Sony Ericsson T616 - Cellular phone with digital camera - GSM

Other products by SonyEricsson Mobile Communications

Product Details

Product Manual [1.91mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 1.7 x 0.8 inches ; 3.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• ASIN: B0000AZVVA
• Item model number: T616
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,616 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 1977

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
The Sony Ericsson T616 features a built-in digital camera, Bluetooth, multimedia messaging, polyphonic ringtones, and tons of ways for you to personalize its look and feel. Quality materials and a large color display give this phone its sophisticated personality. It's the perfect complement to AT&T service.

Design
The phone features a bright, clear 128 x 160 screen with 65,536 colors. The stylish candybar form factor of the phone will turn heads and get attention, while the quick camera buttons and easy-to-use center control toggle make it a snap to operate the T616. Charging and data connectivity are provided on the bottom of the phone, while an infrared transmitter for synchronizing contacts and data is housed on the top of the device. Meanwhile, the phone's CIF-resolution (352 x 288) camera is housed on the back panel.

An onboard joystick and iconic menu make for easy navigation.

Calling Features
When you're calling, you'll enjoy essential features like redial, vibrating alert, speed dialing, and side volume keys, as well as choice extras like sleep mode, menu shortcuts, keypad lock, SIM card lock, voice control, and status view. Create your own ringtones with the built-in MusicDJ using a library of pre-loaded instruments, rhythms, and melodies. Further, the phone's 32-voice polyphonic ringtones make your incoming calls sound like music to your ears. Use the ringtones that come with your phone or download new ones from AT&T's mMode mobile Internet service. And because the T616 has Bluetooth built in, you can use a wide array of Bluetooth-compatible headsets for total wireless freedom.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
The T616 has all the bases covered when it comes to messaging. Support is built in for sending and receiving text, graphics and sound via messages. Multimedia messaging (MMS) lets you compose your messages using images, sounds and text. Sony-Ericsson's QuickShare feature, meanwhile, lets you share content with other devices, other phones, even your computer--just drag and drop pictures from your PC to your phone. Instant messaging is also supported and the phone ships with a built-in email client (AT&T messaging charges apply). T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

The T610 has a built-in camera with 2MB of onboard storage.

Getting on the Internet is easy with the T616, as well. It supports the GPRS protocol for speedy downloads and wireless Web access. AT&T's mMode service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get sports scores, download games and ringtones, and more.

The T616's Bluetooth capability lets you connect, wirelessly, to a laptop, a PDA, or another Bluetooth phone, and users of Apple computers can synchronize their calendars and contact information with the T616 using iSync, Apple's free synchronization software.

A number of handy tools come with the phone, including a memo pad, a calculator, business card exchange, a calendar, and a tasks list. There's also a full-featured clock, which includes a stopwatch, an alarm, and a handy timer.

Imaging and Entertainment
The camera T616's camera couldn't be easier to operate, with just one click to activate it and another to take a picture. Want to view your pictures on your computer screen? The T616 can automatically enlarge pictures to VGA size (480 x 640 pixels). Software included in the phone recalculates picture size without sacrificing quality.

Mobile gaming has never looked better than on the T616's high quality screen. Force and sound feedback guarantees full-throttle fun. The T616 comes with a variety of embedded games, including the legendary racing game V-Rally 2, and many more are available for download.

Vital Statistics
The Sony-Ericsson T616 weighs 3.26 ounces and measures 4.02 x 1.69 x 0.67 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 9 hours of digital talk time, and up to 300 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the GSM/GPRS 800/1800/1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
T616 handset, SIM card, battery, charging cord, user's manual, and warranty information

Product Description
With its large screen, sophisticated design and easy-to-use imaging features, the T616 is visually powerful in every aspect. The T616 opens up new ways to share experiences. It introduces QuickShare - which makes sharing memorable moments with your friends easier than ever before. Snap a picture with the built-in camera and you're ready to share - the philosophy behind QuickShare is to make sure sharing is just a few clicks away. Allow yourself to explore the T616. A built-in camera, a high-resolution color screen and a new graphical interface are among the features that make the T616 a mobile experience out of the ordinary."Aluminium panels, anodized with color themes that resemble the elements of nature, caught between darkness and light". It is not hard to see why Industrial Designer Erik Ahlgren almost gets poetic when it comes to the T616. Indeed, that is one way to look upon the T616: As poetry, speaking to you in its own words. Have Erik and the design team succeeded in creating a design that measures up to the impressive features of the T616? Well, take a look and judge for yourself. The T616 features a high-resolution screen with 65, 536 colors. More importantly, the T616 takes advantage of the large screen by introducing a graphical interface that focuses on ease of use. Soft keys make applications easier and faster to use. Hotlinks in menus give you direct access to various services. Animated icons and color add life to the desktop and menus. A large screen also equals space: You will find four rows of menu icons instead of three - and, of course, plenty of room for your messages.The T616 is ready to interact. Share content with other devices, other phones and your computer - simply drag and drop pictures from your PC to your phone! The T616 can be synchronized with local area networks, PDAs, digital cameras, printers and, of course, the Web.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best phone I've had... but NOT a world phone, December 6, 2003

