Tech Gift Guide

Looking for a new phone ain’t easy. There is a glut of great phones on the market with diverse features and styling.

So I decided there were 2 key features I needed – built-in GPS and a decent camera. Being a long time Sony Ericsson fan, I started my search with their new phone catalogue. The Cybershot phones offered great cameras … but no GPS. In fact not a single Sony Ericsson came with GPS built-in. The search continued.

My GPS requirement seriously reduced my list of options. The only phone on the market featuring both this and a minimum 5MP camera was the Nokia 6220 Classic.

I should tell you I have never been a fan of Nokia. I find the styling dull, the menu complicated and the build quality poor. So of course I bought one anyway! They must have improved over the years – they can’t be the world’s best selling mobile phone for nothing … can they?

The first model I received had a broken key. Unfortunately it was the “*” key, so unlocking the phone was a b*tch. After a long fight with three (3 are possibly the worst mobile network on the planet, but I won’t get into that here) I received my replacement phone. The keys all worked, so far so good.

To my disappointment, the menu was still as convoluted as ever. There seems to be no logic to the placement of key features. But this is something that can be learned over time (a lot of it) I suppose.

The keypad is far too small and fiddly to build up a decent texting speed. The function keys are too close to the ‘menu’ and ‘clear’ buttons. I’m still accidentally closing text message when I’m simply trying to backspace. Very annoying indeed, especially as there is physically space to move the keys further apart.

The camera is actually pretty good and takes clear pictures. Video also provides a decent quality with good sound. I believe the images can be geo-tagged, though I haven’t been able to find that mysterious menu item yet. You’d think it would be one of the camera options …

The GPS gets a lock pretty quickly if you’re outdoors and seems reliable. I don’t like the Nokia maps software and will be looking at replacing it as soon as the free 2 month trial ends. As with all Nokia software, it is clunky and not user-friendly.

The phone is a good size and weight and fits in my pocket alongside my wallet with ease. It’s design certainly isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s okay.

The build quality is a little shaky. I suspect it wouldn’t survive a fall in the way the good old nokia’s used to. The plastic battery cover is flimsy and the plastic catches break easily, making it impossible to put the cover on correctly.

If it wasn’t for the built-in GPS, I would have abandoned this phone a long time ago. Come on Sony Ericsson, built-in GPS is the way forward! Grab one today from Amazon USA / UK