It was presented last February in Barcelona. This was the time when the company Sony Ericsson I felt much more confident than I do now. The folding phone with its eye-catching design and large memory capacity immediately attracted attention. The first sales of the model occurred in the summer of 2008, but the ideas about the optimal price for the device coincided between sellers and buyers relatively recently. For this reason, the W980 will be relevant for many more months.
Appearance
The phone's design could well be called successful if it weren't so specific at the same time. Still, non-standard solutions in the exterior may not appeal to everyone; a certain part of buyers will reject the device purely because of its appearance. At the same time, there will probably be those who choose this model precisely because of its appearance.
Objectively evaluating a non-standard design is a thankless task; subjectivity rules the roost here. Let's just note that the design of the phone seemed very successful to us; the design delights were received with a bang.
The description of the actual appearance of the model should be preceded by a separate paragraph about the chosen design. When you hold the W980 in your hands, the thought involuntarily comes to mind that clamshells have noticeably given way in popularity to sliders. If it makes sense to talk about a “war of form factors,” then victory is clearly not on the side of folding phones. Nevertheless, even today there are fans of this design.
For experienced subscribers appearance The device will certainly remind you of the old phones of the Swedish-Japanese concern; the Z600 immediately comes to mind. A special feature of the design is that when opened, the upper half extends slightly beyond the back. This feature does not bring any tangible advantages or disadvantages; it can only be regarded as a tribute to “family” traits. The opening angle is wide, the fixation of the halves is clear, there are no backlashes in the design.
The body of the clamshell is large; in terms of dimensions, the model is more likely to be masculine. At the same time, the female audience can buy into glossy motifs in the design of the case - a mirrored external panel, touch controls or an unusually shaped keyboard. Due to its large size, opening the phone with one hand will not be easy, although you can get the hang of doing it.
The entire back panel and the ends of the lower half of the clamshell are made of soft-touch plastic. This is a practical choice of material. Thanks to it, the phone does not slip in the hand, the body does not retain fingerprints and small scratches. This characteristic has nothing to do with the front panel, which differs from the back side like ice from fire. The entire front part is made of mirror plastic, which will not allow you to avoid streaks left by your fingers.
At the very bottom of the front panel there is a transparent plastic insert. Below it you can see the Walkman logo, which is actually on the inside of the case. However, the decorative functions of the transparent insert are not limited to this. When opened, from time to time this insert is illuminated by “breathing” - milky light. It looks unobtrusive. When playing an audio track, the insert flashes orange in time with the music, which is more noticeable and looks quite interesting, especially in a dim environment.
A few words about the phone's musical capabilities. Stereo speakers are located at the bottom ends of the lower case panel. This position is not always convenient if music is playing: when you hold the device open, your palm may cover and muffle the speakers.
The entire internal surface of the W980 is made of glossy plastic. On the one hand, in this case there is no pressing question about the safety of the surface, so gloss is acceptable. On the other hand, when this material becomes covered with fingerprints, the aesthetic appearance disappears.
Controls
The digital keyboard has an original design: each key is a regular circle, the distance between the buttons is quite large. The keys are black, matching the body, with only white symbols and silver metal edging contrasting. This is not the first time we have seen a similar keyboard from Sony Ericsson. The layout is not only attractive in appearance, but also convenient - there is no question of false clicks.
Unfortunately, the navigation unit did not leave the same pleasant impressions of use. The number of control keys is large, they are crowded. For this reason, their actual sizes are small; getting rid of false clicks will not be easy.
The layout of the buttons is as follows: around the four-way key and the confirmation button inscribed in it, two groups of three keys are placed. These are two soft keys, buttons for receiving and ending calls. The keys to launch the task manager and delete a symbol are located between the navigation and “telephone” buttons. They are the ones that cause the most inconvenience, due to their miniature size. When you try to press them, neighboring keys often get touched, which is annoying.
Just below the Navi block there are two more buttons. They are responsible for launching the Walkman application and turning on the phone (as well as changing the profile). If the presence of a dedicated key for the player seems like a justified solution in a music phone, then it will be more difficult to find an explanation for why it is not the end call key that is responsible for turning the device on or off, as well as for changing the profile.
Of particular interest are the touch keys on the front panel. They are completely invisible when the backlight is turned off (the same, by the way, can be said about the external display) and respond very well to pressure, which is not so common among sensors. The area on which these buttons are located is intentionally highlighted. In the center, the body is slightly recessed, and the two outer touch keys are placed on small “mountains”. This makes it easier to find the right place to click.
Depending on the situation, the icons of the touch keys change. These can be player control buttons (pause, rewind, etc.) or regular “arrows” that reflect the direction of movement through the menu. In general, the touch keys are implemented with enviable thoughtfulness, and this is a significant advantage of the W980.
To complete the description of the controls, we list the keys located at the ends. This is a volume rocker, a key for switching external display modes, and a lever for locking touch keys. All of them are placed on the right side, on the left there is only an interface connector. It is used to connect the charger, sync cable and headset.
There is no 3.5 mm audio jack directly on the body, which is somewhat surprising given the positioning of the phone. Using the included adapter for standard headphones is not always convenient. However, when you connect this accessory, you can enjoy the benefits of a regular headset.
Display
The main display has a small physical size, which is typical for mid-range Sony Ericsson phones. The screen resolution is 240 x 320 pixels. This optimal size matrices for the existing diagonal. The image on the display is clear, the displayed colors are saturated, and the matrix response speed is high.
The additional screen has square proportions, its resolution is expectedly lower - 176 x 176 pixels. Comparing this display with other screens installed as additional ones, we should note its high quality. The image looks worse than on the main display, but there were no negative impressions from use either. Information from the screen is also perceived under the rays of the sun, although not as comfortably.
Interface, multimedia capabilities
The main interface differs slightly from the menu in other Sony Ericsson phones. The main menu is divided into 12 items and can be displayed as a 3 x 4 matrix, carousel or list. As is typical for the manufacturer, when installing different design themes, not only the color scheme of the interface changes - original effects appear, unique to each theme.
An innovation in terms of personalization is the ability to add applications to the desktop as a screensaver. These applications are quite simple; by default, you can choose between world time (switching analog dials that display the time in three user-selected cities) or a pedometer (the implementation of which is based on the built-in accelerometer). Apparently, these applications are intended to be an alternative to those common in phones with touch displays widgets.
The accelerometer mentioned above is used not only as a stimulus for healthy walks. With its help, the orientation of the multimedia menu is automatically changed, and control in games is carried out (in particular, in the installed races NeedForSpeed ProStreet).
The accelerometer is also noticeable in less important situations. For example, the Walkman icon on the external display rotates depending on the position of the phone. This feature has no practical meaning by default, but it can be fun to watch.
Multimedia files are managed through a separate menu item. It can already be considered basic for Sony Ericsson phones, since it is found in most of the new products released by this manufacturer. Uploaded files are divided into the following categories: “Photos”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Games”, “RSS Feeds”. Note that when this menu is positioned horizontally, it is not so convenient to use. Still, for a clamshell, portrait display orientation is preferable.
Like other Sony Ericsson models, the W980 has a special key that opens the auxiliary menu. You can view and close here running applications, go to Quick Launch, Internet bookmarks, missed calls, etc.
An independent menu has been developed for the external display, with the help of which you can primarily control the music capabilities of the phone. When you close the clamshell, a hint pops up on the additional screen about the possibility of going to the player menu. Using the side key, the display can display not only the music player, but also the radio control panel, as well as the usual screen saver with a digital clock and the name of the operator.
Regardless of the last mode selected, the next time you close the flip phone, you will initially be prompted to go to the player. This is set by default. In all modes, a status bar is displayed at the top, indicating the battery level, network reception, and running applications.
The Walkman series is extremely popular among music lovers. If you enter the words “Music phones” into the search form on the manufacturer’s official website, the first in the list will be the Sony Ericsson W980i, and this can easily be explained by the fact that the W980i is the latest model in the Walkman series of phones.
The manufacturer has supplemented the W980i with functions and capabilities that will certainly be a pleasant surprise for its owners, since previous models simply did not have them. But starting with the W980i, these features will undoubtedly cease to be a novelty and will become widespread in Sony Ericsson phones.
8GB built-in memory, FM radio, graphic effects, etc. - this is the minimum that a music phone needs. And the innovations are such functions as SensMe, TrackID, Shake Control and the Walkman 3.0 player - they create a unique image for the device.
It seems that we are not the only ones who appreciate this phone. The European Association EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association) recognized the Sony Ericsson W980i as the best music phone of 2008. Let's see how the W980i deserves such a high title.
Design and construction features
Sony Ericsson decided to implement this model in a clamshell form factor and so far in the only color version - Piano Black. At first it seems that there is nothing special in the device, but this is only an appearance and the merit of a successful design. But once you turn on the device, it literally comes to life both visually, such is the power of the graphic effects, and musically. We will look at the last aspect a little later, but now we will emphasize the fact that the phone, no matter how massive and strict it is in standby mode, becomes just as light and lively when the music starts playing. The graphic effects of the orange color scheme are perfectly combined with the black gloss of the device and match the color of the Walkman logo.
First, let's look at the phone in a closed state. The body of the device is made of plastic. The gloss of the front panel attracts the eye only until the first touch - fingerprints cover it in a matter of seconds. The external TFT display displays 262 thousand colors and has a resolution of 176x220 pixels. In standby mode, the display merges with the phone panel so that even its borders are not visible. The uniformity of the glossy surface is disturbed only by 5 touch player control buttons located at the bottom of the device in the shape of a cross, and the “OK” button in the middle. The “right” and “left” buttons are embossed and the graphic display of their functions changes depending on the menu.
The external display operates in three modes. The first mode offered is the Walkman player, in which the user also has access to a library of songs, where you can select a podcast, audiobook or song according to the following criteria: author, album, genre, or select a playlist. When listening to music, the accelerometer works: when you tilt the phone, the Walkman logo and background are always in the correct position.
