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Three new phones by Sony Ericsson - Z300i, J220i, J230i

The company of Sony Ericsson has always experienced troubles with making a successful low-end model and that is why it passed this task to other firms. Being an innovation leader in middle and high-end segments, this manufacturer supported the sale of low-end phones either by the price or by leading models, which acted as stream-engines. Unfortunately, till the end of 2006 the maker will not find power, time and capabilities to improve the situation and represent models capable of competing with the best devices by other manufacturers on the market. And even considering its leading positions in introducing new functions in elder models, we can surely say that in a budgetary segment the company is forced by rivals much. Sony Ericsson makes low-end phones following the residual principle and they bring no innovations. And the announcement of new models on Monday is actually the same old thing. Technically old solutions are only endowed with new nice forms, but at the same time they are not just lack margin of safety, they are outdated even at the release moment.

We think that Sony Ericsson Z300i is of the most interest among the announced models. This is a clamshell mainly targeted at women than men. Maybe its code name Eva arises from this fact? Actually, the developers tried to create a successful continuation of Sony Ericsson Z200i, but failed. And the appearance of the phone, which makes the lion's share of the price, was considered the main task. The first impression it makes is the plastic is rather good, solid and qualitative, following the best tradition of the Z200. Even though it lacks velvety covering, still Style Up panels are present, and one extra set is included into the kit. The design strikingly intersects with the Z200's, and once again a round monochrome display is applied. The backlighting is in pastel colors, and a caller's name, which is scrolled till the number, is shown at a call. That is not convenient sometimes, since the scrolling is rather slow and the number is scrolled visually better. An integrated antenna becomes a standard for this class, and surely it is integrated, rather than designed as a rim like in the Z200. Due to the antenna the centre of the phones' gravity is off-center, thus you can't place an open device on the table, it will fall on the screen side in no time and start balancing. This is the first such a dubious solution.

The hardware part of the phone copies Sony Ericsson J200i, however for some reason IrDA is refused. The model uses no Fast Port either; a standard connector is placed instead. And that is even stranger as connectivity means were always present in the Z-series. The screen is claimed to shows 65K colours, however, truly is equal to the J200i's one both in picture quality and colour rendering. So, this is a morally outdated STN screen, and Samsung showed off with such ones about a year ago in the same class.

The absence of Java is compensated with three preinstalled games, the polyphony is rather weak for today and mp3 melodies are not supported. The same battery as in Sony Ericsson K750/W800 provides with durable work time. In fact, there are no evident advantages except for the design, which refers to the Z200. The company expects this model to play for the whole 2006, and the shipments will start in February. Approximate price forms 150 USD. And Samsung's clamshells, for instance, the X460 and X480 act in the same class, but their price doesn't exceed 135-140 USD, and is likely to even reduce more by the Z300i's release. Also a line of new solutions is coming in this price category, and the only advantage of the Z300 remains its design. So, you should pay attention to this device if you are searching for a phone for a pupil, a young girl, and the only function demanded is speaking, but not other extra options.

Sony Ericsson J220 demonstrates one more transformation of a famous device the J210 into a slightly renewed version. This is a typically low-end solutions, which will be sold exactly due to its price and only. Considering low sales of the J-series and its unsuccessful life, we will not dare to predict a good career for this model. In some way it replaces Sony Ericsson T290 (we mean sales only due to the price). The sales are planned for March, and the cost will form 100-110 USD.

Sony Ericsson J230 is a cheap phone with radio and having no camera either. This model follows the principle telling that ones incapable of buying an mp3 player integrated into a phone or a standalone one will buy this device. And the sales of Nokia 2300, which was targeted at the same segment at the launch moment, proved the falsity of this opinion. Its sales will be caused mainly by the price, and the radio will mean little. The J230 will appear in February for the price of 120-130 USD.

All the three models are targeted at school children, or customers needy of a budgetary solution only for talks and worshiping a Sony Ericsson trade mark. We can't consider these models interesting, and they won't influence the situation in their segments. Their out-of-date interface and many program constraints demonstrate the same numbness of Sony Ericsson's low-end solutions.

P.S. Tomorrow read the review of Sony Ericsson Z300i on our site.

Published - 12 Novermber 2005

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