Sony Ericsson’s Walkman band of music phone brothers have always been jostling with the iPod Nano et al for the music snacker’s attention but since when did they want to look like their dedicated rivals? The new W350i’s rocks up with MP3-esque player design that’s a departure from its Walkman phone roots.
With nothing but a display, front dedicated music controls and pocket genial slimline body this prepay popster brilliantly hides its double life as a mobile blower.
The W350i’s phone talents only kick in when the alarmingly old school and flimsy flip action is opened. It’s not the sturdiest mechanism and we’re not sure resurrecting Jurassic phone design from the Ericsson days of yore will snag the musical youth.
Flip design faux pas aside, the W350i still has that slick signature Walkman sound to fall back on. It sonic performance is boosted by a Mega Bass packing equalizer while a 3.5mm headphone adapter is also bundled so you can hook up your quality cans. Unfortunately, the W350i is shackled to handle 2GB Memory Stick Micros, so storage for about 500 tunes is as good as it gets pop pickers.
Even considering it prepay ranking, the W350i’s phone features are still disappointingly feeble. Its EDGE download speeds bumble along while the video vacuous 1.3-megapixel camera arrives direct from Blursville.
Verdict
Not even its MP3 player disguise can save this Walkman phone from being a one hit wonder.
Best features
Slender figure
Great sounding Walkman player
Dedicated music controls
Not so good
Flimsy old school flip design
No 3G
Lack of video recording capabilities
Closest rivals
Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
Nokia’s pocket muso amazingly fines space on its slimline torso for an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and dedicated music player controls.
Samsung F210
This pint sized music mobly flaunts a switchblade swivel action and maximum 3GB storage for the music snacker.
Sony Ericsson W380i
If you don’t dig the W350i’s flip design, its funky Walkman clamshell cousin is a sound sonic alternative.
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