The second operating mode of the external display is general. It displays network availability, battery charge level, time and date. The third mode of operation is radio.
At the bottom of the phone, under a clear plastic insert, is the Walkman logo. The transparent insert has a backlight that changes depending on the running application. When playing music, the insert glows orange; when working in some menu, it glows white. The orange backlight turns on only when the Walkman 3.0 player is running and its brightness level changes in time with the low-frequency (bass) plays of the song.
At the top of the right side of the phone there are volume buttons, a button for changing the operating mode of the external display, a slider for locking/unlocking touch buttons and the external display. The last element here is one of the phone's two stereo speakers, located at the bottom ends of the device. Above the speaker, located on the left side, there is a battery status indicator and just above the connector for the charging device and USB cable - standard solution for Sony Ericsson, if not for the ability to listen to music while charging the battery - a small thing, but nice. At the top of the left end there is an eyelet for a strap.
The back panel of the phone is made of matte rubberized plastic, thanks to which the phone fits comfortably in the hand. Another advantage of this material is that it does not show fingerprints, which cannot be said about the front panel of the phone. At the top of the panel there is a 3.2 megapixel camera with a light sensor that adjusts the camera taking into account the degree of illumination of the object. Unfortunately, the camera does not have a flash and it does not have autofocus.
The lower part of the panel is represented by the battery compartment cover, which is well fixed in the grooves and can be easily removed. Sony Ericsson W980i is equipped with a BST-38 lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 930 mAh.
The main 2.2” TFT display of the phone with a resolution of 240x320 pixels displays 262 thousand colors, and a slightly larger diagonal would be welcome. Above the display there is an additional digital camera, to the right of which there is a speaker. The design of the external and internal parts of the upper half of the phone do not match each other, but this is a matter of taste and a purely personal opinion.
Let's move on to the keyboard. Even here, above the keyboard, there is an Ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display taking into account the degree of illumination and thereby saves battery power on the phone.
Keyboard
The W980's numeric buttons are very easy to see and are quite large and well spaced. Thus, the likelihood of errors when typing a text or phone number is minimized. The borders of the round buttons are finished in metal. The buttons do not protrude above the surface of the phone at all, but the keyboard is very convenient to use.
To the left and right of the round navigation key there are three buttons - two soft buttons, call and end call buttons, a quick access button to some useful functions device and the button for deleting the typed text (“C”). The central button of the navigation key performs the function of confirming a command, and each of the direction buttons of the navigation key is programmed to open a particular menu section.
Below the block described above there are two more buttons. One of them turns on the player, the second, when pressed once, you can select phone profiles, and when held, turn the device on/off.
It is worth noting that the Sony Ericsson block of functional buttons has always stood out from others in some way, although it has not always been the most convenient. Some models, for example, the W660i, do not have call and end call buttons, which at first only causes inconvenience - you need to get used to this feature. In the W980, these buttons are present and this is only a plus - even those who are unfamiliar with Sony Ericsson phones will not have to get used to the device.
Display, menus and applications
The image quality on the main display is quite clear and natural. The display is readable both in bright sunlight and at large viewing angles. As for the external display, it is not always readable in the sun due to the glossy surface of the phone, which blinds the eyes with sunbeams. In general, this is a problem with all external displays, including other phone models.
The W980i interface fully corresponds to the level of this phone and does not change the traditions of Sony Ericsson, providing the user with an expanded range of capabilities. The phone's desktop is standard - at the top there is a line that displays the network signal strength, battery charge level, operator name, below - the date and time and three items “Media”, “Menu” and “Contacts”, which are selected using the soft buttons and the “ button OK." Of course, the background is represented by theme animation or a drawing chosen by the user.
There are 4 types of menu display: traditional display in the form of 3x4 shortcuts, and carousel, when the active shortcut is in the foreground, and the rest are located in a circle in the background. By default, the phone has 5 themes installed, among which there is the “Walkman” theme of the same name. The animations and effects of various themes will appeal to every user, and the most fastidious ones will be able to find a suitable and free theme on the Internet.
The quick access button opens a window with four tabs: frequently used applications, Internet, events from the organizer, and a list of running applications. First on the list is Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP, which has indeed become very powerful thanks to its high data transfer speed and the additional feature - remote control other devices that support this standard wireless transmission data.
Of course, special attention should be paid to the media center, which opens with the left soft button on the desktop. It contains everything that is in the W980: photo gallery, music, video, games, TV and web feeds, organized in a very convenient and intuitive tree system.
As expected, Walkman 3.0 is very well designed. The equalizer has several presets and, of course, it is possible to create custom settings. The equalizer is turned on full screen mode, which is not only beautiful, but also convenient. The compositions are signed with the name of the artist and the title of the album and, at the user’s request, can be decorated with the album cover or any other picture.
We have already paid enough attention to the problems of hardware solutions in Sony Ericsson products, and most of the words concerned the company’s music line. In 2005, along with the announcement and complete HPM-70 headset, the company's management received quite interesting information regarding High Quality sound in products based on the Philips Nexperia platform. A year later, this information surfaced again, this time with projection onto the model, where high-quality sound meant the quality of the headphones, but not the phone itself. Funny moment, don't you think? It becomes even more interesting from the moment you start looking at press releases for the following products released in 2007. Everywhere there is mention of a certain high-quality sound, the guarantor of which is the Walkman sub-brand. At the same time, no one was going to clarify that the definition high-quality sound, even within the company, was designated for complete headsets, since management only needed general data, without specifics.
Since the sound is of high quality without external interference, Sony Ericsson management skillfully threw aside the timid attempts of the company's engineers to create some kind of hardware add-ons with a DAC and an amplifier. The same fate befell the proposal to replace the Fast Port with the most popular combination of a 3.5 mm connector and miniUSB. This proposal was perceived as nothing other than an attempt to block the manufacturer’s entire line of accessories, which the company could not allow, despite the fact that accessories are already produced in volumes of 20-30% of real market demand, which gives rise to a vast niche of counterfeit ones. accessories. But this doesn’t matter, because the company’s management is largely represented by people from Sony, who consider consumer loyalty to the brand to be on the same level as Nokia and Samsung, which means that any sharp step away from the template will inevitably lead to a drop in popularity and a decrease in sales.
In connection with this amusing vision of the current situation, most latest news the companies looked extremely funny, starting with, where they openly called sound quality a secondary parameter, therefore identical to the same. The situation looked even more interesting taking into account the fact that the audio path has become the base not only for products in the upper price range, but also for mid-segment solutions, such as. Since 2008, the company began a much more large-scale transfer of a wide product line into the field of image solutions in the middle and upper price range, and the starting point for this was the hasty announcement of an ODM solution from HTC in February. Then, at Mobile World Congress, along with Xperia, 6 more different products were announced, among which only the W980 remained unexamined, which means it’s time to correct this gap.
Appearance
At first glance at this small glossy block, you can immediately guess not only the image positioning of the Sony Ericsson W980, but also the supposed impressions of use, similar to other solutions of the company in the Walkman - the line of the upper price range. Interestingly, on the boring official images of the phone you can only trace the arrangement of the elements and the approximate colors of the case, while considering the clamshell to be an ordinary product, in no way designed for positioning in the price segment of $700 and above.
In person, the phone looks much more interesting, and not so much due to the peculiar shades of colors and combination of plastic materials, but due to the classic dimensions and skillfully exploited the limitations of the hardware base in terms of thickness.
Sony Ericsson W980 is made in a clamshell form factor, with dimensions of 91.8 x 46 x 17.2 mm, which is comparable only to the trends of clamshells in the mid-price segment, and certainly stands out from the current race for the RAZR-shaped format with significant width and height, but extremely small thickness . Since the hardware base for the hero of our today's review is, the thickness of the case simply could not exceed the limits indicated by the actual dimensions of the W980. In the near future, this limitation may significantly displace Sony Ericsson's position in the folding phone niche, although the solution to the exit will most likely again be to play on stereotypes and present this as a good thing. These are the interesting points related only to the thickness of the case.
After we took the phone in our hand, thoughts about the thickness, hardware platforms and technological lag of Sony Ericsson go to the side, giving way to weak, but still positive emotions from tactile perception. With patterned lines with slightly rounded edges, it’s hard to find fault with the lack of metal panels, since the combination of matte plastic on the back panel and gloss with a mirror backing on the front side creates no less interesting tactile sensations when working with the phone than the metal in the phone. As for the build quality, the only thing I can complain about is the inevitable lateral play of the lower edges of the clamshell halves, which is caused by the plastic opening mechanism.
As for carrying such a small clamshell, the user is limited only by the weight of 100 grams, which provides the effect of a tightly assembled body, which has a detrimental effect on wearing the W980 in the breast pocket of a shirt. In other pockets there are no significant complaints, except that in a denim pocket for a lighter the thickness of the case is too clearly felt.
The entire front panel of the Sony Ericsson W980 is made of a thick plastic overlay with a dark mirror backing. Unfortunately, the plastic is soft, which means that small scratches will inevitably begin to form on it, unless, of course, you handle the phone with extreme care. Just below the horizontal center of the body, one cannot fail to note three spectacular circles of different diameters, which in fact play the role of touch keys that react to contact with something. It's funny, but everyone who looked at these circles constantly caught themselves thinking that the two outer circles were convex, and the central one was recessed only in the center. Here we can only give credit to the Sony Ericsson designers, because these circles are convex only from the inside, and on the surface the central ring is recessed by a fraction of a millimeter, while the two small circles at the edges do not distort the surface at all. In total, there are 10 illuminated symbols on the touch zone, including five with white backlighting and five with a fiery orange glow, in time with the letters of the Walkman player.
