Sony Ericsson S312

Editor's Review of the S312

Also called the Athena mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson S312 is a bar-shaped handset that appears solid yet feels incredibly lightweight. It has a total weight of 80.1 grams inclusive of fitted battery, and full measurements of 100 x 46 x 12.5 millimetres. This handset exudes a stylish and classy look in its honey silver or dawn blue casing. This mobile phone has a 50.88-millmetre TFT screen that displays picture wallpapers or wallpaper animation in 262,000 colours on a 176 x 220 resolution. Right below this display screen is a well-sized and easy-to-use circular navigation button. It also has call keys and navigation keys that come in hues that stand out beautifully against its coloured casing. Users may select from a set of pre-installed MP3, AAC and polyphonic ringtones to give this handset a more personalised appeal.

A dual band handset, the Sony Ericsson S312 functions over GSM 900 and GSM 1800. It allows users to gather information from the Internet and check out their favourite Web sites using the WAP browser. This Web browser is powered by Openwave technology, which offers users with XHTML Web experience right on their handset. This handset also offers the USB connectivity feature to enable users to transfer or share their handset's files to or from other mobile phones, printers, laptops and personal computers. For wireless transfers, however, users may opt for the Bluetooth technology, which allows data transfers between compatible gadgets within a range of 10 metres. Given the EDGE and GPRS technologies that are pre-installed in this handset, users are ensured of faster file transfer and Internet download rates.

Users may use this mobile phone's SMS or text with Predictive Text or MMS or multimedia messaging services to get in touch with their contacts. Owing to the Internet connectivity that this handset offers, users may access their e-mails and compose or receive e-mail messages. The Sony Ericsson S312 is also equipped with organiser features to assist busy users. It has a phone book, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a timer, a notes and tasks option, and vibrating alert. This mobile phone supports hassle-free calls with its pre-installed speakerphone. It is also ideal for users' travels with its Flight Mode option.

Despite its slim look, the Sony Ericsson S312 is filled with features to keep users entertained. This mobile phone has a 2-Megapixel camera with 2.5x digital zoom and photo light features that enable users to obtain clear-cut photo results. Better yet, users can tweak their pictures using the Photo Fix facility of this integrated camera, which comes with photo adjustment features. This camera also works as a video recorder that comes with video light for well-lighted environment when capturing footages. Video clips in widely accepted video formats may be played and viewed on this handset's wide display screen.

Users who enjoy listening to music can do so practically whenever and wherever they want, as this mobile phone's pre-installed music player supports all commonly accepted audio formats. This integrated music player comes with PlayNow and TrackID features which allows listeners to view the song, the artist, and the name of the album which the track is part of. Users may also opt for the FM radio facility of this mobile phone, complete with RDS system which provides users with information relating to current events, or weather and sports news while listening to their preferred radio station. Users may also enjoy various pre-loaded games in this handset, which include a host of games in Java format. Games that are downloaded from the Internet are also supported by this mobile phone.

Users may store their contact lists, photos, videos, games, music files and other data in the 15-Megabytes internal memory of this handset. To accommodate more files storage, users may choose to expand the mobile phone's memory capacity using Micro M2 support. This handset offers users a total talk time of 8 hours. This mobile phone also offers 400-hours standby capability when used with a fully charged battery.

Unhappy owners of the Sony Ericsson S312 criticise this handset for its photo outputs that are allegedly of low quality. Others have also found this handset to be unfit for frequent travels because of its limited dual band coverage. Nonetheless, this mobile phone has pleased music lovers because of its classy appeal and having a good quality music player.