Sony Ericsson W800i mobile phone

Sony Ericsson W800i is a tri-band candy bar styled cameraphone, and so it is a good handset to carry with you when travelling around the world. This model has a very similar design to the earlier K750i, although several changes are noticeable on the outside, such as in the area of the joystick and keypad. Probably the most visible new styling feature is the metallic orange around the edges of the case, while the rest of the phone’s body is finished in “smooth white”, giving this model a very distinctive and modern appearance. The W800i continues the Sony Ericsson tradition of making the handset appear like a phone from one side, and a camera from the other.Sony Ericsson W800i

Despite this phone’s simple appearance, and small size and weight, it does manage to conceal a degree of sophistication and power reaching almost to the limits of what a GSM phone can achieve without moving to 3G. The high quality performance features easily justify this model’s place in the top of the range phone market, and it is certain to be a popular model with the phone-buying public. One consequence of the handset’s compact design is that the battery cover is about half the usual size, meaning the battery is inserted by sliding it into place from the bottom of the phone.

Amongst the many features offered by the W800i are Bluetooth™ connectivity, GPRS and HSCSD technology, WAP 2.0 and xHTML browsing, MMS multimedia messaging, video record download and playback, video and audio streaming, Walkman™ branded MP3 player, FM stereo radio, a slot for Memory Stick PRO Duo™ memory cards, speakerphone for hands-free conversations, voice memo recorder, Java™ enabled, voice control, and an e-mail client. A significant difference between the W800i and the K750i is in its software, with the W800i being adapted to offer enhanced music playing features. For example, the “activity menu key” in the K750i (located below the centre of the display), becomes a music key carrying a Walkman symbol in the W800i, and this button is used to turn on the media and MP3 player.

As would be expected in a model like the W800i, it has a high quality display. There has to be some compromise about the size of the screen, due to the phone’s small physical dimensions, but all things considered it is still a better display than those found on most other phones. Technically the screen is an active matrix TFT display, with an excellent resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. Another feature of this screen is that it can reproduce the best current standard of colour pictures - up to 262,144 different colours - to give brilliant images. The display employs Sony Ericsson’s intuitive and easy to use icon-based menu system, which provides a grid containing 12 icons for quick selection of the functions. Getting around the menus can be simplified even more by programming shortcuts, so avoiding the need to press lots of buttons to choose frequently used functions. The clear and colourful screen is also great for viewing the photographs and video clips that can be captured on the built-in camera.

The W800i gives its users the opportunity to capture some very impressive photographs using its integrated camera, and in this model Sony Ericsson go one step further than most other cameraphones by offering autofocus - this allows the user to quickly set up a Sharp image at any distance from a few inches to infinity. Photographic quality is excellent, and it gives serious competition to all other 2 megapixel cameraphones, such as the Sharp 902 or the new Nokia N90. The phone’s macro mode, and its good control over focusing, will make this a useful phone for those who need to copy documents and drawings as part of their work. The camera is turned on by opening the active lens cover, which is operated by pushing the button near the lens. Instead of the sliding cover of the K750i, the W800i has a small round window that exposes the lens when you need to use the camera.

There is a choice of taking pictures at 3 different sizes: 2 megapixel (1632 x 1224 pixels), VGA (640 x 480 pixels), and also small pictures (160 x 120 pixels) that are suitable as picture ID in the phonebook. One slight criticism is that it might have been beneficial to have the choice of taking one megapixel photos as well, since there is a large gap between 2 megapixels and VGA. However, the 4x digital zoom can be used to adjust the size of pictures to what you require. If you wish you can create multiple photo albums, and you have the option to use the included Adobe® Photoshop® album software to organise precious or interesting images on your PC.

