Sony Ericsson TM506
Phone Scoop Review
Sep 8, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile have teamed up for the first time in four years to offer the 3G-equipped TM506. It is capable in many departments, but falls short in others. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Sony TM506 Superb
This is the first phone that I have actually absolutely loved and had no problems with. It has great functionality as well as battery life. I refer to it as the sleeper phone because not many people know about it and when they do discover the rich content they typically wonder where it has been. The camera is impressive enough yea only 2 mega pixels but still good enough to print from. It has 21MB of internal memory for storing music and pictures expandable through the micro memory stick. Music player works really well and is loud. Bluetooth has a power saver mode which is a nice added feature for those who use bluetooth alot and works with all the bluetooths I have put it up against (including the one built into my laptop). Also supports Stereo bluetooth so while out for a job or walk you can listen to your music in stereo with a stereo bluetooth headset.
Pros
Great camera 2megapixel
Bluetooth stereo
Lots of memory
Plays mp3 as well as wma, aac, aac+, wma pro
Durable
Cons
None that I can think of
A Phone For Everyone
I believe from young to old there is something for everyone.
I purchased the amber accent color though the green might work well for younger people.
The phone is 3G and if you live in a TMO 3G area this phone really rocks. T-Zones load quickly, Internet access is excellent and the browser works well. Text messages send almost immediately and email is just as fast.
The camera is OK at best ... no cover, no flash but it does take a nice clean picture.
The phone's screen is excellent, large bright and easy to read.
The menus are very user friendly and offer quite a few options from the usual wallpaper and ringtones to actually using the phone as a remote control.
Call quality is pretty standard.
I would suggest this inexpensive, solid built phone for just about anyone.
Sony Ericsson TM506
I've owned this phone for about a week now and I love this phone. I've owned everything from a Razr to and Instinct and this is my favorite by far!
CONs: --Ear piece is kinda quiet, but not as bad as people like to mention.
--Doesn't support SanDisc memory cards.
--No flash on the camera.
PROs: --Ringers are VERY loud. It's very hard to miss a call, even with the phone in your pocket.
--Excellent music player.
--Media layout is just like the PSP layout.
--2 MP camera is very clear and sharp.
--Customizable main menu.
--Recovers service very fast after loosing service. My Razr took a good 3 minutes to recover service after leaving work, this phone takes about 30 seconds.
--3G is very fast.
--Very durable. I already dropped this phone off a 12 ft. ladder and there weren't even any scratches on the phone.
Overall I would say that this is a great phone. It is definitely worth more than the 159.99 retail price and i was happy to pay that (I have a Flex Pay Account).
Good So Far
I purchased this phone a few days ago...I broke my blackberry pearl and was looking to save a bit of money. Does almost everything my blackberry did except it supports about 10 different types of email accounts BUT hotmail ( which is of course what I use)
Pros: -screen and colors amazing
-ease of use is great and can customize
-key pad is easy to use, and texting is
very easy with predictive text
-load ring tones
-3G network where available
Cons: - battery life, below average
- not compatible with hotmail
- must get a memory stick card vs
standard memory card
- no stereo headset
Over very pleased so far.
Made a believer outta this simple boy.
Well, folks, this Verizon Wireless (but not really)employee/T-Mobile customer/AT&T roamer is back.
And now for the TM506. See, I shouldn't even be reviewing this phone, but after losing my V195 (and miraculously recovering it) I used my upgrade (didn't want to, would've been fine keeping the V195) and got this phone. I didn't realize before I got this phone that Sony even MADE phones. But I digress.
As some of you may know, the V195 is a simple lil' old phone. I was perfectly happy using it, never thought much of lots of features. But oh boy, after using the TM506, I'm a believer. This phone is gorgeous, there's no other way to put it. So let's lay out pros and cons:
Pros:
Clear call quality (VERY important).
Great display/display options/graphics (small exception-MyFaves is pixelated. But no biggie).
