Sony Ericsson Walkman w800i Review

[Damage]

But it may just save Walkman's ass.

Preliminary impressions: it can drive the MDR-SA1000 decently at around 70% of the volume level, and the Sound Quality holds up quite well, probably very close to iPod Nano. The Amp is rather inefficient (dunno if having to use the port and the like is negatively affecting things) and needs to be bumped upto at least 40-50% to drive the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5s (a very efficient phones). I think it is slighty noisy, but it's something that I wouldn't necessary consider showstopper either.

The phone is slightly longer and wider than the iPod Nano, and about 3x as thick. It feels good in the hands, but the keypad is tad slippery. Phone conversation quality was rather good, and the mic that is required to use the headphone's exceeded all of my expectations.

The volume keys do not behave as expected, and that's rather annoying. Understandable, but annoying.

Will it replace my half dozen MP3 players? The magic 8 ball says "Looks Good!" Provided you have a lot of patience, as it takes ages to on a normal Memory Stick Pro to move data (think USB 1.1 ish speeds and filling up a HiMD and you get the idea). I think I need to invest in an Ultra memory stick.

Preliminary grade of: A. It's one of the best convergence gadget, period.

[Guest Stuge]

I did see Walkman w800i but I don`t like this phone at all ....

[willykyu]

I don't get it. This Walkman/phone thing deosn't convince me 100%. Imagine you use the same bettery power for calls and to listen to music. Well, you spet a day listening to your favorite tunes, and then, a very very important call comes: OH MY, my battery's dead! HAHAHA

But seriously, if the battery is very very long, why not. And even so...

What shocks me the most probably, is that these SONY's phones don't play atrac !!!! this is NONSENSE! how are they hoing to sell their tunes in atrac on SONY's phones? how are people are supposed, loyal to sony, use this function if all the ripped cds are in ATRAC? are these phones not for usual sony users? at least, ALL SONY devices should have atrac enabled.

They can't kill this cool gapless format, which in my opinion sound better than MP3!

Someone has to explain why? I guess this is one more proof of that sony's several parts (vaio, wlakman, phones, games) aren't melting at all!

[Beethovenian]

I agree, willykyu. All Sony devices should support Atrac, regardless of anything. It's stupid to ask your customers to have a music collection in one format (and one Sony format) and then tell them that they're not welcome to another line of products, unless they rip the music all over again. And I think one explanation to this stupidity should be demanded from the company. Chris, Ishi, did you guys get any information about this?

[doclloyd]

I thought this was odd as well, especially since these phones carry the "Walkman" name. Over at Engadget, they interviewed someone @ CES about the w810i and that guy said they were working with Sony Connect to be able to download music from Connect to the phone... then again, he could've been talking out of his backside. I agree these phone should support ATRAC. I'm one of those people who have a lot of music ripped to ATRAC format for my MD.

I emailed Sony Ericsson and the tech support reply was "we don't support ATRAC, please convert those files to MP3." Granted, this person won't necessarily know what's going on between Sony/Sony Ericsson, but still it's disconcerting. Although, this month is supposed to bring us the new Connect store with videos (accordin to CES, I thought), so maybe updates would come in SonicStage or Connect Player to support the walkman phones - and of course firmware updates to support ATRAC as well...

We can dream, can't we? :-D

[willykyu]

well, there's still a chance to upgrade the phone firmware then. I'm amazed of Sony Ericsson's answer "please convert those files in MP3"... hum, how to say this... first there's no way to simply do this, and then, once converted it's worse than before (I mean quality). This kind of answer is shocking, it prooves they're just making fun of conumers!

[Damage]

Stuge, that is the Walkman w800i.

By the by, the phone's firmware can be upgraded in the future, so once the whole DRM thing gets settled, we may see such upgrades in the future. However, this is less likely for phones since the Carriers want to enforce their own DRM and their own music store. We'll see.

[Guest Stuge]

Stuge, that is the Walkman w800i.

oH!! nO i Have Made a habit of skipping(literally I`m Eating Words like a PIE) Words .I think I should change my Keyboard

By the by, the phone's firmware can be upgraded in the future, so once the whole DRM thing gets settled, we may see such upgrades in the future. However, this is less likely for phones since the Carriers want to enforce their own DRM and their own music store. We'll see.

So that`s good news

[EZero]

You know, Sony should just let Sony Ericsson make their mp3 players, because they seem to make competitive products.

[Richard_p]

I too am not convinced by these 'Walkman' Phones. They would be much better imo if tghey simply had a regular 3.5mm jack on them, and it did not switch to 'handsfree' mode.

I have a K750i with a 1gb memory stick, so admittedly my comments following are based on that experience.

