Sony Ericsson M600i review

The M600i is a 3G handset, but one with a self-imposed restriction: there isn't a camera, so you can't take photos or make video calls. This isn't unheard of in the smart phone market -- Nokia has just released the E61 without a camera, and the BlackBerry handsets are equally blind.

Since the M600i doesn't take pictures, the 3G capability is mainly for fast data communications, such as email collection and Web browsing. The latter is catered for by the very capable Opera browser.

Music playback is supported, and the sound quality through the loudspeaker is pretty good, and can be tweaked for tone via the equaliser. There is 60MB of built-in memory and you can expand on this with a memory card. Sony Ericsson has chosen Memory Stick Micro for this job, a new type of card that is about the same size as a microSD card and just as awkward to handle. The M600i comes with a 64MB card, which takes the memory to over a healthy 100MB.

There is a wealth of built-in software -- a calendar and contact manager, the music player, the Web browser, an RSS reader, a picture viewer and a couple of games: QuadraPop, a very nice Tetris clone; and Vijay Singh Pro Golf 2005 3D. The latter, in particular, shows off the screen and the 3G graphics capability. If the provided ringtones aren't up to standard you can use MusicDJ to create your own.

For the more productivity minded there is a PDF viewer and the QuickOffice suite for producing, as well as reading, documents and spreadsheets. Companies will like the wide-ranging support for corporate email systems.

Desktop software runs to the usual Symbian PC Suite for Outlook synchronisation. When it comes to getting music onto the M600i, the Disc2Phone software can reduce the bitrate of your tunes on the fly.

The biggest issue with the M600i is getting used to the vast array of software on board and learning to make the most of it. Depending on your needs and previous experience with more complex handsets, you may find your early learning curve is a little steep.

Performance
We had no problems making or hearing audio calls, and the speakerphone is loud and clear, too. 3G data access was fast and effective.

Battery life was very good. We never felt we were restricted while using the M600i, and recharging every couple of days was good enough. If you are a keen Bluetooth, music or 3G user you may find you want to recharge daily, though.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Kate Macefield