Sony Ericsson Z200 Review
First Impressions
When I first saw this model I was surprised, I didn't think SE had released a clamshell model and I was used to them producing the candy bar designs so it was a pleasant surprise to come across this model. My first thoughts were how strong and solid looking the phone was, with its rubber coated casing and unusual looking clock display on the front, this was one model I wanted to get home and start playing with.
Sizes & Dimensions
- Length 96mm
- Width 52mm
- Depth 25mm
- Weight 98gm
Whats In The Box
- Handset
- Battery charger
- Instruction book
- 2 exchangeable covers, one in the box one on the phone
- Hand strap
- Battery
Features
- Picture phone book
- Infrared connection
- Themes
- Predictive text input
- Melody composer
- Changeable covers
- Start-up/shutdown shows
- 40 voice polyphonics
- Speed dialling
- Vibrating alerts
Menu Structure
The menu is icon driven and really easy to understand. The home screen has nine icons and selecting these will take you to a sub menu. The menu structure is set out like so.
- Calls, missed calls, call list, manage calls, time and cost, next call and options.
- Wap services, Sony Ericsson, bookmarks, push inbox, enter address, resume, select profile, advanced and options.
- My shortcuts, write new, ring volume, select profile, my numbers and edit shortcuts.
- Fun and games, games, my pictures, my sounds, themes and composer.
- Messaging, write new, inbox, call voicemail, unsent, templates, sent items, options, area info and sms memory.
- Organizer, calendar, alarms, timer, stopwatch and calculator.
- Connectivity, infrared port, gsm networks and data comm.
- Phonebook, find and call, add number, find and edit, pictures, personal rings, groups, email addresses, options, memory status and special numbers.
- Settings, sounds and alerts, profiles, display, language, time and date, locks, hands free, flip functions and master reset.
Design
The design of this particular model is like no other that I've ever seen before, the most noticeable being the strap holder, which is positioned on the top of the handset, this also houses the ariel. The handset comes with the strap included, which fits through the loop on the top; you can then attach it to a belt or a bag or just use it as a hand strap.The build quality of this phone is excellent; the hinge for example is really thick and strong looking so I would be confident that the flip wouldn't become loose like a lot of other models. You can choose if you want the flip to be active or just to use the keypad for answering calls. The handset comes complete with two exchangeable covers and more are readily available, they are easy to fit and give your phone a new look in seconds.
The Display
The screen is a standard 4096-colour display, which measures 128*128 pixels. The screen is bright but I personally found the edges of the icons to be a bit pixelated. You can change things like wallpapers and themes, the phone has a couple of really colourful preloaded themes although themes and wallpapers can be easily downloaded and are readily available. Another way to transfer images or wallpapers is with the handsets infrared connector, which was incredibly easy to activate and to use, images were transferred in a matter of moments. The handset supports caller id so if you store a photo in the phonebook when the person calls their picture will appear on the screen, I thought that this was a nice touch. Outside is a unique circular LCD (well, the LCD is square but its portal is circular) in monochrome, which scrolls useful information and displays an analogue clock when idle. Its backlight is a pale colour that really shows the screen off. The outside screen also shows the name and number of the person who is calling if its entered into the phonebook, so its up to you if you prefer not to speak to a particular person.
Keypad
And here for me was this handsets biggest gripe, the keypad. The keys themselves were fine, they were well spaced and produced a satisfying soft click when pressed, the keys are only slightly raised from the keypad and there is a really nice orange backlight, which is surprisingly bright, especially in the dark. The thing I didn't like was the eight way directional joy pad, its not the pad that need to be pressed but rather the thin edge around it, this I found was incredibly fiddly, even though I have small fingers one press of this and I was going in the opposite direction to that which I wanted. Using the tip of a nail eventually got the desired effect and allowed me to navigate the menus. I thought that this feature really let down the user friendliness of the handset.
Messaging
The keys were fine to text with, however, as with a lot of other Se's the text input is incredible slow, if you type too quickly you actually lose letters, especially when the predictive text is activated this becomes really frustrating. You can also send messages to groups that you have saved and specified in your phone book also, which is handy as it saved typing out the same message a few times. This handset does not support MMS, but supports EMS, extended messaging service, which does allow you to enhance your messages with icons, sounds and graphics.
Additional Features
There is an alarm clock, a calculator, a timer and a calendar, all which are standard and easy to use. There are three onboard games supplied, alien scum, honey cave and mini golf, as im not a great games lover I had a quick look and they seemed to be displayed nicely on the screen and I should imagine they would keep you entertained for a short period. You can also download more games but this handset does not support java, but mophun only. 40 chord polyphonics are supported on this handset, you can choose from the ones already stored, or download your own, either via wap or infrared, and if you don't fancy doing that there is also a melody composer which gives some pretty impressive results. I also found the tones to be loud and had a nice quality to them, although there is only 1mb of memory for which to store tones and wallpapers. Speed dialling is also a nice addition that this phone has, just assign a phonebook entry to a speed dial number and it saves a bit of time when you next need to use the number.
Battery Life & Signal Strength
The battery is quoted of having a standby of up to 200 hours; in reality with average use I had around four days on standby. The handset kept good signal strength and I had no problems with loss of signal or dropped calls. The clarity of voice calls was also another good point for this handset, with no hissing or interference; the person at the other end could also hear me clearly.
WAP
The handset features GPRS, which enables faster browsing; the Internet is accessed via the menu screen. The connection takes an average time to load and there's nothing special about this feature just your normal standard wap browser.
Summary
I have to say I liked this handset, even though it was basic, with no mms, camera or mp3 player, I liked it for what it was, a strong reliable basic handset. The only gripe that I had was operating the joy pad, which as I have already said was awkward beyond belief. If you just want a basic model for texting and voice calls you cant really go wrong, the added bonus of a really durable construction just adds to the overall appeal. Unlike other well-known clamshells this is one model I think would last, especially with its exchangeable covers that come in a variety of colours and designs, not often found on a clamshell. Overall a basic handset at a basic price, therefore I can recommend this handset, especially to the more style conscious person who wants their handset to be different.
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