Sony Ericsson J200

Sony Ericsson has established a foothold in the middle price segment, but it has not achieved much success in the low-end segment. Т230 used to be in popular demand and still remains saleable, since there is a need of model series change. And it was the point that the company perpetrated a blunder and put into production several model almost identical to each other. Short terms make the company work non-stop and reject a series of products. The company has decided against cancelling a scheduled model and that has resulted in a medley of a release term and prioritisation. In the first place, models of the least lifetimes were put on sale, for they were swiftly becoming obsolete. The models were developed on basis of the previous generation and differ drastically from the present K-series. An attempt of supplying a menu of the new type, installing a body of higher quality intensifies a strange sensation as a handset does not look appropriate to the segment.

The device is nice designed of lacquered plastic and released in two colour variations: white and black ones. Fingerprints are not seen on the plastic and the handset fits a hand greatly. Removable front panels are fundamentally lacking, because the handset is to be considered at a higher level. The dimensions are 101х43х19 mm and weight being 74 g.

The handset's STN screen showing 4096 colours is supposed as a remain. 65K screens have become standard for the class - for instance, Motorola C380, Siemens C65. A picture shown by J200 looks dull and fades much in the sunlight. The screen resolution 128x128 permits to show up to six text lines and a message line.

The side frames have no command key, but in the right an IrDA gap is noticed. There is a strap hole on the top and an interface connector on the bottom.

The keypad is made of plastic and keys are medium in size as well as in comfort. A drawback consists in the fact that calling of a contextual menu is possible with a single key and exit - with the Cancel key. The soft keys move a little and are rather hard to work with. The main distinction from the company's other models lies in lower ergonomics, mainly owing to the keypad.

The back cover has a loudspeaker hole and overlays a battery compartment. It also lacks a gap; the handset has a Li-Ion battery of 670 mAh. According to the manufacturer, the device is able to work up to 200 hours in the standby mode and to 4.5 hours in the talk mode. In the conditions of Moscow MTS network the handset has been working for about four days in case of 30 minutes of talks and up to 20 minutes of using other functions. Full recharging takes 1.5 hours approximately.