Ericsson R520m Review

Overall Rating

A solidly built phone and versatile functionalities, sturdy yet light, good battery life (if you don't use IR or Bluetooth or Speakerphone much). Too many keystrokes needed to do the simplest thing! Like the Volvo 240, you either love or hate it!

Too many navigation buttons on the top, when keylock is activated, you better know where the C key is, difficult to get accessaries (e.g., Handsfree, pouch), size, fragile side buttons, weak screen illumination, quiet speakerphone.

I bought the Ericsson R520m mobile phone in August, 2003 in a clearance store for US$56 (or GBP 43). It was supposed to be brand new but for some reasons only the charger and the phone were in the package. I downloaded the software supposed to be on the CD from www.bennysoft.de (a must visit site for R520m user, loads of info + downloads). Featurewise, the phone is excellent even to-date. Phones with similar features but only added better ringtones & skins cost 6-7 times more, often with more fragile build! The software version on mine is R3A so only one version down from the very latest. Hopefully, one does not need to use the lift (or elevator in the US) much. Because you get 'SOS calls only' when you come out. It does not like sudden loss of transmission and cannot recover the signal well. Accessaries are non-existent (maybe from eBay or 2nd hand shops?). Backlit is very week compared to my Moto P7689 (aka T250i). Also, the shortcut function is as inaccessible as other functions, again compared to my P7689. I can see why those who bought this phone with earlier versions of software had gone nut. I guess I cannot complain at the price of $56. I guess this will be the phone I will put into my collection when it retires from service. This is one of the few phones still available with a bit of lightweight metal casing. If you needs functionalities, low-cost (by 2003), sturdy and big phone (good for the poor eye-sight and with a big hand / fingers), then go for this if you can still find it. Make sure you get one with SW version R4A (the very latest version) if you can.