Sony Ericsson R306 Radio review: Stay tuned

Gsmarena have posted their review of the Sony Ericsson R306. Here are the key features, main disadvantages and final impression.

Key features:
FM/AM radio tuner with RDS and TrackID
AM tuner has two modes: 9 kHz (Americas and Japan) and 10 kHz (the rest)
Dedicated external radio controls
Tri-band GSM support
1.9" 65K-color TFT display of a 128 x 160 pixel resolution
Secondary monochrome external display of a 96 x 32 pixel resolution
1.3 megapixel camera
5MB of internal memory
Bluetooth
USB
Radio broadcasts recorder in MP3 format
Stereo speakers
Optimized design for desktop placing

Main disadvantages:
External display has low daylight legibility due to the mirror finish
Radio is not that usable without the headset plugged in
Standard headset jack is huge
RDS readings not shown on external display
Stores 20 stations only for AM and FM bands combined
TrackID doesn't work with the radio

Final words
Sony Ericsson R306 Radio is to join the low-to-midrange company portfolio. It pretty much has the basics covered with 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Smart search dialing. The advanced radio features include stereo speakers, RDS, TrackID, broadcast recording and the dedicated radio controls.

The scarce built-in memory and the lack of a card slot tend to limit it in many ways. We could also go on about a tad better display resolution and better imaging quality. But probably our most important grudge of all with this radio-centric device is the need to plug the headset in for the radio to work properly.

Now that's a common nuisance in all modern handsets, but on a phone that's supposed to be "all-radio" it becomes much more obtrusive. The huge headset jack makes things even worse. Some new design to deal with that would have been much appreciated. And in the end, a dedicated cable aerial such as the one of O2 Cocoon would have meant a lot less hassle.

Anyway, R306 is a low-ender after all. There will always be a market for down-to-earth entry level handsets. Plus, Sony Ericsson R306 gets its edge from the vintage radio looks that give it a distinct personality.