[Review] Sony Ericsson W850i

[Scirwode]

Version 1.0: Review posted

Overview

The Sony Ericsson W850i is the first 3G mobile phone developed by Sony Ericsson that is not housed inside a conventional candy bar form, instead opting for a trendy slider form factor. It is also the first Sony Walkman phone to be bundled with Walkman 2.0, which has an updated new interface that supports album art and includes changes to its playback algorithm. The Sony Ericsson W850i is fitted with a QVGA TFT screen that can display 262,144 colours at a resolution of 240 x 320, a 2 megapixel camera and full 3G capabilities.

Key Features

• High quality 2 megapixel camera
  
• Memory card slot with hot swap functionality
  
• Included 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
  
• 3G support with video calls
  
• Walkman 2.0 player with Album Art support and Visualisations
  
• Light Effects mode for D-pad backlighting
  
• TrackID™ music service
  
• FM radio with RDS
  
• Bluetooth stereo support (A2DP)
  
• USB Mass Storage and Infrared port support
  
• Capable of Multi tasking
  
• Included headset has a standard 3.5 mm audio adapterDimensions & Weight
  • 98 х 47 х 21 mm
    
  • 116 grams<Available Coloursolours
    • Precious Black
      
    • Golden White<ScreenScreen
      • 262,144 colours QVGA TFT
        
      • 240 x 320 pixels<Introductionuction
        For many years, I have always had phones that were handed down to me by my family, starting with my first mobile phone, an Ericsson GA 628 with interchangeable covers and a Nokia 3310, both given to me by my mother and my next two phones, a Nokia 6210 which was slightly damaged, and a Samsung SGH-2400, which was passed on to me by my eldest sister. The Ericsson GA 628 lasted a year before it gave out while the Nokia 3310, which lasted for more than a year, was later passed on to my brother. I then used my sister’s Nokia 6210 for a period of 3 years, which is the longest time a phone has lasted with me, while the Samsung SGH-2400 was used in between the time I had the Nokia 6210.
        The very first phone that I could call my own that was brand new is a BenQ M300, which was given to me by my mother as a present for recently graduating with my diploma in 2005. I was elated as it was the first time I had a phone that was equipped with a colour screen and had a camera, albeit a very low quality VGA camera. Still, I was very grateful as I never had a camera and it was fun taking pictures, even though its primary use was to take price tags and promotional posters with phone numbers so I didn’t forget! It was also very beautiful as it was white in colour and had a very good keypad.
        However, the BenQ only lasted with me for a few months as my brother, who wished to replace his Nokia 3310, wanted to get a new phone. It was then that we, as brothers, made a vow that if we ever wished to changed our mobile phones, we would do so together. With this in mind, I traded in my BenQ for a Sony Ericsson K700i, which changed my perspective on the mobile phone market. Before, the only thing I knew was that Nokia was the market leader and that they made great mobile phones compared to the rest of the market. But after experiencing the Sony Ericsson K700i, I knew I would be a Sony Ericsson fan from then on.
        The first few months, I was happy with my purchase and had no problems with my phone as I used it frequently, occasionally as my MP3 player and as a pointer for my presentations using the included Bluetooth software. Lately however, a few problems have cropped up, mostly concerning the joystick. Back then, I had bought the phone without doing the necessary background research and I realised that I had bought a phone that was already on the market for almost two years. I also didn’t know about the joystick problems that plagued Sony Ericsson phones, which also included the K750i and W800i. It was then that I and my brother, who was experiencing the same thing and more, decided to start a new search for a mobile phone that would surpass the old in every way.
        We quickly made a list of our main priorities and realised straight away that what we dearly wanted was music capabilities on our phones, specifically a Walkman phone. My last MP3 player, which was WEWA branded, failed on me two years ago and ever since then I have used my Sony Ericsson phone as an MP3 player, squeezing in about 10 low quality songs. My brother has a Samsung MP3 player which has a capacity of 512 MB but most of the time he has to change his music due to the limited space available. We then quickly made a list of the phones available on the market during the last couple of months – the Sony Ericsson W610i, W810i, W850i and W880i and, as a last resort the Nokia 3250, Nokia 5300 and the Nokia N73 music edition. To a lesser extent, we also kept an eye on the Sony Ericsson Z610i, K550i, K800i and the K810i.
        