Above the keys is a corresponding 1.5-inch display. We are dealing with a TFT matrix with a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels, for which a color palette of 262 thousand colors is stated to be displayed. Of course, with such a resolution it is difficult to talk about a colorful, sharp picture, but this point was interestingly avoided in Sony Ericsson, since the screen, which we will talk about in the description of the player’s capabilities, displays only simple graphics with a minimum of colorful images. Moreover, even the name and number of the caller is not accompanied by a picture of the contact. Here we can only blame the screen for the fact that its protection is made of soft plastic, not tempered glass, which means that its behavior in the sun can be called no more than satisfactory.
At the bottom of the half, instead of the Walkman logo, there is a thick transparent insert, leveling out the 8 mm difference in the length of the halves. The music logo, accordingly, is already located under the overlay, and its role is to release light from the LEDs located on the lower end of the upper half. They blink rhythmically to the beat of the low-frequency spectrum of music, coping with their task no worse than Motorola's Haptics technology, which already says a lot.
On early W980 prototypes, the transparent cover on the top half was slightly shorter than the bottom of the case, making it necessary to open the phone using small grooves on the sides of the case. Fortunately, in the serial versions the pad has added about a millimeter in length, which is quite enough for picking up the upper half with the little finger, followed by finishing with the thumb. In a man's hand, opening the phone with one hand is quite easy, but girls may complain about the insufficient bevels of the edges, due to which it is more convenient to open the phone with two hands. The opening mechanism itself is represented by an L-shaped hinge arrangement on the upper half of the body, and not on the main half, as in most phones of this form factor. Due to this feature, when opened, the edge of the upper half provides a pleasant rest for the index finger, and the visual distance of the screen is perceived as quite unusual.
The internal surfaces of the phone are impressively painted in lacquered black, fully justifying the name of the body color Piano Black. In the upper part of the sliding half of the case, you can note two large rubber bands that prevent contact between the halves of the case, but the slot for the earpiece speaker looks more than interesting, considering the fact that it has given way to the central location of the CIF camera eye for video calls.
Immediately below the earpiece there is a 2.2-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. This matrix was already seen earlier on the K850i, so we mention the color palette of 262 thousand colors only for standardization. The picture on the screen is rich, with a good color palette and deep blacks, but you can only see bright, saturated colors in the presence of bright backlighting, such as the sun. Under direct sunlight, the screen behaves well, without losing sharpness, and only fades by a third. But the viewing angles, on the contrary, were unpleasantly surprising with values of 60 degrees vertically and horizontally. If you look at the screen from a high angle, you will see an overly faded image.
The light sensor is located in the upper right corner of the main half, just above the navigation key block.
The central navigation element is a round frame made of dark gray glossy plastic, slightly beveled towards the center, protruding only a fraction of a millimeter above the surface. A large matte OK confirmation key is inscribed in the center, edged with a thin silver ring. Considering the weak tactility and short soft travel of the navigation key, there is no need to talk about the ease of navigating through the phone menu. The impression of the key changes for the better if you move through the menu at medium speed, because then it will be difficult not to notice the clear, silent click. On the sides of the navigation key there are slightly recessed soft keys, partially combined with the Activity Menu and Delete C buttons. Working with the keys would be quite convenient if the glossy buttons for accepting and ending calls were not included between them. Such a miniature sandwich can be called average in ergonomics if you press these buttons with the edge of your nail. If you try to hit them with your fingertips, the task will be feasible only if you maintain a slow speed of action. As an example, every fifth press of the right soft key is combined with a contact on the end call button, whose action puts you in standby mode. It’s good that the buttons have a slightly harder travel than the navigation key, but it’s still not strong enough for the average male hand.
The fun of placing a maximum of buttons in a minimum of space continues in the case of two small keys for starting the player on the left, and turning the phone on/off on the right. Just below the player key, it is worth highlighting the unusually located microphone hole, which, however, does not raise any complaints.
The digital keypad consists of twelve crowded round buttons with a matte texture, each of which is slightly recessed above the surface and ringed with a thin silver edging. Due to good spacing and good tactility, working with the keys is pleasant and convenient, and blind dialing will not be difficult after just an hour of use.
The backlighting of the entire key block is white, unusually uniform and moderately bright. If the music player is running, the navigation block is colored red.
If you look at the Sony Ericsson W980 from the ends, it will not be difficult to notice the equal division of the surface into a glossy top and a matte bottom. The only place where the idyll is broken is the empty top end.
On the right side, it is worth highlighting a small, tight volume rocker, whose ergonomic shape is practically not felt due to its slight elevation above the surface. A centimeter lower is a button for switching radio/music/clock modes on the external screen, and the description is completed by a tight sensor blocking slider, whose large marks are well suited for moving the slider with a fingernail.
The left side is distinguished by the presence of a Fast Port – a connector for connecting wired accessories, as well as an inconvenient strap attachment at the top. Both lower edges of the ends are occupied by small holes for polyphonic speakers, which never provide a clear stereo effect.
The back surface is entirely made of matte plastic with a Soft Touch rubber coating. In the upper part, it is worth noting a large 3-megapixel camera module, protected by ordinary glass, slightly recessed relative to the surface. Nearby is a weak LED that glows red during video recording.
Most of the back surface acts as a battery cover, which can be removed with just a slight downward movement, using the raised icon as a finger rest. The lid is fixed quite securely and does not play, despite the fact that it can be removed without any effort at all. Here it is necessary to say a few words about the frightening thickness of the plastic from which it is made. Only 0.3 mm, due to which it can be easily bent without noticeable effort.
Under the cover there is a lithium polymer battery BST-38 with a capacity of 930 mAh. Its charge is enough for:
- 16 hours of music listening with included headset
- 18 hours of radio listening.
In everyday use, one charge is enough for 2 days of work with 30 minutes of calls per day, 3 hours of listening to music, constant Bluetooth activity and 20 minutes of camera use.
Above the battery compartment there is a slot for a SIM card, and in the lower part there is a crowded connection connector external antenna. There is no memory card slot, as one single 8 GB NAND memory module is used.
User interface
In standby mode, in the corners of the top of the screen there are traditional five-level indicators of signal strength and battery charge. Between them is a field for various system indicators, be it missed events, Bluetooth activity notification, or silent mode alerts. The indicator for running Java applications has been replaced with an icon resembling the Activity Menu symbol.
Below on the screen the names of the operator and the active base station can be displayed, and at the bottom of the screen - the date, digital clock and the countdown of the timer, if it is running. At the bottom of the screen, three context key labels are displayed, which cannot be reassigned. To call the functions you are interested in, you can use the navigation key deflections, to which you can assign calls to most functions, including Java MIDlets. If four quick launch shortcuts are not enough for you, you can use the shortcuts tab in the Activity Menu. In addition to the shortcuts bookmark, the active menu contains classic bookmarks of your favorite WEB browser, missed events and running applications.
The main menu consists of 12 icons, the images of which are not so easy to describe. The updated version of the A200 provides the ability to quickly change the appearance of the menu, regardless of the selected design theme. The icons have been carefully redrawn, significantly simplifying the graphics - they have become noticeably simpler, and the graphics are reminiscent of those used in the Siemens CX65. Along with a slight increase in the size of each icon, the designers managed to get rid of the cursors, the smooth animation of which made the first K series phones famous.
In addition to the classic representation in the form of a 3 x 4 matrix, two more icon options are available, similar to variations of Flash themes in the company’s A100-based phones. There is a carousel option, with smooth scrolling of icons horizontally. The next display option looks more like a tribute to fashion, since there is more than little sense in displaying one large icon without animation on a large screen. The last option for icons depends on the content of the existing theme. If the theme also includes a set of icons, you can use it. The themes themselves can be switched from the same drop-down list of functions in the main menu.
There is even more animation in the interface, although there was more than enough of it in the K850i. The smooth appearance of drop-down function windows has also been significantly improved, and the icons on the top line now smoothly fly out onto the strip or disappear.
In addition to the extensive theme capabilities, the user can install background images in Jpeg, Bmp format. GIF and SWF.
Profiles are still limited to 7 add-ons, each of which can be modified in a number of ways:
- ringer volume
- activation of increasing volume
- vibration alert
- key sound
- redirection
- White list
- a way to answer an incoming call (with a separate key, or by pressing any button other than end call).
You can change the name of 6 profiles, but the icons remain unchanged.
Phone book
Organizing work with the phone book is simple, but not without many popular features. Synchronization of VCF profiles is supported, or their transfer via Bluetooth, copying the database from a SIM card, or vice versa. The view list displays 6 entries on the screen at a time, and the highlighted contact can be viewed with phone numbers. If several numbers are associated with a record, you can switch between them using simple horizontal deviations. Unfortunately, the usual selection of several records only allows you to add subscribers to the message distribution list, and deleting and moving is only possible when using the appropriate functions. In total, the phone book memory is designed for 1000 entries and 7000 numbers in total.
Accordingly, in addition to 7 phone numbers, each subscriber can add:
- Web address
- individual ringtone and picture
- job title
- organization
- street
- city
- region
- postcode
- and the country where the place of work is located.
- the same address information for place of residence
- text note up to 511 characters long
- birthday reminder.
Call lists do not differ in functionality, depending on whether they are launched from the main menu or by pressing the call key in standby mode. There are four horizontal tabs with sorting calls by incoming, outgoing, missed and mixed. Each section can hold up to 30 records, although there can be only one record for each subscriber.
Messages
There is a good tool for creating SMS/EMS messages. As before, it is possible to display emoticons as pictures. As before, the size limit for the created message is 594 characters in Cyrillic and 1188 characters in Latin.
The MMS service has also not undergone any changes. This is a visually pleasing interface for complex message composition, up to 300 kb in size. You can add existing audio, photos, video materials, or directly launch the tools for creating them (camera, voice recorder).
The email client allows you to set up an account in five steps.
First, you enter your account name and email address. Then enter your username and password, after which the phone will offer to get the remaining settings from the sonyericsson.com/support server. If there is no Internet access, the remaining two steps will consist of selecting the connection type (POP3, IMAP4) and entering the incoming and outgoing mail servers.
Among the interface changes, the only thing that can be noted is the changed background of the message reading/writing window.
