review Sony Ericsson W910i

Posted in: reviews in technofocus's Blog

Ever since the iPhone was released, I was looking forward to upgrading my phone as I wanted to have one perfect stylish and unique looking well built mobile phone for listening to music which has some cool features to occasionally browse web to check out sports scores and maybe a little browsing. iPhone had everything I looked for and it was so tempting to buy it because of ocean of accessories that can be found for it. But, I just couldn't accept the size of it. For me, it's too wide to be a comfortable phone PLUS I love to have keys to interact with the phone/Walkman. So, I was looking for candy-bar type slider phone as I didn't want to give up on screen size.

Before I bought W910i, I considered Nokia; N-95 and N81, Sony; W580i, and W500i, and few Samsungs, Windows Mobile Phones, etc. I saw almost most of the phones I considered except N81. I've been a long time Nokia user including their 770 Tablet. I wanted to stay away from Nokia for now as I had screen problems with couple of their devices. After owning W580i for one day, I decided to go with SE phone as I loved the interface in W580i. It only lacked exceptional build quality which I was trying to have. Especially, the slider mechanism had to be rigid unlike some Samsungs and even W580i that felt little loose(wobbling or rattling).

I decided to buy W910i based on the fact that it will be Sony's flag-ship walkman slider phone. After playing with it for over 20 hours, I am glad I have no buyer remorse for owning W910i without waiting for user reviews or price drops to happen. I feel it's almost the perfect phone for people who are looking for walkman based phone with huge screen, great build quality, and perfect slider mechanism. I am hoping it stays like that even after extensive use.

Build Quality

It's a solid feeling phone that is perfect fit in hand. It feels solid as the side casing is metal. Back side is a hard rubberized material which looks very stylish and at the same time is scratch resistant. Front top and middle slider top is hard plastic which is finished to look like metal. I am thinking this material might be better option for a silent operation of slider mechanism for long time to come. Thekeypad has a smoother plastic buttons and feels very smooth. The battery cover is very easy to open and close unlike W580i which was ridiculously designed.

Screen

This is going to be the highlight of this phone. It's of perfect size for basic browsing (scores, stocks), picture viewing, youtube videos, etc. Picture looks very sharp and colors are very vibrant and the themes the phone came with really help showing of the screen quality.

Speaker & Headset

I am actually able to enjoy listening to music on phone speaker unlike few other phones I tried before. I can't say it's perfect as Iprefer to have stereo feel to music I listen. So, I would just say, it stands up to its size. The clarity of through Headset is as good as standalone MP3 players. I haven't tested to audiophile standards. I used Zen, iPOD, Sony VGF-AP1L before and I seem to have enjoyed it as much as I did on those. I didn't get to listen to them side by side as I no longer have any of those. I compared with Z300 and W910 is in a different league, both with built-in speaker and headset.

Walkman & Menu Interface

The basic Menu functionality is similar to other Walkman phones from SE but the screen makes it feel all different. The walkman interface is all new to the phone. Based on the themes you have your phone set, it could be very much like PS3/PSP interface. It comes with 5 great looking themes installed. The Shake Control and Screen Auto Orientation for Media applications is very cool. In games you get to choose the orientation.

Accessibility & Functionality

All the features can be accessed without having to open slider. Except to enter data, I was able to manage every function just from the top and side buttons. I was able to turn off sound in games and listen to my own music and still play games. Also, when I am on call I was able to play games(sound will be disabled for the game). All buttons and keys are very well laid out and easily accessible while operating with one hand.

Battery

So far, I am very surprised at it's strength. I haven't used any of my previous phones for listening to music. So, I was expecting the battery to drain faster as I am listening to lot of music. But, it's holding the battery strength well. I played music for hours on speaker and the battery was holding very well. I am used to charging phone every night. I think I will be very happy with this phone battery even if I miss charging some nights.

Call clarity & Phone features

It is very clear and loud enough. It's much louder than my Nokia 6230. So, I am a happy about it. The phone features like logs, profiles, vibrate mode, etc all seem great. Various themes help enhance the look of these features.

Camera

It's still a camera phone. 2MP is history. Fortunately, I am not expecting to have a good camera in my phone. It still does a good job to handle some surprise and fun photography needs or to post to a blog. If anyone is looking for a serious camera in a phone, this is not for you. And I doubt if there is a great camera phone out there! The fact that the camera has no flash means, it's almost useless to take pictures in dark situations.

W910i camera photo flower

Things I didn't expect

1. Five very good themes included. Maybe the screen is making them look even better.
2. Three very nice games and motion control works with one Marble game.
3. Wii like motion sensor working in games and PSP like menus.

Things that could have made this even a cooler phone

1. A flash to use with camera
2. Standard headphone jack for people who prefer not to carry two cable sets to use their own headphone set
3. Auto Screen orientation at all times. The auto orientations works automatically only in Media applications like Walkman, Pictures, Video, etc. For browsing, and games you have to choose from Menu.
4. Didn't find Sleep mode clock which some of the older Ericsson phones have (Maybe, it's there but I didn't look hard enough.
5. Ability to tag a track I am listening to pre-defined mood (This again might be something that is already there but couldn't figure it out as it's not mentioned in manual).

Features I didn't care to test

1. Video calls
2. Browse youtube videos (played some video pre-loaded on the phone and they play fine)

Who should buy this phone?

Anyone looking to have a stylish, well built, candy bar type slider phone, with excellent Walkman features and a HUGE screen. I love the SenseMe Music Moods feature. I never thought about using that but now, that's the way I am listening to my music. I let the Media Manager do the moods recognition for my collection and it did a fair good job.