The Sony Ericsson W8-a Modern Twist On The Walkman Phone

By Author: Emma Rosher
Total Articles: 195
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Back in 2006 Sony Ericsson introduced their first Walkman mobile phone into the marketplace in the shape of the W800i. At the time this model was streets ahead of the competition and inevitably proved a huge success with consumers. Five years down the line and the mobile industry has changed greatly thanks to the arrival of smartphones as well as the emergence of brands such as HTC and Apple. Sony Ericsson have decided to reincarnate their Walkman range of phones starting with the new W8 model but how does this differ from the very first releases that proved such a success with the public?

At the time of its release the Sony Ericsson W800i was a groundbreaking piece of technology however the new W8 model boasts a much more modest specification compared to some of the handsets currently available. A 600Mhz processor ensures this new addition is much faster than earlier models but that is to be expected. Many people will acknowledge that this speed falls somewhat behind what many rival phones are offering but we must not forget that this handset is not aiming to compete with the smartphone market. Yes it does boast ...
... some smartphone features but it is intended to appeal to the person who wants a basic phone with good audio facilities. When it sticks to its brief this model is outstanding. In terms of storage capacity the W8 offers 128MB of internal capacity which is huge compared with the 20MB on the W800i, however both of these figures are not substantial enough to house extensive music collection. The saving grace here is that both phones accept external storage media with the older phone allowing for Memory Sticks up to 8GB whilst the new model can double this figure thanks to a micro SD card slot.

A major change since 2006 is the emergence of touch screen displays and the Sony Ericsson W8 offers a good quality 3 inch screen then benefits from this technology. Not only is the screen larger larger than on the W800i but it boasts a far superior resolution of 320 x 480 pixels compared to the 170 x 220 that the older phone sports. Mobile internet access has moved on since the early days so whereas the W800i offered no facilities for this the W8 not only gives users the option of connection to a network via WiFi for the fastest experience but also via mobile data services such as 3G, EDGE and GPRS. An area where the older model does come up trumps is with regards to size as it weighed in at just 99 grammes rather than the 106 grammes that this latest model weighs. There is very little difference between the two in this department however and despite being heavier the compactness of the W8 is one of its main draws.

Technology has moved on a great deal in 5 years but despite the Sony Ericsson W8 not being as cutting edge as the W800i was on its release it still offers great functionality and looks if you are not looking to travel the smartphone route.

The Sony Ericsson W8 and the Motorola Pro are coming soon