Phone stink: the final conflict?

After some deliberation I decided to go with the Sony Ericsson T637. While far from perfect (an elite class in the cell phone world) it does get the job done within a very compact package. My old Nokia feels like a frying pan compared to carrying this little fella around.

In order to fit into it's tiny form, sacrifices had to be made with the physical interface. The tiny thumb stick is too small for any activity longer than a one off flick. I've naturally started "grabbing" it between by fingernail and thumb. So far this is the best way I've found to get reliable extended movement. The curve in the smooshed together buttons keep your fingers from hitting more than one key at a time, yet they feel like you need to be extra careful so that you don't. ...I hope I'll get over that hesitation in due time.

The graphical interface can best be described as larger and cleaner than my previous Series 60 Nokia. An effort is made to keep things simple. While it's a much appreciated approach, it doesn't work so well when you do need to display more complex information... Such as a large, heavily annotated address book. Like all phones I've seen, the menu layout and labeling reek of slap it in there style. The Entertainment menu has two submenus: Games & More / Other Games. The stopwatch is located under the "Organizer" menu. Sailing Clicker can be found under "Connect" / "Accessories". ...And so on and so forth. Luckily, the simple approach means there's not much to remember - Once you find the stopwatch the first time, your not likely to forget.

The camera is typical low-res camera phone bad... Which is good enough for snapping quick shots of your daily business. I kinda like the results when you set it to black and white and leave the night mode on all the time.

All in all, I like it... But don't love it... Which is about what I've come to expect from any consumer gadget that doesn't include a little apple on it.