Sony Ericsson S312 Review

Sony Ericsson S312 is a stylish dual band low-budget phone from Sony Ericsson targeting the low and mid-end market. The phone promises decent imaging experience through its delivery of good quality photos and video. This phone is perfect for people who do not need a smart phone but just a simple handset that can do the simple functions of calling, texting and the occasional web browsing.

Body Design
The Sony Ericsson S312 sports a candy bar design and has a physical dimension of 3.9 x 1.8 x 0.5 inches and weighs just 2.8 ounces. The phone has a unique and an attractive design because of the silver pad and the metallic call keys which stands out among the other buttons. The build quality of the phone is not of the highest order as it has a plastic casing and we know that plastic fails to give us the premier feel. However, the plastic build makes the handset light on the pockets and feels very pocket-friendly.
It has a 2 inch screen with an output of 256K colors and can display an image at a maximum resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. The display screen has a mirrored finish which is scratch resistant. The displays on the screen are bright and colorful but it has poor sunlight visibility due to its mirrored effects.
The control keys and the keypad are arranged in a very neat way below the display and are pleasing to the eyes. The silver-finished call keys and the d-pad in the middle never fail to catch our attention. The two soft keys, the menu key and C (cancel/undo) button makes up the control keys.
The alphanumeric keypad below is arranged in four horizontal bars with three buttons in each bar. It has a very systematic and organized look to it but practically feels a little cramped and are prone to errors while texting.
The left side of the Sony Ericsson S312 makes space for the company’s proprietary connector which is used for charging, data transfer as well as the headphone port.
The right of the phone houses the dedicated camera/shutter key which is by the quick launch button for playback in the middle. Lastly, you have the volume rocker on this side, which also functions as thezoom in/zoom out button when the phone is in camera mode.
A 2 megapixel camera encircled by a gold ring is on the rear of the handset along with a single LED flash and the usual Sony Ericsson logo. The top and the bottom of the phone are left completely bare except for the lanyard eyelet below.
The S312 comes in two colors – Honey Silver and Dawn Blue.

Multimedia
The device has a 2megapixel camera with 2.5 x digital zoom which makes capturing far-off images possible. The camera does not come equipped with auto-focus feature and instead has a fixed focus one. And unfortunately, the fixed focus lens fails to deliver detailed images when we capture close objects. It also has a single flash which comes handy while clicking photos in dark low-lit environment. However, the flash in the phone is not automatic and has to be turned on manually and cannot be compared with the powerful xenon or even the LED flash. The phone also comes with a built in photo editor with which you can optimize the quality of your photos. You can adjust the contrast and the light balance after you have taken the picture.
There is also the option to record videos with the camera. You can record videos at a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps but the video result is not going to impress you as it is flaky and lacks luster. Therefore, the recorded videos do not come useful in anything except for the occasional MMS. However, compared to the video, the recordings of audio quality is much better.
The music player in the phone may be a bit complicated for first time Sony Ericsson users. So, it might take a little while to get the hang of it. The media player can play both audio and video tracks. The audio player comes with an in built equalizer and the TrackID music recognition feature. With this feature, you can get track, artist and album information of a particular song by recording just a few seconds of the song. The music player supports MP3 and AAC formats. The S312 also comes with the PlayNow application with which you can preview, buy and download music provided you have an internet connection.
Video playback is also possible on this handset. The player can play 3GP and MPEG4 video files and also have the option to rewind or fast forward your videos.
This Sony Ericsson phone also has an integrated FM radio with RDS. The RDS feature provides you with snippets of information about the station and the current song being played.
For web browsing, it has the Openwave web browser which is a full internet web browser and provides all the necessary support for mostly all images, videos and standard protocols. The handset comes with a built-in email client which is fully equipped with all the necessary features like inbox, compose, outbox, sent etc.
Upping the entertainment factor of this phone are the bundled Java games that comes along with it. You also have the option to download more Java applications and games in your phone through the internet.
The device also comes with all the necessary organizer tools like calendar, calculator, alarm clock, stop watch, timer and Flight mode features.

Memory
The S312 come with an internal memory of 15 MB where you can store in a 1000 phone entries, 500 SMS and save the call registry. On top of that you can save your messages and mails. But for bigger media files, you have to put in external memory which comes in the form of the proprietary Sony memory stick micro.

Connectivity
The Sony Ericsson S312 is a dual band GSM phone and works under the 900/1800 network bands. It has both GPRS and EDGE to browse through the web. On top of the Openwave browser, you can also download the Opera Mini browser for enhanced internet experience.
The phone also has bluetooth version 2.0 to handle all the wireless connections with other bluetooth enabled devices. You also have the USB 2.0 which takes care of all the wired connections. With the USB function, you can connect you phone with another compatible device, say a computer or a printer and transfer files and data between them.
Your Sony Ericsson phone can also act as a modem and help your PC to get online.

Performance
The S312 has a decent call quality with minimum disturbances or distortions. The phone feels small in the hand, and definitely very pocket-friendly. The only complaint is that it feels a little to light and comes on the way of the premier feel. The phone looks stunning and stylish. The music player and the video player cannot be much said about considering its price. Keeping the price in mind, it can even be said to be of a good quality. The mirror finished display screen of the phone looks stunning but sometimes it gets irritating with its poor sunlight visibility. The keypad feels a little cramped due to the non existent space between the keys, which makes it error prone while texting or punching in a number to call. The FM radio is a good addition and makes sure that the user never runs out of music and entertainment.

Verdict
All in all, the Sony Ericsson S312 is a good phone and a total value for money if we don’t consider the lack of high-end features and the absence of the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The price at which the phone is available deprives us from having any complaints about the phone.
This low-budget stylish phone is available for a lowly $120.

Reviewer’s rating: 3/5