The UK mobile phone market is really hotting up, and looks set to become huge in the coming years. As fast as technology is progressing, some units now have video, bluetooth, video calling, Wi-Fi, and other advanced features. I took a look at the SonyEricsson W910i - catchy - a newcomer to the “media-smart phone” market.
As mediasmart phones go, the W910i rolls in with generous specs:
- Just 99.5mm tall, 50mm wide, and a slim 12mm deep
- 86g in weight
- A slick 262, 144 colour TFT screen, at 240×320 pixels
- 35Mb memory -more or less useless - but expandable to up to 4GB using Memory Stick Micro (M2)
- Supports EDGE, GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900), HSDPA 2100, UMTS 2100
- MP3 & AAC format support
- 2 MegaPixel Camera
- Bluetooth (With support for A2DP, for wireless headphones)
- Email
- Web access via NetFront browser
- RSS
- Video Streaming
Among others. I investigate:
When the box was opened, I this was actually the gold version of the w910i, but I was told that the specs are the same for black and gold. Picking the unit up, it was surprisingly light, even for a mobile phone - after all, it is just 86g. But somehow, it still felt quite solid and well-built. I turned the unit on, and after I had inserted a valid SIM card - it refused to work without one entirely - it booted up sharpish and found the network within a couple of seconds.
The music player has its own key (left bottom key below the screen) that brings the music player to the top, over whatever you are doing. I found the interface took some getting used to, as a first time Walkman phone user. I felt like there were too many buttons, but then, i had been spoiled by the likes of iPhone and iPod Touch.
From the home screen, hitting the play button takes you to the main menu, containing Messaging, Camera, Contacts, Settings ect.
I fired up the camera and took a couple of shots, he camera interface was very simple, point and click. The camera function really made use of the 2 MegaPixel camera, and both he images it took, and the video quality was really good, better defined than some other 2MP cameras. Below is the phone playing a quick video that i took, which plays landscape when the phone senses that you have moved it sideways.
Then, I checked out the music player. This again responded to tilting the phone, and switched to landscape mode. The interface was responsive and easy to use, I found the song i wanted quickly, and - almost most important of all - it felt like this wasn’t just a phone with a media player tacked on - it was a media phone, built to do what it does.
Using the the shake function on the phone to change tracks was really intuitive, and it seemed to understand the difference between unintended shakes and when i needed to change track - most of the time. There were occasional periods of unresponsiveness from the shake function.
Once i got my teeth into the interface, texting, organising files, playing music, and using the camera were a cinch. I tried the call function, and it was easy to add, search, and find contacts - unfortunately the call function itself wasn’t available due to this being an unreleased demo phone, which wasn’t hooked up to a network - so I cannot tell how clear the calls are.
Final Word: A great phone, with great features. Despite the features that SonyEricsson have put into this phone, the interface still feels cluttered, and it still feels like there are too many buttons. That said, however, once i got used to it - texting was a breeze, picture messaging was fine too. I liked the integrated media player, because it really felt like it was a part of the phone.
I think this phone will be, without question, for users who love their media and communications - and certainly not for the entry-level users out there. Overall :
8/10
Note: I apologise for the abrupt interview, but this was a group preview of the phone, and I only had 5 minutes alone with the unit, in the face of the SonyEricsson fanboys who were clamoring for a paw at the glossy unit. If you have had your hands on this, I would love to hear how calls sound, and what the web browser feels like.
Graham
