Sony Ericsson M600i (Unlocked)

The M600i has something of a cult following, and those who own it have a love/hate relationship with the device. Overall, it is a superb smartphone, and that's where the "love" portion comes in. The "hate" side of it is with Sony Ericsson, who - in their infinite wisdom - have decided to abandon the phone, and will not offer any more firmware upgrades to a phone that has a few minor (easily fixable) bugs still in its core OS.

This phone is not for everybody- its design is geared towards a particular type of person that doesn't want all the (sometimes) silly bells and whistles that populate so many devices on the market today. It's designed for the person that needs a communication device first, and any little goodies tacked on are more of a bonus than a core function.

The most noticeable thing missing from the phone is the camera lens. There isn't one, because there's no camera. That will disqualify it from the vast population of phone users, primary made up by the STG set. (That's Stupid Teen Girl: those irritating people that have cell phones basically glued to their ears.) The lack of camera does serve a useful purpose: in some high-security careers, (high-tech, defense contracting, government, etc.) cell phones with cameras are disallowed.

The second standout function is the QWERTY keyboard. On first glance, the phone's keypad doesn't look like it has enough keys for a full QWERTY- only 20 keys total. But the look is deceiving: each key has two letters on it, accessed by rocking the key either to the left or the right. This might seem a little disconcerting at first, but in a short time, it's actually faster than most mobile input methods.

Doing what it was designed to do - be a cell phone - is a pure joy. Volume is excellent, and most people won't know you're talking to them on a cell phone: transmission/reception is that good.

The OS is Symbian 9.1, and the interface is UIQ3. Symbian is a tried-and-true OS, and 9.1 is the most stable yet. The UIQ3 makes for easy navigation, and the standard add-ons - media playback, contacts, messaging, calendar, and alarms are included. Also included is Quick Office, an MS-compatible editor for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, and QuickPDF, a PDF reader. The Browser is Opera. (No Wifi, but WAP works nicely.)

The 2.6" touchscreen is 240x320, 244k colors, is very sharp, and works well in almost all light. The phone is of an excellent size- 4.1 x 2.1 x 0.6 inches. Very slim, and only 4 ounces. It feels quite solid in the hand.

One of the most important tips to potential owners of this phone: if you buy an unlocked M600, make sure you get it debranded. This will allow you to make the phone a Generic World phone, and the software updates and available upgrades can be used from anywhere- not just the region of the world you bought it from. Very important considering Sony will no longer update the firmware. Google "debranding M600i", and you can learn how to do it.

If you're looking for an excellent smartphone, and don't need all the silly stuff, this is a superb choice. Or, if you're looking to venture away from the STG realm and become and adult, this could be a good start.

..Joe