For example, if the other manufacture rolls out a new flip cell phone, Sony Ericsson will release a new flip cell phone to the market, but with its own identity and I bet it doesn’t look similar with the other products in general. Sony Ericsson w508i is the one I'm talking about.
Just by looking on the front body of this phone, I'm sure that it is rare to see a flip cell phone that looks exactly like this phone.
Design
I'm really impressed with the whole design of Sony Ericsson w508i. I love the way this manufacture decides to hide all the buttons inside the phone and produces this phone as a flip cell phone.
- Type: Sony Ericsson w508i
- Release Date: October, 2007
- Price Purchased: $68.89
- Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson
Readers' Score
NextPhones4u Score
Phone Specs: TFT 256K colors, 240 x 320 pixels (36 x 128 pixel external monochrome), 3.15 MP camera, MIDP 2.0, 100MB internal and 1GB external, See Full specs.
- Pros
- External small monochrome | Good sound quality under Walkman series | Good quality camera | Easy navigation to Walkman player | Good battery life
- Cons
- No 3.5 mm headphone jack | Difficult to connect data cable to USB port | Design is not eye catchy | Sometimes the SIM port cannot read the SIM card and gives "inactive SIM"
- Bottomline
- Bottom line, Sony Ericsson w508i has been produced by the manufacture as a great flip cell phone with music player ability. Many people who always use music or mp3 player while doing activities on the go will surely love this phone.
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| Sony Ericsson w508i |
The appearance of a small external monochrome display and 3 Walkman dedicated buttons on the front side really help elevate the overall look of this phone to the next level. Although this phone looks really simple with its clean area on the front flip panel, this phone still looks fantastic on the whole side.
I also love how this phone is specifically designed by the manufacture as a multimedia player or music player cell phone, not just a normal flip cell phone, but with the standard ability of cell phone.
Sony Ericsson w508i proves that although this phone really looks like a music player gadget, based on the 3 Walkman dedicated buttons on the front side, some basic features of standard cell phone, which are also important, have been injected to this device.
Small External Monochrome Display
As you can see on the front side of this phone, there is a small 36 x 128 pixels external monochrome display. This monochrome display will show you some important information inside your phone, such as: phone signal, battery life, the music that being played, etc.
This can be so useful for people who always listen to music with their phone while on the go. Unlike the standard 2.2 inches screen inside this phone, this external monochrome display will certainly reduce the complexity on the front side of this phone, making it easier for people to use this phone solely as a music player, without needing to look much deeper on the screen.
Since we all know that this phone is in the family of Walkman series, then some basic and standard elements of Walkman series will obviously have been added to this phone.
Multimedia and Entertainment
On the outside, the 3 physical keys to navigate the Walkman media player are placed on the front flip panel. And once the front panel is flipped, the Walkman media player that supports any standard music format has been provided to the users. The sound quality also gets the best treatment from this manufacture.
The Loudspeaker, Stereo FM radio and 2 additional features, such as: Shake and gesture control and TrackID music recognition are provided to this phone. It’s too bad that the 3.5mm headphone jack cannot be found on this phone. However, the standard headset from Sony Ericsson can also deliver much much better sound quality with its already established brand, Walkman.
Like any other flip cell phone from Sony Ericsson, the keypad of this phone has been perfectly designed by this manufacture. The circle shape of each button really makes it easier to press and comfortable to use on the daily basis. The circle D-Pad also looks solid and strong on the top of keypad panel.
Interface and Functionality
The interface of this phone looks quite standard just like any other Walkman series cell phone. The overall display of this phone has a standard orange User Interface when the basic Walkman theme is utilized. With the support of TFT, 256K colors, the screen looks really great and colorful in front of our eyes.
The screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels also helps improve the accuracy of the screen. The ability of Accelerometer sensor has also been injected to the screen, which can useful for the additional features, Shake and gesture control and motion-based games.
Camera
It’s great to hear that Sony Ericsson w508i has also been equipped with camera on the front panel. In order to activate the shooting gear, the front panel of this phone must be flipped first before entering to the camera application on the menu.
Phone Specification
Released in 2009, Sony Ericsson w508i features some standard elements, such as: 3G network, Bluetooth, USB, 3.15 MP primary camera, java platform MIDP 2.0 version, Exchangeable Style-Up covers and the additional applications such as: Picture editor and 3 motion-based games.
Data Storage
Sony Ericsson w508i comes with the 100MB internal memory and 1GB external memory, which later on, can be expanded with Memory Stick Micro (M2), up to 16GB, to provide much bigger space to insert many media files inside the phone.
Battery Life
Battery life has always been the most prominent thing from cell phones that should get scrutiny. Fortunately, Sony Ericsson w508i is truly one solid built cell phone that promises a long journey experience to the users. In the long run, this phone will only need to be fully charged one time and can survive around 2 days in standy-by mode.
However, if you use this phone for heavy usage, maybe to play games, browse internet or listen to music, this phone could last around 5-7 hours in the row. So practically, the battery life of this phone is really good.
Conclusion
The 3 Walkman dedicated buttons and small monochrome display on the outside panel really support my opinion that this phone was created solely as music player cell phone. However, with galore of great quality features, such as: Accelerometer sensor and Exchangeable Style-Up covers, they live up the whole aspect of this phone to not just a music player, but reliable entertainment device.
Currently, Sony Ericsson w508i is sold at low price for $68.89 at Amazon. Check it out.