        You know you’re buying a premium product when the packaging itself is something to really appreciate at! The phone came in an attractive black box which had a glossy and reflective surface with the Walkman logo embossed in silver at the front with the W850i and Sony Ericsson lettering, which is also written in silver, located at the top and bottom of the left front side of the box. However, opening the cover was a different story as there doesn’t seem to be anywhere you could prise it open! Inside, you’ll find the Sony Ericsson W850i resting in a recess on an orange cardboard. Under the cardboard are all the necessary accessories for the phone. The full contents of the package are:
        
        
      • Sony Ericsson W850i
        
    • Sony Ericsson BST-33 Battery
      
  • Phone Charger
    
• Sony Ericsson HPM-70 Stereo Headphones
  

USB Data Cable
1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
Sony Ericsson PC Suite
Manual
SAR Information
Music Guide (Walkman)

Build & Design

The Sony Ericsson W850i is available in two colours – Golden White and Precious Black. Although the white version was much more beautiful and the Walkman logo at the back was in 24-carat gold, we both decided to go with the black version. This is due to the fact that white version is much more susceptible to stains and we wanted it to match our own devices, which are black in nature. From the many reviews and opinions that I have read, many have debated the design of the W850i. Some have said it is the ugliest phone that Sony Ericsson has ever released, calling it too plain and boxy. I on the other hand, believe it is the most beautiful mobile phone I’ve ever seen, even more so than the K800iFront Viewg220.imageshack.us/img220/6650/w850i005gx4.jpg[/img]

Front View

At first glance, its build and design may look a tad simple and clean. However, once you hold it in your hand, you’ll find that you have something that was crafted with such care and subtlety. On the front, you will find the W850i’s 2” QVGA TFT screen, two soft keys, an orange strip which activates the Walkman player and the D-pad with the Play/Pause or OK button which are flanked by four keys: Cancel/Back, Web Browser, Delete/Clear and Shortcuts. You will also find two buttons near the speaker’s grill; A-B buttons which among others, activates the Camera Album while in Standby mode, activates Light and Picture Mode in Camera Mode and is used for 3D games. The VGA camera for the 3G video calls sits inside the speaker grill, which is located Left Viewright.

Back View

The left side of the phone does not accommodate any keys while on the right side; you’ll find the two volume keys and the camera button. At the bottom, you’ll find the Fast Port for charging, connecting the earphones and the USB Data Cable, an eyelet for a strap and the Infrared port. At the top, you’ll find the memory card slot which houses the Memory Stick PRO Duo, which is hot swappable, and the On/Off button. At the back, you’ll find that everything is placed similar to what a camera face looks like, which is one of the many attributes associated with Sony Ericsson. There’s a loudspeaker grill flanked by a Walkman logo, a simple LED light which can also be used as a flashlight, a mirror, a 2 Megapixel camera with its 3.86mm lens and the Sony Ericsson logo. The back of the phone also has a sort of meNo visible stubs or screwssy to grip on.

No visible stubs or screws

The battery cover is very easy to open as all you have to do is apply pressure at the correct spot and slide it open. The cover itself is very tight when closed so there is little chance of an accidental opening. Beneath it, you’ll find the battery and SIM card bed. It is very easy to slide in a SIM card but taking it out is another story as you need to have long nails to prise it out. For those who leave their SIM card in the phone they wouldn’t mind this but as I regularly change my SIM card for another, I find this an unnecessary annoyance that Sony Ericsson should have dealt with. At the back of the slider, you will find a reflective cover which displays the Walkman logo, showing how much detail Sony Ericsson put into building their first slider. On most other phones, you can see the scrKeypad is well spaced outia 5300, a sliding track.

Keypad is well spaced out

The sliding mechanism feels very firm as there is no flex when I slide it in or out. The keypad layout is spaced evenly and has great tactile feedback; for those who are used to fast texting, you will not encounter a problem here. As I have very big fingers, I find it is a pleasure dialling or texting on a keypad such as this. The backlight colour is bright white and evenly lit, allowing no problems when viewing the phone in the dark. The D-pad has drawn a lot of criticism from people around the world, others going so far as to saying it is the worst possible type of navigation used by Sony Ericsson. I find that strange as so far my experience with it has been troubled free! At first, it was a bit hard to press the D-pad and feedback was a little slow. After a while however, it slowly loosened up and now I can simply fly through my playlists! I do admit that you have to press at a certain point to have the best feedback but so far, I’m very pleased with it.

The D-pad glows white while in Standby mode and glows orange in Walkman mode, which I will go into much detail later on. The build quality of tScreenery sturdy and I cannot find any defects in the phone itself. Overall, Sony Ericsson has built this phone to last.

