It's no phoney phone! (Sony Ericsson W850i)

Member Name: thejazzyj

Product:	Sony Ericsson W850i
Date:	10/08/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great performance, packed full of features, great to use

Disadvantages: 2 Mp camera is a little lacking

Between my wife and I we have owned one of these for around 3 years now. Initially I got it as a free upgrade and used it for 12 months, I was loathed to give it up but when the offer of another free upgrade came along I relegated this to the wife. Good decision? Read on...

Looks
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Cracking little phone to look at. Not the smallest or the sleekest but well styled with a nice large screen. This phone is a slider phone. Available in 2 colours I hope everyone chose the dark one, the white really didn't work for me!

Features
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This phone is branded as a Walkman phone and one of it's major selling points is it's music playing capabilities. It is shipped with some excellent in ear headphones which double up as a hands free kit. My phone also shipped with a 1 Gb Memorystick Duo card which meant I had plenty of room to store MP3s.

The phone also has bluetooth, 3G internet, FM Radio, TrackID, SMS, MMS and all the standard features you expect.

Value
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I got this phone free on an Orange £25 a month contract. Checking eBay they seem to be going for around £40 fully unlocked which for a phone with the features this packs is a bargain.

Camera
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2 megapixels sounds ludicrously poor these days and I guess in reality it is. If you want a camera phone to take serious snaps this is probably not for you. If you want to take the odd snap or short piece of video then you are in luck. The camera has no fancy autofocus but does have a night mode and a variety of different effects. There is a built in flash which is useful. The phone also sports a smaller secondary camera on the front of the phone to be used in vide calls (I have never tried these so I can't comment on it's effectiveness).

Use
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This phone is easy to use with a clear and simple menu system and cracking responsive keys. The navigation pad is easy and intuitive to use although there is a tendency to catch the walkman button accidentally. Call quality is excellent and the tactile keys make sending texts a rewarding experience.

Summary
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Suffice to say that I have begged my wife to give me back this phone and offered her the supposedly "better" W910i in exchange. She won't budge and I mourn the loss of my favourite ever phone. I am tempted to pick up another second hand and would highly recommend this to anyone.

Summary: Superb phone that does everything well

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