Sony Ericsson Z750a Cell Phone Review - Messaging
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 12, 2008 Comment on this |
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| The Sony-Ericsson Z750a has a Java email program built in but it basically functions just like web-based email, just prettier. We did very much like the text and multimedia messaging features on the Z750a. | |
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Supported Email Services (0.0)
Like many AT&T devices the Sony-Ericsson Z750a uses AT&T's java powered email interface. Although this is a fairly attractive interface and gives you access to several popular providers like Yahoo, AOL and Windows Live Mail. Many users will find it quite sufficient for their needs. Unfortunately it doesn't meet a critical test from our perspective and that is the ability to view and compose messages while outside of network coverage. Anyone who's needed to quickly look up information in an email while they're in a building that doesn't have coverage or who wants to compose a message while they're on the subway know how important this is. As such we won't be awarding points for email on the Z750a.
Push Email (0.0)
Push email allows you to receive emails in real time instead of polling your server at a set interval. The Z750a does not support this feature.
Multiple Email Accounts (0.0)
The Z750a's java email program does allow you to have multiple accounts, but as we mentioned above we won't be awarding points for email due to the lack of off-line functionality.
HTML and Attachments (0.0)
The Java email client does not support HTML or attachments.
Email Customizations (0.0)
There are a couple of customization options in the Java email client, including the ability to set a signature for a given email account. Unfortunately we won't be awarding any points for the reasons explained above.
Time to a New Email Message (0.0)
As the Java client requires a data connection to function your time to create a new email message will be variable depending upon network conditions. As we explain above the requirement that you have a data connection is the reason we won't be awarding points for the email client, thus the Z750a receives a zero here.
Email Usability (0.0)
We found the Java client to be an attractive and easy to use interface. It's certainly a step above using poorly implemented web based email as on other devices like the Samsung M520. Unfortunately the Java client has the same limitation of web based email in that you need data connectivity, as such no points will be awarded here.
Instant Messaging (0.0)
The Sony-Ericsson Z750a support instant messaging on AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, all of which can be access via the Messaging menu. Unfortunately the Z750a uses the same text message gateway for instant messaging that we see on many carrier devices. What this means is that every instant message you send or receive will be charged to your account as a text message. For those who don't have a data plan this might be fine, but those who do have unlimited data shouldn't have to pay twice for that data access. As such we don't award points for IM clients that use a text messaging gateway.
Instant messaging on the Z750a will cost you text messages.
MMS Support (8.0)
MMS is well integrated into the Z750a's interface. We especially like the integrated composition window where you can add media to any text message to turn it into a multimedia message. This means you don't have to decided before hand what type of message you want to send, as you have to with devices like the Samsung M520. You can also easily create a new multimedia message from the album software or the still or video camera.
SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (10.0)
The Sony-Ericsson Z750a does a good job with smiley faces. Not only does it display smileys in incoming messages as graphical faces rather than leaving them in text format, but you can also easily insert smiley faces by going into the options menu and choose Add Symbol.
SMS/MMS Ease of Use (8.0)
The SMS/MMS interface on the Sony-Ericsson Z750a is clean, easy to use and well designed. When you open the messaging menu you see a list of all messaging related features as well as your your boxes for text messages. Within a box, for example with your inbox, you get a list of messages organized chronologically by default. The left soft key is assigned to Option, which opens a menu where you can reply, forward, delete see details and mark several messages at once, amongst other things. The options are full features with a couple of caveats. The first is that there's no support for creating your own folders. The second is that threaded messaging is not supported.
The messaging menu for the Z750a.
When you create a new message you have only a single interface for all message types. The top two thirds of the screen is taken up by the text entry box. At the bottom is a line of icons that allow you to add various forms of multimedia. The left soft key opens a menu where you can access symbols, copy & past functionality and change the layout, amongst other features. Apart from the lack of threaded messaging and the ability to create your own folders we found the SMS/MMS interface on the Z750a to be excellent.
Time to a New SMS Message (5.95)
The Sony-Ericsson Z750a took an average of 1.68 seconds to create a new text message. You can see below that this is faster than average and it compares well to other devices.
We like the clean and unified text messaging interface.
On the Z750a all you have to do to create a new text message is open the phone, press up on the D-Pad to access the shortcut to a new SMS and select text message from the list. This solid performance will be important to those who love to text message. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
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