O2 Cocoon Preview

Launch price From £20

Loading...

Stuff says

The Cocoon brings some refreshing originality to the music phone arena, but its styling is an acquired taste and it could struggle to compete with Sony Ericsson’s Walkman bullies

PREVIEW

O2 presented us with a pre-production Cocoon under a cloak of almost military secrecy. It’s the company’s first attempt at a music phone since the forgettable XM almost two years ago, and is an original stab at breaking the hegemony of the Walkman clan.

Stormtrooper styling
The Cocoon certainly has a real Marmite quality. Its white clamshell construction is striking and comes with a hidden external LED display for previewing texts and showing track information, but some may find it a little too plasticy, and the design a bit too out-there.

Music is its main selling point, and dedicated side-mounted controls coupled with Windows Media Player integration make it powerful and easy to use. Opting for 2GB of internal memory and a Micro SD card slot (up to 2GB more storage) also means you’ll be able to pack it full of pics and music. It has some nice functionality too like panning your tunes down when a call comes through rather than suddenly cutting them out.

Alarms and surprises
A lot of people use their phones as alarm clocks and the Cocoon’s charging dock recognises that, displaying the time on the external LED display. The cradle also includes a 3.5mm socket so you can easily plug in speakers and use the phone as bedroom mini-system.