Sony Ericsson Walkman W810i Cell Phone
- Installed Memory: 20 MB
- Connectivity: IrDA, Bluetooth, USB, Sync ML
- Performance: Quad Band
- Design: Mobile
- Style: Candy Bar
- Network Type: GSM 850 GSM 900 GSM 1800 GSM 1900 GPRS EDGE
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It's not a smartphone, but it's a pretty smart phone!
Pros
Good battery life, good set of features for a cheap phone
Cons
It would have been nice to have it be a little smaller and lighter.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you want a cheap, reliable phone that can be used anywhere in the world, this is the phone for you. If you need something fancy, there's always the iPhone.
The Sony Ericcson W810i is a small bar-style phone that's been around for a little while now. I will warn you that if you're looking for anything particularly fancy, this is not the phone for you. On the other hand, if you want to be able to reliably make and receive calls, send texts, take pictures or listen to music, this is the phone for you.
This model was only available with Cingular at the time of its release, but I used an unlocking service in order to use T-Mobile with it. It works very well, but the dedicated button for AT&T's Media Net can't be reprogrammed, so it's a wash for me. Once you set up the MMS features of your carrier, it's pretty much ready to be used.
The battery life is actually quite decent for having a small battery. Luckily, S.E. allows the data cable to act as the charging cable, which lets you plug in your phone to your computer if you have the free S.E. software for charging. If you turn your computer off, it will NOT charge your phone if you leave the phone on. However, when you power the phone off, you can charge with your computer off. I use an iPhone style USB AC charger when I'm not near my computer, and it works just fine when you leave your phone off.
The camera is, well, a mediocre 2MP with LED flash. It is quite easy to use since it has a dedicated camera button which is located where a normal camera shutter would be. After some time though, it can be a little difficult to press in. It's not a deal breaker, considering how little you will likely use it. Pictures are grainy, but they'll do if you really need to take one.
The Walkman music feature is actually quite nice compared to the camera. The memory card capacity is 2GB which means a few hundred songs will fit just fine. The layout options are very much like a traditional iPod, with options for playing a song by artist, album, or the entire music list. The phone also has 2 dedicated music keys: play/pause and volume/skip track. You don't tend to think that having dedicated buttons is a big deal, but when you have the phone in your pocket it's actually pretty convenient to change the volume or change the song without having to take the phone out and look at the buttons. In addition, only those 2 sets of buttons work when the keypad is locked as they are on the sides and recessed a little bit. The volume is more than adequate, and since it uses a S.E. connector to insert the headphones, you can use any set you'd like. I'd recommend using a set that has a shorter cord since the connector is fairly long itself.
Call quality is pretty good even on T-Mobile's network. Voices are clear even when the signal isn't as strong. I haven't tried data access since the screen and keypad don't quite make it ideal for heavy data usage.
This model was only available with Cingular at the time of its release, but I used an unlocking service in order to use T-Mobile with it. It works very well, but the dedicated button for AT&T's Media Net can't be reprogrammed, so it's a wash for me. Once you set up the MMS features of your carrier, it's pretty much ready to be used.
The battery life is actually quite decent for having a small battery. Luckily, S.E. allows the data cable to act as the charging cable, which lets you plug in your phone to your computer if you have the free S.E. software for charging. If you turn your computer off, it will NOT charge your phone if you leave the phone on. However, when you power the phone off, you can charge with your computer off. I use an iPhone style USB AC charger when I'm not near my computer, and it works just fine when you leave your phone off.
The camera is, well, a mediocre 2MP with LED flash. It is quite easy to use since it has a dedicated camera button which is located where a normal camera shutter would be. After some time though, it can be a little difficult to press in. It's not a deal breaker, considering how little you will likely use it. Pictures are grainy, but they'll do if you really need to take one.
The Walkman music feature is actually quite nice compared to the camera. The memory card capacity is 2GB which means a few hundred songs will fit just fine. The layout options are very much like a traditional iPod, with options for playing a song by artist, album, or the entire music list. The phone also has 2 dedicated music keys: play/pause and volume/skip track. You don't tend to think that having dedicated buttons is a big deal, but when you have the phone in your pocket it's actually pretty convenient to change the volume or change the song without having to take the phone out and look at the buttons. In addition, only those 2 sets of buttons work when the keypad is locked as they are on the sides and recessed a little bit. The volume is more than adequate, and since it uses a S.E. connector to insert the headphones, you can use any set you'd like. I'd recommend using a set that has a shorter cord since the connector is fairly long itself.
Call quality is pretty good even on T-Mobile's network. Voices are clear even when the signal isn't as strong. I haven't tried data access since the screen and keypad don't quite make it ideal for heavy data usage.
