REVIEW: Sony Ericsson w810i

In my opinion, this is one of the best phones ever released for the US market. More and more mobile devices are moving towards convergence, and Sony Ericsson (aside from being one of my favorite mobile device manufacturers right after Nokia) is getting it totally right with this device.

Before I begin, I will say that I'm currently using the SE w600...which I hate, but I use because it's orange. Form-factor on the w600 is an unassisted, springless swivel which takes some getting used to. It carries 256mb of built-in memory, and NO slot for additional Memory Sticks. That's a teensy amount of memory for a device that calls itself a "Walkman Phone."

In terms of styling, the w810i phone is hot. It's very close to the design of the w800i (the orange colored candybar, released only for Europe, and which I'd been lusting after since its release last August) but carries a number of improvements. Firstly, the joystick has been replaced with a directional pad with a center "OK" button, like the w900 had. Second, the screen is larger on the 810. Lastly, the buttons have been redesigned on the 810 to include a "Shortcut" key so you can "jump" immediately to another function. Compared to the only other Walkman phone to hit the US, the w810 is a huge leap forward in quality over the 600.

The following things scored big with me:

- improved D-pad and number keys.

- it ships with a 512 mb card, which is enough memory to replace the baby Shuffles, and with the 4 gig Memory Sticks that are out, you could easily replace your Nano.

- with the sound quality that it carries, and with functions like stereo widening, basic equalizer with Mega Bass (tm), it sounds good enough that you really could replace your iPod and not notice the difference.

- it's really easy to load your music collections up onto your Memory Stick and play them on your phone, as the device supports playlist functions as well as organizing stuff by artist and track.

- the included earbuds are of good sound quality, and very like what you'd expect from Sony (they're a lot like the EX71 buds I have on my iPod). And because the earbuds also act as your headset for picking up calls, the cord is split into two: the base is an SE-specific connector that goes into the bottom of your phone and at the other end is a little remote for picking up calls, into which you plug standard 3.5mm headphones, whether they're SE, Sony, or Shure, or whatever else you audiophiles insist on using.

- it's quad-band.

- improved reception, microphone and speaker.

- feels really nice in your hand: solid without being too hefty.

- corrects one of the most annoying things about the w600, which is a keylock that makes no sense. The w600 has a "convenient" side slide lock: when you wanna lock your keypad, just give that sucker a little slide, and voila! At least, that's the theory. The problem I keep having with my 600 is that the slide gets nudged in my bag, and it unlocks...and it gets nudged again, and the Walkman function (also located along the side) activates itself. And I find myself standing in quiet places when I discover that my phone is singing to me. "Whatever Lola wants...!" Ultimately, I had to disable the side Walkman button by using a workaround, since I can't turn it off from a main menu. With the 810, there's no side lock slide, so there's no problem. Voila!

Of course, the navigation is simple, intuitive, and beautiful. And with its great resolution, bright screen, you don't have problems viewing screens and menus in the sun. Of course, it comes with BlueTooth (and not the literally lame version that Verizon's trying to force onto everyone), and, of course, it comes with an FM radio (which apparently wasn't included as a feature in the original press release). At this point, I've come to expect these things as standard on all Sony Ericssons. My only (admittedly minor) gripe is that (1) there's no lens cover for the camera the way there is on the w800i, and (2) though the w810 comes with a 2mp camera, it doesn't take pictures as good as our previous 1.3 mp Nokia...but then, SE doesn't generally incorporate Carl Zeiss optics into their devices the way Nokia does. The 800 does, however, have an LED light that also functions as an emergency strobe. Convergence, indeed!

All in all, I love the 810. I just wish it were orange.

Global release date for this phone was March 30, 2006; expect it from Cingular during the 3rd quarter of this year.

SE's got a new baby coming out soon: the w950i. It promises to be just as hot with an added touchscreen...only no camera? I guess that's not surprising, considering SE's moving more and more into co-branded products, and since the "Cybershot" line of phones are coming out. We'll just have to wait and see.