Sony Ericsson’s latest Walkman music slider, the Sony Ericsson W595, is earmarked as successor to the popular personal training W580i. Fitness fanatics will be pleased to hear its built pedometer remains but a serious feature upgrade and design facelift is where it’s at - dawdling EDGE downloads speeds have been swapped for turbo HSDPA while the two-megapixel camera is hiked to more snap happy 3.2-megapixels.
Compare vital stats and the compact Sony Ericsson W595 is identical to its younger Walkman bro but its front curved bonnet gives it a far funkier edge. Unfortunately, while its slider action is snappy enough, the phone feels overly plastic, especially the annoyingly spongy front controls. At least its aluminium trim offers some quality.
Sadly, the music player isn’t fitted with Sony Ericsson’s new Clear Audio Experience boosters first seen in higher-end Walkman blowers like the W980 and W902. However, its second generation player is impressive enough with a Mega Bass mode to beef up the low-end. Naturally, there’s no integrated 3.5mm headphone socket but a double jack adapter is bundled so you and a buddy can listen to your tunes simultaneously. But if you want the rest of the world to hear, the sizeable built-in stereo speakers pump out your ditties at high volume.
The megapixel boost is welcome but the shutterbug is shorn of autofocus and any kind of flash, so photos are short on detail to make decent prints. Video capture resolution is also on the low side; QVGA at 15fps is riddled with judder and blocking but good enough for YouTube and if you bag the W595 on 3, a dedicated app is integrated into the camera menu for easy uploading the uber-popular website.
Verdict
Another capable mid-range Walkman phone rolls into town with enough trimmings and tricks to entice
Best features
Capable Walkman player
Sizeable built-in stereo speakers
Handy pedometer to monitor fitness
Not so good
Plastic construction
Camera lacking autofocus or flash
Sony Ericsson W595 full specifications >>
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Closest rivals
Sony Ericsson W890
Its feature set is almost identical to the W595 slider but houses its music talents inside an achingly slimline candybar torso.
Samsung U900 Soul
Fire up this slinky slider’s capable music player and the front navigation pad will morph to conveniently serve up dedicated controls.
Nokia 5300 XpressMusic
This dinky skater will slip unnoticed in the trouser pouch while its side dedicated music buttons offer easy control of your tunes.
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