Boasting a 240x320 pixel touchscreen and a huge 8GB built-in memory, the W960i looks like Sony Ericsson’s answer to Apple’s iPhone. The latter, however, has local telcos jostling for exclusive rights, but that’s not quite a decider, isn’t it?
Getting back to the review, no, the W960i isn’t quite an iPhone, but it’s a great product nonetheless. Having a touchscreen that compliments the phone’s keypad, jog dial and odd buttons on its side makes the phone really easy to use.
A plastic stylus is cleverly hidden at the top and its use is probably only required for scribbles using the phone’s Notes application. The rest of the time, the on-screen interface is big and screen responsive enough for quick finger taps. It’s easy to navigate and interact. There’s a keypad for making calls and writing messages, complete with tactile feedback, which certainly beats virtual buttons on full touchscreen devices.
The W960i doesn’t have support for external memory cards, but in its place is a massive 8GB built-in memory. That’s a lot of storage space for music files, pictures or even videos. The phone’s music player has only been made more powerful with the jog dial and touchscreen as it’s even easier now to select tracks, access settings and customizations. Music playback can be accompanied by graphic visualisations that aapear in the background.
While Sony Ericsson has been innovating for the past year or so, it’s still surprising that they still didn’t include a direct 3.5mm audio jack on the phone. Instead, a converter has to be used to plug 3.5mm jack earphones. After all, the W960i is a Walkman (music) phone. There is support for Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) headsets though.
Photography aficionados can still get some decent pictures with the W960i’s 3.2-megapixel camera. It’s no match for the Sony Ericsson’s K series of camera phones, but that’s not a bother.
All in all, the Sony Ericsson W960i offers a great experience by the inclusion of a touchscreen. It’s also no slouch in features, and definitely should appeal to both business and casual users – if its price isn’t a barrier.
Pros: Beautiful screen. Ingenious controls. Behemoth memory.
Cons: No direct 3.5mm audio jack (again!)
Quick Bites:
S$988 (no contract)
Sony Ericsson
www.sonyericsson.com
Quick Specs:
Size/Weight: 55x109x16mm (WxHxD). 119g.
Screen: 240x320 pixels. 262k colours.
Storage: 8GB internal.
Networks: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G
