Good basic walkman and camera phone. (Sony Ericsson W302)

Member Name: dooeyyooey

Product:	Sony Ericsson W302
Date:	15/05/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Walkman, stylish design, nice photos.

Disadvantages: Poor video recording quality.

When I decided to buy a new mobile phone there were 4 characteristics that I was looking for (in addition to it being a good phone, with good reception, that doesn't drop calls, etc):

- Candy bar style (I much prefer it to the slide and flip types).

- At least a 2MP camera. I already have a digital camera, so all I need from my phone is the ability to take some reasonable quick photos.

- Good music player, radio.

- Inexpensive. My mobile phones never last very long, for various reasons, so I realised it would be unwise to spend a large amount of money on what is likely to be a short-term investment.

After researching the candy bar phones with the specifications that I was looking for within the price range that I was aiming for, I chose the Sony Ericsson W302.

I would have preferred the black one, but the deal I wanted was with Virgin Mobile, and that meant the silver model, which is exclusive to the network.

I ordered the phone online, and when it arrived and I took it out of the box, I was surprised to find that it wasn't silver all over, just the front. The back is white!

What's up with that? Was it not cost effective to make it all silver (or all white, for that matter)?

So the front is rocking the noble metals look, in silver (with a gold central key) aluminium fascia, and the back is basic white plastic.

I have since seen it called "Sparkling White", which would have been a giveaway, but on the online store I bought it from it was referred to as the "Silver" Sony Ericsson W302.

Anyway, I must say that now I've got used to it and don't even notice it any more, but when I first saw this hybrid look I considered it a flaw that marred an otherwise very aesthetically pleasing handset.

The phone is very small and light: 100 mm tall, 46mm wide and 10.5 mm thick, and only weighs 78g.

The screen measures 2 inches diagonally, and resolution is 176 x 220.

This is a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE data.

It has a 20MP internal memory, but it supports memory cards of up to 4GB. It comes with a 512MB card included, which is already inserted.

It records a maximum of 30 calls (received, dialled and missed).


This is a Walkman mobile phone, and the music player is its best feature. It has a good quality sound, and the phone comes with hands free headphones. It supports album art.

There is also FM radio.

The camera is 2MP (1600x1200 resolution). The photos are nice and clear. They don't look much when you see them on the phone's little screen, but once you transfer them to your computer and see them larger, they look fine.

The video function however, is VGA quality, and videos turn out all pixelated.
Therefore, if you want a mobile phone capable of recording good quality videos to keep for posterity, this is not the phone for you, and you should definitely get one with a much higher resolution.


It has a standard, Li-Ion, battery.
The battery life is good: Stand by is up to 300 hours (12 days); talk time is up to 7 hours and it plays music for up to 10 hours.

It includes other basic functions such as alarm, personal organiser, flight mode, 3D Java games.

No Wi-Fi, but Bluetooth v.2.0., and it has web browser and email client. An USB cable is also included in the package, so you can connect the phone to your PC.

Summary: Adequate and good-looking, if you don't need a high performance phone.

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