Great camera and mp3 player!... oh yeh its a phone aswell (Sony Ericsson W800i)

Member Name: sam_mule2k

Product:	Sony Ericsson W800i
Date:	23/01/06 (780 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great looks, even better features

Disadvantages: Please dont steal it!

When i saw this phone advertised, i knew my trusty nokia had had its day. Based on the sony k750i this phone boasts some very nice features. Phone technology is just advancing so fast. Who would have thought five years ago that soon our phones would contain a music player, digital camera and be able to access the internet. The world is at your fingertips just through your phone today.

I got the sony w800i after my contract ran out with orange. I had been messed around considerably by orange so decided to move tariffs to O2. Besides i feel they have far better offers anyway. The phone cost £30 on a 12 month contract costing £30 a month. This gives 200 anytime minutes along with 500 texts a month (this was in november 2005). If you want to purchase the phone on its own sim free it costs around the £300 mark. This makes the contract seem very reasonable.

---Design---

The phone is white in colour with metallic orange sides sporting the sony walkman logo. The key pad buttons are all fairly close together and are white with orange lighting. The menu buttons are made of a shiney silver metal and also have an orange glow when lit up. The phone is navigated by a metal joystick situated in the middle of the menu buttons. The back of the phone has a silver camera plate with a sliding mechanism to open and shut the lens cover. There is also a flash just above the lens. This double up as a nice torch which is very useful!

---The features---


--Camera--

The camera is situated on the back of the phone and is protected by a sliding shutter. When the shutter is opened the phone will automatically go on to the camera mode. The camera boasts resolution up to 2 mega pixels. This is as good as you will get on a phone today. My digital camera stuggles to produce pictures as good as this phone! The camera also has a 4x digital zoom and flash. What more could you ask for... The video mode will produce videos of vga quality and the sound quality is reasonable, but do not expect anything crystal clear. The flash light can also be used in the video mode to capture videos in dim light.

--The radio--

The radio offers only fm stations. Also for the radio to work the handfree has to be plugged in as this acs as an aerial. This can sometimes be a pain as i rarely carry my handsfree kit. However when operating the radio gives a good signal and the sound quality is great. The radio digitally tunes itself and offers a memory log for all your favourite stations.


---The Walkman---

The walkman on this phone is fantastic. Branded the 'walkman' phone you would expect it was and it doesnt dissapoint. The phone comes with a 512mb sony duo memory stick. This is capable of fitting around 150 songs on. The walkman is accessed by its own button located in the centre of the menu buttons. This brings up and ipod like menu offering a menu of 'artists, tracks, playlists, videos.' These then take you to further menus and act as a perfect organiser to access your music from. The sound offered is superb. I recommend getting some different earphones to the ones provided as they arent great. The walkman offers various sound equalizers and the sony megabass to give that extra punch to your music. You can also listen to your music through the loudspeaker which is of good quality considering the size of it.


--- The phone ---

-- Menu and display --

The display is bright and clear which is ideal for viewing your photos and videos on. The display is 176x220 which isn't the biggest available but is ample size for the majority of people. The menu is easy to navigate but may take some getting used to as i found as i was used to nokias. The menu is picture based with text displayed at the top of the menu when each section is hilighted.

-- Battery Life--

The battery life of the phone is very good and with heavy use it will last around 2-3 days. If i am using it infrequently this can stretch up to 5-6 days. The official amount quoted by sony are 9 hours talktime and 400 standby hours. The phone also offers a feature in the settings section of the menu which will tell u a pecentage of the battery life that is left.

--Connectivity---

The phone offers both infrared and bluetooth technology. Ideal for sharing pictures and videos with your mates! The phone also has gprs connectivity for accessing the internet and email.


--Software/Pc data exchange--

The software is excellent and offers an easy to use program for accessing and transferring data between your pc and phone. The phone comes with a usb lead for this purpose. The data exchange isnt rapidly fast and you can expect to wait around a minute for an average length song to go from your pc to your phone. The memory stick is recognised as a seperate device and this is accessed through 'my computer,' as it is recognised as a mass storage device.

---Overall---

This phone is excellent and boasts such a wide range of features that it will take a good few years until it is dated. It contains a massive memory, excellent camera and music player and serves as intended as reliable phone. Would highly recommend it to anyone!

Summary: A phone full of great features

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