The Walkman range was getting bigger in numbers in 2006 with pricy models that were attractive, yet not always could show off reasonable price tag. The mid market had only Sony Ericsson W800i, which was the first Walkman-branded phone, and later on its downgraded edition Sony Ericsson W700i. Other handsets arrived in the market housed in clamshell design – the company didn't come up with any new candy-bar shaped offerings. And now we have a whole pack of phones hitting the market – including the entry-level Walkman W200i, which is not all sunshine and rainbows, being slightly overvalued, and marks the point when the brand gets weighted against optimal price. Meanwhile, the advent of Sony Ericsson W610i is a good groundwork of success in the mid price-bracket. This proposal shares a lot of its aspects with Sony Ericsson K550i, as these handsets, generally speaking, are twins, just like Sony Ericsson K750i and Sony Ericsson W800i in their days. But not only does the sales package differ for either model – music player version is also another thing that sets them apart. Otherwise these phones both run on A100 platform, have knack for multitasking, and sport 2 Mpix auto-focus equipped cameras. Accurate audience segmentation allows the company to differentiate target groups for its products on the market.
The phone comes in two color schemes - Plush Orange and Satin Black. The former trim sports stylish black-finished front place and burning orange back, whereas the latter variation silver comes alongside with black plastic on the rear. And while the Plush Orange scheme seems somewhat flashy, being an overall stylish mix, the other one is more austere and quiet in style. It may be a surprise for some, but I really liked both trims – either of them has its own unique flavor.
Measuring up at 102x46x14 mm, the W610i slides into the echelon of reasonably slim devices. The handset's thickness will appeal to haters of the ultra-slim solutions, who have used to phones that feel robust in hands. And there is no price to pay for comfortable dimensions – neither your shirt's breast pocket nor jeans will bulge out with the W610i inside. The phone weighs in at 92 grams.
For the mid-range phone, the company is not planning on going into QVGA-displays just now, which are the attributes of senior models like Sony Ericsson W850i. Even though a 176x220 pixels screen here is not particularly a relic, the handset doesn't get any benefits from it (for example Nokia 6233 falling considerably shot of the W610i functionality-wise, shows off a much superior display, which equals the odds). Having a diagonal of 1.9 inches (31x40 mm) it shows up to 262 K colors (TFT). The first thing that catches your eyes at the first glance is how big the font size is – bulgy menu items captions is what makes the W610i look different compared to the more advanced models. Reading texts with this handset is a breeze, and the credit here goes to the display itself and its fonts. The screen can accommodate up to 6 text and 3 service lines. Unlike some other offerings, the W610i's display doesn't enjoy a protective layer that would guard it from sunlight, however in the sun picture remains visible, even though the colors appear washed out. Maybe they have applied a new finishing technology that makes for better visual experience.
The keypad for this model has been taken directly from the W880i, but this isn't a good thing to shout about. Skinny number keys offer you soft click action, but people with big hands will find it extremely challenging to hit the buttons they need. When pressing a key you always feel the flanking keys, if though you don't push them simultaneously. The ergonomics delivered by the numberpad is average of a tad lower than that. Interestingly enough, in spite of taking up less real estate, the keypad found on Sony Ericsson W880i feels better. To me, it is the keypad that lets the W610i down, rather than the display, as some might think.
All keys are evenly lit in orange, which makes all key captions, etched on the face plate made of thick plastic, well-visible. The soft-keys are convenient to work with, thanks to the ridges around them and rocker-like action. At the same time the navigational pad is slightly on the small side – on some occasions you might not appreciate the way it works.
The holes for a carrying strap are mounted on the right at the bottom, while the interface connector has been relocated to the left spine, much like the Sony Ericsson W880i. If this was made not due to some technical issues – for, say, the sake of compatibility with new accessories, like a desktop charger, such implementation is doubtful, as nobody will watch video on a screen this small or bash own wallet to get this cradle. Listening to music with it is possible, but surely not for granted to many. So bluntly speaking, relocated interface socket will make usage of old desktop chargers next to impossible (you could try, though, but I assure you it will be very inconvenient). On the other hand consumers going for this handset for the sake of its calling features won't be hard up for the former slot setup. Another reason, that we feel obliged to name, is making the carrying pouches and cases for the phone more useful, with the headset's wire going upward instead of sideways.
