A key manufacturer when it comes to making mobile phones that are both functional and technologically stylish, Sony Ericsson have built a solid reputation amongst today's users. With their K610i, however, as much as they should be applauded for making 3G more affordable, it's at the expense of some of the features we've come to expect from this brand.

However, there are still a lot of positives about this little phone, not least the size for a 3G handset. Measuring only 102 mm high, with a width of 45 mm and only 17 mm deep, this is perhaps one of the smallest 3G mobile phones on the market, especially since it weighs only 92 grammes, making it compact enough for even the smallest bag or pocket.

One of the changes Sony Ericsson has made to the K610i over previous models is that it has disposed of the centre joystick and replaced it with a little four-direction keypad instead. This makes it far better to navigate menus with, as the joystick did often wander all over the place on other models, especially if you were travelling.

The screen is a good size with excellent clarity, and is an added bonus when used to focus pictures on the 2.0 mega pixel camera, which is useful as there is no flash feature supplied. Since this is a straightforward handset, all the buttons are under or around the screen, but don't look cluttered because of this. With shortcut buttons for Internet access, back and calls, as well as camera and music, the K610i is a very simple piece of kit to use.

Although supporting MP3 music files, unfortunately the K610i doesn't come supplied with headphones, like they do with Sony Ericsson's W-series. However, there is a loudspeaker that you can use instead. There are two games installed on the phone to keep you entertained, including a rather snazzy tennis game in full 3D.

With this being a 3G phone, Internet support is excellent, with HTML and Wap able to be viewed quickly and easily. There is also a rather cool RSS Reader with the phone, so you can keep up-to-date with your favourite blog subscriptions.

The only things that stop this phone from being a top-notch entry into the 3G field are minimal, but important. The memory is only 16MB of internal, and a further 64MB on the provided memory card. However, with the 3G aspect of the K610i, this will soon be filled, so you're going to need to upgrade your card. The other thing is that the web browser can often encounter problems with more graphical pages, which for a 3G handset is a definite disadvantage.