After my reliable and much loved Nokia 6630 had an unfortunate run-in with a washing machine, it was written in the stars that I was destined to get a new phone. I eventually decided on the Sony Ericsson W800i, incidentally the same as Ryan’s who lauded the phone’s features.
First off is the 2.0MP camera. I took a few photos at the maximum resolution and found the quality excellent. None of the same grainy issues of the 1.3MP on the 6630. I have only taken daytime photos thus far, and have found them all comparable to photos I have taken on standard digital cameras. There is no flash, but a rather powerful light, I will test it later. Here’s a sample pic in Midleton:
Second is the most prominent feature of the W800i, the walkman. It comes with a 512MB memory stick, and the process was smooth, I simply dragged and dropped MP3’s to the memory card, no issues. The sound quality is excellent, both from the loudspeaker and the included headset. The 6630 had a similar feature, but I always found the Nokia software fiddly and slow.
As for other aspects of the phone, the menu system does take getting used to after years as a Nokia afficiando. The space on texts uses a different button, but the predictive texts differs slightly in its use, and I found it just as easy as the 6630. The games included are substandard, but I will be getting more shortly. The screen is high-res, very clear, very bright, it also has nice animated wallpaper.
What the phone lacks is a standard 3.5mm jack for headphones. I am forced to use the Sony handsfree kit, and then attach a 3.5mm headphone to that. I have found the connection to the phone to be slightly loose, in which case the phone automatically reverts to the loudspeaker, which I could imagine being rather embarrasing if it came loose in a public place. The built in radio is fine (the 6630 lacked one), has RDS, and I get decent quality from all radio stations.
The W800i also has IR and Bluetooth (why they include IR anymore is beyond me), and I trust all these things work as normal.
Overall thus far I am happy with the switch. All I need now is to switch to the new Macbooks. 🙂
Comments
3 responses to “Sony Ericsson W800i Review”
Be very careful if you decide to port video to the W800i. We crashed ours beyond easy repair when we asked for 25 fps with high-bit rate audio tracks alongside the music videos. Something around 12 fps and 96 kbps audio would probably be the way to go.
Bernie – I found video just unwatchable on it’s business sibling the K750i, I think I’ll change to an iPhone next year 😉
Gavin – I actually used the IR a few months back, with cr*ppy Siemens work laptops… You might like to know that there’s actually a flash add-on accessory, I saw one the other day in the Sony Centre in the Jervis Centre.
I was having W550i same features as w800i , difference is only the camera W800i is having 2mp when W550i is with 1.3mp,
When you load any video clip , do convert in 3GP you can get 3GP coverter on website.
If you really want to enjoy the video clip as as good as on your computer , set it 133kbps for 3GP video,
I have converted several WMV,AVI and MPG videos to 3GP videos , even you can down load Jawa programmes like Money Manager, and Secreat coades.
Unfortunatly last week my mobile has been stolen , Now I want to buy W800i………..
If any one having any problem regarding video, audio and Programes on W550i or W800i do contact me on satya1802@hotmail.com