Some other useful camera features are its capability to capture three shots side by side, and these can then be stitched together to create panoramic pictures. To help capture fast moving events there is a burst mode function, which can perform 4 shots in rapid succession. It is even possible to add some special effects to modify your pictures - including black and white, sepia, negative, and solarize - and the picture editor enables you to add a choice of frames to your photos. A built-in photo light is provided by a pair of LEDs, to assist with taking photos indoors or when the light conditions are poor, and this works for both still and video capture; these LEDs are noticeably brighter than most other photo lights of this type. For those who require a more powerful lamp, for those night shots, users can buy an optional accessory MXE-60 xenon flashgun, which includes automatic red-eye reduction. An additional feature is the night mode, which lengthens the exposure time when the lighting level is low. A timer and small mirror are also built into the design of the phone, and these may help when you need to take a self-portrait.

It will soon be appreciated that capturing many 2 megapixel pictures will quickly use the available internal memory, as the highest quality JPEG photos may eat up about 400 kB each. Therefore, the best of your photos may turn out to be too large to fit into an MMS message, as these files are fixed at a maximum of 300 kB in size, and there are networks that set even lower limits than this. However, fortunately you can send your high resolution photos anywhere as e-mail attachments. MMS messages may contain a combination of video clips, pictures, sound recordings, text and business cards. You can also send voice messages, which are voice recordings sent like MMS messages. A further useful messaging tool is QuickShare™, which enables you to quickly and easily send your images, videos, and sounds to your friends, family and other contacts.

Another of the W800i’s standard imaging features is its ability to capture video clips, although the picture quality is noticeably less clear, especially after you have grown accustomed to the high definition of the still photos. Two video resolution sizes are offered by the phone of QCIF and SubQCIF (176 x 144, 128 x 96 pixels). A VideoDJ™ application is also provided, and this gives users the chance to edit and mix their own sequence of video clips, pictures, soundtracks and text captions to enhance a message, which can then be sent by MMS or e-mail.

Even more onboard features can be added to this model’s impressive list of multimedia capabilities, including the opportunity to stream live video and audio directly to the phone, which of course will be valuable for those who like to keep up to date on news, sports, entertainment, etc. For music and general interests there is an integrated FM stereo radio, offering automatic channel search and the latest RDS services, which provide on-screen news notification and details of the radio station you are listening to, such as song tracks and programme details (if the station supports RDS). When using the radio the hands-free headset must be connected, because this acts as the antenna.

An important entertainment function of the W800i is its ability to double as an MP3 music player, for music on the move. With its Walkman™ status, the phone can do more or less anything that a dedicated music player is capable of, including the setting up of playlists, shuffle play, loop play, Mega Bass™, and an equalizer, etc. The sophisticated music playing features mean you no longer need to carry a separate music player around with you - this phone does it all. The music will sound better in stereo on the superior set of supplied headphones, which take full advantage of the musical capabilities of this phone, but it is also possible to send the music to the phone’s speakerphone for sharing with others. The supplied accessories include an audio adaptor that allows you to plug in your own headphones, if you prefer something different to the bundled ones. This adaptor can be used to connect a pair of small speakers, and a microphone is even included in the adaptor to help when talking hands-free. There is a dedicated music button on the side of the phone, to play or pause the media player (or radio) when you need to stop or start the sound.

One useful feature when using the Walkman is the music only mode, which lets you switch off the phone functions to get about twice the music playback time (from 15 to 30 hours). This also works as a flight mode, when you want to listen to music on an aeroplane or in a hospital, and other places where phones are not allowed to transmit. The supplied Disc2Phone software enables you to transfer music to the phone’s memory card, and to rip copies of your own CDs to use on the phone. With the supplied software it is easy to download tracks from a PC to the phone, so enabling you to create playlists of favourite music that you wish to listen to while on the move.

With the need to store lots of information and files, there will inevitably be large demands on memory. It is therefore an important point that the W800i has an expandable memory option, and this is provided by a Memory Stick Duo™ slot (Memory Stick PRO Duo™ cards are also supported). A Memory Stick PRO Duo™ of 512 MB is included with the phone, which will provide enough storage for about 150 music tracks. Cards of up to 2 GB in capacity may be used in the phone, and that should be more than enough memory for anybody who needs to store many video clips, pictures, and MP3 music tracks. These memory cards are hot-swappable, and this will make life easier if it becomes necessary to change a card quickly when the first one is full.

