Sony Ericsson T608
Average Ratings
FrustratedSprint Customer Sony T608
The phone was purchased from Sprint in June, 2004 along with a Jabra 250 headset. I am on my 3rd T608 as of Jan. 14, 2005. Why?
I am a high time user- 3500 minutes +/month. It is a very important business tool. I use the phone for voice communications only. I do not know how or care to connect it to my laptop. I have had a plague of communications problems:
a. Dropped calls, the phone goes blank during a conversation, even while it is plugged in and recharging. I have had the phone drop the signal 3 and 4 times in a 5 minute call that was well within the proximatey of multiple Sprint towers.
b. Grabbled conversations: i have had people tell me not to call them on T-608.
both a. and B. are my chief complaints. Sprint shruggs their shoulders and give me another T-608. There is something very wrong this phone.
Does anyone else have this problem or am I the only one with three bad phones in a row.
I purchased a LG325, it does not have the problems listed above, but the protocal for using the headset is still a mystery after 4 days of trying to make it work. Unlike the Sony. I cannot initiate a call by pressing the button on the Jabra 250. I must handle the phone and go through about 4 steps fondling the phone, sliding the thing open and giggling around to make a call. i could have wreck trying to make a call.
The sony is so easy. I press the button on the Jabra 250, I hear the phone request the person name that I want to call. Then it ask home, office, mobile, etc. By voice i select the correct number and the number is dialed. One touch and two voice commands and I am talking. So simple. LG has not figured this one out.
Does anyone have suggestions. I am going to send this phone to sony to be checked out. Sony wants to blame Sprint. Bull. It is their phone. It is impossible. I have 3 regular phones in the past 7 years and none dropped calls. It is really weird to loose a call when the phone is on recharge all the time.
T608 (fourth phone in past year)
After reading about the T608, I ordered and got it two days ago.
This is my fourth phone in the past year. I went from a Samsung A460 to Samsung I330, to Sanyo 8100 and finally to the T608.
This phone is the best one so far. The only small shortcoming is the apparent battery life.
Having said that, the phone works just fine if you remember to charge it at least once a day. I was doing this with the other phones, so its a 'small' inconvenience. I've made it a habit of plugging in the phone at the end of the day. For 'average' use, the battery will last me 2-3 days, but why take chances?
The Bluetooth headset is a big step towards the ultimate in convenience. The capability to fire-up the laptop/PDA and talk to the phone via bluetooth is awesome.
The ringers are LOUD. The menu system is not slow (to me anyway) as reported in other reviews.
Reception is 10 out of 10. Sound quality is 9 out of 10. Form factor is 10 out of 10.
SonyEricsson got it 95% right with this phone.
The form factor is what originally got me interested in this phone. Its the most 'pocketable' phone I've had in a while.
Side note: Sprint Customer support has improved dramatically in the past 6 months.
No Support From Sprint
I read the PhoneScoop.com and PDA Buyer reviews and decided I would like to purchase this phone. I ended up buying the phone online from SprintPCS.com...as the stores in my area did not know that it was offered by Sprint. The phone arrived in less than 24 hours - as promised.
The phone was easy to set up. The menus were a change from my old Sanyo...just an updated phone.
My great disappointment was with the battery life of the phone - 30 minutes per charge. My greater disappointment was with Sprint customer service when trying to get a replacement phone with a better battery. I was directed to visit the stores in the Indianapolis metro area to have the unit tested before a replacement would be sent. I drove 80 miles to the nearest Sprint store, only to be told that test equipment or replacement phones were available.
Four hours and two Sprint stores later, I was finally told that the phone has been recalled and is not being supported. I will need to return my phone and will be credited the purchase price.
So much for being an early adopter.
not bad
i've had this phone for about a month. so far, it's not bad. the slow menus and startup/shutdown times were a pain in the beginning but i got used to it.
reception is fantastic for a phone with an internal antenna. sprint and sony really got it right with this phone.
sound quality is also good. no distortion on either end. speakerphone is best when used for checking voicemail or being put on hold.
ringtones are audible, though i like the normal rings best as they are the loudest.
i love the size of the phone. i had a treo for a few months and moving from that to a mini phone is a welcome change. i can now slip the phone in my jeans pocket, which is something i could never do w/the treo.
i was curious about all the hype regarding bluetooth which is the main reason why i got the t608. it works surprisingly well with my powerbook g4 for internet connection and also with my tungsten t3. browsing speeds are fairly good, though obviously with bandwidth limitation, not lightning fast. happily, i was able to sync contacts with iSync without a hitch. i was also able to transfer photos and ringtones via BT from the powerbook. very cool to be cable free.
battery life is average. i had sony send me a replacement and even that wasn't too much of a difference. i leave BT off to conserve battery life, as well as turn the screen contrast down a few notches.
overall, the t608 is a pretty good phone. i gave it a 4.0 instead of a 5 because it does have some cons. sometimes it freezes and i hate having to take the cover and battery off, the latter of which is almost impossible to do without the help of a small tool. it also does not support true SMS, which Sprint is supposed to launch very shortly. i hate shortmail. i guess i'll stick with this phone until the next bluetooth phone comes out...whenever that will be.
So far, so good
I've been with Sprint for four or five years, and this is my fourth phone; the first three were Sanyo bar phones, which have performed well. Most of my comparisons of this SE phone are to my latest Sanyo 4900. I travel a lot and wanted the Bluetooth phone so I could connect and surf / get email on the road with my G4 Powerbook.
