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Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone
Measuring 100 x 46 x 21mm (L x W x D) and weighing 99g, the W800i is certainly small enough and reasonably lightweight making it suitable for most users. However I, for one, am not enamoured of the W800i's colour scheme. Described as smooth white with an orange band running round the sides of the handset, the design of the unit appears to be focused on the younger generation who are more likely to be interested in the Walkman aspect. The phone has a 176 x 220 pixel 262K TFT screen, while displaying a clear image, does have a remarkable propensity for attracting smudges if not handled carefully.
Taking a look at the W800i from a purely telephonic communication aspect then you will not be disappointed. There is support for tri-band GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and GSM 900 networks. You get WAP, GPRS, an email function, instant and multimedia messaging plus a contacts address book type facility. You can track messages through a call list feature and use a file manager to organise saved content.
Naturally as this is a mobile phone, there is a built-in camera facility. In the case of the W800i, the camera is a 2-megapixel model. It has 4x digital zoom; integrated light; automatic focus; video capture; plus various modes that include night, macro and panoramic. Captured content can be stored in the phone's internal 34MB of memory. Sony Ericsson also bundle a 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo as an additional storage medium used with the phone. Sony Ericsson estimate that the storage capacity of the W800i should be capable of holding approximately 150 music tracks or 10-15 full lengths CDs. If this is not enough memory for you then you can always switch to a 2GB Memory Stick but at an extra cost to yourself.
This phone has a dedicated button allowing the user to quickly switch to and bring up the W800i's Walkman feature. Music tracks can be downloaded direct from the Internet once the appropriate fee has been paid or transferred, via the supplied proprietary USB cable, from a computer using the Disk2phone utility that forms part of the software package bundled with the phone. This software has the facility to categorise tracks by album and artist plus create play lists as it automatically converts the various tracks into designated bit rate setting. Unfortunately the phone only supports USB 1.1 which means data transfer between the computer and phone is rather slow.
You can view track by track listings by album or artist. Controls are available to pause, fast forward and rewind plus skip between tracks. There is a search facility and you can check out information about the current track.
The quality of playback using the supplied headset (although I am not a fan of the ear-bud style) is perfectly acceptable. However I was unable to detect any way of adjusting the playback volume level apart from fine tuning the default Equalizer settings. The headset also doubles as the aerial for the phone's built-in FM radio feature and various hand-free operations. Other features found in the W800i include Bluetooth, Java and games either embedded or downloaded.
The W800i, with its emphasis on entertainment features, will definitely appeal more to the youth market although others could benefit from its dual functionality. Pricing will be governed by the type and length of contract. Those preferring the pay-as-you-go option should be able to pick up this phone for around £250.
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