Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman review

Sony Ericsson W980 Review

Reviewed by: Nate Lanxon

Reviewed on: 4 August 2008

Finally, forget the bundled Web browser included on the phone, and instead install the free Opera Mini browser. It's free, and it'll transform the W980 into a fast and enjoyable Web-browsing handset.

Performance
Sadly, apart from the sporadic feature addition, Sony Ericsson has failed to innovate in terms of software. The user experience is good, that's for sure, but it's little more than the same software inside a new case. In fact, the Xperia X1 is the only truly innovative thing we've seen the troubled manufacturer come out with in a long time.

The W980 is a pleasant phone to use, though, and it shouldn't give even the fairly technophobic any trouble.

Musically, it's a decent little performer. We tested with lossless WAV files and studio-grade reference headphones and noticed certain shortcomings, but as a little MP3 player for listening to music on the way to the shops, it's fine.

It isn't, however, as good as a dedicated player such as a Creative Zen or an iPod. These offer audibly superior sound quality, and are still preferable as music devices. If optimum sound performance is essential, very few phones on the market are hitting the mark yet anyway.

Conclusion
Not an innovative phone and not without subtle annoyances, such as the easily obscurable camera and the lack of a 3.5mm headphone socket, but in most other ways the W980 is terrific, and packed with features.

It wouldn't cause us to ditch our dedicated MP3 player, but it's ideal as a second music device for those times when carrying two gadgets isn't practical.

If you want a music phone that really is worth ditching your dedicated player for, consider Apple's iPhone 3G. Or if you want to steer clear of Apple but still use your own headphones easily, have a peek at the Motorola Rokr E8.

Edited by Nick Hide