Two low end phones from Sony Ericsson

Today Sony Ericsson introduced two entry-level phones - J200 and T290. Sony Ericsson J200 is a tri-band phone with 4K STN display, polyphonic ringtones (40 channels) and infrared port. Sony Ericsson T290 is dual-band only, it lacks infrared, but it has built-in handsfree. While not exactly feature packed the new phones have very nice design and it seems that they will be very attractive for the price conscious users.

Press release

Sony Ericsson today announced two new phones for Practical phoners of all ages. Practical phoners are a discerning group that seek out well-designed, quality, no-nonsense products from trusted brands but, don’t need the full feature-set of a top-of-the-range phone because their predominant communications style is voice.

The first of these phones, the J200, is targeted mainly at the China and Asia Pacific markets and will be available during the last quarter of 2004. The second, the T290, will be launched in the same region early in 2005, in time for the traditional gift giving of the Chinese New Year, and then be available globally during the first quarter.

The J200 has a curved and sophisticated appearance and appealing colour range. It offers easy talking and easy messaging, all on a 4K colour screen (128 x 128 pixels). Its slim, classic design includes an easy to use joystick for simple navigation and SMS text messaging with predictive text input. The J200 also features a large phone book with up to 200 entries, calendar, alarm clock and a 40 tones polyphonic ringer, with an additional speaker for loud and clear ringtones, even on the street.

The T290’s small size, large phonebook, MMS messaging in colour and sturdy styling will also be attractive to the practical phoner segment but appeal more to the young and those looking for a value-for-money phone to support their own private business. The T290 value-for-money packages includes a 32 tones polyphonic ringer with additional speaker, 4K colour screen, an additional speakerphone for conference calls in private or professional use and fast SMS text messaging with predictive text input on a clear and ergonomically designed keypad.

The J200 and T290 will be available in the following versions:

• J200i, Triple-band 900/1800/1900
• J200c, Triple-band 900/1800/1900 for China
• T290i, Dual-band 900/1800
• T290c, Dual-band 900/1800 for China
• T290a, Dual-band 850/1900 for Americas