I’ve had a SonyEricsson Z600 for nearly a year now and I’m bored with it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice enough ‘phone, it’s just that my needs have changed since I got it. It’s got most of the usual features of a modern phone – camera, colour screen, polyphonic ringtones etc. – but I yearn for something simpler.

I originally went for a SonyEricsson because I wanted a ‘phone that would sync with my iMac and I didn’t like any of the Nokias in the list of compatible devices. The previous five ‘phones I’d owned had all been Nokias so it was a bit of a departure for me to try a different manufacturer. I knew I’d never find one that I’d love as much as my old Nokia 6310, but I had to try.

When I bought the Z600 I didn’t own a digital camera or an iPod, so I partly chose it for it’s camera and calendar/contacts functions. Unfortunately, the camera in the Z600 can only be described as disappointing and, while it’s calendar and contact functions are adequate, I’ve found it much easier to maintain my appointments and address book information on my iMac and then sync it with my iPod … excluding, of course, telephone numbers.

So, now I find myself wanting to go back to the good ol’ days of a monochrome screen and minimal functions – I’ve sent a total of three picture messages in a year, and those were all favours for other people, so a colour screen is superfluous to my requirements. Nor do I need a ‘phone that can play tunes when someone calls – mine’s still set to the generic “ring ring”. And it being a clamshell is no longer important: I’ve invested in a soft bag for my wallet, phone, iPod etc. In fact the only features it needs to have are standard text messaging, name and number storage, Bluetooth and the ability to work with iSync.

I tried a friend’s Nokia 6230 the other day and it seemed pretty damn well near to what I’m looking for. One major thing I noticed is it’s responsiveness – my Z600 seemed slow and quite unusable afterwards. Unfortunately, the 6230 isn’t in the all-important list of compatible devices. Bollocks.

So, in the next month or so I’ll be trying out various ‘phones in the hope of finding my personal mobile nirvana. If you have any recommendations then please by all means drop me a line or leave a comment below.