The right side features camera shortcut, as well as the volume rocker. The top rim holds Infrared window and the power button, doubling as a profile changer and key locker.
Turning the handset around unveils a 2 Mpix camera, a self-portrait mirror and LEDs acting as a flash module, which can be used as a flashlight as well – personally it was of great assistance to me with Sony Ericsson K750i, and I was really missing it on Sony Ericsson K800i. The rear is also the place where the speaker sits – even though it is a sole loudspeaker on the handset, it puts out very high volume and clear tone.
The plastic the back cover is made of is utterly thin, and should you tighten your grip it will start creaking outright. However it isn't going to be an issue unless your W610i falls down in the worst possible way (the chance of this happening is very small though). The cover doesn't know what gap is and hides 950 mAh Li-Pol battery (BST-33) underneath. The maker quotes the lifetime at 7 hours talk time and 350 hours standby time, plus up to 25 hours of music playback. In conditions of Moscow networks the handset lasted about 3 days at a bit more than one hour of calls, up to 30 minutes of web surfing and 1,5 hours of music playback a day. We also give its official playback time a go and set the W610i at full blast with default headphones and random playback, which resulted in 23 hours of real lifetime. Apparently, it is the best figure we have seen from a handset – the second best lifetime put up by other company's proposal makes up 18 hours, while vast majority of cell phones keeps themselves up and running for 10-12 hours in this mode (like the first generation of Walkmans). It takes the W610i about two hours to charge from empty to full.
The W610i's software part comes as no surprise, as it is in fact a typical Sony Ericsson-branded handset with Walkman 2.0 interface onboard, revamped image editor chucked in, and mostly coinciding suit of functions with Sony Ericsson W850i, W880i. The company steadily improves functionality of its main range and never forgets to add some new functions to a handful of solutions time after time. In the past it was Timeline View in the Gallery, this time around enhancements took the form of stand-alone video player with snapshot ability, revamped image editor and music player.
The main menu pops up before you as a grid consisting of 12 icons (one of the themes also features horizontally laid out menu). Shortcut number navigation is on the W610's spec sheet as well – you can assign shortcuts to most menu items, that the handset comes pre-installed with, whereas own applications or files can't be set up for one-touch access.
Expansion of Activity Menu functionality is the result of addition of the fourth tab. The first three ones display various events, like missed calls, memos, messages – actually all this can be found in the first tab. One can disable Activity Menu for these events as well – in this case pop up windows, reminding of a certain event type will appear on the screen. The third tab features the shortcuts, which you should set up yourself. And the added fourth one contains links to the most frequently used applications and resources – and the top of this list is claimed by Google search. To tell the truth, the way Google trade mark affects consumers can be compared to voodoo conjuration. That's why this search engine is used by several other manufacturers as well. Firmware versions tailored for concrete markets might feature links to local resources, for Russia it is Ytro.ru, for example.
On USB-connection you are forced to pick connection type – specifically whether you will be accessing data stored on the memory card or just keep managing the phone or activate Print mode. For the first mode we mentioned above the handset goes off and you gain access to the contents of both the memory card and the phone internal memory. Despite the maker claiming it to be USB 2.0, data transfer speed doesn't exceed 500 Kb/s. If you just want you W610i to turn into a modem, then pick the second option, when you will have a chance to play around with various USB settings for going online.
Games – the handset plays host only to one game – a tetris-esque QuadraPop.
Organizer. Organizer keeps a lot of functions underneath. Let's get Calendar out of the way first. There are three view modes embedded in the W610's calendar: weekly, monthly and daily. The last option displays the list of all events and memos, in two others you will see highlighted time or day. You can switch to required day and year, or month. So everything is pretty simple, just as the schedule input is. You get the ability to name the event, define the place where it will take place, set length and setup the reminder (before or right at the start of the event). Recurrent events support is also onboard. Types of reoccurrence: daily, monthly, yearly. Reminders work even if the phone is turned off as well, unless you disable this function.
Camera. The handset flaunts an auto-focus enabled 2 Mpix CMOS camera. The camera model has been adopted from Sony Ericsson K750i and won't make anyone's eyes go round with impression, as it is widely known as one of its type's best units, the one that has raised the bar so high.
The screen serves as a viewfinder when in the shooting mode. The picture moves very smoothly and everything is clearly seen. Number keys help in switching between various functions and shooting parameters quickly that greatly speeds up the process of shooting. The flash won't ease your lot much, but occasionally allows snapping sharper shots. For comparison purposes we took Sony Ericsson K550i's sample shots due to these models being close relatives.
