David le Page
Products:Ericsson T28s and Siemens S25 cellphones Prices:About R3 500 and R2 400 (both without contract)
Is your cellphone happy with being just a cellphone? The Ericsson T28s and the Siemens S25 are not, both having begun an evolution beyond being mere phones.
What do they have in common? Well, both are dual-band. This means they’re ready to take advantage of a third network operating on the GSM1800 bandwidth (1 800MHz), rather than MTN and Vodacom’s GSM900.
Both pose the standard threat to civilisation with a range of appallingly irritating rings, the relative numbers of which cannot be considered features. Fortunately, both also offer antidotes in the form of silent, vibrating alerts, without the need to purchase additional vibrating batteries. The behaviour of both phones can be customised. For example, you can set a profile for meetings, during which they will ring at discreet volumes and only let through calls from panicked babysitters or inside traders.
Both have built-in calculators and games, and the Ericsson has a stop-watch, timer and alarm clock function.
Of the two, the Ericsson certainly has more immediate sex appeal. It is tiny, probably only surpassed by the Motorola V3686 (tinier successor to the StarTac) in sheer lightness and disappearability. It truly is a shirt- pocket phone in that it sits in that pocket without adding any uncomfortable weight.
It has something of the profile of an Audi seen from above, being slightly boat-shaped. A button on the side releases the spring- loaded flip and answers incoming calls simultaneously.
One of the T28s’s shortcomings appears to be comparatively poor voice quality. This is perhaps related to the building of the microphone into the slim flip. Another is the absence of any icon signalling new voicemail.
However, voice dialling, where one speaks a word or phrase to dial a specific number, is certainly an advantage. This is not supported by the S25, although it is available with the car set.
I found the voice dialling to be somewhat unreliable. But my testing was not exhaustive – I suggest potential purchasers try a test run themselves when selecting a phone.
The S25, when first unpacked, was almost bitterly disappointing. The keys felt spongy and flaccid alongside those of the Ericsson, and the sex appeal factor was almost completely absent. Some may argue function is all, but that “ooh, touch me” quality is surely vital in a device one uses so much.
However, after a couple of days’ use, the phone looked better. It was still a plain, solid little metallic grey rectangle, but its almost austere simplicity is offset by its function and colour screen. A colour screen is hardly a reason for choosing a phone, but after getting used to it, anything else feels decidedly second rate.
As a devoted personal digital assistant (PDA) user, it is intriguing to see how PDA-type functions are slipping into the cellphone. Besides its calculator, the S25 has an advanced organiser which allows you to store multiple appointments and alarms.
The Siemens has many other features; but the T28s is not necessarily inferior for not having them. For someone who will never use their notebook computer and cellphone to send e-mail or range the Internet, the T28s may be adequate, provided one is content with its conventional functions.
The S25’s built-in organiser allows one to record many appointments on an easy-to- navigate calendar, and to set daily, weekly or specific appointment-related alarms.
The greatest drawback of the S25 is its navigation system. Can one really guess that games and calculators will fall into the organiser category? It shouldn’t be necessary to constantly consult the manual.
If one can access phone numbers by entering the first letters of the name sought, it should be easy enough to extend this system to finding functions. Two or three navigation systems, from which a favourite can be chosen, would be even better.
In contrast, the Ericsson is tremendously simple to use. It also uses a hierarchy of categories and sub-categories, but their organisation makes perfect sense. Whenever one pauses in doubt, a little help bubble floats up over the screen.
Thankfully, Siemens have built modem functions into the S25. Should you wish to connect it to a personal computer, all you need is a cable or an infra-red port on that PC.
Other manufacturers are still producing phones without built-in modems and trumpeting the availability of plug-on modems at extortionate prices as if it were a feature. Beware the words “data compatible” – they are synonymous for “we’ll squeeze you for another grand before you get your e-mail”.
The S25’s comparatively unique feature is its Internet capability – it can browse the customised, simple Web pages that will soon be established for this purpose. Just so you know, the wireless Web will be written in wireless markup language rather than hypertext markup language, the World Wide Web standard.
Come the wireless Web, the S25 will also be able to handle e-mail all by itself. This latter feature should be particularly useful, given the pathetic failure of MTN and Vodacom to have linked their short text messaging services (SMS), so that messages can be sent between the networks.
Net functions are enabled by wide area protocol (WAP). Though phones soon to be released, such as the Nokia 7110, are also WAP-enabled, the S25 uses WAP-SMS, slower than the imminent WAP-CDS standard.
Unfortunately, since Vodacom will only be enabling the wireless Internet in January, it’s impossible at present to assess these built-in features.
But thanks to the S25’s modem and infra-red link, I can send and receive mail on the go using my Palm III PDA, or notebook PC, if I had one. Theoretically, I should be able to access the Web as well, though at the time of writing I hadn’t yet got that to work.
The last feature of the S25 worth mentioning is a voice memo facility. Pressing a single button records 20 seconds of speech or ambient noise. This can be used to answer a call privately so as not interrupt a tense meeting, or a tense Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Other features:
l Ericsson T28s: 83g; 95x49x15mm; 3,5 hours talk/50 hours standby; voice activation; disappointing voice quality.
l Siemens S25:125g; 117x47x23mm; “up to” five hours talk/200 hours standby; organiser; colour display; excellent voice quality.