Screen

I’ve got nothing but praise for the screen, which is one of the main reasons why I bought the phone! It is a 2” QVGA TFT that display 262,144 colours at a resolution of 240 x 320. The colours are very vibrant and show wonderful contrast, especially when leafing through your Camera Album. The phone has a built in light sensor, which adjusts the displays brightness according to the ambient light available; dimming the screen during the daylight while boosting it in the dark. Under direct sunlight, it is pretty legible which is good enough as I have seen far worse from other mobile phones. Overall, the screen receives my seal of approval, which is good enough for me!

On another note, the lettering and numbers used on the screen are displayed at a very large font size, a fact that my mother noticed as she found that it was quite easy to read. Considering she has always used her Nokia 3310 and findsPhone Applications & Performances, such as my father’s Nokia 3200, it is another reason I was happy with the screen itself.

Phone Applications & Performance

The OS is a Symbian OS used by nearly all Sony Ericsson phones except for their lower to mid range versions, with 12 animated icons represented in a 4 x 3 grid. The OS is similar to what the K800i has, so overall the icon placement, design and shape is similar; the only difference is the Walkman icon replacing the Music icon and the Radio icon replacing the Video Call icon on the W850i. One thing that I liked compared to my old K700i as there is now an option to show the clock in the status bar while browsing in the Main Menu and the Walkman Menu. You can also change the size of the clock to blend in with the wallpaper but it does affect performance a little, especially when calling up the Main Menu. You can store up to a 1000 contacts in the Phone Book, assigning 5 numbers to each contact, bringing the grand total of up to 2500 phone numbers! That is pretty impressive, although I doubt I even reach 500 numbers!

There are a number of themes installed on the phone and some of them, such as Grouped, change the arrangements of the icons and even its design. You can assign a shortcut to the four D-pad keys, or assign it in the Shortcut/Activity menu. Most of the applications are pretty standard, such as the Call List and Options menu. You can assign a music file as a ringtone or a message tone, as long as it is not protected. The File Manager is the best file manager on a phone – period. You can easily browse, move, copy, and rename your music, photos, and videos – all on the phone itself. You can create folders, mark files for deletion or simply edit them in PhotoDJ™. One thing I really like is the Timeline view, which arranges the photos you’ve taken according to either month or day. Considering this is something that is normally associated on a computer, this level of sophistication offered by Sony Ericsson is pretty impressive.

Another application that I really liked is PhotoDJ™, which allows you to edit your pictures on the phone itself. It offers a number of useful tools, such as adjusting the brightness/contrast and level, remove red eye, rotate the picture and even add effects! Again, an activity that you normally associate with a computer but Sony Ericsson makes it possible on the phone itself. For me, that is pretty impressive! In some menus such as the Options or Activity menu, some of the options are placed in a Tab form, allowing you to tab through some of the options, reducing the clutter and number of key press to access a certain menu. Call quality is clear and vibrant, while with video calls, calls made are very clear. There are also three video quality modes you can choose from: Smooth, Sharp and Normal. Smooth allows the picture movement to be much smoother while Sharp allows more details to be shown. You can also mirror your image or replace it with a picture of your own. The settings given to you allow a lot of freedom where 3G video calls are concern.

There are three games that come with the phone itself – Juiced, QuadraPop and Treasure Towers. I was hoping it would come with Worms Fort, which my friend has on his W550 but you can’t have everything in life! The phone Walkman 2.0i tasking, so you can listen to your music while playing a game. Overall, the features packed inside this phone are well worth the premium price I paid!

Walkman 2.0

This is the part where most of you are probably waiting for! First things first, the interface has received an update from the bright orange to a dark but professional black and orange theme. In a way, it is a contrast between the iPod’s white and blue theme, but I prefer the Sony Ericsson’s theme as it is much more appealing. You can also change the colour to either white or orange but overall, most will stick with the black theme. The phone supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, WAV, WMA, M4A and MIDI file formats. You can upload your music using either Windows Explorer or the included Disc2Phone application. Your music collection can be classified into several sections:

Artists – Displays the music tracks which is sorted by artists
Albums – Displays the music tracks is sorted by albums
Tracks – Displays all the music tracks on the phone
Playlists – Creates and displays playlist made by the user

You can Shuffle or Repeat/Loop the playlist. There is also an option to turn on Stereo Widening. New to Walkman 2.0 is Visualisations and Album Art support. There’s not much to visualisations so I doubt people would turn it on that much. Album Art support however is much appreciated as now browsing through your music is much more pleasing, as I can attest to! There is also an option to turn on Light Effects which allows the D-pad lighting to pulse to the beat of the music playing! There are a number of Equalizer options available to you or you can simply change it manually but most of us would probably use MegaBass™, which is absolutely incredible by the way! After listening to my music using MegaBass™ with the included HPM-70 headphones, I can never go back! Sound quality is amazing and if you rather listen to your music using the loudspeaker, you’ll be surprised by how loud it can go, although MegaBass™ isn’t available when you use the loudspeaker!