Great reception.
Nice resolution camera (technically midgrade).
Gorgeous design.
Intuitive texting (and for a non QWERTY phone, that's saying something).
Nicely functional Email access.
Intuitive web browsing.
Freakin' sweet media center (including the ability to switch screen to landscape, which also changes button settings so UI remains intuitive).
Will fit in a RAZR phone case nicely.
And cons:
Incompatible with standard USB cables and such. Can't blame Sony for trying to make money, though.
Battery life could be better, though I just turned GPS off and I get a lot of email alerts, both of which eat up the battery.
Feels a little flimsy, which makes me afraid any time I want to take the battery cover off.
Lags once in a while. Though to be fair, anything that's basically a mini computer will lag sometimes.
So that's it for now. Of course, only having had the phone for a few weeks, the jury's out on reliability. If it's anything like the V195, though, I'll end up keeping this phone past my next upgrade date. I can only hope that T-Mobile keeps selling great phones like this the entire time I'm a customer of theirs.
Nice Solid Flip phone
I like the menu system sony chose to use on this phone. Reception is above average and the screen is clear and brights. Good selection of ringers and they ring LOUD!! Camers is abover avergae for a 2.0 megapixel and the vibrate function is strong. Only downfall is for a 3g phone they really should have a bigger 3g network..
Not Eaqual to Nokia 6263
I received this phone through the you know it "Insurance" Asurion to exchange the phone for a DEFECTIVE Nokia I bought new less than one year ago, and has been exchanged 89 times, this being the NINETH time because of the 6263 failures, I know people that have bought ONE cell pone in their LIFE, but the Nokia 6263 was likely a good phone, but turns out NOKIA isn't the company repairing or rebuilding these units, its the staffs at T-Mobile and the LOW-Ball Asurion Insurance folks sending me a Piece of JUNK in comparing it to the Functions and ease of use, this TM 506 can't hold a candle to the Good Operating Nokia 6263 and that's WHY I'm sending it BACK to try a Samsung phone because this Phone has the space button located on the #sign??????? I've used many cell phones, but after fifteen years I'm not going to get use to that, which makes the text feature not user friendly, plus finding your way around in this Sony TM506 is a real joy in wasting your valuable time, I mean talk about LAME formats!
BUT hen again what can you expect, an Insurance Company low balled me and sent me junk of a phone and the real problem lies NOT in the Nokia phone, it lies in the Idiot morons at T-mobile and Asurion attempting to screw their customers at every turn, Its not going to happen to me, trust me on that one.
Not Perfect but Nice
I've had this phone for a few months now. All the general functions and features are fine. The unit looks nice and generally works well.
Pros:
1. The keypad, menus and ports are easy to access and use. The keypad is slim but big enough for bigger fingers.
2. Sound quality is excellent.
3. The accessories included work well.
4. Battery life is good - about 3.5 to 4 hours of continuous talking.
Cons:
1. The case is a bit light weight and sort of flimsy feeling. It would not take much to break it.
2. The soft buttons are almost too soft and one can press too hard on them and feel the circuit board underneath.
3. Though the battery life is OK it is a bit less than what was listed in its specs. It is listed at 4.5 hours of talking time.
4. Like many clam shell designs the phone's reception is not as good as one piece designs. My daughter uses a Samsung Gravity and when my phone shows one to no towers hers still has 2 or 3. (We live in an area with only moderate coverage)
Overall:
As my title says - it is a very nice phone but not perfect. It works well enough and I am satisfied with it enough that I would recommend it and would have another one for myself.
The TM506
The phone is okay. My day really likes the device overall. But overall It could be better sound wise and ringtone wise. The volume for the ringer is just not as loud as it could be for that phone. But for overall use and what my day needs it for, its great . He enjoys it it has better service and reception and he can hear us talk to him and vice versa better than his old phone. So this phone is a good phone to have I just wish the ringers on the phone were louder so we could hear it better.
