Sony Ericsson W710i

The W710i Walkman phone is designed to support an active lifestyle and includes a motion sensor and fitness software applications to measure your running speed, distance and time, or simply count your steps when walking. A strap and special earphones allow you to listen to the built in radio or MP3 player during a work out.

Our Review

As you will notice from the Walkman branding the Sony Ericsson W710i is a music phone by design and is in the same family as the very popular W850i and W810i models.

Designed for the active user the W710i includes an MP3 player as well as some great fitness applications such as a pedometer with step counter, distance measurer and speedometer as well as a useful calorie counter so you can see exactly how many calories you are burning off as you exercise.

Weighing in a 101 grams and measuring 88 x 48 x 24.5 mm the Sony Ericsson W710i is a very good looking clam shell phone and is available in a choice of beautiful hatha violet or performance graphite colours. Included in the box is the easy to use Sony Disc2Phone software which provides a PC music management solution to transfer your tracks to the phone. A high quality stereo headset with an armband to hold the phone as you are running is a useful addition. The phone includes 512Mb memory thanks to the Memory Stick Micro and a USB connection to connect to your PC.

As you expect from a modern clam shell phone the W710i has two screens so you can see what music is playing and who is calling without having to open the phone. The external screen looks stunning with its STN greyscale display and 128 x 128 pixel resolution. The internal screen is much higher resolution at 176 x 220 pixels with 262k colours and is great for displaying photos.

The main feature is the Walkman music player and this works in the same way as the other great Walkman phones with high sound quality, long battery life and great performance. An integrated FM radio with RDS allows you to see the station you are as you listen and receive song titles, news feeds and updates on the screen from the station you are listening to. A Memory Stick Pro port is included so the phone can be upgraded to 1Gb memory in a few seconds.

A MusicDJ feature allows you to create tracks and ringtones from a selection of built in sounds and beats. The useful PlayNow feature gives the Sony Ericsson W710i the ability to stream music directly from the internet. As you expect from a Walkman the music is enhanced by a Mega Bass feature.

The phone menu includes all the expected features such as personal organiser, alarms, task manager and customisable wallpapers, screen savers and a photo phone book.

Although it’s a music phone at heart the W710i includes a 2 mega pixel digital camera with 2.5x digital zoom which is capable of some very high quality photos and videos. The videos can be stored and edited using the VideoDj feature which allows you to merge different clips and sound tracks to create an amazing video in the same way that professional directors can.

The usual SMS and MMS applications with advanced predictive text are intuitive and easy to use and the built in email and instant messaging applications are nice added features. An array of 3D Java games are included and you can download more from the internet using the PlayNow feature. Conference calling and a hands free speaker phone allow you to have a conversation with up to 5 people without having to hold the phone to your ear.

A long battery life of 10 hours with 350 hours standby time exceeds most phones of this level. Other features include Bluetooth for easy PC synchronisation and a fast internet connection with RSS feed capability.

If you enjoy keeping fit and are looking for a music phone or if you just prefer clam shall music phones then the Sony Ericsson W710i is the phone for you.