Xperia Pureness: The oddest mobile phone ever?

Pretentious marketing hype - but never mind

Ah, why not? It may be a bit weird but you can't blame Sven^H^H^H^H Sony Ericsson for trying something different. I'd be a bit concerned about damaging that screen but at least this way I can read a text message while still watching TV.

Fasion accessory

If the translucent screen makes it more usable during the day with bright sunlight, then it could have a niche - but OLED phones seems to be gaining in this environment. Maybe they could but in some augmented reality stuff into the phone to make some use of the screen other than as a gimmick. Other than that, it is very niche and more as a fashion accessory - but then phones are fashion nowadays - just look at the iPhone.

Paris because she knows something about fashion.

If this is as basic as it gets...

If this is as basic as it gets - I´ll keep my motofone F3.

One tool - one job. The UNIX way.

Yer money or yer life.

Perhaps they are testing the market to see if those who have not bitten will bite. "Oi, Granma. Even you could use this"

Not really though, tis just marketing. Hence the fuzzy pics, the sweet scent of something unusual, the allure of a new and trendy pocket hugging gadget.

Get yet wallets out ere folks.

"Phone design wisdom"

I'm an unabashed smartphone user - been using P series SEs for a while, getting thoroughly sick of Symbian UI layers (UIQ/S60) and their unreliable, sluggish responses) - and I'm getting an iPhone because a) it seems apple are actually interested in the user experience and b) it's a "dumb" smartphone - their dev strategy has been to expand it carefully over time when features are ready, which is admirable in comparison to Nokia & SE's "for god's sake, get it out of the door, they can upgrade it later" strategy.

I'm not at all surprised that simple phones have enduring appeal - the more complex ones (apart from the aformentioned iPhone, it seems) display a total contempt for basic usability which utterly befuddles your average user and gets them running a mile for something more familiar.

Apple really seem to have shaken things up in the sector. Good on 'em, it bloody needed it. I worked for Panasonic for 7 years and they didn't have a clue (the UK office did, mind, we had some great ideas).

6310i

I've had mine for around 8 years, and take it when going camping.

I've dropped it in puddles, a peat bog, I've kicked it, thrown it at a wall in a rage (and dented the wall), I've put it in a bag with keys and a penknife rattling against it, and the screen is still almost scratch free (still completely legible), all of the keys work, the battery lasts one week while on constantly (including an alarm for me waking up and a call and a few text messages a day, when I get signal) and I've no reason not to believe that it won't continue to work for another 8 years.

I paid £50 for that phone on a £30 a month contract while I was at college; A fortune. Looking back, I've not had a better value phone in my life.

This SE phone is a tech demo. Keep it in the lab, boys. Gimmicks are great, but don't expect volume shipping.

The clock on it reminds me of battlezone

Yeah, the display makes me think of a vector graphics display from a really old arcade game.

I wonder if that kind of display could ever come back into fashion again, not just the normal pixel display stuff, but a genuine vector display like with an old CRT but done as flat screen.

I don't know if the technology even exists. But it would look retro and funky.

Anyhow this phone looks ok.

I quite like it...

...it can replace my Motorola W220, which can do err calls, txt and a few other things, like alarm, calander,couple of games, a stopwatch and I think that's about it.

Oh it has a radio I've just found...

Seems to me

that even backward people can read your texts, contact information etc. without leaning over your shoulder and making it obvious that they are spying.

Nokia 6310

Truly the greatest phone ever. Bring back changeable covers!

Dirty Ericsson

"The Pureness "reflects the purity of water and offers a sense of calmness when not in use," according to the blurb."

Sony Ericsson have been going overboard on this kind of Nordic nature shit recently (usually the preserve of Nokia and their bland brand posturing), what with their "green" handset that they claim will "save the planet" or some such nonsense. It's all very well using supposedly "green" plastic, but let's see the bill of materials and work out which evil mineral plundering activities are being propped up by such supposedly "kind" products.

Cue excuse from executives akin to claiming that taking a dump in a reservoir is acceptable if you pay someone else to do it.

Re: "Phone design wisdom"

I had a P800i the day it came out in the UK, and have a P990i - Great phones, but I am back on the P800 because the P990i has died and SE have not updated the range :-(

I do find it funny that it's several years later and only since the iPhone came out that the other manufactures have jumped on the 'touch screen' band wagon.

In the 'basic phone' arena, my fave was the Sony J5 - excellent form factor and (iirc) one of the first with polyphonic ring tones - theres baisc and theres basic, I doubt many folks would really want to go back to pre-mp3 playing let alone pre-polyphonic!

SE please do an update to the P series and update the J5 (OLED, very similar form factor, lose the arial (like those Russian J5 pics around at the time) ) I'd probably get both!

As it is I 'want' an iPhone for the same reasons as mentioned by Andy Watt but I will not get one on O2! (roll on the iPhonei lol!!)

I remember often visiting J5 and P800 fansites back in the day but no other phone has inspired me to do so!

Hmmm....

I have an Xperia X1, and whilst I love the slide out keyboard, using all the additional features like bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi and media player are impossible as the battery life is so pathetic. Even on standby without using any of these features the battery only lasts 12 hours at best.

The fiddly bastard that is Windows mobile doesn't help either when actually trying to use it for anything productive.

All in all - thinking of going back to my sweet little Nokia 6100.

I might actually be interested

If the price is good, and the battery life what you would expect from a minimalist phone, this would be awesome, and spiffy-looking.

Of course, being in the states, the question then becomes "But is it available on my network?"

Nice pic

It is a very cool, well composed photo, tho.

It's a gimmick

Fail - the screen is a gimmick. If they wanted simple it would be like one of those venerable Nokias.

I want a simple phone:

B&W lcd display so I can read it in bright sunlight.

Decent sized keys.

Calls, txt, maybe a radio and/or mp3 player

MicroSD slot for mp3s

No camera

Robust case

7-10 days battery life on standby.

SMS whilst Driving?

It seems obvious to me - translucent screen = "yes officer, I had my eyes on the road at all times" defence