I joined Ciao cos I like writing. I use lots of phones and know lots about them, but I like other th...
I joined Ciao cos I like writing. I use lots of phones and know lots about them, but I like other things too. Like the Nintendo Wii, even though it has got a funny name!
Member since:14.10.2005
Reviews:19
Members who trust:6
Introduction
I was given this phone by a friend about 2 months ago because I was curious as to what these new music phones were like, and have been using it since. It is the newest version of the Walkman series by Sony Ericsson, and is a combination of the memory and features of the W800i and the design of the W550i. This is Sony Ericsson's first UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) handset to be added to their Walkman range of phones.
The attraction of this phone has got to be its music-oriented image: Sony have used their expertise as a portable music specialist to good effect on this device, and given us a fairly swish-looking phone to back it up. There is a choice of two colours - black and white. I'm not entirely sure why the manufacturers offer a white version as it will become dirty-looking much more quickly (ever see the W800i display models in the shops?), but then when did fashion ever get in the way of a cool cat and his flash accessory? Anyway, the one I have is black and black never goes out of fashion.
Features - Usability
The W900i is rather a large phone - as wide and tall as the W800i and as thick as the W550i - and as a result is slightly bulky in the pocket, although not any larger than many of the 3G phones around currently. The size is necessary for all the great features on it, however, and there are a number of buttons and controls around the periphery of the phone as well as the main keypads. The charger socket on the top is a bit fiddly for those with normal-sized fingers, although you will get used to it after a few goes.
It's a swivel-phone, and has a fairly solid mechanism,
which can be activated with a small push of the thumb or forefinger. I'm not a fan of swivel-phones, however it works adequately and feels very clunky - a bit like closing the door of a German-built car. Opening it reveals a good-sized keypad with buttons large enough not to leave most medium-sized thumbs accidentally pressing three buttons at once, as is the case with some phones. The on/off button is also revealed here, and pressing that brings the phone to technicolour life with a little jingle.
Once in, the operating system is generally very user-friendly - possibly as good as the standard Nokia one. It will give you the opportunity to set your choice of ringtone, and to copy contacts from SIM to phone automatically when you first turn it on, which saves messing around later and addresses the most important feature of the device - (sending and) receiving phone calls. One small gripe: I found it a little annoying that if the phone screen goes into screensaver mode (i.e. blank), you have to press a key before anything will be displayed, and only then will the phone respond to your command.
The default screen is plain, with a clock and two options - Calls and Menu. Press menu to start and you will see 12 menu icons. Via one of the 12 preset menu options (Settings) there is a tips and tricks section, which I found quite basic, but it offers functions such as single-number dialing, muting calls and activating silent mode with a couple of button presses. The others are PlayNow (explain later), Internet Services (well, how would you check your eBay listing on the move without it?), Entertainment (3-D games are here), Camera (a fine 2 megapixel vintage), Messaging (cursor default), Walkman (what you've all been waiting for), File Manager (boooring), Contacts (how big is your book?), Video Call (it's a 3G phone - unlike the W800i), Calls, Organizer and Settings.
Features - Audio
The internal memory is a whopping 470Mb (plus there's the Memory Stick Duo Pro card slot), so most mortal music-lovers using the W900i won't need to expand the memory with data sticks or extra memory cards. It supports mobile downloading of content, including music tracks, which will undoubtedly be supported if not currently by your network operator, then very soon. The W900i can support MP3, AAC, and AAC+ audio file formats, plus others, and also included with the phone is music transfer software that'll let you copy music from your CDs to your phone (a drag-and-drop job on the PC). Another way to get music onto the phone is via the PlayNow system, a DRM-enabled download service developed in partnership with Sony Music. It started out as a ringtones download service and now you can get music and other content from it too. You can access the service easily from the phone menu.
