Sony Ericsson W8

sony ericsson w8 review

Release Date:  Q2 2011
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There have been a lot of rumours in the recent past regarding the new Sony Ericsson phone with Walkman features that will run on Google powered operating system. However, it is now confirmed that the new walkman phone will be called Sony Ericsson W8 and it will be the first Walkman phone to run with Android™ sensibilities. The music lovers will definitely appreciate the fact that Sony Ericsson is reviving its Walkman range of phones, which revolutionised the experience of mobile music.

Though the device is touted as Android™ Walkman phone, it is better not to expect any revolutionary additions in terms of technology. The device will run on the older version of Android™ OS, which is v2.1 Éclair. It bears a lot of similarity with XPERIA X8, but comes with a vibrant dose of colours such as red, orange and azure.

The basic features of the phone include 600MHz processor that powers the backdated Android™ OS, which is embellished with Timecape. There is a 3.2 MP camera, but no flash. It seems that the device has solely concentrated on its music aspects. Therefore, it is expected that the handset will load excellent speakers. You will more details about these features and a lot more in the following sections of the review.

Sony Ericsson W8 – Targeted Towards Youth

It seems that Sony Ericsson is targeting youth for their latest devices. First, it was SE Xperia Play and now W8. The former device is dedicated for the gamers who like to experience PlayStation like gaming on the handset. The manufacturer has even launched several top-notch devices that will even help the business users to make communication smoother. However, SE W8 is solely focused on high-end music features, which is hugely appreciated by youth. The device will be come along with MH410, which is a superior headset that delivers advanced sound quality. As the device is not loaded with high-end features like the other advanced phones and the fact that it comes with the older version of Android™, it can be expected that the price of the phone will be affordable. This will make young people to access this handset easily. Furthermore, it also sends out an indication that Sony Ericsson has no plans to stop manufacturing the Walkman range of phones.

Sony Ericsson W8 –Design

The design of the phone is definitely neither as attractive as SE XPERIA Neo nor does its features come closure when compared with the later, but still it boasts a charming appeal. This is mostly because of the vibrant colours it wears. As mentioned above, the device features three attractive shades which are red, orange and azure.

The back portion of the phone is completely colourful and also includes the camera lens along with the logo of Sony Ericsson and Walkman. The measurement of the phone is 99 x 54 x 15 mm and it weighs 104 grams. Therefore, the device is quite lightweight and can be carried conveniently. The frontal portion of the device is mainly dominated by the touch screen display with Sony Ericsson and Walkman logo placed on the top and the bottom of the frontal part respectively. The design of the phone is cute and it is simple to carry.

Sony Ericsson W8 – Display

There is nothing much exciting as far as the display of SE W8 is concerned. Though the phone includes a touch screen display, but it is a TFT capacitive variety with 320 x 480 pixels resolutions, which is nothing extraordinary. The display provides visibility of 16 million colours. The size of the display is 3.0 inches, which is not too big like the other Sony Ericsson devices of the recent times. The touch screen display is loaded with some common features such as proximity sensor, accelerometer sensor, scratch resistant surface and Timescape™ user interface. Though Sony Ericsson never claimed to feature high-end display with W8; what it includes is quite decent.

Sony Ericsson W8 – Music

Music is the biggest highlight of W8 and thus the users can expect some exciting features. As disclosed above, the device will bring a superior headset called MH410. The quality of sound is fabulous when one listens to music while putting the headset on. The handset features an integrated Walkman player that can play diverse music files such as MP3/ eAAC+/ WMA/ WAV files and include TrackID™music recognition. There is stereo FM with RDS for additional pleasures to the music lovers. Even when the headset is not plugged in, the users can turn on the music in the speaker mode and it is expected to be of good quality as W8 is a dedicated music phone.

Sony Ericsson W8 – Camera

It seems like Sony Ericsson has only focused on the music aspects with W8 with the dash of Android™ functionalities. Even the camera features of the device are mediocre with 3.15 mega pixel and 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution. The omission of flash is a big setback as the users will not be able to click good quality snaps in the low light conditions. However, there is geo tagging that might excite the snappers to some extent. Also, do not expect good quality video recording because the camera can record videos at VGA @30fps. There is no secondary camera for video calling.

Sony Ericsson W8 –Connectivity and Memory

Apart from the basic connectivity options of GPRS and EDGE, W8 features high-speed connectivity options with 3G HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps) and Wi-Fi® 802.11 b/g. v2.1 Bluetooth® and v2.0 USB allows exchange of data to/from other compatible devices. The internal memory of the phone is 128 MB storage with 168 MB RAM. There is a microSD™ card slot to increase the memory up to 16 GB.

Overall, if you are searching for budget friendly Android™ phone with exciting music features, then Sony Ericsson W8 makes a good choice.