SonyEricsson W960I More reviews online at Review www mobilechoiceuk com English

More reviews online at
Review www mobilechoiceuk com


Sony Ericsson W960i Despite the disappointing user

interface making the W960i
Price tbc
www sonyericsson com Walkman a royal pain to use it


carries an impressive feature set




A touch too much
Sony Ericsson s new W960i Walkman phone is one of the best equipped music phones
around but we have to admit its touch screen interface is a real drag


O
NE of Sony Ericsson s new W960i Walkman with the While we can let the W960i off
major triumphs in recent W910i Walkman reviewed in for being a little larger than
years has been its issue 140 average we re less inclined to
success in reviving the flagging Both handsets are at the forgive the poor user experience
Walkman music brand and premium end of the Walkman At the core of this is the poor
reinventing it for a new range and are priced touch screen which works in Ericsson does supply a spare in display with certain applications is The W960i s touch screen
generation of younger hipper accordingly But as is always the tandem with the conventional the box but this simply a nightmare interface doesn t enable you to
mobile users case with technology each keypad but leaves you dithering emphasises the fact that it Not only is this almost scroll by stroking up and down
Just as Sony Ericsson draws handset has its own distinct between both We first noticed expects you to lose or break the impossible to navigate with your like say the HTC Touch or the
on its Cyber shot brand in the assets and foibles the problem when we tried to first one finger you have to use the Apple iPhone Instead you ll need
camera space the For example the W910i unlock the phone You begin by stylus when we did finally get to rely on the phone s side
manufacturer s ability to offers HSDPA broadband data pressing the unlock symbol on the Ease of use the scroller moving we mounted jog dial However once
distinguish a new music phone speeds a lightweight chassis bottom right hand corner of the The user interface on the W960i immediately lost control and you highlight a menu option you
with the globally recognised beautiful slider action and a keypad However when the word is just far too clever and pressed one of the virtual soft can click on the touch screen to
Walkman logo is a tremendous fabulous user experience but unlock appears at the bottom of complicated for its own good It key options at the bottom of the choose it
advantage suffers from a fairly bog the phone s display the natural seems to be designed for techies display You re far better off For downloading music from
However almost 30 years on standard two megapixel camera instinct is to locate and click a rather than for the mass market employing the physical jog dial your PC to your phone Sony
from the launch of the first Sony and less built in memory The physical soft key as you would A great user interface hides all that sits on the side of the phone Ericsson claims that the 3G
Walkman cassette player the W960i is a larger heavier with most other sensible phones the complicated stuff behind a in conjunction with the touch data speeds on the W960i
thought of being restricted to candybar phone running 3G But there simply isn t one there really simple and clear fa ade screen although we would still enable music transfer of 1GB
just one album s worth of songs data speeds but offers Wi Fi What you are meant to do of Instead the W960i tries to much rather use conventional in less than three minutes
at a time is now unthinkable a 3 2 megapixel camera and course is touch the word unlock empower the user by letting you keypad based navigation any day which we found to be pretty
And just to emphasise the a huge 8GB memory as on the phone s display to activate choose your own shortcuts to accurate
chasm between the 1979 standard the touch screen menu It may your favourite applications like Music man As with the W910i you can
Walkman and the 2008 version So on paper at least there have felt like the ideal solution in Bluetooth or a specific contact or Thankfully the touch screen organise all of your content for
Sony Ericsson s new W960i doesn t seem to be much the R and D lab but it just webpage you regularly access It interface is a little less of an the W960i using Media Manager
Walkman phone lets you store between them Yet we found the doesn t feel right and there s no seems a good idea in theory but issue when you are using the PRO a PC programme for music
up to 700 albums thanks to its W910i to be a far superior haptic vibrating response to these shortcut keys sit beneath phone s Walkman player The photos and videos
8GB of built in storage handset provide encouragement either the numerous other icon based W960i offers one touch access The handset comes with all the
But while bumper storage Once you ve unlocked the menu options and it all looks like to the phone s music function via top music features you d expect
capacity is undoubtedly one of Look and feel phone you have the option of one overwhelming jumble a centrally positioned Walkman from a Walkman including
the key assets of any modern Design wise the new W960i navigating the touch screen with The problem is exacerbated key TrackID music recognition
music device it isn t everything draws on the family traits of your finger or the stylus stored in when you attempt to navigate Once in music mode you ll be software which lets you record a
and every new Sony Ericsson earlier Walkman handsets like the rear casing of the device using the touch screen Aside presented with a list of all your clip of a song on your phone and
Walkman phone is under the W850i and W950 We d recommend using your from the fact that the display stored music arranged by find out instantly the name of the
pressure to live up to the As with its two predecessors finger because the stylus feels locks itself with alarming artists albums compilations artist track and album Once
high spec music pedigree that the W960i is bigger and flatter flimsy and you are guaranteed to regularity the virtual scrollbar tracks moods playlists auto
the Walkman range now than most of today s candybar lose it at least once a day Sony which appears on the side of the playlists and my recordings
Continued over
epitomises handsets which we can excuse
As a result the launch of the because of the huge memory
W960i Walkman phone has the large display and the well
been met with huge spaced keypad The design is
anticipation and not exactly innovative but
expectation And neither is it offensive What s
because they more the handset is light for its
were announced size feels fairly robust and the
at the same matt black finish of the rear
time it s natural casing is actually quite a nice
to compare the touch
Review Sony Ericsson W960i continued




