Sony Ericsson W200i

RATING

Pros

Good value

Cons

Small screen
No bluetooth
No 3G

SUMMARY

An excellent cheap PAYG Sony Ericsson Walkman music phone. Buy a W200i for under £30. Super bargain.

release date: April 2007

colours:

rhythm black

pulse white

grey

sweet pink

aquatic white

aquatic blue

Sony Ericsson W200i Review

The Sony Ericsson W200i is an excellent value Walkman music phone. Available in many colours, the W200i is contender for "best cheap PAYG phone". The W200i offers a very decent set of features, given the price - just £30.

Key features include a VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels = 0.3 MP), an FM radio, music player, video capture, infrared, USB, photoDJ, videoDJ, Push Email, organiser tools and an M2 memory card slot (supports up to 2 GB). Until we did this review, we hadn't realised how cheap some of the PAYG phones with these features are.

Design

Quite light (85 g), with average-sized dimensions. Plastic casing, decent size. Available in 6 funky colours.

Left: Walkman key, M2 memory card slot (supports up to 2 GB). 128 MB card is in the box. 2 GB == 500 songs perhaps.

Right: Volume rocker, Walkman logo.

Top: On/off, infrared port.

Bottom: Connector and microphone (on the left).

Back: 0.3 MP camera lens, loudspeaker.

Front: 1.8-inch screen, speaker above the screen, navigation keys, keypad.

Battery cover: The whole back comes off. Easy.

Features

0.3 MP Camera with video capture

Yes, the camera is rubbish. But £30 for a music-focussed budget phone - who cares about the camera. No LED light or flash. You have to transfer photos to your PC using the USB cable, there's no bluetooth. There is infrared support, but who uses infrared?

Features include: zoom, shoot mode, picture size, night mode, effects, self-timer, picture quality, shutter sound. Video capture - 15 fps at 176 x 144 resolution.

Walkman Player

The W200i focus in music - enter the Walkman Player. Press the Walkman key on the left-side of the phone. You can browse tracks by artist, tracks, videos, set playlists and more. The provided earphones are fine, loudspeaker is tinny.

PlayNow: Use Sony Ericsson's PlayNow service to buy music on the Internet.

Other Fun Features

FM radio with RDS, organiser tools, PhotoDJ and MusicDJ (these 2 tools offer about 5 minutes amusement, then you're likely never to touch 'em again), simple Web browser, RSS feeds, sound recorder (record yourself belching?).

Summary

For £30, the Sony Ericsson W200i is a real bargain. Camera is of course naff. You get a tiny screen, no 3G, but the W200i does all the basics well enough and you get an entry-level Walkman player. Smokin'. Carphone Warehouse loves you.