Sony Ericsson’s latest offering, the w880i does one thing - Gets a reaction out of anyone who looks at it. It is ultra slim, very different looking from any conventional bar phone(SE or otherwise), is packaged in metal and did I mention its SLIM - 9.4mm to be precise?
I guess thats the in thing these days. Motorola, Samsung, Sony and even Nokia are putting their phones on a diet program and getting them anorexically thin.
Let me put it this way - This phone is the Paris Hilton of the cellular world. Hot to some, ugly to some but noticed by one and all.
Now before I get into a rant about the Hiltons, lets get to the review shall we?
Personally I’m not a big fan of the look of this phone but that comes down to personal preference. Many of you may love the way it looks. What I do like though is the way it feels. Unlike the k550i and even the w810i, this feels very solid and slick in your hands. It looks and feels durable because it is very well built.
It comes in two color choices - Black/Orange and Silver/Black.
The screen on this phone is nice and bright but pretty small considering the likes of the Nokia 6300. Still, its good enough for most and considering that this is primarily a Walkman series phone, the screen would be adequate to most.
It has a 2 Megapixel camera but no flash. So, obviously this renders the phone useless at night to click pictures. It does take good pictures during the day like you’d expect from a Sony Ericsson phone but it doesn’t have autofocus which is a shame.
Moving on, what strikes you first when you look at this phone is the keypad. The keys are THIN like those retro remote controls. Personally I HATE them. Its annoying to SMS on and just bad to use overall. Girls with nails don’t seem to have much of an issue though. But for me, that is the single biggest drawback of this phone. What were SE thinking? Slimming the phone up is a good thing. Slimming the keys up and make them a pain to use. not very smart I must say.
I guess it takes some getting used to but when you look at nice, durable kaypads on other phones, you wonder what possessed SE to pull off this stunt on an otherwise decent phone. The navigation dial is similar to the w810i but not as responsive.
Coming to the main features of this phone, since its a Walkman phone, it has pretty much everything the w810i had and more. It has the updated Walkman 2.0 software which supports album art(thats rather cool); it comes with a 1 GB M2 memory card to load songs and data on; it supports A2DP which makes it possible to pair a stereo bluetooth headset to this phone and listen to music wirelessly.(I would recommed the HBH-DS970 headset for this. Works great!) The w880i also has 3G but thats useless in India but we’re still paying for the technology.
The loudspeaker works good for mp3s. Its not the loudest but definitely acceptable. Its about as loud as a w610i.
On to my other biggest grievance - the w880i doesn’t have FM! Thats a huge loss since a lot of people listen to FM radio here in India. Again, this phone seems like a complete misfit for the Indian market.
Apart from that it sports the usual - flight mode to use the phone simply as an mp3 player, voice recorder, file manager, video player, loudspeaker etc.
While making calls, the reception is good but not loud and clear like a Nokia. The sound is lower in volume and muffled at times. You don’t notice it in a quiet environment but it really becomes apparent when you try making calls amidst commotion. You can hardly hear the other person. That seems to be a recurring problem with Sony Ericsson though. Many people complain about the same issue on most of the newer SE phones. Not just this model.
Battery life on this phone is good. It lasts a good deal - 2-3 days under normal use. If you use the phone heavily, you’ll need to charge it every night though.
Anyway, to recap -
Pros:
Slim.
Well constructed and durable. Great materials.
Unique.
Walkman 2.0 software.
Good battery life.
Cons:
No FM Radio.
Poor keypad. The Slim keys are obtrusive and difficult to use.
Small Screen by todays standards.
and lastly. EXPENSIVE compared to similar phones.
Final thought: If you’re debating between this and the Nokia 6300. Get the Nokia. If you are a Sony Ericsson loyalist, get something better like the K800i for the same price.