Since Sony gave the world the Walkman (remember cassette tapes?), it was no surprise last year when Sony Ericsson announced it was bringing music to its handsets. The company's Walkman line not only packs a powerful music player into a regular cell phone, it also accomplishes the task quite well. Great music quality, a range of features, and easy usability are trademarks of the Walkman phones, without sacrificing that all-important call quality. The Sony Ericsson W800i was the first model to debut in the United States when Sony Ericsson announced it at the 2005 CTIA show. It was followed by the W600i later in the year and the W810i in the first half of 2006. The W300i followed last summer with the W710i bringing up the rear just last week. Though we like the phones as a whole, they're not without their drawbacks, so make sure you find the right handset for you. Cingular has been the only carrier thus far to offer the Walkman phones, but we hope we'll see more on the market soon.
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| Price | Check Prices | $159.99 | $234.99 to $318.99 | $188.99 | Check Prices |
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| Review date | October 07, 2005 | November 07, 2005 | April 13, 2006 | July 18, 2006 | September 28, 2006 |
| The Bottom Line | Its design may not be particularly flashy, but the Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman phone elegantly combines its calling and multimedia features into a powerful device. | Although we bemoan the lack of an expandable memory slot, the Sony Ericsson W600i is a remarkable and user-friendly MP3 cell phone. | Sony Ericsson succeeds again with its third Walkman phone for the U.S. market, but the W810i brings only minor improvements over earlier models. | Though it has a few design and performance glitches, the Sony Ericsson W300i is a quality, basic MP3 cell phone. | The Sony Ericsson W710i is solid addition to Sony Ericsson's Walkman phone line despite a few design hiccups and some missing features. |
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| Features | |||||
| Band / mode |
GSM 900/1800/1900 (Tri-Band) |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) |
| Cellular technology |
GSM |
GSM |
GSM |
GSM |
GSM |
| Talk time |
Up to 540 min |
Up to 510 min |
Up to 480 min |
Up to 540 min |
Up to 600 min |
| Flash memory form factor | Info unavailable |
Internal |
Info unavailable | Info unavailable |
Memory Stick Micro M2 |
| Weight |
3.5 oz |
4.2 oz |
3.5 oz |
3.3 oz |
3.6 oz |
| Height |
3.9 in |
3.7 in |
3.9 in |
3.5 in |
3.5 in |
| Carrier | Info unavailable |
Cingular |
Cingular Wireless |
Cingular Wireless |
Info unavailable |
| Wireless Interface |
Infrared (IrDA) Bluetooth |
Infrared (IrDA) Bluetooth |
Infrared (IrDA) Bluetooth |
Infrared (IrDA) Bluetooth |
Infrared (IrDA) Bluetooth |
| Service Provider | Info unavailable |
ATT |
ATT |
ATT |
Unlocked |
| Service & support details type | Info unavailable | Info unavailable |
Limited warranty |
Technical support |
Info unavailable |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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