Sony Ericsson Naite review

Green concerns are only set to escalate, especially here in India, so it makes sense that handset manufacturers would get in on the action, especially when we tend to keep our phones for the length of a contract before discarding them on the scrap heap.

LG has come up with the Pop and Samsung the Blue Earth, both of which offer the potential for solar charging.

However, the Sony Ericsson Naite doesn’t, instead embarking down the carbon footprint route to consumer electronics zen. This is arguably the right way to head though, with the rushed pace of everyday life likely to consign solar charging features to being little more than gimmicks.

The Sony Ericsson Naite claims to have a 15 per cent smaller carbon footprint than your average mobile and is made with recycled and recyclable plastics. Thankfully there's no typical 'green premium' - the Naite can be bought for about Rs. 6,500.

This does earn the Naite a few brownie points, but it’s not enough to get us pointing our thumbs aloft, proclaiming it to be the king of mainstream mobiles. So, is it any good?

Well, our first impressions weren’t entirely joyous. Although not precisely ugly, the Naite’s looks do tell you that its aesthetics didn’t receive all that much investment from the handset’s R&D budget.

While the bottom of the phone is slightly contoured, the rest of it feels quite boxy by today’s uncompromising standards. If you end up in a phone shop having thumbed the latest top-end smartphones, the Naite may end up feeling like a bit of a dowdy offering.

Once you get over your fashion snobbery and get your hands on the device, things improve dramatically. For starters, the keypad extends through very nearly the entire width of the keypad, and without any of those lifestyle pretensions to hold it back, each of the keys is allowed to sit back and luxuriate.

In between each key is a definite gap, and the keys themselves are chunky and have that little bit of give that lets you glide blissfully over the keypad when texting.

As much as an ‘Ode to a keypad’ it may sound, we preferred using the Naite’s keypad more than that of any other Sony Ericsson of late. It’s just so…. comfy.

Actually get the phone switched on and you’re back to that same old interface used in approximately 97.5 per cent of all Sony Ericsson handsets. 12 icons, one menu screen – if you’ve not used it before, Sony Ericsson’s proprietary operating system is nothing for a prodigal son to write home about, but it certainly is easy to use.

Sadly, it’s a little let down by the screen, which is a little bit too reflective for its own good, sucking in any light sources and throwing back in your direction a bit too readily. It’s not a dealbreaker, as otherwise the screen is bright and as sharp as can be expected from a 240x320 pixel display.

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