Regarding the Cyrillic alphabet in the headings, it can be noted that the majority of messages received by the author are displayed correctly. All attachments can be saved to the phone's memory - this is a definite plus.
Organizer
The phone has five alarm clocks, in each of which you can indicate the active days of the week, set the call time, melody, or radio frequency, if the signal will be used to turn on the FM receiver with sound output to the polyphonic speaker of the phone.
Calendar
There are two types of display: month or week table with an hourly schedule for each day. By pointing at the desired day of the week, you can quickly create a reminder. Reminders also shine with a wide degree of customization. You can set a custom name, start time, duration, notification 5-30 minutes in advance. before the start, set the specifics of the reminder repeat (daily, weekly, monthly, annually), and also add information about the location of the event. For dessert, you can add a short description of the event. As you can see, reminders, if not ideal, are as close as possible to such, considering that this is not a separate organizer, but one of the functions mobile phone.
Notes
Ordinary text notes. The length of each cannot exceed 254 characters.
Timer
Ordinary timer. You set the time accurate to the second and admire the report in standby mode.
Stopwatch allows you to create up to 9 intermediate values.
Calculator allows you to perform only the simplest arithmetic operations.
The code memo is interesting only by its presence as such. Otherwise, the four-digit password most eloquently indicates the seriousness of these closed notes.
Multimedia menu
The multimedia menu has undergone virtually no changes compared to its predecessors based on the first variation of the A200. The settings section still only includes screen orientation settings. Due to the presence of a position sensor, there is also an automatic screen rotation function.
Video
The video viewing section includes a simple sorting tool and the player itself, which does not support files with a resolution higher than 320 x 240 pixels. There is a freeze-frame function with saving in Jpeg format, and fans of watching movies will like the automatic continuation of watching the video of the last moment at which playback was interrupted the previous time.
Photo
Viewing photos is equipped with pleasant scrolling effects, and at the same time the ability to quickly add favorite pictures to the album. The images in the album are divided by month, and the entire list of photos is displayed on the screen at once. While viewing, you can quickly call up the image editor, or use Photo Fix automatic color level correction.
The slide presentation of X-Pict Story images has not gone away, although its capabilities have not changed. Unlike smartphones, you do not have the ability to select soundtrack melodies, so you will have to limit yourself to just moods.
Games
Considering the upcoming A300 with ample opportunities to create quality games, the games section has already been added to the multimedia menu. From here you can conveniently call running applications, or quickly end them and move on to others.
News streaming feeds were moved to the main section of the multimedia menu, filling them with a full range of settings. The section contains links to downloaded or pre-installed links to network aggregators.
Music
The music player is rightfully the main feature of the W980, since a large external screen is provided for music. In standby mode, it can display a digital clock with date, time, and the top line of indicators.
Using the dedicated mode key, you can switch to radio mode and then to music, whose interface consists of a classic Walkman 2.0-style library and a playback mode window.
The main feature of the external screen is rightfully the visualization, starting with a logo that is sensitive to the position of the phone in space, and at the same time colorful multi-colored water ripple effects, made in the spirit. In addition to these effects and the light indication of the lower end of the body, one cannot help but note the funny triangular waves, the nature of which is always parallel to the surface of the earth. Accordingly, you are free to change the direction of movement of the waves relative to the edges of the screen by simply rotating the device in space.
On the main screen of the phone, the player is made in the classic Walkman 3.0 version. In the main library of the player, in addition to sorting by artists, albums, displaying all songs and collecting playlists, there are sections for sorting songs by year, by genre, displaying separately from other various audio books, although the most interesting sorting, of course, is the Sense Me function. It first appeared in the W910i, while in the W960i it can be considered separately, fortunately there it is completely independent and does not require additional music processing outside the device. In the W980, all moods can be set only using a PC, namely the Media Manager utility. It's funny, but the latest version of the program still dates back to December 2007, although when you connect the phone, everything is recognized with a bang. Having added indexed files to the phone's library, the user can only update the library and go to the Sense Me section.
In this section there is a simple crosshair of cheerful and sad moods, and a vertical scale separates the dynamics of the compositions. The files themselves are indicated as dots, the location of which roughly corresponds to the speed and mood, according to the Music Manager program. Another interesting feature is the formation of an interesting set of songs into the current playlist. To do this, just select the appropriate sorting by pressing the right soft key, and then set the diameter of the enclosing ring, the center of which is the currently selected track. Another way to select unexpected lists is to view compositions by year.
The playback window consists of a narrow progress bar that spans the entire width of the window, above which there is a small Album Art window, icons for playback modes and the current position of the track in the playlist. The information line at the top has not gone away, where indicators of signal strength, battery charge, other notifications and time are displayed.
Below the line, the elapsed and remaining time of playing the track, information from the ID3 tag, and designations of actions on the navigation key are displayed. Interestingly, the key itself has the same symbols. Pressing up or down brings up the current playlist, half-shading the active playback window. When you change the orientation to landscape, the navigation key symbol floats to the right edge of the scroll bar.
In the player settings, you can turn on/off random playback mode, and at the same time repeat the current song/list. In addition, instead of a small album cover, various animations called visualizations can be displayed on the screen. The effects are pleasing to the eye, but with such a large active area, it wouldn’t hurt to use a magnifying glass as well.
W980 acts as the first Sony product Ericsson from the Walkman line, which has absorbed software developments from Sony A-series players. The equalizer, in turn, is one of the most striking and noticeable solutions of this circuit. So, instead of the classic vertical list, we are invited to choose one of 9 add-ons of a five-band equalizer, the design of which is fully consistent with the image of the musical solution. Each add-on is located in a large window with a schematic image of the listener, the name of the musical genre and a demonstration of the values of the equalizer bands.
There is no Mega Bass, since instead of it there is the usual section manual installation equipped with a dedicated left column for a three-position Clear Bass setting. As in the players of the parent Sony, setting the bass values to maximum significantly cuts off the upper and mid frequencies, but the middle bass becomes a lot, but not excessive, if, of course, you are going to listen to electronics.
Sound quality
Sony Ericsson's advertising campaign for the W980 actively uses all kinds of references to high-quality sound, the use of Clear Stereo and Clear Bass technologies, as well as other innovations previously seen in Sony A – Series players. Of course, we could not ignore such loud statements, especially taking into account the fact that the mythical sound quality of Sony players to this day torments the minds of those who rarely encounter monitor acoustics and other components that truly reproduce musical recordings with high quality.
Let's start small, namely with the presence in the W980 drivers of a stereo effect normalization codec called Clear Stereo. In fact, this system simply struggles with overloads of the central spectrum, as in previous Sony Ericsson phones. However, this time the system has undergone a significant correction, due to which the drop in the high frequencies in the problematic saturated region is approximately half as much as in its predecessors. In addition, the most complex medium is not subject to the best correction. frequency range, from which, first of all, the development of the sound of electric guitars suffers, since all the necessary dynamics of the audio path disappear. Thus, from the list of music to listen to, you can immediately cross out all types of heavy music, including the harmless alternative.
The second step towards satisfying the whims of everyone who loves electronics and popular music was the introduction of Sony's proprietary technology, called Clear Bass. What does cleanliness have to do with it and why all these are just big words, most unbiased owners of Sony players have long known. It takes the low-frequency spectrum and raises it to incredible heights, simultaneously dropping the mids and lowering the highs by a third. The result is something that we will talk about immediately after the excursion through the RMAA 5.5 table.
General results
| Frequency response unevenness (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | Great |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -88.0 | Fine |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 84.9 | Fine |
| Harmonic distortion,%: | 0.0060 | Very good |
| Intermodulation distortion + noise, %: | 0.019 | Very good |
| Interpenetration of channels, dB: | -84.6 | Very good |
| Intermodulation at 10 kHz, %: | 0.028 | Fine |
Overall rating: Very good
Frequency response
| Frequency range | Unevenness |
| 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB | -0.13, +0.02 |
| 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB | -0.12, +0.02 |
Noise level
| Parameter | Left | Right |
| RMS power, dB: | -86.1 | -85.9 |
| RMS power (A-weighted), dB: | -88.0 | -87.8 |
| Peak level, dB (FS): | -71.4 | -72.2 |
| DC offset, %: | -0.00 | -0.00 |
Dynamic range
| Parameter | Left | Right |
| Dynamic range, dB: | +83.4 | +83.1 |
| Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB: | +85.1 | +84.9 |
| DC offset, %: | -0.00 | -0.00 |
Harmonic distortion + noise (at -3 dB)
| Parameter | Left | Right |
| THD, %: | 0.0066 | 0.0060 |
| THD + noise, %: | 0.0173 | 0.0168 |
| SOI + noise (A-weighted), %: | 0.0157 | 0.0152 |
Intermodulation distortion
| Parameter | Left | Right |
| KII + noise, %: | 0.0195 | 0.0193 |
| KII + noise (A-weighted), %: | 0.0167 | 0.0166 |
Interpenetration of stereo channels
| Parameter | A lion. | Left->Right |
| Penetration at 100 Hz, dB: | -81 | -81 |
| Penetration at 1 kHz, dB: | -83 | -84 |
| Penetration at 10 kHz, dB: | -84 | -85 |
Intermodulation (variable frequency)
| Parameter | Left | Right |
| KII + noise at 5 kHz, %: | 0.0205 | 0.0203 |
| KII + noise at 10 kHz, %: | 0.0285 | 0.0256 |
| KII + noise at 15 kHz, %: | 0.0398 | 0.0366 |
The program does not skimp on laudatory reviews, which is what Sony Ericsson strived for. The measurement results are a cut above, quite comparable with, and only the reference one stands apart from the rest. But, excuse me, in the previous paragraph we mentioned that it is better not to load many instrumental compositions into the phone’s memory? That's right, since the RMAA test material consists of artificial audio transitions that do not affect the audio processing technology in the W980. Due to this coincidence, we get excellent output data comparable to Sony A8XX players, but in practice everything is completely different. Accordingly, relying on numbers alone becomes incorrect, which forces you to compare the audio path only on the basis of your tastes and preferences.