Personalisation is now a huge market in the phone industry, and this model is no exception in allowing its users to change the themes, wallpapers, screensavers, and ringtrones in order to customise the phone’s appearance and alerts. The W800i works with the PlayNow™ system for the quick download of music tones, and that allows you to listen to ringtones before you decide to buy them. With such a good camera, it makes sense to take your own pictures and use them as wallpapers or screensavers, which is an easy process and saves buying them,. Another helpful feature is that the sound clips recorded with the phone’s sound recorder can also be used as ringtones. For those users who like to play around with their ringtones, and come up with something unique, there is the included MusicDJ™ application. This software enables users to compose and edit their own ringtones, using 4 types of pre-arranged sounds: drums, basses, chords, and accents. These sounds can then be organised into sections called Intro, Verse, Chorus and Break to create a melody.

Being Java™ enabled means users may run a variety of Java applications on this phone, and this could turn out to be very useful for many business or personal interests, where a particular application could prove to be exactly the right tool for the job. However, the fun does not stop there, because you can also play games on the W800i, either by using the preloaded selection, or by going online to search for new titles. Fast and enjoyable games can be played on the phone, and the realism is further enhanced by the inclusion of 3D gaming using the Mascot Capsule Engine. Two games come preloaded in the phone: PuzzleSlider, in which a picture is broken down into a number of squares, and the game is then to reassemble them; the other game is QuadraPop, which is a Tetris type of game using musical notes.

With its integrated GPRS and HSCSD technology, the W800i provides users with the fast data transfer rates necessary when accessing the network, although the phone does not offer the option of using EDGE. One benefit of the phone’s data handling capability is that users have an “always on” connection, but only pay for the actual amount of data transferred, rather than the period of time they are connected to the network. This phone can use either the WAP 2.0 or xHTML browsers to access the Internet, and users will then be able to surf through the many services available, such as news, sport, entertainment, or online shopping. Another important feature for business as well as personal use is the E-mail client, which gives users mobile access to their normal work or personal e-mail services on the phone, and this client supports the standard POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols. A further business oriented feature is this model’s support for the exchange of business cards.

There are good connectivity options in the W800i. The latest Bluetooth™ wireless technology is available to those who use it, and this enables you to connect with other Bluetooth devices up to a range of 10 metres, and to synchronise information in your phone and computer, or to exchange, for example, business cards, calendar items and pictures. Alternatively, the other wireless option is the infrared link, which allows you to connect the phone to IrDA compatible devices. This phone also supports the usual wired USB cable connections via its Fast Port socket. After a connection has been established to a compatible device, such as a PC or PDA, then you can synchronise your contacts, appointments, tasks, and notes with similar programs such as Microsoft® Outlook™. Remote synchronisation over-the-air is also possible using SyncML, and Apple owners can use iSync™ to synchronise with a Mac computer. One benefit of using the USB connection is that it offers the possibility to charge the phone via the USB Fast Port, while it is connected to your PC.

The W800i has a comprehensive set of organiser functions to help users in their daily routine, and this includes a calendar, tasks, notes, clock, alarms, timer, stopwatch, calculator, and coded memo (for storing data such as security codes for credit cards, etc). The phonebook allows you to enter many details about your contacts, including multiple phone numbers, e-mail addresses, personal notes such as birthdays, Web and street addresses, ID for instant messaging, etc., and you may add unique images and ringtones to assist with caller ID. You can also create groups of numbers and e-mail addresses, and then you can send messages to several recipients at once. Several different pre-defined profiles come already installed in the phone, which permits you to set the phone’s alerts and settings to correspond with a particular event or environment in which you are using the phone - these profiles may be customised to meet personal needs. As is quite common, the phone has a vibrating alert and T9™ predictive text input.

The Sony Ericsson update service may be used to update the phone’s software when new versions become available. This is simply performed by going to Sony Ericsson’s website with an Internet-connected computer to download the file, and then using the supplied USB cable to install it on the phone.

Sony Ericsson W800i cameraphone specification

Sony Ericsson product page

Manual and phone support

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Last updated 30th January 2008, 14:39 GMT