Sony Ericsson CF-768 Cell Phone
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- Design: Mobile
- Style: Candy Bar
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Does what it says on the box
Pros
Battery Life, Size
Cons
Image, Antenna
Recommended it?
Yes
When Ericsson brought out the 788 phone, I thought it was truly excellent - about as small as I'd seen, flip fronted, coloured, etc., so I duly bought one, for #189. ($300ish).
At the same time, my wife 'needed' a new phone for occasional use, and to live in a handbag where a flip cover is very useful if you're not to accidentally make calls all day. So, she got the 768. In blue.
At first, I have to say that I thought the 768 was probably the newer design - it has more integrated buttons and a better fitting flip. In practice, I found there to be no difference in actual use between the two. The 788 has more gizmos, but apart from a SIM-based PIN code, none of them was of any real value. The only advantage I could really see was that the 788 looked a bit more grown up, while the 768, with its wetsuit colours looks a bit frivolous.
Anyway, my 788 duly broke down, and the repair quote was prohibitive, so I swapped for a 768 of my own. That speaks some volumes - basically that if you are looking at a 788 over a 768 - look carefully. There's not much of a difference, and I personally don't think the price differential is justified.
So, how did the 768 perform?
Reception was fine - sometimes I'd have a lot, sometimes not - but that seems to be as much down to network providers as phones. Generally, reception was never an issue.
Ease of use - Fine again. The non-active flip can be a bit of a pain when you're used to Motorolas, but it never really caused any problems.
Accessing and editing memories is not great. It's not that it?s hard, it?s just not that intuitive.
It had dozens of ring tones, and you can programme your own if you have enough time (just copy them from the various internet sites).
Text Messaging - as simple as it can be on an alphanumeric keypad.
Durability - Fine. It was more rugged than the 788 at least.
Battery Life - Excellent.
Good battery life is a major decider for me, and I have to say this phone's battery is top notch. I am a moderately heavy user (switched on all day, at least 45 minutes calls per day) and I used to charge the battery on average every third day. And only for about an hour a time.
Without a doubt, the best battery life I had experienced.
Security ? No PIN code ? although it supports a SIM PIN ? I swapped the SIM from my 788 to this 768, and it carried the PIN forward, even though there was no way of editing it.
All in, it was a good phone, and at the low end of the market, I probably would have another (although the T series replacements seem a little bit better (and bigger?) now).
Downsides ?
A practical one. Ericsson continues to use a soft touch rubber antenna, which not only adds an inch to the phone's size, but it also catches on the lining of your pocket. I missed more than one call through having the thing caught there.
Also, I was bought an Ericsson Chatboard at Christmas, for SMS messaging, and access to the Ericsson website email service. However, despite what the shop may say, this definitely is NOT compatible. So it was back to the keypad.
The major downside, however - and this is one I have experienced with other phones as well - is that after about a year, its performance noticeably fell off. It would be switched on, it would show plenty of reception, but calls just didn't get through.
This may be down to service provider, but I don't think so - it has happened too often on too many phones at about the same time (about 14 months after purchase) for me to believe it's anything but the actual phone beginning to wear out.
I know there's no hard evidence for this, and other people may not have the same problem, but it's also started happening on my wife's 768...
So I changed the phone, got a Nokia 8860, and subsequently a Nokia 8210.
Would I recommend the 768?
Yes I would - it is a darned sight smaller, neater, and more stylish than most other phones in its price range, and I believe it performs at least as well as any other.
It's not all that clever or exciting, but if you just want a small, no-nonsense (garish colours notwithstanding) phone, with a battery that goes on and on and on, then it's a pretty good bet.
At the same time, my wife 'needed' a new phone for occasional use, and to live in a handbag where a flip cover is very useful if you're not to accidentally make calls all day. So, she got the 768. In blue.
At first, I have to say that I thought the 768 was probably the newer design - it has more integrated buttons and a better fitting flip. In practice, I found there to be no difference in actual use between the two. The 788 has more gizmos, but apart from a SIM-based PIN code, none of them was of any real value. The only advantage I could really see was that the 788 looked a bit more grown up, while the 768, with its wetsuit colours looks a bit frivolous.
Anyway, my 788 duly broke down, and the repair quote was prohibitive, so I swapped for a 768 of my own. That speaks some volumes - basically that if you are looking at a 788 over a 768 - look carefully. There's not much of a difference, and I personally don't think the price differential is justified.
So, how did the 768 perform?
Reception was fine - sometimes I'd have a lot, sometimes not - but that seems to be as much down to network providers as phones. Generally, reception was never an issue.
Ease of use - Fine again. The non-active flip can be a bit of a pain when you're used to Motorolas, but it never really caused any problems.
Accessing and editing memories is not great. It's not that it?s hard, it?s just not that intuitive.
It had dozens of ring tones, and you can programme your own if you have enough time (just copy them from the various internet sites).
Text Messaging - as simple as it can be on an alphanumeric keypad.
Durability - Fine. It was more rugged than the 788 at least.
Battery Life - Excellent.
Good battery life is a major decider for me, and I have to say this phone's battery is top notch. I am a moderately heavy user (switched on all day, at least 45 minutes calls per day) and I used to charge the battery on average every third day. And only for about an hour a time.
Without a doubt, the best battery life I had experienced.
Security ? No PIN code ? although it supports a SIM PIN ? I swapped the SIM from my 788 to this 768, and it carried the PIN forward, even though there was no way of editing it.
All in, it was a good phone, and at the low end of the market, I probably would have another (although the T series replacements seem a little bit better (and bigger?) now).
Downsides ?
A practical one. Ericsson continues to use a soft touch rubber antenna, which not only adds an inch to the phone's size, but it also catches on the lining of your pocket. I missed more than one call through having the thing caught there.
Also, I was bought an Ericsson Chatboard at Christmas, for SMS messaging, and access to the Ericsson website email service. However, despite what the shop may say, this definitely is NOT compatible. So it was back to the keypad.
The major downside, however - and this is one I have experienced with other phones as well - is that after about a year, its performance noticeably fell off. It would be switched on, it would show plenty of reception, but calls just didn't get through.
This may be down to service provider, but I don't think so - it has happened too often on too many phones at about the same time (about 14 months after purchase) for me to believe it's anything but the actual phone beginning to wear out.
I know there's no hard evidence for this, and other people may not have the same problem, but it's also started happening on my wife's 768...
So I changed the phone, got a Nokia 8860, and subsequently a Nokia 8210.
Would I recommend the 768?
Yes I would - it is a darned sight smaller, neater, and more stylish than most other phones in its price range, and I believe it performs at least as well as any other.
It's not all that clever or exciting, but if you just want a small, no-nonsense (garish colours notwithstanding) phone, with a battery that goes on and on and on, then it's a pretty good bet.
