21 December 2007
By: Cosmin Vasile, Communications News Editor
The best Walkman smartphone
Sony Ericsson, one of the most important handsets manufacturers, is also one of the fewest
that managed to educate its fans and teach them how to choose their future mobile phones.
From this point of view, things are much easier for the Japanese-Swedish company, who
made it clear for its consumers that it won't mix high quality music features with top-notch
camera modules and latest business applications into only one handset.
Only a smart marketing politic can sell 'incomplete' products like those branded Sony
Ericsson. So, what should you expect when buying a Walkman series handset? Well,
there's one thing that you can be sure of – it will blow your ears. It should be branded as
"Most wanted" for music freaks, because of the multimedia features that it offers. On the
under hand, those that are that are looking for devices that can take high-quality snapshots
will be more attached to the Cybershot series. An important segment of consumers –
businessmen will also be able to choose from a wide range of smartphones, especially
created to improve functionality on the go. The latter series of smartphones registered a
little setback once the P1i has been launched on the market.
Even if it had all the features specific to a high-end device, the lack of speed and strange
flaws in the Wi-Fi chipset made it almost a total fiasco. How did Sony Ericsson pull it out in
the end? I guess the answer to this question is standing right in front of me and it's called
W960i. The next Walkman series handset that has been 'stuffed' with Symbian UIQ and
Wi-Fi, just to make it a (very) viable solution for businessmen.
Announced in June 2007, Sony Ericsson W960i has been made available on the market in
late November 2007. The smartphone can be acquired for no less than USD 600$, but the
price may rise to almost USD 800$, depending on the location. Both prices place it in the
same range as Sony Ericsson's P1i smartphone, which made me believe that W960i could
be the fortunate replacement for the less successful P1i.
Design
Usually, Walkman series handsets impress through their innovative designs and futuristic
keypad layouts. The standard block design that Sony Ericsson W960i features strengthens
the idea that the target of the smartphone is wider than its name (Walkman) may suggest.
The standard look that doesn't impress too much may be perfect for a businessman. I'm not
saying that it looks dull or ugly, on the contrary, I'm pretty sure that it will attract both sides
through its appealing look and rather stylish form.
The bar handset measures 109 x 55 mm and weighs around 119 grams (battery included).
These numbers are not too much for a smartphone, even if it lacks full QWERTY keyboard.
Instead, Sony Ericsson W960i features a standard keypad, which might seem a little bit
crowded. Keys are wide but there's no space in between them, which might cause a 'lag'
when texting messages. Otherwise there's nothing bad about it, as the compound used for
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Overall, the camera module is pretty good and can satisfy any user's needs, but cannot
compare with a Cybershot series handset.
Menu and Software
Sony Ericsson W960i runs on a Symbian 9.1 OS with UIQ 3.0 platform, which is similar to
P1i's platform. It features the same interface, but fortunately not the same latency. What
was annoying when using SE's P1i smarpthone, the slow processing speed of the interface
and the long responding commands, doesn't happen onto this new W960i handset. And
when multi-tapping the screen gets you no results, you just have to wait, and wait, and then
wait some more. Don't get me wrong, Sony Ericsson W960i smartphone is not a speedy
handset, but it's nowhere near P1i.
I'm not sure if it's the interface or the low CPU that makes the phone work so slow, but the
fact remains that those that will buy the W960i model will experience lags when browsing
the menus. The pleasant surprise for those that weren't expecting it, is the fact that a
Walkman series handset contains the whole MobileOffice package and all the features and
applications that a businessman needs when he's out of the office. You can read, edit or
write any document, either it's in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or .pdf file format.
Furthermore, you can use the phone to 'scan' any business card rather than stuffing your
pocket with it. Just to make it complete, the WLAN connection really works, unlike the P1i
smartphone's WiFi connectivity. Other productivity tools include applications such as:
Calendar, Notes, Calculator, Organizer, World time and Tasks. Multimedia lovers can take
advantage of the 'standard package' that all Walkman series handsets have included:
MusicDJ, TrackID, Sound recorder, but also some games (QuadraPop and Vijay Singh Pro
Golf 3D).
There's also a Picture editor that enables users to correct any flaws found in their pictures.
Another cool option that you can use is the Standby screen which has the ability to display
the music player when this is active.
You can visualize any information regarding the playlist you're listening to or you can
choose to smartphone style screen which displays information about appointments, tasks
and other stuff related to business (much like in P1i case). This is another proof that Sony
Ericsson W960i makes it as a dual-phone, or you might consider it as 2 phones embedded
into 1: business smartphone and music walkman.
For those that are using their phone to surf the Internet, Opera 8.65 for Symbian has been
included and this time it is very fast. You can choose to turn the image to landscape mode,
for a smoother experience. The phonebook has extensive slots for every contact and it's
limited only by the internal memory. In terms of messaging the smartphone is compatible
with SMS, MMS, EMS, RSS feeds, Push email, POP3, IMAP and SMTP protocols, as well
as SSL and TSL encryption.