Sony Ericsson W960i
OS Symbian UIQ
Size 109x55x16mm
Weight 119g
Display 2 6 inch 262 000
colours
Resolution 240x320 pixels
Camera 3 2 megapixels
Video recording playback
streaming Yes yes yes
Audio playback MP3 AAC
AAC eAAC WMA
Video calling Yes
Ringtones MP3 AAC
Radio Yes
Connectivity Bluetooth
USB Wi Fi A2DP TrackID has identified the song answer calls while listening to
Internal memory 8GB you can also get background music There s also a black
Messaging SMS MMS IM information of the artists and the Walkman branded travelling
Memory card slot album And in addition to an pouch to protect the device on its
MemoryStick Micro audio clip search you can also travels
Internet browser Opera search by artist name album or
Email client POP3 SMTP lyric Camera and video
IMAP4 push email The phone also features applications
Java Yes PlayNow which lets you listen to We re glad that the main camera
Games Yes music tones before you download on the W960i is 3 2 megapixels
Data speed 3G them to the device Other the W910i only offers two It s
Frequency Tri band Walkman flourishes include a decent all round snapper that s
Talktime 540 minutes downloadable album art mega activated and operated with a
Standby 370 hours bass and an FM radio There may dedicated shutter key and digital
be fewer gimmicky extras like the zoom controls on the side of the
Features Wi Fi Shake Control that you get on the phone However it s not a Cyber
Walkman music player 3G W910i but you can rate tracks shot quality camera and the
3 2 megapixel camera RSS feed reader and assign moods simply by phone suffers from a short
clicking certain keys while the shutter lag when shooting
song is playing indoors but the auto focus works

Also consider
Sony Ericsson hasn t scrimped well and the W960i generally
on the accessories either The produces decent results which
W960i comes with a HBM 70 can be tweaked enhanced and
Sony Ericsson W910i wired stereo headset that defaced using the phone s
Sony Ericsson s W910i Walkman is much features comfortable padded Photo Editor application A
in ear phones and lets you second camera sits on the front
easier to use
of the phone to enable video
calling
The handset also enables you
to send your photos by MMS or
even to upload them to a blog

Pros
But while sending photos is
straightforward enough posting
One of the most feature packed phones around a blog is not half as simple as it
is with the Nokia N95 8GB

Cons We were however impressed
by the 30fps video playback
The touch screen interface is a real pain to use which Sony Ericsson assures us
is exactly the same as TV quality

Extra features
The W960 s top feature set is
enhanced by Wi Fi RSS website
feeds push email an Opera web

MC SCORE
browser and a fantastic 540
minutes of GSM talktime which
makes the W960i one of the
best equipped phones on the
Verdict A hugely capable Look and feel
market
phone that s let down by the
Ease of use Unfortunately its annoying
touch screen user interface
touch screen interface and over
Features complicated user experience
makes the W960i a
Performance
disappointment
Battery life
Huw Morgan
huw morgan nhmedia co uk