Sony Ericsson's Naite is an entry-level 3G mobile phone with green credentials. Manufactured from recyclable materials, shipping without a physical user guide and featuring a charger that minimises power consumption, the Naite is the first "GreenHeart" mobile phone.
The Naite looks like most of Sony Ericsson's other low-end mobile phones. However, the casing is made of at least 50 per cent recycled plastic. Thankfully, this doesn't affect build quality — the Naite feels solid, and despite the recycled materials employed still has a glossy bezel surrounding the display. A minor complaint is that the rear cover feels flimsy and is tricky to remove if you don’t have long fingernails. The keypad and controls are well designed and provide good tactility, while the screen is sharp and clear. The display's viewing angles are poor, though, and it can be hard to see in direct sunlight.
The phone's packaging continues the green theme: the retail box is tiny and made from recycled cardboard. There is no paper user manual included; instead, the Naite comes with an electronic user guide on the phone. The Naite does include a couple of paper booklets — an important information guide, an FCC statement and a GreenHeart promotional slip — but these are printed on recycled paper. The Sony Ericsson Naite also ships with a charger that only consumes 0.3kw per hour when left plugged into a power point without the phone connected.
Once you get past the Naite's green credentials, you realise this is quite a basic mobile phone. Its best feature is 3G connectivity and, combined with the included Facebook, Twitter and YouTube apps, it makes a decent fist of social networking. The Facebook application is particularly intuitive, and there is an option to have recent status updates by friends displayed on the home screen. Though useable, the Sony Ericsson Naite's browser takes a while to load pages and the small screen affects the mobile Web experience.
The Sony Ericsson Naite includes a basic 2-megapixel camera that doubles as a video recorder. The phone handles music well, using an intuitive, tiered multimedia menu. This media menu is used by most of Sony Ericsson's phones, and it is fast, functional and easy to use. The Naite has an FM radio, but you'll need the included headphones (they have a built-in antenna).
A common gripe with Sony Ericsson handsets is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack — and unfortunately there isn't one on the Naite. This is particularly annoying since the included headphones are mediocre. The Naite has just 100MB of internal memory, but a microSD card slot is located under the rear battery cover.
In addition to standard Sony Ericsson PIM functions, including a calendar, notes, timer, stopwatch and calculator, the Naite has two green-centric apps — GreenCalculator and EcoMate. GreenCalculator calculates greenhouse emissions caused by your daily lifestyle, while EcoMate aims to educate users on issues like conserving water and power.
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