Travel with your tunes on Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones

Kent German
Kent German Senior Editor October 5, 2006
Since Sony gave the world the Walkman (remember cassette tapes?), it was no surprise last year when Sony Ericsson announced it was bringing music to its handsets. The company's Walkman line not only packs a powerful music player into a regular cell phone, it also accomplishes the task quite well. Great music quality, a range of features, and easy usability are trademarks of the Walkman phones, without sacrificing that all-important call quality. The Sony Ericsson W800i was the first model to debut in the United States when Sony Ericsson announced it at the 2005 CTIA show. It was followed by the W600i later in the year and the W810i in the first half of 2006. The W300i followed last summer with the W710i bringing up the rear just last week. Though we like the phones as a whole, they're not without their drawbacks, so make sure you find the right handset for you. Cingular has been the only carrier thus far to offer the Walkman phones, but we hope we'll see more on the market soon.
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Product Sony Ericsson W800i Sony Ericsson W810i (AT&T) Sony Ericsson W300i (AT&T)
Price MSRP: $599.00 $999.18 Pricing is currently unavailable.
CNET editors' rating 3.5 stars 4 stars 3.5 stars
Average user rating 4 stars 4 stars 3.5 stars
Release date Info unavailable Info unavailable Info unavailable
Bottom line
Its design may not be particularly flashy, but the Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman phone elegantly combines its calling and multimedia features into a powerful device.
Sony Ericsson succeeds again with its third Walkman phone for the U.S. market, but the W810i brings only minor improvements over earlier models.
Though it has a few design and performance glitches, the Sony Ericsson W300i is a quality, basic MP3 cell phone.
Cellular technology

GSM

GSM

GSM

Band / mode

GSM 900/1800/1900 (Tri-Band)

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband)

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband)

Wireless Interface

Bluetooth

Infrared (IrDA)

Bluetooth

Infrared (IrDA)

Bluetooth

Infrared (IrDA)

Weight

3.5 oz

3.5 oz

3.3 oz

Service Provider Info unavailable

AT&T

AT&T

Service & support details type Info unavailable

Limited warranty

Technical support

Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications
Buying choices

MSRP: $599.00

See manufacturer website for availability.

Prices from 1 store

Pricing is currently unavailable.