Sony Ericsson txt mobile phone (preview)

Sony Ericsson has been busy of late, focussing most of its attention on its XPERIA range of Google Android smartphones like the XPERIA Play and XPERIA Arc. However, the company seems intent on being extremely competitive in the low-end of the market — its txt mobile phone brings a full QWERTY keyboard and built-in social networking applications to the entry level market.

Read our reviews of other top Sony Ericsson phones.

The Sony Ericsson txt is an entirely different beast to the XPERIA range, as it runs a proprietary operating system. The rise of the Android OS in the past 18-24 months has seen mobile phone manufacturer's move away from these types of operating systems — they were traditionally synonymous with "feature phones," which have now been replaced by smartphones.

The downside of a proprietary, closed operating system like the one powering the Sony Ericsson is that users can't download third-party apps. The upside is that Sony Ericsson has built-in some social networking services which it hopes will suffice for the audience the txt will target.

According to Sony Ericsson, the txt is designed for messaging and social networking. It comes pre-loaded with a "friends application" that enables users to add their five best friends to see Facebook and Twitter updates at a glance. Naturally, Facebook and Twitter integration is a key component of this phone.

Unfortunately, the txt's lack of 3G connectivity will hinder mobile Internet use. Even though the txt does come with Wi-Fi, we can't forgive the omission of 3G — attempting any sort of social networking over a 2G network is likely to be a painful process.

In addition to its full QWERTY keyboard, the Sony Ericsson txt also has a rather small 2.6in non-touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera that doubles as a video recorder, and comes in black, blue, white and pink colours.

The Sony Ericsson txt will be available in selected markets from Q3, but an Australian release date has not been announced.