Sony Ericsson W660i

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39030107,49292075,00.htm

Reviewed 7 August 2007

Reviewed by Frank Lewis

When it comes to music mobiles, Sony Ericsson has done a great job with its Walkman range of handsets. This latest addition may not look as flash as some of its siblings, but it neatly combines impressive music skills with 3G features into a compact candybar design that's likely to have broad appeal.

The W660i is available for free on contract on most networks.

Strengths
It may not have the 'look at me' appeal of some of the other Walkman phones we've seen recently, but the W660i's two-tone colour scheme is still easy on the eye. The more traditional design also means there's room for an ample-sized keypad -- something that heavy texters will appreciate.

The styling of the W660i is traditional, but it will suit anyone who's after a simple music-playing phone

If texting isn't your bag, maybe you'll get more use out of the decent 2-megapixel camera on the rear, which is twinned with a smaller VGA one on the front so you can make video calls if you're using a 3G network.

Most people will be interested in the phone's music features, and here it doesn't disappoint. The phone comes with a 512MB Memory Stick M2 card, so it can hold a decent number of tunes, and music sounds great on the supplied sound-isolating headphones. Thanks to the standard mini jack adaptor lead you can swap to your own cans of you prefer, and there's also an onboard FM tuner for when you're fed up of your own tunes.

The 2-megapixel camera on the rear takes decent photos and has a 2.5x digital zoom

Other useful features include the ability to automatically create a photo blog with pictures uploaded from the phone, a built-in RSS news reader and support for wireless A2DP (stereo Bluetooth) music streaming.

Battery life is pretty good, too. You'll get around 6 hours of talk time and 15 days worth of standby time.

Weaknesses
Although the 2-megapixel camera shoots reasonable snaps, it doesn't have a flash for taking indoor shots, and it lacks a micro mirror for framing self-portraits. Also, unlike the phones in the Cyber-shot range, there's no autofocus.

Although the sound quality is very good when listening with headphones, switching to the built-in speaker is a disappointment. It only produces mono sound that has a distinctly tinny quality, and if you place the phone on a desk with the screen pointing upwards, the speaker becomes almost totally muffled. It's certainly not on a par with something like the bombastic Nokia 5700 Xpress Music.

Unfortunately, the W660i also uses M2 Memory Sticks for storing tunes, which are more expensive than the cheap microSD cards employed on handsets from other brands.

Music sounds good on the included sound-isolating headphones, but the quality from the built-in speaker is not impressive

We have to say, though, that on the whole these failings are pretty minor, and certainly aren't serious enough to put us off recommending the phone.

Conclusion
There aren't a lot of surprises with the W660i -- apart from the music-playing features, it's a pretty basic handset. It does feel well-built, though, and it has all the features that most users will want, as well as being easy to use. In short, it's a very good option for those after a solid and reliable mid-range handset.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Kate Macefield