To put it simply, the Sony Ericsson 3G W910i is a really nice phone. From what I hear, since its release, it's been quite a 'trendy' phone, particularly amongst students and the younger generation. It looks great, it's got some nice, modern features and is a really effective music player.
Before I bought the W910i, I had another Sony Ericsson Walkman model - its predecessor, the W810i. I've found it to be a step-up. Neither a complete "revolution", nor an unnoticeable change. It upgrades and updates all the 810i's features into a neat package.
Looks
I think the best feature about this phone is its looks. It's attractive, it's delicious, it's sexy.
First of all, it's available in three colours - 'noble' black, 'hearty' red or 'Havana' gold - all of which, in my opinion, suit the phone well. The black version hits me as being sophisticated, suave and mature. The red is playful, fashionable and vivacious. While I didn't have the option of getting the Havana gold version, it strikes me as being, again, à la mode. When I was buying the phone I wasn't at all sure which one to get. I finally settled on the black one but really would've been very happy with any of the three.
The
second striking part of the phone is it's slide feature. The 'slim slider' adds to the 'playful' dimension of the W910i. Very childish, I know, but I absolutely love the feel of being able to slide a phone up and down in my hand. I find it very 'cool' (!) being able to answer a phone by opening it and hanging up by closing it. The slide feature allows the phone to be both small and tucked-away when closed (12mm thin and weighing just over 80g) and 'expansive' when slid-open. Moreover, it allows you to use the phone both horizontally, like when taking photos or using the walkman, or vertically, or texting and calling. Through automatic screen orientation, the phone automatically adapts to whichever way you're holding it, which again, is pretty neat. It's much better than some other phones where you have to press a button to do so.
In terms of the rest of the phone, the screen dominates the frame. Beneath it, there is the D navigation pad which, in my experience, is efficient. While that seems like a trivial point, I've been on the bad-end of a number of keypads which are either fragile, unresponsive, 'flakey' and just downright annoying. So to have a good, reliable one with a select and four directional keys is pleasant. Also there are the standard Sony Ericsson call/end keys, a customizable 'short-cut' key (which I find particularly useful) and a delete key. Being a Walkman phone, there are also several specific Walkman music buttons, which I'll talk more about later.
Features
Walkman:
Music is the focal piece of this phone; it's main selling point. Specifically, the phone has: flight mode; SensMe, which allows you to create and customise playlists; PlayNow, allowing you to access loads of different types of music; polyphonic ringtones; MegaBass, which allows for a fuller bass sound and stereo widening; and TrackID, which automatically recognises tracks. Also, there is a Walkman specific button on the top of the phone, adjacent to the on/off button. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it allows you to open up the Walkman quickly and easiy. Secondly, when in Walkman mode, it allows you to peruse through your tracks by holding down the key and shaking. This feature's called Shake control. While it seems hunky dory and, again, fairly trendy, in my opinion it's not really that useful. The 'shaking' part requires more than 'a flick of your wrist' as it was advertised - it really requires a vigorous flourish which does look very wierd in public. Also, the walkman button is located in a pretty awkward part of the phone, and since the button's so small, it's pretty annoying to use. This feature seems to be better served for advertising purposes (and to show-off with) rather than for pratical use. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that the phone supports album art, audiobooks and podcasts. It really is just like mini-Itunes on-the-go! Initially, I was slightly disappointed that Sony Ericsson failed to provide a 3.5mm jackpoint for headphones, and thought that this would lead to inferior sound quality. However, you can use your own earphones if you plug it into the SE connector. Also, the earphones provided really were good quality, and provided superior, rather than inferior quality. The SE connector serves as an aerial for the radio which is a useful inclusion. And while isn't a great deal of internal memory, with a 4GB memory card you can store a good number of tracks. If you prioritise music as being an important feature for your phone then this is the phone for you.
Camera/Video:
Inevitably, being a Walkman rather than a Cyber-shot phone, the W910i was going to offer a limited camera/video feature. It's not awful by any means, offering a 2mgp camera which does produce some good shots. Also, zoom isn't bad at 2.5x digital zoom. However, as it doesn't offer flash, the quality of photos does deteriote significantly in bad light conditions. The video standard is par, but nothing to shout about at 15 frames per second.
For me, these haven't been big issues as I've never been a big photo/video person. However, if you are, then you'd be better off going for C range phone.
Games:
If you're like me and find often yourself with nothing to do for a few minutes (at least it starts out that way!) then the games feature on this phone is pretty decent. My fav. game, V-Rally3-Ddriving game, is pretty addictive and offers good graphics, while Marble Madness shows off the W910's motion sensor technology.
Conversation:
In my experience, the W910i offers high-quality sound for phone conversations as well as 3G video calling.
Miscellaneous:
The phone provides for internet access, although I've found it somewhat tedious as it's rather slow and annoying to use. It supports all the basic organisation features, such as email, calendar, to-do lists, notes etc. Also, PhotoDj, VideoDJ and MusicDJ software is included, as is voice control and voice recorder.
The only faults I can find with the phone are its somewhat mediocre camera (though not at-all dire) and it's battery time, which I found limited and quick to fade. I've heard from my research, both here and on external websites and 'urban legend' that it's one of those phones that's susceptible to crash and the like, but I've never found that personally, and perhaps it comes more down to TLC, rather than the phone's faults.
On the whole, it looks great, sound great and it's easy to use and at currently just over £100 sounds like good value! It certainly ticks the boxes for me!
Advantages: Clear picture quality, looks very stylish, crystal clear screen Disadvantages: Number keys can sometimes "stick", trouble turning it on at times
Advantages: Very Stylish, Innovative Shake Music Control, Good Range of features Disadvantages: Camera Quality Average, Battery Life could be Better, No Built In Headphone Jack
nollie99 05.11.2007 (05.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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