Sony Ericsson's new W595 is a slider handset with a 3.2-megapixel camera, and it replaces the popular W580i from last year. With upgraded specs, can this year's model do justice to last year's? It's on sale now SIM-free for around £225, or is free on a contract.
Design
Little of significance has changed since the W580 -- the devices genuinely look like brothers from the same mothers. The camera has shifted positions, the USB socket has moved, and the overall enclosure has a slightly different shape. But if you're looking for ground-breaking changes, keep walking, 'cos there ain't nothing to see here.
It's still a decent design though, with a fine key layout. Speed texting is easier on some other handsets, but it's nothing a week of practice won't solve. Our biggest, most epic complaint is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone socket. You may remember this criticism from many, many other Walkman phone reviews.
We feel it almost wasn't worth updating this phone unless you were going to add something as game-changing as a place to put headphones without a repugnant plastic adaptor. And reattaching the battery cover gave us several minutes of annoyance thanks to some tiny, easily breakable plastic positioning clips.
A super screen partly compensates for the gargantuan headphone-socket oversight, giving 56mm (2.2 inches) of crisp, bright 240x320-pixel screen real estate. Images look crisp and even small text is comfortably readable.
Features
One big upgrade is the camera, which has jumped from 2 megapixels to an impressive 3.2 megapixels. It still lacks a flash, mind, so you can rule out good-looking photos under strobe or moonlight. If photos are key, consider a Nokia N82.
A 2GB proprietary Sony Memory Stick Micro card comes in the box, and M2 cards of up to 8GB were supported in our tests. Sadly it's inaccessible inside the handset, so you'll have to whip out the battery to get to it.
Accessing media on these cards requires a simple touch of a dedicated Walkman button, thrusting you into a clean media manager interface for browsing multimedia, Flash games and RSS feeds. They're intuitively laid out and fun to browse -- plus, a built-in accelerometer automatically rotates pictures and videos depending on whether you hold the phone horizontally or vertically.
Supported music formats include MP3, AAC, WMA and WAV. Protected WMA files were supported in our tests as long as they were purchased (not subscribed to), but we had trouble playing any Napster To Go downloads.
We also struggled with video. Low resolution MPEG-4 videos are supported but no software comes in the box, Sony Ericsson's own media converter costs additional money, and Windows Media Player wouldn't convert our test videos into any usable format. Safe to say we're not keen to push this handset on video-lovers.
But moving on. If you travel you'll be happy to hear that the quad band W595 will function in all countries you visit. Plus, with a native YouTube application, you can upload any videos you shoot directly to Google's video sharing site, not to mention browse the latest clips. And did we mention how incredibly simple it is to use?
You've also got stereo A2DP Bluetooth, an FM radio, support for fun 3D Java games, integrated stereo speakers (which, kids, are not to be used on a bus when we're around, okay?), and an impressive 3.6Mbps HSDPA connection for fast Web browsing and downloading. We recommend you install the fantastic free Opera Mini browser if you want a genuinely solid Web experience from the W595.
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emmytech 9 August 2011
Good: Media functions, text messaging, calls, YouTube, Bluetooth, battery
Bad: No standard headphone jack, web layout isn't great, no passlock option
Comment: I've had this phone for almost 2 years and I haven't got much bad to say about it. I actually have the limited edition Sakura which is gorgeous.
This phone is definitely for music-lovers, because it's built especially to store your music and play it like there's no tomorrow. I don't use shake control because I find just creating playlists a little easier. The sound quality is great. Definitely a thumbs up for the music.
The layout of the media screen is easy to use and innovative, video is okay although the quality isn't the best - ditto with the camera, but the camera has lots of functions such as frames, backdrops, self-timer, night mode, white balance and effects. If you're a gamer, this phone isn't for you - although the games are the full versions, they're not that good. Won't hold your attention for more than 5 minutes.
The main stuff I love about this phone though are just the variety of layouts and themes and the choice to basically customise your phone around you. They have lots of pictures already stored on the phone and animated backgrounds/themes which are nice. Text messaging and calling is easy, setting up speed-dial and adding your own words to predictive text requires no fuss.
Okay, bad stuff: number one on what I'm assuming is everyone's list is the lack of standard headphone jack. Instead a connector and Sony Ericsson headphones come in the box, and they're both very fiddly and annoying to use. My headphones broke in 3 months. The connector is better because you can plug in your own earphones from there but just one simple headphone jack would be so much easier. I suggest that you just do one massive update of your phone (i.e. loading music, video, pictures) because it saves you having to plug in the USB connector over and over and going through a long, complicated process that's really not necessary.
Other than that, it's just little things. The layout of the internet function is disappointing. If you want Facebook, then download the facebook mobile app for every phone (go to the FB site for more info). No twitter though. Sorry.
I'll leave this on a good note. Bluetooth is great. Easy to use, connects well, sends and receives files quickly with no hassle. Job done.
Would recommend to music-loving people looking for an informal but still very useful and stylish phone that's easy to use.
Prathamesh Sarang 24 October 2010
Good: gr8 features...
Bad: file manager is absent....
Comment: kjk
Clare Healy 7 October 2010
Good: Excellent sound quality, free Youtube, easy-to-use camera, charges quickly, great for media, and overall looks good.
Bad: Games are lame (not not gamers), the headphones that come with it are crap.
Comment: I love this phone, it is definitely the best phone I've ever had. I hardly ever had any trouble with it - it stored all my songs, videos, photos and gifs without problem and I found it very easy to use. Undoubtedly for music-lovers. I never used the shake-control thing at the side though, I found it a bit silly.
I'm a bit of a gamer so it sort of disappointed me with the games (just Quadrapop, two racing car games and some guitar-hero-spinoff come with it) but it was a lifesaver with the media. Every video, animation and song I love went on it easily. I heartily recommend it - it might cost you a bit but trust me, it's worth it. When I have to get a new phone, I'm getting this one. Best phone ever.
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