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Communications
Sony Ericsson's W960i is a 3G communication device that lacks EDGE technology. I had
no problems in testing the 3G data transfer speed (306 Kbit/s download and 109 Kbit/s
upload) or GPRS (46 Kbit/s download and 21 Kbit/s upload) and results are within the
parameters. You won't have any problems with those and it's very easy to set up such a
connection.
The smartphone is also compatible with Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP technology and features
USB 2.0, all of which worked like a charm. Still, the most important thing about W960i is that
it features a WiFi receiver, which fortunately works, unlike its P1i predecessor that had
serious problems.
Sony Ericsson W960i offers a complete email solution and is compatible with various
services such as: Push email, BlackBerry Connect, Microsoft - Exchange ActiveSync. For
Internet navigation, W960i includes Opera 8.65 which is the default Web Browser. It
supports HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, frames, CSS, and TSL and SSL security protocols.
The triband (GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) network compatible smartphone has a
good GSM signal reception, but very poor 3G signal reception. The sound is very clear and
loud enough for you to be able to talk on the phone in crowded areas with absolutely no
problems. Nevertheless, the vibration is somewhat mediocre in intensity and cannot be set
to higher levels.
Processor and Memory
Sony Ericsson W960i features an ARM9 family processor running at speeds up to 180
Mhz. This is the same low CPU that has been embedded in P1i smartphone. This is not
nearly what it should be, especially for such a rich operating system like Symbian UIQ 3.0. I
believe it's time that Sony Ericsson aimed higher and implemented much better CPU's in its
smartphones (see Nokia). The low CPU makes the interface of the Walkman series handset
sluggish; still, it cannot be compared with P1i.
The smartphone comes with 128 MB RAM and 256 MB flash (96 reserved for Symbian and
160 user memory). The phone lacks any microSD slot card for memory expansion, but it
comes with 8GB storage memory, which makes the slot card useless.
Multimedia
The Walkman series' latest addition, W960i, features one of the best and feature-rich music
players that have been included into a mobile phone. Still, there are some pros and cons,
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which should be emphasized. Besides the usual Equalizer that includes dozens of modes
(including MegaBass), the music player features the Mood option, which can sort the music
depending on your mood.
The music player sorts music by reading the ID3 tag of every song so, if the field is empty,
it will be tagged as Unknown. Sound is pretty much the same as all the Walkman series
phones offer in terms of quality. Even the earphones are the same and the only drawback is
the fact that the vibes are not so loud. Even the external speaker is lower than on any other
Walkman phone and lacks any bass capabilities. All in all, the phone features the true
sound of a Walkman series handset, so any fan of the series can get the phone – it will not
disappoint you. The music player can read MP3, AAC, AAC+ or e-AAC+ file formats and
features DRM function.
The smartphone includes an RDS radio that can store up to 20 stations. Reception and
sound are very good, and the phone can display fullscreen visualization.
Battery
Sony Ericsson W960i includes a Li-Polymer 950 mAh standard battery that has a standby
time of 370 hours and up to 9 hours of talk time. In truth, the phone's battery depleted after
about 5 hours of talk time and about 200 hours in standby mode. Even if the gap between
the numbers is rather big, this is more than enough, not to mention that the playback time is
about 18-20 hours, depending on the volume. I wouldn't expect less from a Sony Ericsson
handset battery, and it's good that it has become a standard to include Li-Polymer batteries
on all its handsets. This is one of the best batteries included in a smartphone, not only
because of its high "endurance", but also because it's rather small compared with its
capacity.
Impressions
I can definitely say that Sony Ericsson W960i is a big improvement in terms of functionality
and capabilities. This is the first Sony Ericsson handset to mix Walkman series phone
features with business phone features into a complete smartphone. I'd say that W960i is a
much better choice for those who wanted to buy P1i smartphone and also for those that are
looking to 'upgrade' their Walkman series handset.
The Good
An interesting mix of business and music features enlarges W960i's target, widening its
desirability. Excellent sound, high WiFi speed and 8GB storage space, as well as very fast
USB data transfers speeds also rise its functionality. I should also mention the great battery
and camera, which are well above average. A true high-end smartphone, Sony Ericsson
W960i should be placed at the peak of SE's range of business phones.
The Bad
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Well, there is always room for better, so HSDPA and EDGE technologies should've been
included. There's also the slow working interface which could have definitely been improved
if a better CPU had been included.
Sales package
Sony Ericsson W960i smarpthone
950 mAh Po-Lithium Battery (BST-33)
Stereo Bluetooth-headset (HBH-DS220)
Wired stereo headset (HPM-70)
USB data cable
Charger
User Guide
Carrying leather pouch
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Photo: Tudor Raiciu for Softpedia.com
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