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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 42 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Do you want people to ask you "Woah, what's that?" Then get this phone!"
Pros: Great screen, Great feel, Grabs people's attention like no other device, mp3player, 2mp camera, 3g
Cons: Price, Memory Stick Duo, Not much integrated memory, Bit fat and on the heavy side, takes some getting used to as the standard SE menu has been improved with tons of new goodies
Summary: First of all I want to say that I have used 4 Sony Ericsson phones to date and if you are upgrading from a SE phone you will see nice little improvements.
The thing I really love about SE and why I am hooked I think is that their phones don't look like your classic cell phone. This phone is sort of geared towards a younger crowd because (well...because look at the picture). I am not saying if you are a bussiness person you should not get it, but I am saying that you need to be COOL to own one of these thingies because this phone has COOL written ALL OVER IT.
So be cool, and don't get a Razor or a Chocolate like every other person you see on the street. Stand out baby! Shock and Awe haha!
Ok lets analyze this phone in detail:
So it is mid-November and this phone sells for about 420 USD a piece on ebay without a contract. As usual US providers are not cool enough to offer the best and newest phones so should you get the free phone they give you, wrap it up and give it to your Mom for Thanksgiving. From previous experience I would not expect the price of this phone to drop bellow 390 or so until next summer. So, if you wait for it to become cheaper...it won't.
This phone is a bit on the heavy and fat side which is sort of surprizing given that most companies are IN with the SLIM. Samsung makes some really slick sliders and this by no means beats their look, but hey this is SE's first slider phone and it's not thick and heavy to the point where it's very ugly. They clearly didn't go for the professional look like Samsung, but more for the stylish mp3 player hip look.
This phone features some interesting looking and feeling keys on the front which take some time to get used to especially if you have fat fingers
. Things are a little bit clumped up on the front panel, but that's probably at the expense of a nice big screen.
The entire area around those 4 tiny buttons in the center is depressable so the area for the key is actually pretty big it's not just the dot.
The 2MP camera takes nice pictures during the day and really bad ones at night. I suppose this is where we still stand today with the phone cameras although I have heard there are some models which really have nice cameras on them. (however don't forget this is an mp3 phone)
This phone comes with a few built in themes which are very different from each other and can completely augment the look of the entire menu and display. Some of them are really BADASS. With nice animations and their famous user friendly menu, SE is a winner.
I don't like the feel of the headset. You actually have to plug them in your ear. I don't like the feel, I like the ipod earbuds better. I do like the fact that you can be listening to music and at a press of a button you can take a call (button is located on the headset wire itself).
Speaker is loud enough and nice quality. You can listen to your music without plugging yourself in which makes every ipod jealous. ANother thing that impresses is the visual aspect of the software and it's harmony with the beautiful leds on the outside. It's perfection. The background can be very dynamic and the themes that are included with this phone can change the entire look of the phone and menu (COMPLETELY!) not just the colors, but the way the menu looks and operates. They have clearly spent a lot of time on this and the result is quite impressive.
The software that installs on your computer is easy to use. I don't get why you can not rename folders that you dump your music into. For now it seems like you need to dump all your stuff in a general folder and then make playlists. Maybe I am wrong about this, I haven't played with the mp3 player that much.
You can connect this phone to any bluetooth device and move songs to and out of it in a few clicks.
Memory is expandable which can make the mp3 capacity 4 gigs like the Nano. What the Nano can not do is take pictures and communicate. I primarily got this phone to avoid carrying 3 different devices with me everywhere I go. This is an all in one serious gadget that delivers great sound and phone quality.
The reception I get with this phone in my house is much better then my old phone. The call quality is excellent. Battery life is fantastic even with listening to music all day.
You do need to exit to the main level and close the slider for the automatic lock, otherwise it will stay unlocked. It's no big deal.
Given the thickness of the phone it would have been nice to have the 4 gig integrated memory like the w950i. However w950i is a much wider phone with PDA capabilities and a touch screen.
The screen is bright although I probably should get a screen protector.
Camera mode has cool features. You can actually control the light levels before you take a pic and instead of a flash there is a continuous bright white led which can come in handy when you can't find your keys as well. You can choose picture quality, type, switch to night mode, tells you how many pics you can take given your memory etc. Very neat.
Mp3 player is fantastic. I haven't tried the radio yet.
The menu is the standard SE menu that if you have owned an SE phone before will be all too familiar to you. It's cool and really easy to use, unless you choose a different theme and you decide to learn a completely new style of navigation. I was surprised to see that changing the theme actually did change the theme!!! Pretty cool.
All around this phone is an attention seeking piece of work and demands your unconditional love. It's very good looking, it's very user friendly and will kick the crap out of any ipod ANY TIME.
The only reason I gave it a 9/10 is because I wish it was slimmer and came with more integrated memory.
Where to buy
Sony Ericsson W850i (Unlocked):
$15.99 - $244.67
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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eBay
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$15.99 | Yes |
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Unbeatablesale.com
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$244.67 | No |
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