Quickie: Sony Ericsson TM717 (Equinox)

After Mobilize, I asked T-Mobile for a Motorola CLIQ review unit, but this Sony Ericsson TM717 (Equinox) arrived instead – oops :)

So I’m not the target demographic for this device, but I have to admit that the Equinox is quite sexy for a flip phone! It’s surprisingly compact, and features some interesting touches like a secondary OLED display and a programmable notification light…

Unfortunately once again, T-Mobile crippled messaging and Java on the Equinox (like on the Memoir and the ZINE) – it’s getting ridiculous how many of their devices are crippled considering how affordable their unlimited data plans are.

Also, when is Sony Ericsson gonna to give up on its proprietary Fast Port connector and Memory Stick format? It’s just FoF :)

Device pictures and video:

Pros:
– Attractive design
– Small, thin, and light
– Nice, bright primary screen
– Decent 3 megapixel camera (with geo-tagging)
– 3G (T-Mobile compatible) and GPS
– Good battery life
– Bluetooth ObEx (file transfer/sync), and A2DP (stereo audio)
– USB 2.0 mass storage support
– Google maps pre-installed
– FM radio

Cons:
– No camera auto-focus, macro, or flash
– No multitasking other than music
– No gapless music playback
– Crippled messaging client (uses MMS for emails and SMS for IMs)
– No configurable POP3/IMAP/IM client
– Crippled Java support (impossible to install unsigned applications)
– No iSync support (but vCard support)
– No Bluetooth DUN (tethering)
– Proprietary audio/USB/power connector and memory card slot
– No data cable, earphones supplied with device
– No memory card supplied with phone

Photo samples (slide show):

Video samples (download original):