I found the menu system on the music section pretty straightforward and easy to organise into playlists and artists and all of that. It's not really a revolutionary piece of kit simply because it has a music player and loads of memory on the phone, but it will make it more convenient to listen to your music without needing to carry a separate mp3 player or iPod. Personally, I will probably sell this handset soon and wait until something less bulky, plastic-ey and swivelly comes onto the market (Nokia N91?), but each to their own. To listen to all your great
Pictures of Sony Ericsson W900i
W900i from the front
tunes you can either plug in a standard set of 3.5 headphones, or use the ones included in the box, which are good and are all colour co-ordinated. The battery time is fine - using the music player for about an hour a day (in and out of work) didn't eat into the battery much at all.The phone also comes with an FM radio, which I think should be a standard feature on phones nowadays because it's absolutely great to have the radio to listen to, especially when the reception is as good as with the W900i. You could use it while you are at the test match and want to hear the commentary or the footy results as you sit back and enjoy the show.
Features - Visual
As with most of the other phones being released at the moment, the W900i has a 2 megapixel camera, which works fine and looks even better whe you look at the photos on a PC. The autofocus function works ok, but as with all digital zooms it is largely pointless since all you are getting is a cutout of the center of the picture when it is not zoomed in.
The video cam is excellent and is less blurry than anything else I have seen before on a phone. It actually works at a 30 frames per second frame rate, which is more than enough for anyone who doesn't want to take a phone and their digital camcorder out with them every weekend to parties. All the picture and video-editing software is included on the phone as usual.
With a 2.2 inch screen, there is no need to squint to see the pics and video footage, which are really easy to watch and very clear. It is also nice to be able to play games on a decent-sized screen - my fave was the 3-D ball-breaking game, which is good to kill a few minutes but not as playable as something like Halo on the PS2.
Overall
The W900i is not for everyone - it is heavier than some of the music phonoes already on the market, and although it has a large memory, there are lots of other phones (N91, Samsung i300, which are smaller and will provide just as good a specialist music functionality. And it is bulky, although imagine how bulky it would be carrying a separate walkman, video cam and mobile phone in your pocket.
Another thing I wasn't keen on was the swivelling design. Unless you are a proud S700 owner, you probably won't like it at all at first, and I still don't like it after 8 weeks of use. I know these things are very superficial, but it affects you every time you take the thing out of your pocket, so it's important to pick a style that's right for you.
The music, camera, talk and texting functions all work adequately, and the user operating system is absolutely great. But I have to say that if you look carefully on the market, you will be able to find a very similar phone without the drawbacks of this one. I think this phone was not advanced enough over the W800i and W550i to make a real impact, and if you must have this - the very latest walkman-branded phone - I think it would be worth waiting for a few months after the launch of this handset before you buy, as I expect its lack of popularity to generate some very attractive deals.
Handset price: TBC - will update when released. Buy from: TBC - will update when released.
Extended List of Features:
- 2.0 MegaPixel camera with Autofocus - Video call camera - 8 x digital zoom - LED photo light - 240 x 320 pixel QVGA TFT display - 2.2" 262K color display - Video recording and full screen playback - Adobe Photoshop Starter Edition 2.0 - Apple QuickTime Player for PC - SMS and MMS - Instant Messaging - Push e-mail - Video Call - PlayNow ringtones and games - Walkman player (MP3/AAC/AAC+) - Stereo Portable Handsfree with remote control (3.5mm jack) - 40 polyphonic tones - Java J2ME and hardware Accelerator - Embedded Java games: Asphalt Urban GT 3d from, Power Ball Arcade in 3D, QuadraPop in 2D - MegaBass - Macromedia Flash Lite - VideoDJ, PhotoDJ, MusicDJ - Disc2Phone PC Software - FM Radio - Sync ML. - HTML browser - BluetoothTM and Infrared - PC Suite - USB cable in the box - USB mass storage - Memory Stick PRO Duo slot (up to 2GB) - External antenna connector
I have the white version (got it at the start of January) and I really dont think that it gets dirty. Any smut and junk wipes off really easily... The only sullied bit on my phone is the corner with a cat tooth mark (gotta bless 'im), and I don't think that even Sony Ericsson, in all their wisdom, design phones to withhold the wrath of a kitten.
rallenhome 29.03.2006 19:18
Extremely comprehensive, honest and thought out. Good Job!
kanderson 11.01.2006 10:49
i thought ur review was quite informative but personally reckon their are alot of advantages to this fone that make it stand out above the new Nokia N series?dunno if ne 1 else wil agree with me but the graphics and screen are loads sharper, n the mp3 player is more advanced, especially with the new software! nice review tho!
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Nov 19th, 2005
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