Sony Ericsson txt

Editor's Review of the txt

Although Sony Ericsson has been busy of late with its high-end Xperias, the company has also had time to launch the Sony Ericsson txt - a cheap and cheerful messaging phone.

While we're not so keen on its garish blue casing, the Sony Ericsson txt is a good looking handset, sporting an ergonomic casing which feels great in the hand. Within its chassis - which you'll be glad to hear is also available in black - you'll find a decent 2.6-inch (240 x 320) display. Although perfectly clear and bright enough, we were pretty disappointed to find that the display isn't touch sensitive, which sets it back against its BlackBerry rivals.

Thankfully, Sony Ericsson has made up for this by equipping the text with a portrait QWERTY keypad. Although those with large fingers might find it quite fiddly, we had no trouble navigating around the four-rows of buttons, which were nicely rounded for smooth, fast typing.

According to Sony Ericsson, the txt - thanks to its keypad - is designed for messaging and social networking. It comes pre-loaded with a 'Friends' application that enables you to add five best friends to see instant updates, but due to the handset's lack of 3G, this can often be a pretty-slow affair. Sony Ericsson has redeemed itself once again however, as this cheap handset - unlike Samsung's Chat 222, for example - does come equipped with WiFi onboard. This will also help to avoid hefty bills at the end of the month, making this an ideal BlackBerry alternative for data hungry teens.

Although not a phone focused on media, there's a 3.2 megapixel camera on the rear of the handset which managed to shoot some reasonable-quality photos. This camera doubles up as a video recorder too, although we weren't so impressed with the noisy, jumpy footage.

As a Sony-branded handset, you'll also find a bunch of pre-installed music goodies. As well as the propriety media player, the txt boasts Sony's Shazam-esque TrackID app, which returns the song name, artist and album title to your phone within seconds. You'll also find up to 32GB of expandable storage - an impressive amount of memory for sicj an affordable handset.

It may be lacking a touchscreen and 3G connectivity, but Sony Ericsson's txt is one of the best 'cheap' messaging phones currently available. The phones limited WiFi connectivity will keep from teens racking up expensive phone bills, while its excellent QWERTY keypad will make Facebook'ing a breeze. Looking for something a little more advanced? Check out the BlackBerry Curve 9360.