The W200i is Sony Ericsson's cheap Walkman phone aimed at those who are on pay as you go and so don't get the luxury of free upgrades. It costs around £50 SIM-free, and while its design and features largely reflect its bargain price tag, Sony Ericsson has still managed to pack in a few surprises.
Strengths
You wouldn't exactly describe this handset as a looker, but the styling isn't too bad for a budget phone. You can rattle off text messages at a fine speed -- the buttons on the keypad are a decent size and there's a dedicated Walkman button to bring you straight to the music player. On the right-hand side there's a volume rocker switch, which doubles as a track skip control when you hold it down for a second or so.
In fact, the music features are one of the most impressive aspects of the handset. The Walkman application is fast and easy to use and the sound quality is first rate. The supplied headphones are surprisingly good, but if you're not satisfied with them you can swap them out for your own, thanks to the standard 3.5mm jack on the hands-free kit. However, you'll probably want to upgrade the 128MB M2 Memory Stick to something a bit larger if you want to store a decent number of tracks.
In terms of call quality, the phone's performance was excellent and battery life was also impressive -- we got around four days' use out of it before it needed a charge. There are also a few neat extras hidden away in the menus, such as the handy RSS reader that lets you keep up to date with the latest news from your favourite Web sites.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews4
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LipsticJunkie 28 February 2012
Good: easy to use, music player
Bad: no bluetooth
Comment: i used to have this phone, it's great. it was my first one, and i have to say, it made me fall inlove with sony ericsson. i loved the music player, it was really great. it would give all songs of certain artist, and my mix walkman doesn't do it. just it was really annoying that the phone didn't have bluetooth. anyway, this phone was really great. so sad i lost it :(
Andrew Lennon Shepard 1 December 2010
Good: Unimaginably good music player, fantstic earphones, does very basic internet suprisingly well, easy to use, camera performs well in bad light, nice interface
Bad: When fantastic earphone break your buggered, small screen, pointless video recorder, no bluetooth
Comment: This review, bear in mind, comes actually from 2006 when I brought this fone as a wee 11yr old for about 30quid. And for the time it was amazing, fantastic music, a camera (which to an 11 yr old was amazing) and plenty of nice features, not to mention a pair of jolly nice earphones.
But of course, all things must pass, it got lower and lower tech and I found I was at loss without bluetooth, a better camera and a bigger screen. And 6 months later I got quite frankly bored. And, of course when the earphones broke it was either use the adapter and be forced to use a cable about a mile long or and ipod. Guess which?
And eventually it was stolen at a classic car show. Full of old people. Hmm........
tobyj94 1 November 2009
Good: Battery Life, WALKMAN
Bad: Lack of bluetooth, Average camera
See all 4 user reviews