Sound Quality

Those who have used a T610 will notice no changes in reception. For those who haven't, the sound quality is very good. Voices are crisp and clear, and tonal qualities are well balanced. The microphone is sensitive enough to pick up a decent amount of background noise but the caller's voice will still come through loud enough to be heard clearly.

RF Performance

The T610's RF performance wasn't bad by any means. Compared to its predecessors, it marked a distinct step up. However, it wasn't quite on par with other phones being released at the time.

Granted Sony Ericsson has not been know for their reception, the T630 / T637 has improved slightly, picking up weak signals and holding onto them longer. The internal antenna seems to be a bit more sensitive. And similar to the T610, it can make consistent calls, even on low signal strengths.

But there is still a bit of choppiness in outgoing calls. And the sensitivity does have a few drawbacks. While more of a quirk that a problem, sometimes putting a hand over the top of the phone would diminish signal strength. Again, it's due to the placement and characteristics of internal antennas, and not a huge concern. That being said, we give the T630 a reception rating of:

Phone performance can very significantly depending on how well covered your service provider is, landscape, multiplexing technology, and other conditions. The phone with the worst reception can still work well if you live under a tower. These results are just a measure of the raw RF capabilities. Factoring everything else would rend it almost impossible to compare phones.

Pros

· Beautiful 65K color 128 x 160 pixel TFT screen. Images show up well even in sunlight. Bright colors, sharp images, and handles fast changing refresh rates with no ghosting.

· Themes add a bit more personalization and customizability. Loyal users of Sony Ericsson phones love their themes. And old users miss them. Backgrounds, ring tones, screen savers, and themes, the combinations to suit a user's mood or style are limited by their creativity.

· Compose unique ringtones, right on the phone. Music DJ allows users to create their own polyphonic ring tones effortlessly. Overlay 4 separate tracks to compose your perfect unique ring tone. Make heads turn.

· Melodic 32 instrument polyphonic ring tones. While no long top of the line, still very realistic and beautiful.

· More uniform color scheme to make it look more like one piece. The addition of the clear buttons is also a nice touch.

· Outstanding battery life. Talk time and standby time are above and beyond the competition.

· Large number of connectivity options. With IrDA, and Bluetooth, the range of devices the T630 can pair with are huge. Everything from wireless headsets, PC adaptors, radios, MP3 players, to even a remote controlled Bluetooth car.

Cons

· Small amount of memory. Only 2 MB is available to be shared among messages, pictures, ring tones, games, and more. With no expansion slot, the memory size is far too small.

Conclusion

Sony Ericsson built the T630 upon a well-designed platform. Those who loved the T610 or thought about buying one will surely fall in love with T630.

Cosmetic changes such as the addition of the detail mirror and the more cohesive color scheme make the T630 more appealing to the eye. The decision to create the T630 from plastic, rather than the T610's aluminum solves the constant smudging problem. However, using less aluminum also makes the T630 seem a bit more fragile.

Internally, the T630 does have minor RF performance improvements. However, the firmware hasn't changed with the exception of the addition of VRally 2 racing game. On the one hand, users will be getting the same great performance and usability of the T610. But, relatively nothing new has been added.

In the end, although the T630 is a redesign of the T610, it is a well-rounded phone with excellent features. With new releases such as the K700 and S700 on the horizon, the T630 is a more reasonably priced phone with much of the features consumers demand. Major multimedia options such as MMS, a built-in camera, Music DJ polyphonic ringtone composer, customizable themes, and downloadable Java games will definitely keep users entertained. And applications such as an organizer, profiles, voice commands, and multiple connectivity options make the T630 equally effective for the business consumer. The T630 is quite capable whether you are looking for a device that facilitates work or play. Thus, the T630 receives a rating of:

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