vB Easy Archive - Ericsson T66 Review

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Ericsson T66 Review
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Posted by: Timsta

Ok... Another review of mine.

Again.. visit site for pics and stuff. The text of the review is here.

Ericsson T66 Review

Are you looking for a lightweight phone but do not want to sacrifice functionality for the weight? Well, look no further than the T66, one of the world’s smallest phones that still packs a punch. If you have a purse or just have limited storage space in your pants, this phone is for you.

The Ericsson T66 holds probably the world’s lightweight title at only 59 grams! The phone is actually quite small, about the size of business card. This phone isn’t a high-end phone nor is it meant to be. In my opinion, this phone is meant for the every day user, who doesn’t need all the fancy functions other phones have, but just wants some features and compactness.

This phone is designed to fit the smallest of pockets. Even though it is so small, it comes with a ton of features. The phone is a tri-band GSM phone, so you can use it all around the world with any provider, as long as the phone is unlocked. If it is locked, you can roam in different countries using your phone company’s partners.

The phone has large-row display for easy reading without scrolling. The phone also lets you send messages and also has a predictive text input which is a dictionary that anticipates which word you want to use. Text messaging is also made easier with Predictive Text Input. Instead of having to press keys several times for a letter, software in your T66 uses a dictionary to anticipate what word or phrase you’re typing.

The phone also supports EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service), which is like SMS text messaging. It lets you send messages, but also pictures, sounds, ring tones and formatted text. So why EMS and not MMS, well EMS is a GSM Standard.

Another cool feature to the Ericsson T66 is that it features mobile chat; it helps you keep track of messages you send back and forth. You can also go onto the Internet using WAP. You can check your email, look up news and entertainment, chat with friends or look up anything else you want.

There is also a calendar built into the phone for easy management of important dates and times. It is also possible to program it to remind you by sounding an alarm.

This phone is probably the last phone Ericsson developed before its merger with Sony. If you have been following up with Sony Ericsson news, since the merger, Sony Ericsson has released the Ericsson T68i, which has become one of the world’s most popular phones.

This phone sells for about $300-400 Canadian, depending on where you go.

The Look:
This phone is one of the sleekest phones around. As I mentioned before, it is also one of the smallest phones around, so small it fits in the palm of my hand and makes my hand look gigantic. The T66 is 92mm in length, which is pretty much size of a business card. Sweet eh? The phone weights 59 grams. I have to keep repeating this, as this is one of this phones best features. The design of the T66 is pretty good. It is shaped like a business card, is not very rounded, and retains a box like shape. The casing of the phone seems to be made from pretty durable plastic as well. You can also swap faceplates if you wish. The one we reviewed has a brown with grey contrasts, as you can see below. The phone also has an official face plate that is pink and white. I would rather go with the brown and grey. No need to have everyone staring at me. The keypad is pretty small too. My fingers actually can’t really navigate the menu well. In fact my thumb covers up half the phone. Luckily, the keypad is pretty easy to use, as it is responsive and sensitive, but it definitely needs practice.

The Use:
Using this phone was pretty easy, although, the navigation system was kind of slow while going through it all. Making phone calls was very easy, and it reminded me of using Nokia phones. This is my first time using an Ericsson phone, so I was very happy the format was very familiar.

There are a lot of features to this phone that I found really nice to use. Because of its size, some special features found on Ericsson’s T68 and T68i such as Infrared, BlueTooth, Voice recording, voice commands, voice dialing, GPRS and melody are unavailable for this phone. So if you are one of the types that is looking for a phone that those types of features, this phone probably isn’t for you. There are probably a few more I’ve missed but hey, there are a lot of companies that don’t have those features anyways.

The features such as EMS and web browsing were pretty easy to use. I used Fido Canada’s service to play with the features. I also found for the address book, I was able to store up to 250 phonebook entries. Web browsing was kind of hard in my opinion as the screen was a little small and you can’t really visit the sites properly. The service is pretty good, though, and it can come in very handy. Text messaging was alright, kind of like ICQ, but a little hard to type long messages.

In terms of the phone ringing, the sound quality was really quite loud and clear. The vibrator is also really good and strong; I could feel the vibration while the phone was in my coat pocket. In terms of talking and listening, the phone did really well. I could hear clearly without any static whatsoever and the person I was talking to on the other end could hear me very clearly. Sometimes I heard an echo after I spoke though, which could have been an isolated incident.

The battery life of the phone wasn’t too bad, lasting for about three days on standby time and about 3 hours of talk time. I wasn’t able to talk for 3 hours straight on the cell phone, but that is because I just don’t talk that long on the phone. I run out of conversation after the first 20 minutes. The battery that comes with the phone is a Lithium-ion 570mAh battery.

The reception for phone calls and such wasn’t bad at all, it actually was pretty clear in most areas. I found that when I was in malls, though, the reception wasn’t that great. I also tested the reception in our local arena (the Victoria Memorial Arena.) I wasn’t able to get a signal at all. This may be because of the service Fido provides. Fido, however, is the strongest mobile GSM provider in Canada, but I think that because the phone is so small, the antenna built in is smaller, and so its retrieval of a signal is hampered.

Probably my favourite feature about this phone is that I was able to put the phone in my shirt pocket and I wouldn’t even feel it was there! This phone fits about anywhere I put it - shirt pockets, pant pockets, little pouches, etc.

Overall:
This phone is pretty decent. It is small and compact, has a ton of features and is priced pretty decently. The features were pretty easy to use too. If you need a small, lightweight phone, this phone is definitely for you. I rate this phone at 4 stars out of 5.

Specs:
Product name: T66 System: GSM900/1800/1900 + eGSM Dimensions with battery: 92 x 41 x 18.5 mm Antenna: Built-in internal SIM card: Small plug-in card, 3V Colours: Purple Passion and Silver Supreme Display size: 35 mm x 30.5 mm (101 x 65 pixels) Number of rows: 5 Weight: 59 grams Talk time: 1.5-5 hours Standby time: 80-150 hours

Posted by: battousai

nice review! i've been considering buying a unit and i think i would because of you. thanks!

Posted by: Timsta

Thx man. The reviews i posted this week are new reviews that we wrote within the last month. It is our first attempt at these types of reviews.. so I hope they are ok.

Anyways, if you want to see more reviews for PC Parts and phones, visit us at http://www.timsoft.net. You should also check out our online store..Some of the cheapast prices in Canada.