iPod has been well known as one of the best music players that was created by Apple solely as a gadget to listen to music and also watch the videos. Apparently, that becomes the reason why Sony Ericsson wants to introduce its next creation to the public,
Sony Ericsson W205a
. Sony Ericsson W205a
Design
If you look closely at the front design of Sony Ericsson W205a, you will surely think that this phone really resembles the front design of iPod, especially with the chrome circle of the D-Pad and its small screen. Moreover, Sony Ericsson W205a is one Walkman series, so sound quality should be the priority of this manufacture. But the question is raised, is Sony Ericsson W205a really deserves to sit beside iPod as a great music player? We're about to find out about it in this review.
The design of Sony Ericsson W205a has some similarity with the other Walkman series, Sony Ericsson W995, although there is the discrepancy of the screen size, which W995 has much much bigger screen than W205a. But the D-Pads of these phones are similar with a chrome circle. The D-Pad of this phone looks really solid and strong with the circle form on the center. Besides as a normal direction navigation, this D-pad has also been assigned to navigate the Walkman media player.
- Type: Sony Ericsson W205a
- Release Date: July, 2009
- Price Purchased: Check Price
- Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson
Readers' Score
NextPhones4u Score
Phone Specs: 1.8 inches, 128 x 160 pixels, TFT 65K colors, 1.3 MP primary camera, 5MB internal memory, MIDP 2.0, See Full specs.
- Pros
- Elegant design | numeric keypad is easy and comfortable to press | good sound quality since it's a Walkman series phone | D-Pad looks like on iPod
- Cons
- Screen resolution is low and screen looks small | camera is mediocre | features are not mesmerizing enough although it's Walkman phone | Poor battery life
- Bottomline
- Bottom line, Sony Ericsson is aware that when releasing W205a to the market, it only wants to target low-end market share for its company. So you shouldn't expect to much with this phone even though this phone is rolled out under Walkman series. But at this price range, it's still pretty useful phone.
 |
| Sony Ericsson W205a |
The other 6 physical keys are deployed around the front side of this phone, such as: phone call, phone end, etc, while the bottom sliding mechanism of this phone will give the main keypad. Each button of the keypad has a rounded surface, which makes it easier to press.
The segmentation of Sony Ericsson W205a in the market takes place between low-end to mid-end market. The reason why it is a low-end cell phone is because besides this phone has a small screen, Sony Ericsson W205a is sold at the low-end price. And the reason why it can also be said as a mid-end cell phone is because this phone runs in the established brand, Walkman series, and Sony Ericsson W205a doesn’t look like a cheap cell phone. So many cheap phone hunters will find this phone by far better than any other low-end cell phone around the market.
Interface and Functionality
Although this phone has an elegant Walkman series design, it doesn’t mean this phone doesn’t have weaknesses. In fact, this phone provides some of disappointment to the users. For instance, the screen of this phone is really small with 1.8 inches and it only supports 128 x 160 pixels screen resolution, although this phone supports the rich TFT, 65K colors on the screen.
But, as I said earlier, the manufacture wants to introduce this phone to the users solely as a music player, so maybe that becomes the reason why this phone has a small screen. I have experienced that some of Sony Ericsson Walkman series that have small screen, still can produce such a great sound quality and clean loudspeaker.
The other let downs that being provided in this phone are no 3.5 mm headphone jack (whereas it is a Walkman series), no 3G, no Wifi (of course), no infrared and no GPS. But this is very acceptable since this phone can be categorized as a low-end cell phone.
Phone Specification
Sony Ericsson W205a supports some standard features of a good cell phone, such as: Bluetooth, Stereo FM radio, USB and 1.3 MP primary camera.
Multimedia and Entertainment
Since this phone is the family member of Walkman series, then this phone will absolutely have been equipped with some standard elements of Walkman series. Listening music with headset or loudspeaker should be convenient because the sound quality of this phone is surprisingly good. Walkman certified media player has also been injected to this phone to provide users with more reliable music player, while the additional feature called TrackID music recognition can be useful to identify the whole music files inside your phone.
Data Storage
The great thing about all the products from Sony Ericsson is the availability to add an extra external memory once you run out of data storage. Sony Ericsson W205a is no exception. With the small 5MB internal memory, you might want to buy another 2GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) at the phone shops.
Gaming Compatibility
The last important aspect from this phone is the gaming compatibility of this phone. Most of Sony Ericsson java phones have been known to have a great compatibility to run any application and game across java platform. With the support of MIDP 2.0 version, all the games and applications with the screen resolution of 128 x 160 pixels can be played conveniently with this phone.
Battery Life
Unlike many other Java-based cell phones from Sony Ericsson, surprisingly, battery life on this phone is not really tough compared to other Walkman series around the market. In hardcore usage, say, to surf internet or play java games, this phone can only last around 5-6 hours. Unfortunately, listening music with this phone can be so much more relaxing because i would guess this phone could survive around 7-8 hours in the long run.
User Opinions
Many users of Sony Ericsson W205a have some different opinions about this phone. Most of them feel disappointed with this phone for some several reasons. They said:
- The sound quality of this phone is good
- This is a very bad (cell phone), don’t go for it guys
- The battery life is bad
- I’m very happy I’ve lost this phone
- I’m not satisfied with this phone
- I really hate this phone
Sony Ericsson W205a is sold in 4 different case covers, Ambient Black, Sakura Pink and Windy Blue. So choose your favorite color and you’re good to go.
Our Recommendation
If you still feel hesitated whether to buy this phone or not, I have a much better recommendation for you.
Instead of getting W205a, I believe the other Walkman series, Sony Ericsson W910i can be the best alternative for W205a, since it has much bigger screen size, a great screen quality, a better screen interface, much better sound quality, and it has 2MP primary camera along with the front camera to do a video call.
Moreover, the price of Sony Ericsson W910i currently is at the low price around $89.00. Sony Ericsson W910i is absolutely a worth buying cell phone at this price range.
