Going steady
This mobile's white, and easy to carry
Call us easy to please, but the Sony Ericsson Z520i has found a permanent place in our bags (right next to our iPod nano, Palm Z22, Bobbi Brown bronzer compact and M.A.C lip glass). Hey, it even matches our white iBook G4! But don't get us wrong – there's more to this gizmo than just good looks.
For starters, it resembles a make-up compact. In tech speak, that would make it a clamshell phone – meaning its LCD won't get scratched when it's jostled around in your bag or purse as you make a dash for your yoga class. Flipped open, it nestles comfortably in the middle of a tiny palm, with a keypad soft yet über responsive to the SMS maneuvers of just-French-manicured nails.
We have to admit that while the VGA-quality camera is a bit pedestrian, its image quality is satisfactory, particularly when viewed on the bright 128x160 pixel LCD. It also has a function that lets you “frame” your friends. You can also shoot self-portraits with the flip closed, using the external LCD as a viewfinder, or, in a pinch, as a mirror. It also comes with a game called New York Nights. Think Tamagotchi, except that instead of a pet, you help a girl survive in New York City. How? You help her get a job, make friends and get a social life. It's tougher than it sounds.
The Z520i also plays back MP3s with decent sound quality, and you can assign your fave song as a ringtone. Choose wisely, because the phone comes with only 12MB of fixed memory – not a lot, especially when you get trigger happy with the camera. File management with our iBook was easy enough thanks to Bluetooth, so the limited memory isn't that big a problem. And finally, because it is a quad-band phone, you can take it anywhere your wanderlust takes you.
At an attractive price of less than P15,000, the Z520i is pretty sweet as far as mid-range phones go. While it may not have sweep-you-off-your-feet features, it does get things done with style – qualities which make it a keeper.
Maya Calica
SONY ERICSSON Z520I | P14,300
www.sonyericsson.com.ph
TECH Quad-band GSM. 65k-color TFT main LCD with 128x160 pixel resolution. 4k-color external LCD with 80 x 101 pixel resolution. Polyphonic ringtone support. 16MB onboard memory. Bluetooth.
LOVE Good battery life. Comfortable keypad. Purse-friendly design.
HATE Limited memory. VGA camera. Hard to keep spotlessly clean.
WE SAY Not the flashiest mobile phone, but it is dependable. Why aren't more men like that?
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T3 Magazine Philippines - April 2006 Issue
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 SONY ERICSSON Z520I
Sizing up
Small enough for your purse or your palm. Rather, her purse or her palm.
L-46mm, W-24mm, H-83mm
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