After listening to the same track on my friend’s W550i and comparing it to how it sounds on the W850i, I can say there is a slight change to the way it plays and sound so there is definitely an improvement from Walkman 1.0. One thing that I didn’t like was how it arranged my music. On my notebook, all of my music is arranged according to track number, album and artist but when I transfer it to my phone, my music is arranged not according to track number but by a mysterious arrangement that is known only to the phone itself. I have done everything I can to make it right (transferred using Disc2Phone, assigning number to a track i.e. 00 – artist – title.mp3, transferring a song one by one) but so far I have had no luck. Considering that Walkman 2.0 is 1D3 tag sensitive, I would have thought it would arrange it properly, but this is one part which I feel the Walkman 2.0 failed on me.

The FM radio supports up to 20 predefined stations and allows RDS. You can also use TrackID™ for songs which you do not know. It works by recording a few seconds of the intended clip, uploads it to an online database and returns the artist and album information for the recorded clip. The W850i has 60MB of onboard memory but comes bundled with a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. The main reason why I choose thCamerathe W880i was due to the fact that the W880i uses M2 Micro, which the maximum capacity at the moment is 2GB, while for Memory Stick PRO Duo the maximum size available on the market today was 8GB with a probable maximum capacity of 32GB!

Camera

The camera module used here is 2 Megapixels without autofocus, meaning any more than 80 cm’s nearer to an object and the picture will come out blurred. There are a number of modes available such as Panorama, Frames and Burst. Panorama allows you to take a widescreen image view while Frames allows you to choose a preset image to frame it with the intended picture you’re taking. Burst mode allows you take a number of pictures in quick succession but only in VGA mode.

You can also set the Picture Quality, turn on Night Mode and the Light/Flash, set a Timer, change the Shutter Sound, add Effects or adjust the White BalanceEffects:t I find really annoying is that you cannot zoom in while in 2 Megapixel shoot mode, which is only available in VGA shoot mode. You can also turn on date and time if you wish to. Below are a number of sample shots I have taken using the phonShoot Mode:cts:

Sepia

Shoot Mode:

Zoom:

Overall, picture quality is good but not that great so for casual users it is just fine. Those who wish to have more features at their fingertips should go for the K800i. Below is a photo I edited in Photoshop.

Video is recorded at 176 x 144, which is very low quality for a phone of this calibre. Then again, all Sony Ericsson phones records at the same frame rate and pixel size so there isn’t much choice available. The file format is 3gp so it should have a very small file size. Picture quality is alright although the video plays at a choppy frame rate. Then again, there are better phones out there with better video recording capabilities. The only reason to use the video recording capabilities of the W850i is for “emergency” recording sessions.

Considering that the W850i is marketed in a different league than the K800i, I find it difficult to understand why Sony Ericsson wishes to remove certain features ofBatterych as the autofocus and the zoom, even though it is more catered to its music functions. The Sony Ericsson W610i, which is a mid range phone has an autofocus while the recently announced W660i, which is a high end phone does not have autofocus or even a light!

Battery

The W850i lasted for 3 days Conclusion about 1? days of intensive use (Walkman, Camera, and Video Calls). Overall, it lasted longer than my K700i, despite the larger screen size. I have not tested the Flight Mode but I will give it a whirl someday, maybe in the next few days when I’m not so busy.

Conclusion

Overall, I am very happy with the Sony Ericsson W850i. Considering this the first 3G slider phone from Sony Ericsson, it has a very beautiful design, exceptional build quality, beautiful screen and very good keypad. Only a number of issues, such as the learning curve of the D-pad, the absence of autofocus and how iPros:he music library stops it from getting a full rating by me. All in all, for those who listen to a lot of music, wish for exceptional music quality, ease of use while managing playlists and have an option to upgrade the memory in the near future, this is the phone for you.