Having selected several models of headphones for testing, we began listening to various music, first in the Hard Rock genre, and then electronics. Heavy guitar bridges and virtuosic solos turn into something boring and dull, as you hear everything except the Distore effect itself. After a few minutes, the picture becomes extremely unpleasant, which means the negative verdict is unequivocal. Next on the list is the usual pop music of the last generation, and then electronica. Here the situation is much better, but the low frequencies lack expression. It feels like the bass boost isn't working as it should, and there's no noticeable impact. It is necessary to recall here that these impressions were obtained after using third-party headphone models in the popular price range of $70-100 plus on-ear Philips SHP895.
But as soon as we step aside from experiments and use the included HPM-77 headset, all thoughts go to the side. The company has found a truly iconic headphone model, notable not only for its compact dimensions, but also for its sound. To begin with, we note the excellent sound insulation, from which an attempt to talk on a headset is accompanied by the feeling that your ears are blocked, since you can hardly hear your voice. With these headphones maximum level The volume of the W980 is quite sufficient for subway conditions, although you don’t have to resort to the maximum at all. And now the main thing: the bass. As many of you are well aware, 80% of music listeners are puzzled only by this parameter, and not by sound stages and other attributes of enjoying the classics. For such users, the Sony Ericsson W980, paired with the included headphones, represents a real musical paradise. The bass is extremely rich, but cannot be called sharp or airy. This is a dense consistency of the entire sound spectrum below 300 Hz, literally eating away at the listener’s ears with its atmosphere. At the same time, the headphones are not deprived of the ability to softly reproduce high and mid frequencies, significantly ahead of the same Sennheiser CX300 in these parameters. The only thing worth noting is that many of you may not hear any of this consistency if the headphones are installed with the wire facing down. Here we can advise you to wrap the wire around the auricle so that the headphones are installed from top to bottom - only with this method will your humble servant achieve the sound that was described above.
This time we decided to devote quite a lot of text space to the audio path, although we did not put forward any specifics or indications of the genres used, since the main goal was the idea of the failure of the standard approach to testing sound quality, in the case of the W980. The phone will seem close to ideal among the majority of those who make target audience, but only subject to the use of excellent supplied headphones and the listener’s passion for light musical genres. Let us repeat: the device loses in terms of elaboration of the mid-frequency spectrum and even detail, but the bass, which is usually not enough for many, bursts out of the HPM-77 headphones in conjunction with the W980 in such a dense stream that KOSS The Plug is perceived as nothing more than a bad imitation. And what is more important in music, bass or everything else, is up to you to decide.
Radio
In addition to the music player, the Sony Ericsson W980 is equipped with the usual FM receiver with support for RDS, AF and a memory for 20 stations. In addition to this, we can mention the classic TrackID service.
As we mentioned in the description of the appearance, and even touching on working with the player, to switch the external screen of the phone to radio mode there is still the same key on the right side, with the help of which you call the receiver and you are taken directly to the navigation window, where switching is presented at your service between saved stations and manual tuning by pressing the left and right sensors. All other features are available only on internal screen described above.
Completing the review of the multimedia capabilities of the Sony Ericsson W980, we cannot fail to note the easy-to-use FM transmitter, with which you can easily broadcast music to any receiver from a distance of up to 7 meters.
Communications
The phone has a Bluetooth 2.0 module wireless communication with EDR support, as well as other standard profiles:
- Basic Imaging Profile
- Basic Printing Profile
- Dial-Up Networking Profile
- File Transfer Profile
- Generic Access Profile
- Generic Object Exchange Profile
- Handsfree Profile
- Headset Profile
- JSR-82 Java API
- Object Push Profile
- Personal Area Network Profile
- Serial Port Profile
- Service Discovery Application Profile
- Synchronization Profile
- SyncML OBEX binding
- Phonebook Access Profile.
Data transfer speed is at the level of 100-120 kb/s. The connection is stable both when transferring large files and when working with a wireless headset. It’s worth saying a few words about A2DP headsets. Using two models from Sony Ericsson, in both cases, playing music fully loaded the phone's CPU, and the speed of moving through the menu dropped significantly. However, DACs installed in and provide noticeably more detailed sound with minimal loss of high frequencies, the appearance of fairly accurate bass, and an overall increase in volume by 15-20%.
Since the phone is equipped with 8 GB of internal memory without a slot for memory cards, the implementation of connection to a PC cannot be left out of the description. The first point to mention is that it supports two data transfer formats that do not require Sony Ericsson Phone Manager on your PC. In the first case, the W980 is detected as a storage device, automatically turning off the radio unit and switching the interface to an operating mode familiar to many. In this case, the data transfer speed is as much as 700 Kb/s, which, compared to 3 Mb/s on the same G502, looks strange. In part, the problem can be attributed to the presence of a connection to a PC in MTP mode, in which you can transfer files with DRM protection without blocking access to them. But here, too, bad luck arises, since the file writing speed is even more surprising: 600 Kb/s.
What are the reasons for such low speed indicators? It's simple: one 32 MB RAM memory module is used, but the second ROM memory array, recently presented in the company's phones with 64 or 256 MB modules, has been replaced by an 8 GB version. At the same time, a memory card controller that supports the USB 2.0 High Speed recording protocol is simply not installed on the board, and recording to the built-in memory of Sony Ericsson phones, as you can see for yourself, does not go beyond the USB 1.1 standard. And since there is only one memory area in the phone, there are also no area selection tabs in the file manager, which evokes a similarity with the W800i.
Performance
Jbenchmark1: 5613
Text: 1856
2d shapes: 1377
3d shapes: 691
Fill rate: 502
Animation: 1188
Jbenchmark 2: 1219
Image manipulation: 368
Text: 714
Sprites: 645
3d transform: 724
User interface: 21968
Jbenchmark 3d
Jbenchmark 3d hq: 462
Jbenchmark 3d lq: 482
Triangles pear second: 37418
Ktexels pear second: 1547
JBenchmark hd
Smooth triangles: 31241
textured triangles: 27299
fill rate: 1359 ktexels
gaming: 132 (4.4 fps)
Games
The phone has only three games installed, since the W980 is not part of the new gaming concept, for which it is not quality that matters, but quantity.
The first of the pre-installed games is Luminies Block Challenge, which has become traditional for Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. We will not describe this mixture of Tetris and arcade again, and you can understand the meaning of the gameplay in 2-5 minutes, fortunately everything is simple.
Next on the list is the simple game Sudoku, which includes more than a hundred crossword puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty, and to top it all off there is also a clear description of the gameplay, which is so important for beginners.
Need For Speed Pro Street rounds out the top three games available, although this game is nevertheless the main one in the entire set. In terms of graphics, this is a strong average, but, alas, not in terms of physics. To maneuver on the highway, it is enough to tilt the phone to the side, and two degrees of steering rotation are available, highlighting this method controls versus buttons.
Applications
AccuWeather
Weather viewer receiving data from the weather services of most airports from different countries peace. Using the service does not require any additional funds other than paying for traffic, although very little of it is required.
Walk Mate
The long-awaited pedometer that uses an acceleration sensor to control the player and only that. Unfortunately, it's not so much a pedometer as it is a nice standby screen saver, since it only counts steps without even trying to convert them into distance traveled. But there is a symbolic goal for each day, the essence of which lies in a set of symbolic 10,000 steps, which approximately corresponds to 6-8 kilometers, depending on your height and other parameters. It's funny, but the Nokia application is limited to half the numbers as a daily norm, although this is not so important, unlike the fact that there is a pedometer, and it works correctly, even if only if you carry the phone in your jeans/trousers pocket or on your wrist hands.
Music mate 5
In the fifth version of the instrumental set of music samples, the long-awaited ability to tune the guitar has appeared, although all other aspects are the same as the previous version.
The unit converter is interesting not so much for its sufficient base of different quantities, but for its pleasant visualization of graphics.
Standby World
The application allows you to display several beautiful clocks indicating the current time for several countries. Its main advantage is the fact that the application itself can be displayed in standby mode instead of the background image.
World Clock 3D
Ordinary viewing of time zones on a three-dimensional globe.
Camera
The phone has a 3-megapixel camera module without autofocus optics and flash. The poor placement of the camera lens where the index finger fits comfortably could be considered an insignificant drawback if the phone had the ability to use a good external screen as a viewfinder. But, alas, the camera is only available when the phone is open, so only half of the main screen is used as a viewfinder. At the top of the screen, above the viewfinder, are the standard digital zoom and brightness indicators. Just below is a window for switching between photo/video shooting modes, next to which you can see an icon of the current save location and the set photo/video format.
The options menu concentrates all available camera settings, be it choosing the resolution and compression quality, setting white balance and color effects, choosing a shooting mode, activating a timed shutter release, adding phone location coordinates to the photo metadata, and choosing one of four shutter sounds shutter, with the ability to turn it off.
As you can see from the following sample images, the quality of photography is quite sufficient for shooting simple scenes without pretense to quality. The pictures look good on the phone screen, but on a PC you can quite comfortably view only those photos that were taken in sunny weather with optimal illumination of objects.
