Unboxed – Sony Ericsson W995
It's been a joy watching the Walkman phones grow. Since the orange-and-creme W800 arrived over three years ago they've slowly but surely improved thei
It’s been a joy watching the Walkman phones grow. Since the orange-and-creme W800 arrived over three years ago they’ve slowly but surely improved their feature arsenals, and now the W995 is preparing to bring two big headline firsts for the range – an 8MP camera and, finally, a 3.5mm headphone jack.
While it shys away from the snazzy touchscreen and XMB interface of the Cyber-shot flagship Idou, the W995’s more straight-laced approach makes it very easy to use – the slide action is firm and smooth, its 2.6in screen is crisp and there are three lit music playback buttons on the side.
Internal memory is only 118MB, but there’s a Memory Stick Micro slot on the side which will gladly accept 8GB cards (there’s one in the box, but you can pick them up for £35). Connectivity is also strong with stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a-GPS with support for Google Maps, and there’s naturally a link to Sony Ericsson’s Play Now download service in the menus.
And the camera? Well, the autofocus seems quick to lock-on and there’s little shutter lag, but the flash is only LED rather than Xenon. We’ll have a full review very soon – while you’re waiting, why not check out our Top 10 Music phones?
Nokia N96 (left) vs Sony Ericsson W995 (right)
Nokia N96 (left) vs Sony Ericsson W995 (right)
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief