Sony Ericsson W8
New product releases are not only about innovative production. It is also about creative and innovative packaging. Intelligent marketers will tell you that there is a huge section of audience which love the old wine as long as the bottle is new for does not wine improve with age? Thus, the successful Sony Xperia X8 takes a new avatar as the W8. The year old droid with a new and keen ear for music, available at a much lower price than the Xperia, seems to be a real delight. The price range in which it has taken birth seems to have no competitors for it and it is easily among the better mp3 players out there. Add to this the wonderful web access and social networking ease that this smartphone provides, it is bound to be a hit.
As far as the phone performance is concerned, there are absolutely no complaints with the Reliance 3G SIM that comes bundled within. The music player experience is rich and will surely thrill the user. The camera, however, is sloppy with no autofocus and lack of flash. However, its performance is low light is surprisingly good and it arrives with geo-tagging options. But the phone was never built for photography anyway. The backlit dimming technique used in then screen is a little poor and as a result, there is a slight flicker when the screen is turned on. The speaker output in terms of its range, bass and sound quality is excellent. The Li-Po 1200 mAh battery that sits inside the phone can provide up to 24 hours of music playing.
As you turn on the phone, the phone too turns you on with its excellent Timeline UI. A scratch-proof, TFT HVGA touch screen that measures 3 inches with a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels. The camera that has been provided on the phone has a resolution of 3.2 megapixels but has no zoom or flash options. Videos, however, can be recorded at a higher 640 by 480 pixels. The W8 is basically a Walkman phone with wonderful music playing options. This includes the Infinite button which takes you to Youtube or the music stores with a single touch. The track ID recognition identifies the artist, name and album of a particular track. Though the music player has no equalizer, the equalizer can be easily downloaded from the droid market. The built-in speaker and provided earphones are of an excellent quality.
In terms of shape, only the Walkman logo distinguishes the W8 from the Xperia X8. A different paint job gives a glossy finish to the W8. This, however, has made the W8 more prone to smudges which can be easily wiped away with a soft cloth. The screen size and resolution are among the best in its class and the W8 has rid itself of the banding problems that often plagued the X8. Three keys nestle below the screen and the speakers are located on top in the front. On the right is the volume rocker as well as the camera trigger. The flap of the micro-USB port is tough to open and the power button is so small that it might be accidentally pressed too! The body is made entirely from plastic and the curves on the back make the phone ergonomic and easy to hold.
No phone is perfect. More so, no cheap phone can ever be perfect! The W8 lacks as a smartphone and in the camera features. But at a cost of just above Rs. 8000, it is probably the best entry level smartphone with an excellent music player.