The Sony Ericsson R306a is a clamshell device designed with the average consumer in mind. Compared to many of the other consumer level clamshell phones on the market, however, the Sony Ericsson R306a provides a rather impressive exterior. This gives the Sony Ericsson R306a a look that rivals many higher priced, higher end devices available today.



Announced in January 2008, the Sony Ericsson R306a is an America bound GSM device. It can be used anywhere in the Americas, and also supports roaming in Europe and Asia. Despite being a fairly new phone, the Sony Ericsson R306a provides data access only via the slow speed GPRS network.

The Sony Ericsson R306a is a very small and light device, measuring in at only three and a half inches by two inches by half of an inch. Furthermore, it weighs only 93 grams.

Despite the small size, the battery life on the Sony Ericsson R306a is absolutely exceptional (as is the case with all Sony Ericsson phones). Expect to get about nine hours of talk time or 410 hours of standby time on a single charge. If you are going to be away from a charger for some time, this is the phone to get.

Unfortunately, the phone starts to look cheap when you look at the displays. The main display, located inside of the phone, provides only 128 by 160 pixels of resolution while the outer display is a black and white screen with only 32 by 96 pixels of resolution. Not modern, but good enough for basic use.

The Sony Ericsson R306a also features a built in digital camera with 1.3 megapixels of resolution. It can record video and also features a digital zoom function.

Multimedia is rather bland on the Sony Ericsson R306a, though interesting. There is a video player that can play back the videos your camera records. But the real unique feature is the AM/FM radio that really suits the phone’s design which takes more than a few cues from radios of the past. On the phone’s outside, you can find the stereo speakers and the radio control buttons, in addition to the monochrome display.

Other features include Bluetooth 2.0 support, a large phone book, an alarm, a calendar, a notepad, a to-do list, a stopwatch, a calculator, a voice recorder, and a speakerphone.

Pros

* Very attractive

* Small and light

* Long battery life

* Optimized for radio convenience

Cons

* Few features

* No 3G support

* Low quality screens

Overall

The Sony Ericsson R306a is a great phone if you aren’t interested in a lot of fancy features. This is a phone that just lets you talk - and that’s it. Oh, and you can listen to the radio too. So, all in all, if you really don’t care about features, get this phone. If you need a bargain basement phone with an amazingly long talk time, get this phone. Otherwise, look for something else.