Like a phone Sony Ericsson W980 provides good quality communications, completely identical to most other phones of the company. The speaker reproduces well the entire current frequency range, without emphasizing any of the sides of the frequency response, due to which the interlocutor’s voice is distorted only within the AMR format and nothing more. The volume of the speaker is enough for most quiet situations, but in a noisy room or in a subway car it is better to use a headset, since a 30% lack of volume can occur for such situations. The polyphonic speaker does not suffer from squeaky reproduction of melodies, although its maximum volume is only slightly above average. In the same busy, noisy environment, the ringtone can easily be mistaken for another uncritical sound. The vibration motor also contributes to the appearance of missed calls, since it vibrates in small ripples slightly weaker than the average value. conclusions In the description of Sony Ericsson W980 there can be no place for a dry assessment of technical characteristics and endless comparison with competitors. This product plays in its niche, which can only be characterized by emotional impressions and the delight of balance. The flip phone has no status features, no high-quality sound, no autofocus camera, and the alarmingly thin thickness also does not fit the description of this compact phone. But the phone has that note of the first Walkman products, in which the primary component was images, supported by music. And this is truly a musical product, on which it is not only convenient to listen to music, it is pleasant. This phone is a pleasure to play games, a pleasure to talk, a pleasure to write messages and look at photos. And the funny thing is that this brand-new phone with a plastic case is quite reasonably worth its $650, since for this money they are offering you not a tool, but emotions. Since we noted the far from low cost of the W980, it’s time to note the fact that the phone will involuntarily become a kind of status solution, coming close to the same, even here managing to outstrip its competitor in terms of convenience. This music folding phone has no other strong competitors yet and is unlikely to be. So all those who like this concept of an emotional decision can safely go to the store and buy a Sony Ericsson W980. If you think that its price is unreasonable, we advise you not to make statements in the direction of a plastic case without metal; we advise you to take a closer look at the solutions of competitors, if, of course, you find them.
© Tikhonov Valery, Test laboratory |
Contents of delivery:
- Telephone
- Battery
- Charger
- Wired stereo headset HPM-77
- USB cable
- Disc with Media Manager, disc with software
Positioning
A musical flagship, that says it all. The most functional model in terms of music from Sony Ericsson at the time of its presentation, and the most unusual. This device is extremely extraordinary, and it is impossible to judge future models by it; most likely, it will remain a kind of blank spot in the line from Sony Ericsson. The situation around this model reminds me of the release of the Sony Ericsson W900i at the very beginning of the victorious march of the Walkman line. For the first time, a graphics accelerator appeared, video recording with QVGA resolution, an unusual rotate form factor, great screen and a good camera. All together they created an expensive, but so pleasant device that some people still use it and do not experience any difficulties, and have no desire to change this model to something else.
The positioning of the Walkman line for music has not been so clear for a long time; many models are coming out that attract attention with their appearance, materials, form factor, price, delivery package, but last of all, it would seem, with their main function - music. Let's remember Sony Ericsson W910i, Sony Ericsson W890i. Against this background, the failure in sales of the Sony Ericsson W960i becomes clear: an expensive device with a large amount of memory and aimed at implementing the main function - music, with less of an image component. Keyword Regarding the Walkman line today, it's not music, it's image.
Music is one of the elements of self-expression of modern man. To paraphrase a well-known saying, we can say: “You are what you listen to.” In the social aspect, the importance of music is difficult to underestimate; for young people it is one of the key topics in communication and knowledge of the world. It’s not just fans of this or that group or music direction that arise; it’s an expression of one’s own self, an attempt to position oneself in the world. There are very few people who are indiscriminate and single out all directions in music at once. There are always certain favorites and taboos, things that a person will never listen to. Among teenagers, you can often hear phrases like “she listens to such and such a singer.” This is a diagnosis, there is nothing to add to such a phrase. Social marker, “friend or foe” division. Along with external markers such as clothing, music has become a key element of culture.
It's funny, but for a huge part of young people, listening to music plays a social role; they need to listen to music. At the same time, the quality of music playback seems to play an important role, but, as sales experience of the Walkman line shows, it is not a primary one. Among the buyers of Walkman phones, there are only a few avid music lovers who understand what music is and how it really sounds, and even fewer. For most people, the Walkman is a device that performs a social function and nothing more. The Apple iPod for the US market became exactly the same device; this player is social at its core. You have white headphones in your ears, which means you have an iPod, and you are a progressive young man. It is curious that the iPod's sound quality is also average and inferior to most of its competitors, which, however, are not even close to it in popularity.
Exactly for this reason, there is no need to improve the sound of the Walkman line (this does not apply to individual players). Why invest in improving a core feature when 90 percent of buyers are looking for outward evidence that they're listening to music. That is, the very fact of listening to music is important, it matters what they listen to this music on and what exactly. Of course, people will by default assure you that they care about the quality of the music, the way it sounds. From study to study we encountered this paradox. Convincing us that the quality of music comes first, people then bought phones that, in their opinion, sounded worse. What is the reason? The social significance of such phones was greater; they did not offer listening to good quality music, but the ability to communicate. Imagine taking out your phone, shaking it and nodding your head to the beat of a new song. What do people around you see? The rhythm of the music, they assume you're listening, they see you doing it. Not so little information, a huge number of social markers.
I understand that it is difficult to get used to the idea that we are all trying to play one role or another in society, and music is one of the components of social behavior. It is even more difficult to accept the idea that the quality of music is not so important for many; what is more important to them is the external manifestations associated with listening to music. What kind of headphones are in the ears, what can be shown, what can be said, including about the sound quality of the player or phone. Communication is the answer to the question.
Everything about Sony Ericsson W980 is about communication; the company tried to make the device as catchy and attractive as possible. The lighting effects on the dedicated panel serve the same purpose. In terms of image, it’s hard for me to think of anything similar to the Sony Ericsson W980; it has everything and even more. In terms of music and the quality of its playback, the device is average; the market is full of solutions from other companies that play better. But will they become more popular? Don't think. They have a weak social function, which is off the charts in the flagship from Sony Ericsson.
This phone is ideal for young people who are active in society, looking for themselves and their path, and who have already achieved their first successes. The age group is from 22 to 35 years old, with a primary focus on the 22-26 group. Both girls and boys perceive this phone equally; it is universal.
This is not the first device of its kind with a similar idea. But the first with a similar level of implementation. You can remember the Motorola U9, the cases are somewhat similar, Motorola has amazing effects on the external screen, good quality music playback. But the social component is not so high. There is no need to look for direct matches, there won’t be any; Sony Ericsson W980 stands apart on the market. In a clamshell form factor, this is one of the most unique models of the last couple of years. But don’t just evaluate it from the point of view of the quality of music playback; the device, despite all the declarative statements, was not created for this, far from it.
Design, dimensions, control elements
A clamshell with Japanese design - this is how the W980 can be described. Why do models from Japan immediately come to mind? The reason for this is the opening angle of the clamshell, when two rectangles form a broken line, and the rotary hinge in the middle of the upper end. Let's add a characteristic click when closing or opening the device. Case materials. The list goes on, but in the end we will come to the conclusion that there is nothing like this in most markets today. The model is unique in design and instantly attracts attention.
Only one color available - Piano Black. The front panel is made of plastic, it is glossy and very, very easily soiled. Honestly, I expected rejection of the device, I don’t like dirty things, and constantly wiping the phone is not for me. However, I was pleasantly surprised: due to the mirror effect, the phone does not look dirty. In most cases, it plays in the light, indoors, reflecting light. At most you can see specks of dust on it, but not fat.
The external screen is visible in bright light, its borders are visible, but indoors it is almost invisible, which is not so bad. The material of the case is resistant to scratches, we didn’t have many of them, there were almost no deep ones, even after the phone was in a pocket with keys.
Below the screen you can see three circles, a large one in the middle and two small ones on the sides. These are touch keys that are used to work with the player; they are responsible only for it. No reading messages on the external screen (the latest message scrolls entirely by itself) or viewing recent calls. Only music, radio, period.
The touch keys have vibration feedback, it feels good, and it’s a pleasure to work with them. Backlight in two colors: orange in player mode, white for radio. You need to block the keys in your pocket, otherwise they will press on their own; the first press turns on the backlight, the second is responsible for the action. On right side There is a slider that blocks the buttons, which is nice. Right there on the right is a key for changing external screen modes; they flip through like pages in a book, the animation effect is pleasant. A total of three modes are available - the usual standby screen with the operator's name, radio mode and, finally, the player.
The characteristics of the external screen are not bad - it is a TFT matrix with a resolution of 176x176 pixels (27x27 mm), displaying up to 262,000 colors. The screen is behind protective “glass”, which is tinted, so it is sometimes not very visible in sunlight. At the bottom end, when closed, there is a transparent insert, this is an LED that has two backlight colors - white for most events and orange for the player. A kind of light music when playing songs or a light indicator when making a call, message, and so on. A nice thing that looks stylish, there are simply no analogues on the market.
However, they decided to install a service LED anyway and not rely only on external beauty. A small indicator is located on the left side of the phone. On the same side there is a hole for a strap, a standard Fast Port. The side location of the interface connector has become the norm for Sony Ericsson, but it is inconvenient in most cases; in a pocket, the width of the phone with headphones increases by a centimeter. On the right side there is a paired volume rocker. On the two sides, closer to the bottom end, the speaker holes are visible. This is the company's first device that plays music well in speakerphone, the presence of two speakers is felt.
Side parts of the body rear end Made of soft touch plastic, the phone does not slip in your hand and fits like a glove. Size - 92x46x16.9 mm, weight - 100 grams. Typical dimensions, not the thinnest device, but it will fit in a shirt pocket, not to mention jeans or trousers. Opening the device is easy with one hand, there are no surprises here.
On the back you can see the camera lens, it is not covered with anything, when you hold the phone in your hands, your finger always gets on the lens, it is always dirty. It's useless to clean, it doesn't help one bit.
Display
The main screen displays up to 262,000 colors with a resolution of 240x320 pixels (diagonal 2.2 inches, 34x45 mm, TFT). This allows you to display up to 8 lines of text and up to three service lines on the screen for most modes; for viewing Internet resources, when working with by email, with messages it is possible to display more lines due to the smaller font size.
The screen quality is excellent, the colors are bright and saturated. In the sun, the screen glares a little, the glossy coating takes its toll, but once you find an angle, you can read from it. To prevent the screen from touching the keyboard, there are two rubber gaskets, they save the situation. But, on the other hand, marks from the cheek on the internal screen are constantly visible, and it is almost impossible to fight them. Above the screen there is a camera for video calls, exactly in the middle.