By	Ed (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

IMPORTANT: This phone is marketed as a world phone. It is NOT a world phone. (The European version - T610 - is a world phone.) The T616 is for the North American market. The GSM standard in The States isn't yet as far reaching so there is now an 850mhz frequency to supplement the 1900mhz. The T616 is equipped with this "filler" frequency as well as the standard N. American 1900mhz. The third band (1800) is used in Europe and other places as well. So, this is a tri-band phone, but it is not a world phone. True world phones us 900mhz instead of 850. 900mhz is used in Australia and New Zealand. If this important to you, DO NOT purchase a T616. World phones need 900/1800/1900. Keep in mind, most salespersons aren't aware of this.

That "said," the T616 has a clean, elegant design. It's very well equipped with lots of functional features. Fits anywhere. Holds a decent amount of photos, even more if you delete excess ring tones and games. Picture quality is as good as camera phone photos are. It has both bluetooth, infrared and USB connection. The phone also allows callers to conference call with up to five other parties... and even click one aside for a private while the others chat. Great feature if you need it.

The screen is hard to see in the outdoor sun light.

A speakerphone would be nice, but for the price and size, it's a VERY well equipped phone. As it is not a flip phone, it can be answered with one hand and the body integrity is solid.

Aside from the world phone lie, this is the best of the seven mobile phones I've had over the years. Because it has the additional N. American frequency, it probably gets better GSM coverage than other tri-band GSMs with only the 1900.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After reading all 85 reviews....., April 22, 2004

By	Tom Swift "boy inventor" (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews

....I would have to agree with most of them.

In the interest of saving you some time (if you choose not to read all of the reviews), the phone itself is of excellent quality, well-designed with aluminum and high-quality plastic construction.

The T616 has almost all the features you might want, probably more than you are going to use. Lacking is speakerphone capability and the ability to see the screen in bright sunlight.

One reviewer suggested getting a quality Krusell case for the phone and I agree. What nobody mentioned is that you can get free (no charge at the time this review is being written) incoming daily alerts for news, weather, sports, etc from mobile.msn.com. (Go to the web site and input your cellphone number and specify when and which alerts you want.)

Of course, no phone is any better than the network it is on, and your mileage may vary. For me, living in NYC, I get excellent reception from my 27-floor apartment building. I've also used the phone upstate and had perfect reception there in what would be called "the country".

So what's not to like?

Customer service. As you will find in some of the reviews, mostly going back a few months, ATT had embarked on a project to "upgrade" their customer service capabilities. For _months_ nothing worked right. The customer service reps couldn't find the information you needed to know and, worse, you couldn't even access the ATT web site to find something as basic as minutes used. (Yes, you can also find minutes used through the M-mode feature...and be billed for data charges.)

Now a suggestion, and I am being deadly serious, before you consider the phone and the network, I want you to make a phone call to ATT Wireless Customer Service. If you are pleased with the time that it takes to get through to a human who can answer your questions, fine. Otherwise, consider another service.

I hope this review helps in you making your decision and I thank you for reading it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiny package packed with goodies, December 31, 2003

By	Ed (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

My seventh mobile phone and easily one of the best. The reasonable price combined w/ the small size make this the best featured phone on the market.

Sony spared no expense in giving the the T616 both bluetooth and infrared, a camera, email client, 65k colors screen. One of the neatest and rarely mentioned features is an alarm/calendar system which can be programed to alert even when the phone is turned off. Save your juice and still get. Of course it has all the too fancy ring tones and games which only take up memory and might be better in a teen flip phone.

The design - modern, sleek and simple. I'm not a clamshell fan, so a small, solid, one-piece unit with a large color screen is right up my alley.

On the down side, AT&T's service does not allow for one-touch voicemail pick up. You must enter your password w/ evey call. A security feature, I guess, but annoying. Additionally, the screen is difficult to read in bright sunlight. My only other gripe is that there's no speaker phone. Sony was clearly going for sleek and small and for the money and size, how much more can one expect?

As for AT&T's service, keep in mind quality of service depends on the region you live in and where in the region you live. Every company has cities where their service is great and where it is lowsy. So these sweeping generalizations about AT&T's service should be taken with a grain of salt. Additionally, this phone operates on a GSM network which isn't yet as all-encompassing as TDMA/CDMA... but unlike the 'DMA's allows for international use. So, whether T-Mobile or AT&T, GSM service is GSM service. On that note, only AT&T offers both GSM and DMA, though the Ericsson is designed only for GSM.

Be ye warned, although this is a tri-band phone, it is not a world phone. World phones include 900/1800/1900 mhz frequencies. The T616 carries 850 in place of 900. 850 is a second N. American frequency at the expense of the standard 900mhz which covers Australia and New Zealand. If you're jonesing for this unit, the T610 substitutes 850 w/ the standard 900mhz.

I highly recommend this phone for style, quality and features. As for AT&T's service, it's as good as any other similar system depending on where you are.