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Sony CMD-J6

A phone from before the days of the combined forces of Sony and Ericsson.

Sony at the turn of the century introduced a number of CMD-J and CMD-Z series phones (the latter were smaller and had a flap to protect the keypad), which were never popular.

The J5 and J6 were twin models that featured an external antenna, which was becoming a thing of the past around the year 2000. J6 was released almost a year after J5, with newer software that was free of the bugs found in J5. Externally, they differed in styling and the paintwork. However, of the two, the J6 is by far the rarer. It is interesting to note that the battery was integrated into the back cover. Changes have been made with the J7/J70 models.

What all these devices have in common is an unusual menu based on a "carousel of balls" with options, a high-resolution display with four shades of gray, distinctive polyphonic ringtones, and a very unusual way to navigate.
Instead of scrolling through the menu with a joystick, d-pad or up and down keys, Sony opted for a "jog dial", which is a dial located on the side, simultaneously serving as an "ok" button when pressed. Very clever and convenient, although not so pleasant to use while holding the mobile in the right hand.

Additionally, there is a slider underneath the wheel that can slide in two directions. Sliding up on the desktop allows you to select the sound profile (single tone, ringtone, vibrate, and silence), and in games allows you to mute/unmute sounds and music. Sliding down on the desktop, on the other hand, locks the keypad.

Another interesting feature is the vibrations - the phone does not have a weighted motor, and instead the speaker is designed to cause vibrations when playing very low tones. These, while able to move the phone on a flat surface, are almost imperceptible in your pocket.

Surprisingly, the J5 was made in France, while the J6 was manufactured in Japan.

This unit, as you can see on the pictures, comes from Vodafone network in the UK, so at startup it shows the operator's logo instead of Sony's, and had a SIM lock.

Built-in games:

• Bananas (an artillery type game)
• PicPuz (a sliding puzzle type game)
• Mindblaster (a Mastermind type game)
• Sand Art (a game based on the art of bonseki)

Specifications: