Sony Ericsson W610i Unlocked Quadband Camera Phone (Orange)

The Sony Ericsson W610i is a mid-range Walkman phone with the new Walkman® 2.0 player. The first thing to say is that this is yet another superb phone from Sony Ericsson. It's not at the top end of the range, so it misses out on a couple of features, but offers almost everything you'd want from a music phone at a good price.

The Walkman range is now established as probably the best range of mobile phones for playing music. The W610i has the latest version of the Walkman player and is pretty well as easy as using an iPod. The Walkman key gives you one-click access to the player and from there you can play, rewind, fast forward, equalise, shuffle tracks and create playlists. Audio quality is as good as a dedicated MP3 player, and a standard set of headphones is included in the sales package. The phone is also compatible with stereo Bluetooth wireless headsets - available separately. The W610i is equipped with Sony Ericsson's MegaBass™ feature which enhances bass frequencies - a useful feature to switch on for some types of music. It also has PlayNow™ & TrackID™. PlayNow is a service for downloading ringtones (which you have to pay for) and TrackID is a free service that identifies songs that you hear on the radio - cool.

Physically, the W610i is quite a bit thinner than the older W810i, but isn't as thin as the ultra-thin W880i. It's a good size to hold in your hand. The only gripe that we have about the W610i is the small size of the keys. If you've got big hands you'd be better off sticking with the W810i.

Overall, this is another fantastic Walkman phone, positioned in the sub-£200 market and offering outstanding value for money, with the small key size the only issue. The big question is how the W610i fits into the Walkman range. Is it a replacement for the W810i or is it a lower-spec model? We think that it's really the replacement for the W810i. Compare the W610i and the W810i and you'll see that the feature list is nearly identical - the main difference is that the W610i is thinner, has a new style of keypad and uses the latest software. The W810i was one of the very best phones of 2006, and the W610i is a worthy successor. Other phones to consider are the near-identical K550i and the ultra-slim W880i.

General features

GSM Network EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSCSD
Service 850, 900, 1800, 1900
Connectivity
Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared no
Wi-Fi (WLAN) no
USB 2.0
Fax / Data no
Display
Main display Color TFT
Color display 262.144 colors
Dimensions in.
Resolution 240x320 pixels
External display no
Memory
Internal memory no
External memory 1GB
Memory slots 1
Storage types MemoryStick Micro
Basic
Battery Lithium Ion
Standby time 350 hours
Talk time 7 hours
Calling
Vibrate alert yes
Photo ID no
Ringtones MP3, Polyfone
Camera
Camera yes
Megapixels 2.0 megapixels
Maximum photo resolution 1600x1200 pixels
Digital zoom no
Optical zoom no
Auto focus yes
Flash yes
Recording video yes
Second (front) camera no
Messaging
SMS yes
MMS yes
T9 text function yes
E-mail yes
Internet browsing no
Entertainment
FM radio yes
Java yes
Audio player AAC, eAAC, MP3
Video player 3GP, MPEG4
Features
Add ringtones yes
Organiser Calculator, Calendar, Reminders, Currency converter
Video call no
Other features Built in hands free, Voice dial, Voice memo, Photo editor, Photo viewer
Format
Weight 0 oz.
Dimensions (H x W x D) 4x1.8x0.6 in.

Software and Setup:
Software downloads
Mobile Internet (WAP)
Email
Picture messaging (MMS)
User guides