Sony Ericsson Elm

The mobile phone industry is tremendously wasteful: if you think of how many millions of handsets are manufactured each year and then consider what percentage of those devices will be all but obsolete in 18 months then you’ll realise just how environmentally unfriendly the world of portable communications has become.

Thankfully, many companies are starting to come round to the eco message, with Sony Ericsson arguably leading the charge with its GreenHeart range of handsets.

These phones are designed to be as ecologically sound as possible: they’re constructed from recycled materials, come with reduced amounts of packaging, and boast a suite of tree-hugging applications which constantly remind you of how much of a selfish consumerist pig you are. It’s all jolly good fun, and what’s more it’s good for the planet.

Now, you might assume that a handset like the Elm – which spearheads Sony Ericsson’s latest range of GreenHeart phones – would be a bundle of compromises. Being environmentally friendly usually means having to sacrifice something along the line.

Surprisingly the Elm is actually a feature-rich product - not only does it boast 3G, wi-fi and GPS, but it also comes with a decent 5-megapixel snapper with a powerful LED flash.

All of this is contained within a gloriously thin casing which has a pleasing curve along the back. Initially, the phone looks pretty uninspiring, but after cradling it in your palm for a few seconds the delicious ergonomics start to win you over.

The Elm’s 2.2-inch TFT display is something of a step down from the glorious 3.7 inch AMOLED screen we recently witnessed on the Google Nexus One, but then this is clearly aimed at a different sector of the market.

Although the Elm is what experts would deem to be a 'dumb phone' it actually features quite a few elements which are commonplace on most smartphones - multi-tasking being one such feature, for example.

You can also run home screen widgets, which allow you to quickly and easily access different functions of the phone. The Elm comes equipped with Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter integration, although the sluggish CPU does make browsing these social networking portals something of a chore.

Elsewhere there are the aforementioned eco-focused applications which are supposed to make you more sensitive to your impact on the environment but in reality they just bug the living hell out of you.

Bothersome apps aside, the Elm’s other big failing is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. While Sony Ericsson is starting to move away from the smart port interface it has used for the past few years, this device sadly hasn’t made the transition.

The reliance on this propriety port is made all the more annoying by the fact that Sony Ericsson hasn’t included a USB cable in the box – all in the name of saving the environment, of course.

If you’ve ever owned a Sony Ericsson phone before this won’t be a massive issue as you’ve probably got several dedicated smart port USB cables lying around – and you can always use wi-fi to transfer data anyway – but we imagine it will come as a slight annoyance to many users.

We’re quite willing to admit that after seeing the lacklustre Naite – Sony Ericsson’s first GreenHeart-branded phone – we didn’t have high hopes for the Elm. However, bearing in mind that this is a device aimed at the cheaper end of the market, it’s surprisingly easy to love.

The inexplicable omission of a 3.5mm jack and underpowered processor aside, this is a perfectly capable handset that packs an incredible amount of features inside its svelte – and ecologically considerate - frame.