First and foremost, regardless of the 'phones i use the sound has a hollow effect to it, regardless of Eq'ing. I hav purchased a few adapters from ebay (to allow use of regular headphones, keep losing them) and all seem to have this problem.

HUGE gaps between tracks, no ATRAC support

I always forget that my headphones are plugged in and it is switched to handsfree mode, meaning if i get a call things go wrong

However as a 'backup' type player it will suffice - It is good for taking to pubs and clubs for times when you end up lost on you own, or waiting for others to arrive, as the extra bulk of a dedicated DAP is not needed. I also liked this about my E407 (r.i.p) as it was small and could be clipped to your trousers.

[Andrew Soebali]

The Amp is rather inefficient (dunno if having to use the port and the like is negatively affecting things) and needs to be bumped upto at least 40-50% to drive the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5s (a very efficient phones). I think it is slighty noisy, but it's something that I wouldn't necessary consider showstopper either.

The amp is a bit weak, i agree. But i think it has something to do with battery saving feature. Well, afterall it is a phone...

Will it replace my half dozen MP3 players? The magic 8 ball says "Looks Good!" Provided you have a lot of patience, as it takes ages to on a normal Memory Stick Pro to move data (think USB 1.1 ish speeds and filling up a HiMD and you get the idea). I think I need to invest in an Ultra memory stick.

When you transfer the song do you use card reader OR with Sony Ericsson built in PC Suite (with the phone attached to PC)?

As a long time sony ericsson (and ericsson) user i have to say that they have the worst PC Suite scenarios regarding file transfer speed. The phone connector hardware (called Fast Port) actually support USB 1.1 (some might say USB 2.0) BUT the program came from its PC Suite use a serial emulator when connect to the phone. I dont have hard data to prove this but the file transfer speed still not improving since t68.

It has something to do with the program called Mobile Phone Monitor. SE havent heavily upgrade this connection software. Basically it is still the same that T610 use.

Comparing other PC Suite, eg Nokia, which truly support USB, the margin is noticeable.

So i think, until now, Memory Stick Media have an adequate file transfer speed. If you use card reader (even with USB 1.1) the file transfer still outperform the PC Suite in large margin.

If you planning to manage your music file i strongly recommend a card reader to move the files in and out instead replacing your MS.

[Jillako]

I realize this thread has been idle for a bit but I am new here and wanted to add my two cents.

I use a W600i Walkman phone and am very happy with the phone and it's music player features. Of course, I wish it would support ATRAC and that I could use SonicStage with it but I think SE has done an admirable job of targeting the general public (which is obviously a larger group than SonicStage users).

The sound quality is actually very decent for a cell phone and included in-ear headphones with the handsfree set works good for me. I use the phone on my short bicycle ride to and from work and when someone calls me, it automatically pauses the music and connects the call, returning to the music when done.

When I am at work, however, I use regular size headphones and a MD unit, because

1. The cell phone doesn't hold enough music to last me all day

2. The battery would probably run out

3. It's probably best to not overexpose myself to the radiation from a cell phone

Anyway, it is no replacement for a regular Walkman but does its duty fairly well.

Also, you do not need to use included software to sync your music. You can just copy it over when using the phone as a USB mass storage device. I use a Mac and using an iTunes-plugin, I am able to sync my MP3 music onto the phone.

Of course, a PSP-like model would be more desirable. On the PSP, I can copy files over manually, use an iTunes plugin on my Mac or use SonicStage to copy songs over! Flexibility is good

[navsimpson]

I have a w600 and the lack of ATRAC support really surprised me too. I did read somewhere that ATRAC requires its own decoding processor and would have added too much bulk to the phone, though I don't know how accurate that statement - everything else Sony makes is quite tiny.

I do however, think the interface is definitely more aesthetically pleasing than regular walkmans and I think that the 'Megabass' setting on the EQ actually sounds pretty decent for a phone. And overall, it's really great - as a phone, it has everything and works well and includes a usable camera and something that I can listen to podcasts on.

On the music service front, Sony Ericsson are creating one of their own, separate from Connect. I know, I know, makes no sense to me either, but given the direction Sony is taking with today's announcements, maybe things will change.

-Nav

[High Contrast]

so i´m new here, but about the ATRAC in WALMAN phones, in japan the WALKMAN phones suport ATRAC, i don´t know if is all of them, but i know that there´s alot that suport, i realy don´t know why the ones from the rest of the world don´t suport, maybe is because people who buy cell phones don´t realy want a good music player, maybe they just something casual, but it´s a shame!

i have a W300 and a NW e-003, and it would be great if i could use the same songs in ATRAC from sonicstage in both!

sorry for the bad english!