Unboxing: Sony Ericsson W880i
Sony’s latest Walkman phone takes a different route from their past lineup with the W880i focusing mainly on size, without losing features. I really didn’t expect this phone to be so thin, it’s quite astonishing. The specs are unbelievable which include: 3G (2100 band only), a 2 mega-pixel camera with front-facing video calling camera, good speakers, expandable memory, and a boatload of good software. The camera isn’t the best but gets the job done, and the speakers are loud and put out decent sound. One problem is there isn’t too much low end even with the "Mega Bass" equalizer option turned on but, what can you expect from a device of this size. Now for the most important part, the buttons and keypad. After all, what good is a phone when you can’t dial a telephone number? That’s not really the case here. The buttons and keyboard are no doubt small, in fact the smallest i’ve seen, but they are actually pretty usable. You wouldn’t want to write long emails and messages here but it gets you by. Nice OS features include a built-in RSS reader, good web browser, a pretty good selection of themes, and of course Sony’s Walkman software. Call quality was good, and earpiece volume was good too. All in all, not bad a bad experience. Oh, I never want to see a 3G phone that’s more than double this size ever again. There is no excuse anymore to have such thick phones that countless manufacturers still spit out. HTC, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Siemens, LG, BenQ, TORQ, Pharos, you all listening? Click on for more unboxing and comparison shots!
This brushed metal body looks like a magnet for fingerprints to me… is it really all those fingerprint-friendly, Boy Genius?
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Ok, nice Sony Ericsson phone, but I gotta know…where did you get that theme for your 8800? I want it on mine…
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The theme is the T-Mobile theme.
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3G in that small and thin phone? Amazing.
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Why can’t all companies make phones as sexy as Sony Ericsson’s?
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LOL at Peter Kordas. Perhaps, sexy = more expensive = people cannot afford it.
I think BlackBerry 8800 is sexier than this phone.
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That sure looks amazing!
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the 8800 is sexier? it must match your pocket protector….:-)
boy genius, how is the sound quality when using the supplied headset to listen to mp3s?
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Released date?
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Damn, now I want one…
Can you give some more details:
-Battery before having to recharge during normal usage
-Strength of vibrate mode (i kept missing calls on prev phone cuz I couldn’t feel it)
-Music interface: hard to get load/play mp3s? too many button pushes?
-Ruggedness: does it feel like it can handle a couple drops?
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I want to know where to get the W880i from?
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Why no aluminum all the way around? Black plastic and aluminum fascia = less quality look and feel to me.
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I was at a phone retailer a few months ago, chatting with a Sony Ericsson rep. I asked him if S-E was ever going to bring out bar phones that were slim. (They seem to like the “soap bar” format, as opposed to “candy bar”.)
His response?
“We think thin phones are just a passing trend.”
I’m glad this phone proves that the rest of the company doesn’t have their heads up their asses. Making stuff smaller isn’t a “passing trend”… it’s “progress”.
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i got my 880i in the mail yesterday too. it is amazing. best phone i have ever had. to one of the above comments, the metal actually doesn’t show fingerprints, since it is brushed and not shiny. the walkman feature is amazing (wish it would work with the itunes store songs), but overall i would say this is THE iphone killer (not any of those other phones that have touch screens). this phone looks great, and has all the features one needs, it is small (damn small), oh and here is one more (take note of that apple) it has 20 hours of MP3 playback, 6 hours of talk time and more than a week of standby (i say that despite being a die hard apple fan).
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nick, if you put aluminum all around you need an outside antenna or have no reception. plus the back is no cheap plastic, it it is rubbery and makes it a much better grip.
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Yes, completely agree. The only place you would really get fingerprints is the sides as they are shiny polished metal, as opposed to the brushed front. Great features, great talk time, real hot phone!
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carsten, I understand your enthusiasm for your new acquisition, but this is no “iPhone killer.” It’s very under-featured compared to the iPhone and even size-wise is only noticeably smaller in the width dimension. Then there’s the styling problem…
Now, why do you think the W880i’s batttery life for talk/music of 6/20 is so much better than the iPhone’s 5/16?
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I am not sure what is so special about this phone.. yes maybe if it would be all alu bodied ..perhaps.. but to it seems to me like a next in the line average cell phone.
and look at the size of the screen in comparison to the body! it is small isnt it?
Dont take me wrong .. I like Sony .. got almost all my gear sony…but …thisone isnt so cool..
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I have fiddled with this baby when it was “hush hush secret secret” and my company tests them for larger telco companies before they decide to purchase them, and well i have had small phones before and would have to say that the usability of the devise is similar to my 8210 of yestur-year, its keys are far too hard to select and holding it in your hand well you get the immediate feeling that you dont want to break it. the operation of the device is the same of all other SE devices.
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don,
i don’t know if you have held this new sonyericsson phone in your hands. but this is an amazing phone. the best phone i have seen so far.
size wise
apple iphone: 115 x 61 x 11.6
w880i: 103 x 47 x 9.5
(all in mm)
and then there is size 135 gr. vs. 71 gr. for a device of this size we are not talking small change here, these are worlds of differences even in thickness.
and yes it is under-featured as a phone, but so was the ipod when it came out. the w880 is a phone, that plays music. the iphone is a all things and then some thing and that is the problem. apple should have learned from the ipod. focus on delivering a product that can do one thing exceptionally well (and then maybe add some other things to it). but creating this multi featured iphone apple is limiting the audience to a group of gadget fetish users.
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Glad to know that the buttons and keyboards are comfortable. I was under the impression that they are far too small for my liking.
No doubt, Moto Razr’s users might soon start to take a good look at this phone, and decided to jump ship. After all, the specification offered by the W880 is well above those of Razr.
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I wish i live in 1st world country sometimes, this is one of them, i WANT this phone, and i know will take months, maybe years before i can buy one, plus overpriced.
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I am a huge fan of the Sony Ericcson line, although find one feature I desire left out time and again. Does the W880i (or any other phone for that matter) provide music playback via ones bluetooth headset?
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Yes, the W880i has A2DP stereo bluetooth:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pip3&zone=pp&pid=10653
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i’ve collected mine few days ago… forget all the bullshit people talking about it’s keypad.. it has the ‘best” feedback once u get used to it.. texting is very fast with it.. just do not hesitate to press the key you want even though u’ll feel other keys around, but when the moment u press, you will strike the exact key.. u have to try it urself “to believe” and u no need to use finger nail to type.. screen is very sharp even though it is small.. flash themes are really nice to the eyes.. one more thing, it just feels like you are holding an ipod nano.
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