Keyboard
The number keys are round, medium in size and well spaced. Soft pressing, working with the keys is a pleasure. They are suitable for both quick dialing and long-term SMS messaging. Dedicated Walkman key on the keyboard, navigation key is normal.
The backlighting of the keys is white, pleasant, of medium intensity.
Battery
The back cover has no play and is easy to open. Inside there is a lithium-polymer battery BST-38, its capacity is 930 mAh. According to the manufacturer, the device's operating time in standby mode is up to 370 hours, in talk mode – up to 9 hours. In Moscow networks, the device worked on average for three and a half days with a good load (up to an hour and a half of talking, about 30 minutes of games, 20 minutes of using a browser, up to 3 hours of listening to music).
Music playback time is up to 30 hours. Full battery charging time is about 2 hours. In terms of energy consumption optimization, the model is one of the best on the A200 platform today; it works for a long time. Not a record holder, but above average.
Memory, memory cards
The phone has 8 GB of internal memory, no memory cards are provided. For most users, this amount of memory will be more than enough.
Data transfer
When using a USB connection, you are forced to choose whether to access files in memory, this is a data transfer mode, or continue to work with the phone, or turn on Print mode (printing photos). In the first case, the phone turns off, you see the phone's memory. USB standard 2.0, data transfer speed is about 2 Mb/s. In the second case, there are various USB settings for accessing the network, the phone acts as a modem.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth in this model is version 2 and supports EDR. The A2DP profile is supported, which allows the use of wireless stereo headphones. The model supports the following profiles:
- Basic Imaging Profile
- Basic Printing Profile
- Dial-Up Networking Profile
- File Transfer Profile
- Generic Access Profile
- Generic Object Exchange Profile
- Handsfree Profile
- Headset Profile
- JSR-82 Java API
- Object Push Profile
- Personal Area Network Profile
- Serial Port Profile
- Service Discovery Application Profile
- Synchronization Profile
- SyncML OBEX binding
The device also supports HSDPA.
Performance
Everything is typical for the A200 platform, there are no special features. There are no restrictions on the size of the JAR file, the HEAP size is from 512 KB to 1.5 MB.
Camera
The phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, CMOS matrix. No autofocus. The device supports four possible resolutions - 2048x1536, 1632x1224, 1280x960, 640x480 pixels. There are two types of image compression – Normal, Fine. Most of the photos in the examples are shown in Fine quality. The camera interface is vertical, this is dictated by the phone's form factor, the absence of a side key, which is replaced by the OK button.
The camera settings look like this:
- Shutter sound. Select one of four shutter sounds, you can turn off the sound.
- White balance. Choice between automatic mode, as well as Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, Cloudy.
- Effects. You can apply several effects to pictures, namely: Negative, Sepia, Black & White.
- Timer– activated for a certain time to take pictures of your loved one.
- Night mode Designed for shooting at night or in low light conditions. Noise in photographs increases, shutter speed increases (you cannot move the camera, otherwise you will get a blurry photo).
- Shooting mode. Normal mode is for taking regular photos. Burst mode (Burst 4) – taking 4 pictures at once, a series. Panorama – taking panoramic pictures, a very interesting mode that allows you to take unusual photographs. The last mode is taking pictures using frames; the resolution of the photo is automatically reduced.
In shooting mode, the phone screen plays the role of a viewfinder, the movement of the image on the screen is smooth, everything is visible very well. Number keys You can quickly switch various functions and shooting parameters, this significantly speeds up working with the camera.
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New camera functions related to navigation and more include adding a position, that is, information about the place where the photo was taken. This feature can be disabled from the camera menu. The implementation of positioning is done in an interesting way. Add a location position not only from the hardware GPS receiver (it is not here, unlike the W760i), but using the Cell ID that is used Google Maps second version. We were unable to find data about the location in the EXIF record of the files with this definition, but the phone itself quite correctly showed the location on the map for such images. A thumbnail of the photo appears in Google Maps, and the map shows where it was taken.
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Video can be recorded in two resolutions (320x240, 176x144), file format is 3GP. The duration of the videos can be specified as limited (up to 10 seconds) or unlimited. The quality of the videos is average and not amazing.
Pre-installed programs, games, themes
Consider all the features in detail software does not make sense, this is the A200 platform, which is perfectly described in a separate material, here we will focus on the features of this device.
Unlike the first devices on the A200 platform, this model widely uses animation when opening windows and sending messages. This is a simple animation, but it changes the perception of the phone and looks beautiful. Another little thing in this phone's piggy bank.
The device has 5 different design themes, all of them use flash animation to one degree or another, and can change the appearance of the main menu, for example, to a cyclical one or to a more familiar matrix one. The topics look interesting. The main menu can be made cyclical, circular, or display one icon at a time.
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The phone has three games, one – Need for Speed – is a good racing emulator, but the main thing is that the car can be controlled using the built-in motion sensor. You can fit into a turn by slightly tilting the phone to the side. Such controls add a lot of variety to the game. The second game is Lumines Block Challenge, which is a variant of Tetris. The last game is traditional Sudoku.
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Applications are represented by six programs. One of them – AccuWeather – allows you to download a weather forecast to your phone; the program is not of much interest. The second program is World Clock 3D, viewing the time in various cities around the world.
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Music Mate 5 is present, you can learn to play different instruments, or turn your phone into a metronome.
Converter – converts different quantities.
Standby World is a clock for different zones that can be set as a standby screen saver (for the main screen).
Musical Features
The third version of the player, which is the most complex on the market today, unlike previous models, a new representation of equalizers has been added, more convenient and simpler, similar to the Sony Ericsson W760i, W902. Otherwise the device has everything Sony specifications Ericsson W760i. It is mistakenly believed that this is the first device with Clear Stereo, Clear Bass, and all together - Clear Expirience. No, the first device to support these technologies was the W760i. Another thing is that the manufacturer did not advertise them, and no one paid attention to the “outstanding” sound quality, plus the headset included was ordinary. The reason is obvious, we will talk about it below, having considered the main functions of the player.
Control music on an external screen. The phone completely controls the music library from the external screen, all filters are available, and transition between lists is available. It's nice. A separate window is dedicated to the radio, there is a transition between saved stations, a search for stations, and the side volume keys also work (long press - jump between saved stations). There is no need to open the device to listen to music or select the desired song.
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SensMe. In addition to the standard set of functions of the third version of the Walkman, the Sony Ericsson W980i also has the SensMe option. This is a playlist that includes various songs and distributes them by type (playback speed, mood). You are not required to add tags to the songs; Sony Media Manager serves this purpose; it analyzes all the melodies on the computer and adds the necessary information. Another thing is that such a process takes time. For example, analyzing approximately 1.5 GB of music in our case took about 20-25 minutes. The advantage of Media Manager is that it can work with memory cards; there is no need to connect the phone itself. The program can also convert photos and videos for the phone; its capabilities are quite wide.
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Is the SensMe feature interesting? Undoubtedly. On the melodies map you see the location of each track as dots, you can move between them, and at the same time a certain point is highlighted and it starts playing. However, the sight hits several points at once, they are also melodies. By clicking on enter, you can create a playlist with melodies that are similar in mood, playback speed, and so on. Under certain moods in life it is very pleasant.
However, you need to understand that the function will work well only if you listen to music of various genres, and there is a lot of it on your phone. If you add a couple of albums from the same artist, you will most likely see that they are all located in one part of the map. The meaning of the function is lost.
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Shake Control. The full version of the player control using shaking is used. It happens very simply. Press and hold the central touch button, and then shake the device; when moving forward, it jumps to the next song, back - respectively, to the previous one. Just shaking - randomly choosing a composition. When an action is performed, there is feedback, the device vibrates.
You should not assume that the function will find widespread use. It will be of interest only to those who are involved in running, other sports and want to be able to quickly change the composition. For young people, it may be interesting to try it in action and that’s all. It’s more convenient to connect the remote control and use it to control playback.
Among the new filters, it is worth noting the “time machine”; it plays songs for a certain year. Among the more traditional ones - a list of the most played, least played.
Playback in hands-free mode. In music box mode, this device does not amaze the imagination - it plays loudly, but not very well. There are no differences from devices equipped with one speaker. Everything is approximately on the same level, unfortunately.
general description Walkman 3.0. Among the fundamental differences from the previous version of Walkman 2.0, we can note support for DRM 2.0, as well as MTP support, which allows you to directly transfer songs from Windows Media Player.
The device finds all files and directories on the memory card, extracts information from metadata (ID3 tags). Supported audio file formats are MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, WAV, WMA and m4a. There are no bitrate restrictions for MP3 files; you can also download files from VBR. The company recommends using files with a bitrate of 192 Kbps.
In the music library, all saved music is divided according to several criteria:
- Performers– a list of performers is provided in alphabetical order, valid quick search by artist name.
- Albums– sorting by album name, search also works.
- Posts– a general list of all melodies, sorted by song title or, if it is not in the metadata, by file name.
- Genre– this is sorting by type of music direction, for example, Hip Hop, Jazz, Blues and so on.
- My playlists– playlists created by the user, they can be created both in the device itself and on the computer when viewing the contents of the memory in USB Mass Storage mode; when updating the library, the device also finds them.
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Unlike the second version, all transitions are made, although horizontal, but externally they are designed somewhat differently. This does not cause any difficulties. All navigation is carried out in a few touches, and in each list there is a search by several letters.
The mode of repeat playback of one or all songs, random playback is available. Rewind is progressive; holding down the key changes the rewind step. In the standard, basic player, you cannot select visualization, that is, animation in place of the album image. Only the image associated with the album.
If you have music playing and you are in standby mode, then launching the Media section will immediately lead to the player item.
The equalizer is 6-band, you can set your own settings and enable stereo widening. Equalizer settings are now available only when headphones are connected; pictures set for default equalizers are clearly displayed.
TrackID is present as a standard option, there is a built-in FM radio with RDS support (for detailed description should go to the description of the A200 platform).
