Plemix

BlackBerry’s latest offspring is the less bold (but not necessarily a lessened Bold), more chic Tour 9630. Departing from the business smartphone specification, BlackBerry Tour 9630 is said to be more all rounded with some handy and useful applications and powerful entertainment and multi-media support. I think it’s high time we gave it a closer look now.

Among the bundle we can find the BlackBerry Tour 9630 phone, a battery, a charger, a data cable, a handsfree set, a CD-ROM and a user guide.

The device suggests a resemblance of Blackberry Curve 8900 (who went without 3G and HSDPA connection.) The 2.5-inch display is sharing the frontal with a full QWERTY key board, made sophisticated by the ever-sleek black. It feels less plastic-ish than Blackberry Curve 8900 though.

The Keyboard is satisfying. It is intuitive, nicely-spaced and not sappy at all, but I have problems still with the black trackball and it is too small for thumb-steering and too responsive to land at the right place (not so good a touring tool.)

The 3.5mm jack is a blessing for the enhanced media support (like iTune synchronization and omnipotent media format support just to name a few.)

The speakerphones are on stereo. They are loud and clear.

The back can live up to the high-end design of the phone. The camera is a 3.2MP one with auto-focus and image stabilization (better if there were a nicer flash)

It takes a little bit of hassle to remove the battery cover to get access to the MicroSD slot (expandable up to 8GB) and SIM card slot. It is compensated by a prolonged battery life.

The QVGA display is a crisp and bright one which allows appalling playback of videos and images.

You can locate your favorite hangouts with your GPS and Blackberry Maps on BlackBerry Tour.

I would say BlackBerry Tour is a nice attempt by the BlackBerry: a solid design and construction, HSDPA and enhanced media experience. Only that it lacks a well-performed browser.

BlackBerry Tour 9630 Video Review

Mobile phone manufacturers are trying their best to introduce features with which you can customize to suit your individuality. Nokia has given its touch to N79 with its Xpressd-on cover and this time Sony Ericsson has come up with Style-up Cover to let you express yourselves. Sony Ericsson W508 is the styled up new member of the Walkman Series. Let’s check if it is only style that it can promise.

The package comes with the phone, an extra Style-Up cover, a battery, a charger, a USB cable, a stereo PHF, a media manager, a set of PC suite and a user’s guide. A big bundle.

For a clamshell phone, 14mm is pretty slim. You even get a secondary monochrome display which is pretty informative: battery life, time, connection type and signal strength. The three control keys for music player are inherited from W980 (which seems to have passed a lot of things onto W508.) You can also find the camera on the front. The 3.2 megapixeller is suffering from a fixed focus and the lack of flash. Is W508 too complacent of being the Walkman (only) phone?

The overall design has a hint of T707 which I like a lot.

The blue illumination is definitely a look-cool. The keys are very touchy and spacious. Thumbs up!

Here’s the key lock for the music control keys on the front.

I hate the absence of 3.5mm jack and having to comply with the propriety one. RAHHH

You can strap your phone up, another way to style and express yourselves.

You can switch Style-Up cover according to your taste. There are in total 10 variations in the collection and you get one at random. We have Sunny Orange for the change. I think it is better if we get an extra Style-up battery cover too to go with the front cover to complete the look.

You have to remove the battery to get access of the SIM cards which I find an unfriendly design.

A familiar Sony Ericsson menu. I have to say the themes on board this time are indeed pretty amazing-looking.

All in all, W508 is a Walkman phone no doubt. TrackID, Sense Me, MegaBass, Shake Control, Music DJ and so on. A creditable music player in itself. With the expandable memory of 16GB by M2 card can allow you to keep a vast collection of music. If you are a music freak, this mid-ranger is your choice.

 

Sony Ericsson W508 Video Review