Compared to Sony Ericsson K550i amount of quality shot proves to to be lower – absence of protective shutter affects the W610i's performance, as the lens becomes prone to smudge and dirt (it is the suggestion I made to myself). It turns out that given the same module, CyberShot outputs better, even though only marginally. Anyhow the handset carries a decent camera onboard.
TrackID. Just like in Sony Ericsson W850i this handset has TrackID service, that's when you can find out song's title when listening to it on radio or recording it via microphone. Usually it takes around 3-4 seconds for length, later on file gets transferred to server GraceNote, where it interacts with huge data base. Unlike other models in W610i you can not only get song title, but also buy it. Service is interesting due to momentum, instant and impulsive ability of buying that song you were looking for. It's hard to say something else about this service. The attempt to boost popularity of this service is natural – the manufacturer has even granted it an own menu item.
Applications. The handset carries two applications onboard – Music Mate, which comes in handy when you want to learn more about playing on some musical instruments, and World Time.
Performance. The model puts up nothing special in terms of performance for the handsets of the company's latest generation, yet it does better than most of other offerings available on the market. Low screen resolution compared to senior models, has a positive impact on the W610i's performance – the interface works at the light-speed. There are no caps on JAR files, while HEAP can make up from 512 Kb to 1.5 Mb in size.
Despite the polyphony having 40 chords in the W610i, the handset does not provide a breakthrough in sounding of mp3 tunes compared to other Sony Ericsson branded phones. Volume-wise, performing on average level on this front, the W610i is pretty much akin to Sony Ericsson K790/K800/W810. Be sure you will hear the handset outdoors. The silent alert provides average strength. The reception part is on the same level with that of other products by the Sony Ericsson – in other words, it's very fine.
The best things about the W610i are definitely its auto-focus, even if built on the 2 Mpix matrix, it matches Sony Ericsson K750i and also Sony Ericsson K550i quality-wise. Other manufacturers haven't featured comparable matrix in own solutions up until today (for this class), perhaps this is the secret standing behind breath-taking sale of Sony Ericsson K750i. Walkman 2.0 player is another big attraction of the handset – the market hasn't seen any counterparts, while the class the W610i rests in won't see them in the months to come. Superb sound quality, good headphones coming boxed with the phone, that don't cry out for a replacement, and ability to plug in own earphones – as a music-focused handset Sony Ericsson W610i is one of the market's best offerings, sound quality and battery life say some heavy words in favor of this. The size of the memory card the phone ships with is not exactly what we would like to see – for the same money we would rather get a 1 Gb one inside the box, but on the other hand some might find this capacity sufficient.
No one among other makers has delivered a credible rival to oppose Sony Ericsson W610i to date – basically, the monoblock form-fact has got only a handful of music-heavy solutions to offers, everyone follows Sony Ericsson's lead and keeps launching folders and sliding phones, giving away the candy-bars segment to the previous Walkmans. Any pursuit of the leader is always challenging and one can make mistakes in its course so easily.
The W610i is a well-packed, well-built and overall a decent solution. The handset has what it takes to rocket up to the top of the charts in no time, even though its price/quality ratio is not all that brilliant – on release it will cost about 350 Euro. But in two quarters' time this price is more likely to dramatically fall down to the level of 285-300 Euro. For lack of direct competition, the W610i won't be rushing into lower price-brackets too early. The phone will be opposed mainly by the company's very own offerings, Sony Ericsson K550i in the first place, whose retail price makes up about 300 Euro with its launch scheduled for May or a tad earlier. A good option to consider is Sony Ericsson K750i, which still shows signs of life with its high sale rates. Sony Ericsson W610i's main trump is its decent sales package.
This handset will be a success on GSM-markets due to packing EDGE and having no support for UMTS. I would also like to say, that the W610i will be indirectly competed by Nokia 6233, which trumps the former with UMTS, two stereo-speakers and a brilliant display. On the negative side, its music department is much less capable, camera leaves much to be desired, while software on both devices performs pretty much on the same level (let's overlook the multitasking in favor of Nokia). To me, either of the solutions has an audience of its own, that slightly overlaps the other one, but, of course, for the most part, they prove to be essentially different.