Sony Ericsson W800 Review, User Opinions and Technical

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7th April 2009 Author: - - Views:

Sony Ericsson W800

If you are familiar and have been enamored with the Sony Ericsson K750 then the W800 will have your pulses pumping even more. It is one of the most eagerly awaited releases from the Japanese-Swedish company, and the whole mobile phone industry in general.

And like the K750, the W800 has brilliant function menus, a very able camera and great sounding earphones that come bundled with the phone itself. And rightly so as this unit has the â€œWâ€ Walkman logo and for all of us who are serious about music know that the name Walkman is the benchmark upon which every brand tries to live up to. And the good news is that the W800 is not expected to reach astronomical price tags.

Sony Ericsson W800 Camera and Display

The 2 mega pixel camera that is integrated with the Sony Ericsson W800 lets the user take surprisingly wonderful pictures making this handset not only a viable music player but a convincing digital camera as well. The images look crisp and sharp and vivid enough for exceptional color definition. Different resolutions are also available such as: 160 x 120 pixels, 640 x 480 pixels and the maximum resolution of 1632 x 1224 pixels, all in the popular JPEG format. And pictures are represented beautifully with the W800s 176 x 220 pixels, 256K color screen.

And not only does the W800 take wonderful pictures, operating Sony Ericsson W800 Side it is a breeze as well as this handset mimics a consumer level digital camera when it is turned sideways. In this manner, the side buttons now sits on top which is easier for your fingers to find and more intuitive to use.

And for those moments that still pictures just are not enough, the W800's camera also doubles it duty as a camcorder. It can capture images in 176 x 144 pixels, 3G formats. Now, it may be that a video capability is not the W800's strongest suit, it could not be considered as a weakness also as the videos came out decently enough.

Sony Ericsson W800 Design and Accessories

The Sony Ericsson W800 is available only in one color scheme. Such a shame one would be likely to say, but when you witness the available theme of creamy white with metal orange motif up close, you would think that no other color combination could be better than this one. And this has been the sentiments of almost all who beheld the beauty that is the W800. There are additional components in the phone given the glossy silver treatment but this seems to be unobtrusive and does not take away the main color scheme and in fact enhances its effect.

And when it comes to ergonomics, the Sony Ericsson W800 has it. Keypad placement is just right and your presses are sure even though there is not much lift. This is much appreciated especially for those fond of sending text messages. This also eliminates the possibility of dialing in wrong numbers as you are not likely to miss a key. The joystick for navigating the w800's menu was also easy to use which was surprising to say the least as joysticks have been the bane of many brands trying to equip their handsets with. Perhaps it was the joystick's quick response and the orange rubber cap that fits right on top, therefore making it â€œstickâ€ with the middle part of your thumb.

And of course this would not be a Walkman phone without its music functionalities. And as such the Sony Ericsson W800 comes with a neat pair of earphones that sound great right out of the box. Users no longer need to make an after market purchase of new headsets as they are bound to like what they hear with the W800. And if in case you still feel that the music experience is still lacking with the W800 then one push (so to speak) of the Sony Ericsson W800 Back MegaBass function and your tracks will come out booming with beautiful low frequencies unheard of with other handsets boasting of MP3 capabilities. On a side note, the MegaBass brand may already be familiar for those audiophiles from twenty years back and was almost always found in portable Sony products and is a welcome tradition that Sony brought with them when they developed the W800.

Aside from the great sounding ear pieces, the Sony Ericsson W800 also comes bundled with a 512 MB memory card, which is more than enough space for your starting music collection of about 120 songs give or take. If you think that is too small you should remember that the iPod shuffle came in the 512 MB variant when it was first introduced in the market and at quite a hefty price and this didn't seem to bother a lot of music aficionados. And you could always purchase a memory card with bigger capacities as storage devices' prices have been plummeting as of late.

Summary Sony Ericsson W800 Features

Weight: 99 g (including battery)
Width: 46 mm
Height: 100 mm
Thickness: 20.5 mm
Network: GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Screen Resolution: Graphica, TFT, 256 thousand colors, 176 x 220 pixels
Data: Yes, Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth v2.0, Infrared
Web Browser: WAP 2.0 / xHTML
Music: MP3, AAC, WAV, MP4, FM Radio
Camera: 2 MP, 1632x1224 pixels, autofocus, video, flash
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging
Expansion Slot: Memory Stick Duo Pro, 512 MB card included
Tones: 40 voices, MP3, Vibrating Alert
Software Features: Java
Other Features: Games
Battery: Li-PoAmperage 900 mAh, 9 hours talk time, 400 hours stand by time

PROS: As with a lot of mobile phones, and all gadgets for that matter, what we mostly notice at first sight is the design. With the Sony Ericsson W800, this would not be an issue as this handset looks stylish enough for both ladies and gentlemen, professional or otherwise. The Sony Walkman logo lives up to its already legendary name as music played seamlessly and sounded crisp with a lot of definition. The MegaBass was also a welcome and useful addition.

CONS: Although not really bothersome, the lack of color scheme options was strange. Like the previous K750 model, the W800 also does not support EDGE which would surely lose a lot of would-be purchasers looking for this support. Also, as big as the included memory card of 512 may be, it does not support mass storage capabilities.

Overall: For all intents and purposes as a mobile phone, the W800 passes with flying colors. And the Walkman brand does not disappoint. In conclusion, the W800 is not a great device for having many features, its making the features work beautifully that mattered, which the Sony Ericsson managed to do.