The Mobile Phone Saving Network

Sony Ericsson W800

Wireless/Mobile Phone/Cell Phone

Rated 4.0 out of 5

Sony Ericsson's W800 is the company's first Walkman branded mobile phone. Sony Ericsson has wisely chosen to make use of the Sony Walkman brand, one of the best known brands in the world as far as mobile music devices are concerned.

The W800 comes with a 512 MB Duo Card and can handle up to a 2 GB card.

Based almost entirely on the already amazing Sony Ericsson K750i, the W800 has enough features to appeal to music lovers, photographers, and general gadget lovers alike. To start with, the W800 has a bright 262k-color display that has a 176 x 220 pixel resolution. The display is reflective enough to make it easily readable in harsh sunlight. The chromed softkeys and joystick offer both good feel as well as good looks. The main keypad, however, is one of the few weak points of the device, being a bit too stiff for my liking.

Click here to see the Sony Ericsson W800 in action.

Sony Ericsson has made it especially easy to get to your music. A dedicated play/pause button on the left side of the phone will start and stop your music no matter what you are currently doing. The button directly above the joystick will take you to the Walkman music application, which is as full-featured a media player as you are likely to find. The player is very well laid out and organizes your music by track, album, and artist. You can also create your own track lists, fast forward and rewind the current track, and even watch video clips. If you prefer to get your music over the airwaves, you can make use of the built-in FM radio instead.

The W800 comes with a special earbud headset that allows you to use your own stereo headphones. The earbuds can be disconnected from the clip-on microphone to expose a regular 3.5mm headset jack, the same kind used by most other audio devices. This means you have your choice of headphones, yet still can make and take calls hands-free.

Zoom into the action with the W800's 2.0 MP camera.

The W800's camera has a real autofocusing lens mated to a very capable CMOS camera sensor, all backed up by real digital camera ergonomics and a proper user interface. To activate the camera you just slide the switch on the back of the phone that hides the protective lens, turn the W800 90 degrees, and put your finger on the dedicated shutter button. A light press on the shutter will focus the image, and a full press will take the photo--just as with any dedicated camera. The volume rocker works as a digital zoom control when in camera mode, and the camera's UI will have you thinking you are using a regular camera. But it is the image quality that really clinches the deal. While the photos might be a tad behind a top-class digital camera in terms of resolution and image quality, they are on par with many digital cameras on the market.

Our test W800 had over 32 MB of internal storage available and shipped with a 512 MB Memory Stick Duo card. The card slot on the W800 can support cards of up to 2 GB in capacity, which should satisfy most people. Battery life was fantastic in our test, topping 10.5 hours of talk time. Sony Ericsson claims that the W800 can play up to 15 hours of music with the phone in standby, or up to 30 hours with the phone subsystem turned off.

In the end, the Sony Ericsson W800 offers about as much functionality and entertainment value as you can find today in a 3.5oz (100g) package. At this time there is simply nothing available that can top it.

Pros:

Great media player
Can use your own headphones
2-megapixel camera
Bluetooth

Cons:

Stiff keypad
Color might not be for everybody

What's in the Box:
W800 handset, battery, desktop charger, PC suite CD, stereo headphones, user's manual, Sony Memory Stick 512MB DuoCard, Memory Stick adapter and case.

--Reviewed by Michael Oryl, editor in chief of www.MobileBurn.com

Features of Sony Ericsson W800:

2 megapixel digital camera with video recording capability
one press music button, bluetooth wireless technology, stereo speakers, fm radio with rds
supplied 512mb memory stick pro duo gives capacity for around 150 music tracks or 10-15 full length cds
unlocked for use with your existing gsm 1800 mhz, gsm 900 mhz or gsm 1900 mhz service provider and sim card. note: this phone does not come with service or a sim card.
unlocked phones
w800 comes with cd ripping software that will move the music from your cds quick and easy - drag and drop

Reviews:

Get a free unlocked Motorola RAZR v3i instead!	Rating: 4
Why settle for less, or commit yourself to a specific cellular provider and service plan, when you can get a complimentary unlocked top of the line Motorola RAZR v3i cell phone that works with any cellular service provider and any SIM card. I got mine free at this web site: stuffgratis.biz/razrv3i

this w800 , disappiont me	Rating: 1
this w800 , disappoint me is worst cell that i bought. i take a beautiful pictures with de camera but when i am going to see they not here, i lost them. when i transfer the mp3 songs with the original software, this songs have a horrible noise between them. i am very disappoint with this cell(w800), now I am going to buy a k750 sony ericsson

The attention to detail makes this the best phone available

Rating: 5

PROS:
1) The screen is very bright, vivid, and sharp.
The menu is not sluggish at all as seen with previous Sony Ericsson models.
2) The casing itself provides the clear screen protection. Therefore, if your screen gets scratched or cracked then you can easily interchange the casing/housing of your phone to get a brand new look and feel for your aging phone.
3) The background supports animated gifs files for cool and unique wallpapers and screensavers.
4) Their is a dedicated shortcut button for both the walkman and the camera.
5) In the camera mode the built in flash is easily turned on by pressing the '*' key.
6) The built-in camera is superior to all camera phones currently on the market. The camera provides features like frame shooting, burst shooting, self-timer, sepia, solarize, white balance, night mode, and macro shooting. The preview function is also similar to digital cameras with tiled preview and zoom capabilities.
7) File transfer is hassle free. The phone is equiped with blue tooth, infrared, USB transfer, and external memory stick.
8) Quick dedicated button for phone status, instantly provides memory status (phone memory and memory stick) and most importantly % battery charged to take the guess work out of battery meter icons.
9) Phone can charge via provided USB cable. Essential if you use a laptop all the time since you no longer have to find an outlet for your laptop and phone.
10) Headphone adapter provides the standard headphone jack, so you can use your favorite headphones for the Walkman and hand-free operation purposes
11) Provided headphones are excellent with great bass response and passive noise cancellation.
12) Man screen shows date and time.

CONS:
1) Camera shutter button sometimes is flipped accidentally
2) Camera is sensitive to camera jitter. So make sure you have a steady hand when taking photos or use the self-time function.
3) Alarm clock may not be loud enough to wake the heavy sleeper.

Excellent phone review at CNET.com, where it won editor's pick and user's pick awards.

Actually a K750 with a new skin	Rating: 5
FYI, the W800 is electronically identical to the k750i. It is even possible to flash the firmware on a k750i and make it identical to a w800i. The cases of the k750i and w800 are also interchangable. So in theory, you could spend a lot less on a k750i, buy a OEM w800 case and flash the OS and have W800 for close to $200 less.

Get a free unlocked Motorola RAZR v3i instead!	Rating: 4
Why settle for less, or commit yourself to a specific cellular provider and service plan, when you can get a complimentary unlocked top of the line Motorola RAZR v3i cell phone that works with any cellular service provider and any SIM card. I got mine free at this web site: reallyfree2u.com/razrv3i

By Sony Ericsson Mobile