Sony Ericsson M600i

The UIQ interface never went down too well with me and I had the same set of problems with the M600i UI. Some trivial operations take longer with the neverending chain of commands required. Take, for example, changing the ringtone of your phone. From the standby screen, you need to go to the Main menu -> Tools -> Control Panel -> Device -> Sounds and Alerts -> Ringtones -> Call or Voice -> Find Sound and THEN browse around the file system for the MP3 that you want to put as your ringtone. Hell-oo? Productivity? But this pays off when you actually hear music on the phone which sounds FABULOUS. All the MP3s I loaded on it sound SO much better and sharper than the older P-series phones, it's unbelievable. Like I always say - true Sony Ericsson sound quality. I do have a complaint about the placement of the speaker, though. It's almost in the center on the rear side, which almost becomes inaudible when the phone is kept face up. On flat surfaces, the sound is cut into half and comes out muffled. On soft surfaces, you can barely hear it.

The verdict? I feel the Nokia E61 wins over this because its got a wider keyboard that's easier to get used to than the M600i, a widescreen which works better for both email and the web and finally, WiFi. Because they cost roughly the same (around Rs. 17,000 to Rs. 18,000), the M600i is not recommendable over the E61. Some find the UIQ OS easier to work with than the Nokia Series 60, so you should go ahead and use the M600i for some time and then the E61 to get a feel of what works better for you.