There’s a neat slider button on top, too, to stop accidental pressing. In fact, you’ll rarely need to open the phone while you’re listening to music.
Uploading music to your phone
Tracks can be loaded up on to the phone from a PC using supplied Sony Ericsson Media Manager software and USB cable, or by dragging and dropping files with the phone in mass storage mode.
Phone storage is a measly 14MB, but a 512MB Memory Stick Micro card is included in-box to give you room for more than 450 tracks.
Sony Ericsson’s nifty TrackID music identification software is also included, so you can quickly identify tunes you hear around you, or on the FM radio that’s built into the phone.
Camera quality
Unlike the Walkman player, the camera is a pretty basic effort. Its 1.3-megapixel maximum resolution is entry-level stuff for a UK cameraphone in 2008.
Controls are limited, there’s no flash or autofocus system, though there are the usual standard effects, white balance options and so on.
Quality isn’t great though. In decent light, image quality is relatively poor, with a lack of detail and softness in shots; low light snaps are worse. It’s essentially a camera for quick snaps, picture messages, and so on, but don’t expect good quality prints.
Sony Ericsson’s now-standard option to upload images straight to a Blogger account is offered too, though there’s no facility for shooting even basic quality video footage on this camera.
It can play back video clips in certain formats copied to the phone or downloaded over the air (though GPRS/EDGE speed downloading is slow).
Web browsing features
The W350i has an Access NetFront web browser embedded, which provides a way of checking out websites.
Its opening screen has a Google search option, which is handy, though browsing the full internet isn’t as satisfactory as faster, more capable Sony Ericsson handsets.
In default mode, web pages are optimised for the mobile screen, and there’s a Smart-Fit option for small screen scrolling, but trying to view full web pages in their natural state can be slow and frustrating.
Mobile internet-optimised pages, including operator portals and Sony Ericsson’s Play Now download site, however, render speedily.
RSS feeds are supported too, so you can view updates from favourite websites or blogs more easily and speedily.
Additional tools
Sony Ericsson has packed the W350i with a standard kit of organiser tools – calendar, tasks, notes, alarms, timer, stopwatch, calculator and code memo – plus there’s a convertor app and voice recorder facility.
Another Walkman standard, the Music Mate guitar and piano chord guide app, is pre-loaded too, plus three games are included.
Impressive performance
Voice calls made and taken on the W350i were clear and fine, with no problems with reception.
In case you were wondering, the microphone is on the main body of the phone rather than the flip, so its flimsiness isn’t an issue at all.
The power performance of the W350i was acceptable too. Estimated by Sony Ericsson to provide up to 7 hours of talktime or 300 hours in standby, or up to 15 hours of music playback, we found that in our average usage tests, we managed around three days between charges, with a small amount of music playing.
Factor in heavier tune playing – as you’d expect from a Walkman phone – and standby and talktime will fall accordingly.
Fantastic music phone
Sony Ericsson’s Walkman range now seems to have most bases covered when it comes to different types of phones for different categories of music listener, and the W350i’s budget-buyer appeal is clear.
While its specification may not be the finest around, particularly the disappointing camera, and the curiously flimsy flip, it still has a good level of standard Sony Ericsson functionality underpinning it.
If imaging quality is a priority or you want 3G multimedia functionality, you should look elsewhere.
But the real deal-maker for cash-short music mobile buyers will be its core music capabilities and eye-catching skinny looks; the high quality Walkman player delivers a fine performance, while the slimline retro-chic design hits the right notes too.
