512mb of music headed your way! (Sony Ericsson W810i)

Member Name: severus_snape

Product:	Sony Ericsson W810i
Date:	14/09/06 (1142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great MP3 and camera qualities

Disadvantages: Small keys for those with big hands!

On a sunny morning in June, I walked into my local O2 shop to browse the current range of mobile phones. I was due an upgrade from my heavy (and slightly unreliable) Nokia, and whilst I had an Online contract with O2, I thought it would be good to see them in person, rather than look at pictures. I wasn't after anything fancy, and was pretty happy to stay with a Nokia - as long as it had a decent MP3 player built in.

Less than 30 seconds passed between my looking at the mobile range, and my being pounced on by an eager looking sales assistant, who can't have been any older than 21. As he was clearly of the harrassing type, I quickly told him what I was looking for - another Nokia, nothing too fancy, with an MP3 player built in. He didn't even show me a Nokia, but went straight in to this phone - the Sony Erricson. I've always had Nokia phones, and was a little wary of having a different make. This little fact was clearly not one to share with the assistant, who immediately flew to the back room, and brought out a model for me to see. It was actually pretty amusing to watch the assistant talk about the phone as if it was the best thing that'd ever happened to him, but as he went on to discuss its features, I became more seriously interested...

Firstly, the phone has 512mb of memory - quite substantial for a mobile phone, which supports the MP3 system. The MP3 player itself carries the trademark "Walkman" label, and allows you to play songs by artist, / album, track, and playlist, and inclues an automatic and manual equaliser. The volume control is situated on the top left part of the phone, and a play/pause button is on the other side - which means music can be stopped without having to fumble with the phone - you can just put your hand in your pocket.

Secondly, the phone comes with a 2megapixel camera - much more impressive than my old Nokia. This includes features such as "shoot mode", "night mode", "self-timer", as well as a light - powerful enough to produce a flash effect, and handy as a mini-torch too! The feature I was most impressed with is a "panorama" mode - allowing you to take three seperate shots, with the edge of the previous shot showing faintly to allow you to overlap. The result: three seperate pictures that become one - covering almost 180degrees of space.

The phone comes with many other features - the ability to manipulate themes, wallpaper, ringtones, etc; a built-in organiser; FM radio, and an impressive application called "music mate", which features a metronome - handy if, like me, you play an instrument and want to set a tempo when learning new pieces.

The phone does have a few downsides. I find the keys a little small for sending text message, and the predictive text takes a long time to get used to - particularly if you've come from using a Nokia. Also, whilst the MP3 player is very impressive, I find the software that comes with it a little slow to use. Uploading songs can take a little while.

On the whole, I was quite pleased I was harrassed a little at the start of my quest for a new phone; I just feel sorry for the salesman who, after spending a good 20 minutes trying to sell me the phone, looked very disappointed when he realised this was an upgrade, and not a sale. Sorry mate! I'd definitely recommend the phone to anyone looking for a phone with great functions - as long as you haven't got really big hands!

Summary: Great phone and some great features built in

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