Is the Sony Ericsson txt pro smart enough for you?

I want to dedicate the first phone to the budget-minded, the type who is looking for a new phone simply because their old one has broken down. The text pro from Sony Ericsson is not even a smart phone but it is not to be underestimated. The question one should ask is do you even need/want a smartphone?

SE (Sony Ericsson) had always designed some beautiful looking handset and because their designs are able to invoke some degree of desire in the users, SE dares to commanded a higher price for their products. They haven't quite catch up on the smartphone race however though, and perhaps because of that, continue to produce non-smart feature phones while they develop their next flagship. The txt pro is not only only beautiful and features rich but it also comes at a very affordable price of RM400 or so.

How are you liking the aesthetic?

It's even cuter in white or pink

And for this price, you actually got a phone in a very premium form factor - a full touch touch screen with slide out QWERTY keyboard (something the iPhone doesn't have eh?). The touch screen is capacitive so it's got excellent sensitivity while the keyboards makes text input all the easier.

Along with the basic telephony and SMS function, you also get some form of SNS (Social Network Service) integration which enable you to see the updates from 5 of your chosen friends in both Facebook and Twitter. If 5 is too limiting, then the good news is Facebook already released a FB app for feature phone that is reportedly as good as those found in smartphone. Of course you also have the option to go to the actual site as you have access to internet via Wifi. No 3G here but since Wifi is usually faster and it's free, which would you rather have anyway? Music player is available with Track Recognition while a basic video player is also onboard. Camera captures average 3MP photos and QVGA video, all of which you can store in a micro SD card.

With all that, do you think you still need a smartphone? Modern feature phone offers many functions and could be more capable than a smart phone of yesteryear. What users will lose out though is choice of apps as smartphone usually has a market of hundred thousands of apps and they are of higher quality than what is available for a feature phone. Another thing that will be missing is the GPS and voice navigation, if you need this kind of thing. Finally, smartphone usually comes with more powerful processor so it has greater and faster performance.

Is this phone better than the iPhone? Of course not, they are leagues apart. But it is good for people who just want basic function in a beautiful shell, or someone who prefer to have all the functions of a smart phone in a tablet. After all, all those apps always look better in bigger screen.