The Sony Ericsson W880i has arrived. Why this apparent hyperbole when this is just another model in the long line of the Walkman® tribe? Allow me to explain.
There can be no doubt that the Walkman range of phones by Sony Ericsson has been a roaring success. This has been mainly because, as music players, they perform very well indeed. This together with the fact that Sony Ericssons are known to be reliable has ensured their continuing reliability. However, there has been one area where Sony Ericsson has lagged behind its competitors. Size.
This is a truly remarkable engineering feat, not least because the W880i performs exceptionally well in spite of.
What does it do? The W880i is a 3G phone, probably the slimmest such phone in the world todate. This allows for video-calling and there is a second (VGA) camera for this at the front. This is apart from the 2 MP camera at the back. You also get fast wireless internet access and browsing. If you don’t fancy the small phone screen for this, you can hook it up to a laptop and use it as a modem so getting true uncompromised mobile internet surfing..
Being a Walkman® phone, the W880i is very much a music device and its abilities here are awesome. The audio output is pure and crisp with the MegaBass™ feature ensuring no compromise. Music is delivered via an excellent quality headset with comfortable ear-buds. There is plenty of storage room in the bundled 1 Gb Memory Stick Micro™ (the native phone memory is 16 Mb).
The W880i comes in two colours, black and silver. The back is in a leather-feel plastic which is sturdy. The phone is actually encased in stainless steel so despite its remarkable thinness at 9.4mm, it feels solid reinforcing that quality feel. The screen (264K TFT) is sharp and crisp but, inevitably small in this classic candy-bar design. All the usual fare including Bluetooth, Speakerphone, Vibrate-alert, Organiser, video-player, SMS, EMS, MMS, email, Java and polyphonic ringtones are included. In addition, the supplied software allows synchronisation with MS Outlook and IE so you can get your bookmarks on the phone.
Yes, the 880i is small, thin and feather-weight at 71g (2.4oz) which is quite remarkable. However, there has been a price for all this. Apart from the rather small, if sharp, screen, the keypad is a challenge to use. The keys are really small and can be quite frustrating. Also, the camera, if that matters to you, lacks autofocus.
However, all in all, we have got our thumbs firmly up for this little number.
