Most Sony Ericsson Walkman phones have room for around 120 songs in their 512MB of memory, but the W950i can fit over 1,000 in its 4GB of internal storage. It's also a fully-fledged smartphone with a touchscreen and stylus.
The W950i is a slim, good-looking phone and its sleek looks are helped by the recessed keypad. Unfortunately, this is one of the phone's weak points. The keys are hard to press and rapid texting is difficult. This is a shame as the phone is otherwise easy to use. You can control it using the stylus, or simply scroll through the menus with the Blackberry-style click wheel. The software is slow though, and there is quite a lag between pressing a key and something happening.
As it's a smartphone, it has a built-in email client, and can synchronise your contacts and calendar with Microsoft Outlook over a USB or Bluetooth connection. It also has an excellent web browser that runs quickly and reformats pages to fit its screen.
However, the W950i also has aspirations of being an MP3 Walkman. Sound quality is good and thanks to the pair of excellent in-ear Sony headphones, music is detailed and full of bass. The phone also comes with an adapter that lets you plug in your own 3.5mm headphones if you don't like the standard pair. It's also easy to transfer your songs to the phone. You can either copy music files straight to the phone's internal storage over USB, or use the supplied Disc2Phone application to transfer CDs and incompatible music files.
Unfortunately, the music player on the phone lets the side down by being slow and hard to use. When scrolling through tracks, there is a significant delay between selecting a track and the song playing. It even takes a few seconds for the volume to adjust after pressing the volume control. The W950i cuts the music when a phone call comes in, but when the call is over, the phone sometimes refuses to start the track up again. Disappointing.
Sony Ericsson user guides, FAQs and downloads at Know Your Mobile
System Specifications
240 x 320 screen
4GB internal storage
£360 inc VAT
Verdict
A stylish smartphone that thinks it's a Walkman too. The W950i has plenty of storage and looks good, but the operating system is slow.
Author: Chris Finnamore
Computer Buyer Online