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It's no news any more that we've been playing with one of the hotties of the season for some time now. Sony Ericsson W980 made a glorious entrance but we're yet to see about the exit. Set to top the Walkman feature phone lineup, W980 carries along 8 GB worth of storage, a 3 megapixel camera and a built-in accelerometer. The touch-sensitive keys and the latest Sony Ericsson feature phone interface add to the excitement. Still not interested? Then try to think of another music phone with a built-in FM transmitter!
Key features:
2.2" 262K-color TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution
3 megapixel camera
8 gigs of onboard memory
FM transmitter
Great user interface
3G with HSDPA
External 262K-color display with a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels
Walkman 3.0 music player
Shake control
Light effects
Touch-sensitive keys
Ambient light sensor
Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP profile support
USB 2.0 connectivity
FM radio with RDS
Good battery life
Comfortable keypad
Main disadvantages:
No auto focus nor flash for the camera
Inconvenient camera lens location
Shiny surface a fingerprint nightmare
Display kinda small for a high-end phone
Awkward context keys
Camera interface not user-friendly
Aiming to meet some high-end demand, Sony Ericsson W980 brings the cream of the music centered niceties of the house. The clamshell form factor and the quite eccentric features such as FM transmitter and light effects make it hard to point a finger at its main market rivals.
One suspect that comes to mind is Samsung G400 Soul. Featuring the same flip-up bodywork, it trades the FM transmitter and the large storage space for a 5 megapixel camera. You figure if it's a square deal or else. If the G400 Soul has some of those good Samsung audio quality genes, it's in for a match with Sony Ericsson W980. With no information about the cost of either at this stage, the two devices might actually end up running in different lanes pricewise.
Anyway, we think the odds with W980 are towards a hefty price tag, which opens the door to some serious smartphone competition.
Now, one last thing before we get to the point. We should warn you that ours is a pre-release unit, so some minor changes are likely before D-day. Our units was rock solid and gave us no problems at all. So, significant changes to the overall user experience are quite unlikely.
Now then, hit the jump for a thorough body inspection of the Sony Ericsson W980.