra surprising given the very reasonable price. Have docked half a star because occasionally I can't get certain web pages to load properly, but it is a phone not a computer, and I never intended it to fulfil my every IT need as well as be a phone and a camera! Overall brilliant, and hats off to Sony Ericsson for bringing out a range of reasonably priced phones that actually cater for the "green" market..