Pros:

• Beautiful packaging
  
• Exceptional build quality for first slider (no stubs or screw behind the slider)
  
• Good tactile keypad
  
• Bright and beautiful screen
  
• Font size for lettering and numbers are large
  
• 3G enabled
  
• Large Phone Book
  
• Walkman 2.0 with Album Art support
  
• D-pad Light Effects which pulses to the beat of your music
  
• FM Radio with RDS and TrackID™
• Speaker volume is very loud
  
• PhotoDJ™ application
  
• Good camera options
  
• Good image quality for photos
  
• Option to upgrade memory capacity in the near future
  
• Good battery life
  

Cons:

• Learning curve in order to use the D-pad
  
• No autofocus
  
• Very hard to slide SIM card out due to SIM card bed
  
• Worms Fort is not bundled with the phone (I’m being nitpicky here but I like the game!)
  
• Bad album arrangement for music (not arranged according to track number)
  
• Image quality for camera photos could have been better
  
• Ability to zoom is only available in VGA mode
  
• Mediocre video recording
  

Scirwode

Edited May 30, 2007 by Scirwode

[eSouL]

ugly

[Detroit]

ugly +1 , but such a thorough review hahaha

[Guest]

Good review.

I'm due an upgrade next month, and as much as I want the new N95, I think I'll have to settle with the W950i.

[kaffra]

Good review, if only it was available 2 weeks ago. I was planning to get this phone but i tried out the dpad and its really troublesome. If your not interested in 3G, their upcomming w580 in Q3 this year seems to be a winner

[Cosmin]

ugly+2 , but seems performant

[Guol]

I was going to get this. IMO looks like a really great phone, though I liked the white colour better.

However, by doing abit of research I figured I was paying $200 more to purchase a revamped w810i - exact same features, but just 3G and with a sliding ability.

But hey, I bought the w810i and I must say it has some awesome features, etc. So if the features are the same, and you're willing to pay abit extra then I'd recommend buying the w850i [w810i also doesn't have a joystick, tho ;)]

Otherwise, kudos for the great review

Guol

[Symphony]

Great job with the review. Thanks Pal.

[Brian M. Veteran]

However, by doing abit of research I figured I was paying $200 more to purchase a revamped w810i - exact same features, but just 3G and with a sliding ability.

Its not :s It a) has the walkman 2.0 software which is miles better than the previous versions, and b) has a completely rewritten sound engine. I upgraded from a w810i to this, and i would not go back to the w810i

[profets]

Its not :s It a) has the walkman 2.0 software which is miles better than the previous versions, and b) has a completely rewritten sound engine. I upgraded from a w810i to this, and i would not go back to the w810i

also, doesnt this 850 have bluetooth A2DP profile as well which the 810 lacks?

[Echilon]

Nice phone, and great review (Y)

[Quillz]

Nice review. I really wish Sony Ericsson would consider a GSM version of the phone for the North American market. It looks like I'll have to wait for the W580 instead.

[Guest]

Are there any new releases due (UK) in the next month or so?

I'm due an upgrade, and none of the handsets they had were really much of an upgrade, so to speak.

[Brian M. Veteran]

also, doesnt this 850 have bluetooth A2DP profile as well which the 810 lacks?

yes it does. and for the non-technically-minded, that means you can use streo bluetooth headphones :p

[ck2k01]

+1 for good looking :p (maybe you should start a poll)

Good review. Enjoy the phone!

[MasterC]

ugly

First thing I thought when I saw the pics :x

[gaurav]

Well its not as pretty as w810, but its a decent enough mobile. Nice review as well.

PS those wallpapers are turning me on.

[trek]

First thing I thought when I saw the pics :x

agreed. It's not a looker...

Very thorough review though (Y)

[digitalsoft]

The phone looks so much better in the flesh, but the camera quality is pure awful, compared to other sony ericsson 2mp camerass (im a k800 man myself ;))

[Wannes]

Very ugly phone but very nice review. I just left the Samsung E900 for what it is and going back to SE with the K800i.

J.

[Sethos]

I must be one of the few who loves the look of this phone - Bought it a few months back.

Sick of all these standard Mobile looks ... Seems so 90's

[JAbad28]

I think the look of the phone is alright, not ugly but not great. Great review though, it reminds me of the old ericsson w600i.

[ThePitt]

first at all, nice review. Very complete.

About the phone, looks bulky and is too wide for me. I like the nightmode and how seems to the display change with the ambient light.

The camera looks crappy. I would like the see that pic without photoshopping.

Thank God there is no more than 2.5 zoom, because you will see a big green square :p

[Chris Allen Veteran]

Very good review. My g'f has had the phone for about 6 months now, and I can't stand it. Too clunky and bulky to use. Don't like it one bit.

[jugaaru]

Good review.