Sony Ericsson T700 review: Cup of T, anyone?

Getting organizing

The Sony Ericsson T700 offers a wide range of time-management features. There is an Organizer icon in the main menu and it contains several applications: File manager, Applications, Video call, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Synchronization, Timer, Stopwatch, Light, Calculator, and Code memo. The Calendar offers monthly, weekly and daily views. When you add a birth date in the phonebook, the phone prompts adding it to the calendar. Tasks can be two types: simple Tasks and Phone calls. Notes are written similar to messages; the T9 dictionary can be used here as well.

The traditional Organizer apps

Alarms are part of the main menu. There are five alarm slots available. Each one offers a lot of options - you can choose to repeat the alarm on chosen days of the week or everyday. Text and a picture can be added to the alarm. Furthermore, the alarm behavior can be defined in case the time it is due to go off comes while the phone is in silent mode.

The Organizer • setting up an appointment

The Voice recorder has no limit to recording length, making the free memory available the only restriction. The Calculator is the regular Sony Ericsson one. The stopwatch and countdown timer are also the well known basic applications. The LED light on the back of the phone can also be used as a torch, thanks to the Light application. The LEDs can be on continually or for a period of one minute only. They can also blink out an SOS signal.

Calculator • Stopwatch • Timer • Light

Some other applications include MusicDJ and VideoDJ. VideoDJ is for making your own video clips by mixing already existing ones with still pictures, text and a variety of effects or for making basic cuts using special transitions and adding background music. MusicDJ is a very simple application for creating custom polyphonic melodies.

Applications

As far as the additional applications are concerned, the Sony Ericsson T700 comes with several applications preinstalled: AccuWeather.com, Converter, Dictaphone, and World Clock 3D.

The AccuWeather app gives you up-to-date weather information for locations of interest to you. It provides detailed information about the current weather conditions in the selected region, as well as a 3-day forecast. You should bear in mind that it requires an internet connection and data charges may apply.

The AccuWeather application offers detailed information about the weather all over the world

The Converter handles seven different types of measures. It works with distance, volume, temperature, speed, weight, area as well as Tip calculator. It also has support for five different languages.

The T700 converter handles 7 different conversions

The other very practical application is DictaPhone, which we see for the first time in a Sony Ericsson handset. The app is developed for Sony Ericsson by Communology and is available as a free download at the Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads portal.

DictaPhone records voice messages, which can then be edited and mixed, and you can even play with pitch and tempo. Sadly, it cannot be used to record a call.

DictaPhone in action

And finally, World Clock 3D allows you to spin the globe searching for a time zone. You can zoom in and out as you please. Of course you can also search by a city name.

The World Clock 3D app

Games are cool

The game section features three titles: JewelQuest2, Minigolf and Super Breakout.

We found the Super Breakout to be the most entertaining among the preinstalled games. It has decent graphics and is full of block-breaking action over diverse levels and bonus stages you can unlock.

Three games on the T700

Location services and knowing your way around

Available for free download and compatible with a variety of mobile OS and Java-enabled handsets, the Google Maps for Mobile comes preinstalled in the T700. With Location services you can get help finding your way, view information about your current location and save your favorite locations. To use all features of the Location services internet access is a must.

Location services with Google Maps • User interface and some of the menu options

After defining a start and end location, the possible routes are being calculated with overall guidance, based on the available information in the database. With the GPS Enabler HGE-100, plugged in, Location service gets full GPS functionality, as well as A-GPS for faster satellite lock. This makes it possible to use navigation on the go, with turn-by-turn guidance.

Two different view modes are available - Satellite and Map view. Traffic information is another important feature here. The user interface is nice and intuitive.

The Map view is very informative • zooming in a street

Zooming in a satellite view brings you to a street level details

With a plugged in GPS receiver, the Status info application displays the current activity in km/h for a 60 minutes period. The GPS connection status is indicated on the second tab of this application.

The Status info application and some of the available settings

Of course, saving your most recent routes is as easy as it could be. Within several clicks, a title, description and position is all you need to save a favorite location.

Adding a specific location as favorite

Final words

It may look like Sony Ericsson are playing the cheap easy way with T700. All it takes is dress up a Walkman, take here, add there, now scramble and there you go – a new launch. Dodgy as it sounds, it works more than fine with the latest T-series handset if you are willing to forgive the loss of design inspiration or if it's your first Sony Ericsson bar.

The design team has done a great job in making the T700 an excellent bar true to the Sony Ericsson heritage. The only place they've failed is making it stand out among its own. When you set your eyes on it, you immediately recognize it as a Sony Ericsson handset. But guessing exactly which model, would be a difficult task for the not so keen eyed among us.

No matter how you feel about the design reused over and over again, the manufacturer seems to have a point. The T700 styling seems capable of inspiring a more mature and sophisticated demand than the thin Walkman W890, which means a firmer foot in the midrange for the company. Being part of the T-series is an honor that comes with obligations and the T700 is up to the task. The exceptionally friendly handling and probably the best feature phone interface give it a definite edge.