I have been using my W300i for more than a week now, and I can’t keep may hands off it.
For the past few months, I had this desire to own a walkman series phone. I did some survey on the internet, including the Sony Ericsson website and numerous review sites. I also compared the prices of various walkman handsets.
Then I zeroed in on W300i. Although I have never used a clamshell model before this, I decided to give it a try. I really liked the features provided on this model - Quadband, EDGE, GPRS, camera, walkman, speakerphone etc. The connectivity is also excellent as it has infrared, bluetooth and USB interfaces. It comes packed with the expandable memory, walkman handsfree and USB cable. Last, but not the least, the battery backup is good and is comparable to Nokia phones.
I was completely bowled over by the looks of W300i. The black and silver combination give it a professional look. At the same time, the orange side buttons and walkman logo give it a distinctive identity.
When I started making calls with the W300i, I noticed that call quality was very good. It is even better if you use the handsfree provided. When you are using the handsfree for making a call, you can use the phone for other purposes as well. For example, you access the file manager or write an sms while talking on a call with the handsfree. W300i also has a inbuilt speaker, the call quality using the inbuilt speaker is not that good. The voice sound hollow and you can hear echo. But still, it is good enough for having a conversation in a reasonably quite place.
W300i is a music phone, so I need not elaborate on this point. It is sufficient to say that walkman sound is crystal clear with the high quality stereo handsfree provided. You can change the equaliser settings the way you like. It also provides some preset modes like Bass, Treble Boost, Voice and Mega Bass. I cannot describe the Mega Bass feature in words, you just have to experience it personally. The 256 MB memory card provided in the sales package is enough to hold roughly 50 mp3 tracks so that you can carry your music wherever you go.
FM reception is very good, even in problem areas like ground floors of apartments. You can save upto 20 radio stations. The FM reception is stereo, although it does depend on the radio station transmitting the signal. I found the best signal quality listening to FEVER FM 104 in Bangalore.
You need to connect the handsfree to use the FM since the handsfree also works as the antenna for FM. But you have the option to turn on the inbuilt speaker and listen to the FM/Walkman on the speakerphone. The walkman handsfree allows you to connect any other headphones using the standard 3.5 mm jack. This may be useful for some people who find the walkman earbuds slightly irritating since they have to be inserted inside the ear. I prefer the supplied earbuds since they fit nicely inside the ear and also block the outside noise to make sure you listen only to the music.
The walkman and radio can be accessed with a single touch of a button. You don’t even have to open the clamshell to access these. The 3 side keys can be used to play/pause the walkman/radio and to control the volume. Finally, the walkman/radio automatically stops playing when you get a call and start again from where it stopped after finishing the call.
W300i has vast connectivity options including infrared, bluetooth and USB. The sales package contains the USB cable and the necessary software/drivers for transferring music from your computer to the handset. The mp3 file transfer was a bit slow with an average of 1 minute for 1 mp3 file. Infrared and bluetooth are also quite useful for sharing contacts/photos with friends who have handsets with similar capabilities.
W300i has a VGA camera. It can take decent photographs outdoors in good light conditions. But don’t expect much from it. The camera resolution is nothing compared to the 2 megapixel camera phones available these days. There is no photo light available. I do not use the camera that much, and feel that this is a compromise one has to make if you want many features in the handset and your budget is tight.
W300i has a very intutive and powerful user interface. You won’t have to read the user manual to be able to use it for the first time. You may want to go through the "Tips and Tricks" in the Settings menu to know about some shortcuts and advanced features. Unlike Nokia, Sony Ericsson handsets do not have dedicated "Call" and "Reject" buttons. Instead, the two soft keys are used for this purpose. I prefer this arrangement since it saves space on the keypad. Again, Nokia users need to be careful that Sony Ericsson handsets use the "C" button for delete, not back. There is a dedicated back button available.
Composing and sending messages is easy. The keypad is not the easiest to use, but you get used to it after a while. Again, Sony Ericssons use # button for space as compared to 0 button in nokia. I felt that the font size used for composing messages is too big. There should be an option to reduce the font size.
There are a lot of shortcuts provided in the menu. For example, # key can be used to set the mobile in silent mode. There are dedicated buttons for walkman and radio. The play pause button on the side can be programmed to open walkman, radio or the last one playing among these two. All the four direction keys can be used as shortcuts. For example, UP key is used to access camera, DOWN key is used to access phonebook. LEFT and RIGHT keys can also be customised to point to the required function. Finally the 12 number keys can also be used to access the menu. After using these for a while, you would easily remember the key combinations for your frequently used functions. For example, to set the alaram just press Menu -> 0 -> 1 -> 1.
Till now, my experience with W300i has been very pleasant. To sum it up, W300i has good call quality, excellent walkman and FM radio, good connectivity including infrared, bluetooth and USB, future proof because it has quadband, EDGE and GPRS and a good battery backup to make use of all these exciting features. The sale package contains all you need, including USB cable, stereo handsfree and 256 MB memory card.
The only letdowns were the low resolution of the camera, display being lit throughout the during the call(thus causing unnecessary wastage of battery) and a poorly designed keypad.
Finally, I feel that inspite of a few minor design issues, W300i is great value for money since it contains the extensive range of features comparable to a high end phone, provides all the necessary accessories in the sales package, and last but not the least, provides the Sony Walkman experience for people with a tight budget.