Sony Ericsson's 'ultimate' mobile music device cool, but hardly the ultimate

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 10 March 2008 15:21

Opinion and Analysis

Another nice update from the W880i is the inclusion of a 3.2 megapixel camera. Clearly 3.2 megapixels is the new base standard. I’d have imagined that 5 megapixels would be the new base standard but we probably won’t see that happen until the next model of this phone, likely due this time next year.

As with other SE phones, photo and video blogging software is built-in, which links with Google’s Blogger service. This is incredibly cool is you’re a regular blogger – take a photo or video, post it to your blog direct from your phone, and easily include some additional comments.

Other phones now include similar functionality, but Sony Ericsson was one of the first, and if you’re into the whole blogging thing or want to get started, or simply want a simple way to share your photos with friends and family in a blog setting, this is one nice way to do it.

Sony Ericsson’s press release says that the W890i will be available in Espresso Black, Mocha Brown and Sparking Silver, and comes with “soft, curved edges and stylish metal finish” that “oozes elegance”, just as the W880i came in two colour schemes before it and wowed with its slim nature.

Set to retail for an outright price of AUD $899, the phone will undoubtedly be available on a series of plans that will see the upfront cost greatly reduced or eliminated as the cost is spread out over your plan’s contract term, with more information available at Sony Ericsson’s website.

So, is it ‘the ultimate’? Well, it is a pretty cool phone, and sets Sony up nicely to compete with the iPhone and iPod Touch, and music models from Nokia, Samsung and the rest.

But especially when we know that SE itself has better phones on the way this year, it might be their ‘ultimate’ Walkman phone now, but it certainly isn’t THE music ultimate phone, and on that criteria, no music phone ever will be.

That said, if you’re in the target market, it’s a music phone that’s worth considering among all the competitors.