So far, the phone is impressive in its feature content, but I'm having to learn another company's way of doing things. The menus don't seem as intuitive as the Sanyos' and there is generally a pause (sometimes a pretty big one) after pushing almost any button. The screen is not as bright nor quite as big, so it's harder to read in sunlight. The onboard ringers are sonically top-notch, and reasonably loud.
This is my first exposure to Bluetooth, and I know almost nothing about it. I was able to get good advice on how to implement it from Phonescoop and T608.com, and my connection speeds have been about 20K. That's slow enough that I concentrate on just doing what I need to do rather than surfing for fun, but it's still a world of capability that I didn't have before. I've heard that the phone drops its BT pairings, and I can't comment on this except to say that it works so far as advertised. The BT is also nice in that I can edit my phone book on my laptop (a much nicer place to work) and then use iSync to download the changes--no more T9 or poking number keys a zillion times for entries!
Pros:
--Bluetooth
--small size / light weight
--speakerphone (not quite as loud as my Sanyo, but still nice)
--iSync phonebook stuff
--great sound at earpiece and with wired headset (louder sidetone than Sanyo)
Cons:
--slow menus
--screen can be hard to see
--battery life is only OK, and BT drains it further
--small size that's good in the pocket is harder for actual phone use
CDMA Power With GSM Design
This phone combines the best (and to a point, worst) of both worlds. The power of CDMA2000 is finally harnessed with Bluetooth. The design is a mix between the T68i and T610, and includes a speaker phone. This phone is very light, and does each function well.
However, battery life is not great (even after contacting SonyEricsson and requesting a replacement battery - something all T608 owners should do). This is due to the drain of both CDMA2000 and Bluetooth running constantly. The camera doesn't work out-of-the-box (workaround available at www.sprintpcsinfo.com), and the phone could use a firmware update (which Sprint aparrently is preparing to issue).
It's a shame that SonyEricsson is ditching CDMA, at least they went out with a bang...
Sony Ericsson T608 Top Performer
I've been very pleased with this cell phone, especially its Bluetooth capability. I purchased the phone specifically to interface with my Acura TL and amazingly, to me, it works exactly as advertised. The unit is extremely small and does not have an external antenna; the color screen is hard to read in bright light; sounds is very good; works well in Washington, DC area. Unfortunately, I must sell this unit because my family has opted to go with another carrier that offers a less expensive family plan. I plan to offer this unit for sale when I find the appropriate forum--in short, a very good cell phone with its Bluetooth capability. Oh, I haven't had any problems with the battery and I charge daily.
It's a Good Phone
I have used the T608 for about a month now. I purchased it used because it was the only Bluetooth enabled phone on the Sprint network that is fully functional. Sprint does offer the LG 325, but unfortunately it's Bluetooth capabilities are limited. LG (or Sprint) elected not to put the Bluetooth OBEX function (file transfer) on the LG 2325, phone which renders it only useful for using a Bluetooth headset. Additionally, I don't think the LG 325 has very good voice quality either. The T608 is fully functional, and does work with many car manufacturers equipped with Bluetooth modules, including the 2005 BMW's. I did have a problem using a Motorola HS-820 headset with the T-608. I could get it to pair, but the connection was usually very poor, and I don't recommend using it with the T608. However, I now have a Sony Ericsson HBH-660 headset and it performs beautifully. The T608 does have some drawbacks, which were adequately covered in other reviews, so there's no need to further elaborate. Oh, one more thing, Sprint does not really support the T608, so you are kind of on your own from that standpoint. In summary, I find the T608 to be a very good phone, and I recommend it over the LG 325, if you are going to use Bluetooth enabled devices on the Sprint Network.
Sprint's SE T608
1-battery pretty bad when received (as a result of waiting in the storare )
2-software seems to be little bit buggy (perhaps a firmware update will be on its way and it would definetely be from SE since Sprint seems pretty reluctant to stand by his phone)
3)other than the aboe it's a fine fone...i would recommend it to anyone
i've gone through Motorolas, Sanyos, Lg's, Samsungs and to tell you the truth it seems like the SE T608 ourperforms all of them (besides Timeports)
-albunix
Great Sound, Interface, but Poor Bluetooth and Slow
This is easily the best-sounding CDMA phone I have ever used. Even better than any Sanyo or LG I've tried. Sound quality is simply great.
I haven't tried it outside of the city yet, so I can't comment on reception. For my needs, it's great.
The interface is typical Sony Ericsson - excellent. Much more powerful and flexible than most CDMA phones. Once you learn the basics - specifically, the unique options key - it's very intuitive.
The design and ergonomics are also great. The shape is great, the keys are great, etc. The internal antenna is a nice change from typical CDMA phones. It even has the great Ericsson accessory connector on the bottom, and works with most of the awesome accessories available for that.
Unfortunately, it does have its hangups. First, the interface is very slow. It's much slower than the T68i, which is well-known for its slow interface. It's frustrating to press a key, wait, press another key, etc. I don't know if it's the processor or the display, but it doesn't really matter. (Other than response time, the display is fine.)
Second, the Bluetooth implementation is garbage. It has all the features and profiles it should, but they just don't work. Connections with headsets, PDAs, and other devices routinely fail or drop - even at 2-3 feet with clear line-of-sight. I can't get it to work at all with the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth micro-car.
Finally, and I guess this isn't terribly important, but removing the battery is major chore. There's no latch or catch for either the cover or the battery itself. You have to use friction to force the stubborn cover off, and you have to bang the phone against a table to knock the battery out. Yes - that's even what the instructions say to do!
So to sum up: Great interface, great sound quality, great hardware design (except the battery). But terrible interface speed, and unreliable Bluetooth.
Recommended if you don't mind the speed and don't need Bluetooth.