FM Transmitter. Initially they promised that the W980 would have a built-in antenna, then transmitting sound to external devices would not pose a problem, and broadcasting the radio to Bluetooth stereo headphones is a nice option. But it didn't happen. The radio only works with an antenna, but there is still an FM transmitter.
In the radio menu you can select a frequency and start broadcasting immediately. The effective distance to the receiver is up to half a meter, beyond which the interference begins to become very annoying. In the car, it is best to place the phone close to the radio, otherwise interference will occur. The volume of the transmitted signal is low, about half that of terrestrial radio. There is a lot of interference, but this is a characteristic of such devices in general, their obvious disadvantage.
When there is an incoming call, the signal transmission is interrupted. Not only the sound, but also the name of the artist and the title of the composition are broadcast to the radio or other phone. The transmitter should be considered as an additional function, exotic, it will not be in demand.
Playback quality. The set includes HPM-77 headphones, they have excellent music playback quality, one of the best headphones from the company today. There is volume control in 15 positions, which is quite enough. The device plays loudly; subjectively, the model seemed better to me than other phones from the company.
Now let's move on to consider the myths about the sound quality of the Sony Ericsson W980i. In this model, there is no separate DSP responsible for sound processing; accordingly, the phone processor is responsible for everything; sound processing is software, but not hardware algorithms. You can achieve good sound in this way; the presence of DSP is not a panacea or salvation. Not at all. But it is the use of a specialized chip that makes it possible to achieve evenness of all sound characteristics and good sound.
In the RMAA program, the frequency characteristics of the model are excellent; they do not differ from most players, for example, the same iPod Nano latest generation. But when listening to this model, everyone notes background noise on different tracks; the voice often does not sound very natural. What is the reason? Initially, Clear Stereo, like Clear Bass, is another equalizer that improves the sound, makes it more pleasant to the ear and nothing more. He can't make it natural, no. The sound is processed to sound better, but there is no way to return the normal sound here, this is not a disabling option. This is related to the problems of measuring sound characteristics in RMAA; before measurements, it is necessary to disable stereo expansion, all equalizers, and programs that process sound. This is not possible in Sony Ericsson phones; such an option is simply not provided; they always “improve” the sound. Some people will like this sound, others will not. But it cannot be called natural.
When working with touch keys - holding the center key, rewinding - interference and extraneous noise occur in the headphones. Unfortunately, on most tracks you can hear that the device is “noisy”. This is clearly visible in the Intermodulation + Noise parameter in RMAA, it is equal to 0.8 versus 0.015 for most modern phones.
The measurements show absolutely nothing. A good frequency response can be spoiled by aural rejection of the interpretation of music and vice versa. Therefore, we conducted a blind test. To eliminate the influence of headphones, we took the supplied HPM-77 and connected them to different devices(original 3.5 mm adapters were used in all cases). For comparison we chose Sony A803, which has Clear Stereo technology (can be disabled in the settings), Sony Ericsson W760i, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic, Apple iPod Touch. Users did not see the device and only rated the sound of the music. The group consisted of 10 people. The results speak for themselves.
| Parameter, music type | Sony Ericsson W980i | Sony Ericsson W760i | Sony A803 | Nokia 5610 | Apple iPod Touch |
| Maximum volume | 8.3 | 7.1 | 9.2 | 8.4 | 8.9 |
| Classic (playback quality) | 5.1 (lots of noise on background) | 6.2 | 8.2 | 7.2 (not enough depth) | 8.4 |
| Popular music | 8.4 (singer's voice does not always sound as expected) | 7.7 (not enough volume) | 8.7 | 7.9 | 8.2 |
| Jazz | 5.2 (unnatural sound) | 6.2 (unexpressed sound) | 9.1 (rich bass) | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Lyrics (art song) | 6.4 (music and voice are broken, unusual) | 7.1 | 9.2 | 8.1 | 8.6 |
| Enable Bass equalizer (average for all songs) | 7.3 | 6.9 | 9.1 | 7.4 | 8.6 |
Good volume, focus on popular music - these are the main parameters of the Sony Ericsson W980. There are no miracles in the world, and the phone is inferior to the player from Sony, and is also inferior to the music model from Nokia with a dedicated DSP. The reason is that all these solutions were created as universal ones; it was difficult for manufacturers to imagine what exactly users would listen to them. Sony Ericsson considered that the majority of users listen to popular music, and optimized their music flagship for it. In my opinion, leave these improvements in the form of a separate equalizer, and everything would be great. The ability to switch off is a great thing.
Considering that most audiophiles do not understand what sound is and focus on the appearance of the device, the sound quality of the Sony Ericsson W980 will always be highly rated. Here's how users rated the sound when listening with standard headphones on each device when they saw it. Psychology in action.
| Parameter | Sony Ericsson W980i | Sony Ericsson W760i | Sony A803 | Nokia 5610 | Apple iPod Touch |
| Sound Quality Rating | 8.9 | 5.1 | 9.4 | 5.2 | 9.8 |
From personal and subjective experience. The sound in the Sony Ericsson W980 takes some getting used to. When I started using the Sony A803, I turned on Clear Stereo, but then I realized that the sound was boring, not pleasing, and often didn’t look very natural (and on the player this equalizer is implemented much better). I turned it off and listened to music as usual. I began to listen more and get tired less. Enhancing sound greatly affects the brain, it is unnatural, and the flow of information increases many times over. One can argue with this statement and say that it is made up from thin air. This is what I personally encountered, and judging by observations of friends, they have approximately the same approach, sound enhancers are disabled. But that's a different story.
In order not to blindly trust what is written in various reviews, press releases and similar nonsense, I recommend that you arm yourself with a set of your favorite, well-known compositions and listen to them on the Sony Ericsson W980. Perhaps you will like a new interpretation of well-known music, and you will fall in love with the device; perhaps you will not like it. It is impossible to say this in absentia, you have to listen.
Stereo speakers. The first device from Sony Ericsson, where two speakers are not nominal, they sound good, although not volumetric, but loud. Using the phone as a music box is pleasant; you can listen to upcoming podcasts while you sleep; the volume and playback quality are enough for your eyes.
Impression
The model has an acceptable ringing tone and is audible in most situations. There are no problems with connection quality. The vibration alert is a little stronger than average in strength and is felt well.
The phone went on sale at a cost of about 420 Euros (in Russia at the beginning of August at a price of 20,500-21,000 rubles). There is no need to interpret it as a musical decision, it is not that. Like almost all Walkman phones today, this is a fashion phone with a very, very unusual design and a good set of functions. The only downside of the device is the stupid placement of the camera; your finger rests on the lens all the time. Otherwise the phone is so nice that I don’t even know what to say. A unique model and nothing more. Case materials, unusual external screen, controls, good topics, pedometer. Some nice little touches include the logo on the external screen - the letter W rotates as you rotate the phone. This is another undocumented use of a motion sensor. Rotating a picture to the desired plane, Xpict Story or a slide show with music - all together create a very pleasant product.
This is typical Sony Style, beautiful, functional. I caught myself thinking that I like this phone simply as a device, unusual in all its components. But I hardly listened to music on it. Podcasts at their best. Peculiarity of perception. For many who are not spoiled by high-quality players, this model will be the height of their dreams. Even the radio has Clear Experience settings, and one desire arises - give me a button to turn off this “miracle”. Somehow this is not the case.
It is impossible to predict that the phone will become widespread. It's not even about the quality of the sound or the player. Music flagships from Sony Ericsson have never been very common, with the exception of the first phone in the family. And this model is also expensive, which clearly hints at the fate of the same Sony Ericsson W900i. A good device that was received with a bang by knowledgeable people. Here the situation is different, this is a clean image that will go just as well among young people. But it won’t become a bestseller, it’s a specific niche and that’s all. But getting into this niche is almost one hundred percent. The model is nice and deserves close attention.
In Sony Ericsson's Walkman music line, one of the models stands out noticeably from the rest due to its original design - we are, of course, talking about the W980i clamshell. The device is unusual in appearance, and its characteristics are quite modern - good music content, a 3.2 megapixel camera and other interesting functions.
The phone is available in three colors - black, brown and red. The cutest, in our opinion, is the most common black version. The body is entirely plastic, only the texture of the material differs. The front panel is covered with semi-mirror-transparent plastic, through which the additional screen and touch keys for controlling the player are visible. While the device is new, it looks fashionable and stylish, but we strongly do not recommend putting it in the same pocket with keys; the presentation is lost very quickly.
The external display is quite bright, and the number of colors it displays is as good as the main display. The touch keys are illuminated in orange to match the indicator light at the bottom of the front panel. They hardly stand out to the touch, but are noticeable at first glance and are sensitive to touch, so sidebar There is a special button for blocking them. The pleasure from the design of the front panel is somewhat undermined by its tendency to collect prints, which is inevitable on a mirror surface. A completely non-functional, but attractive element is the auto-rotation of the “Walkman” logo on the external screen depending on the position of the phone body in space.
Lateral and back panels made of rubberized black plastic, pleasant to the touch and quite resistant to mechanical damage. On the right side you can find an eyelet for the cord, universal connector Fast-port for charger, headset and USB cable, as well as speaker. Exactly the same speaker is symmetrically located on the right side of the device, next to it is a slider key for blocking touch keys, above is a button for quickly activating the player or radio when closed phone and a volume rocker key.
On the back of the Sony-Ericsson W980i there is a camera lens and a battery cover. The SIM card is placed next to the battery, but it can only be replaced after removing the latter. There is no space for a memory card in this model, so you will have to be content exclusively with the built-in 8 GB flash memory array. Such a volume, of course, will allow you to save almost everything you need, but in some (very, very rare) cases external memory may be more convenient.
The Sony-Ericsson W980i can be opened with one hand, although it would be much more convenient to use both. The opening angle of the W980i is almost 180 degrees. In the open position, the design gives the impression of being reliable - the upper half is clearly fixed, there is no play in the parts. A design twist - a transparent insert on the edge - makes the device seem smaller than it actually is.
The inside of the phone is finished in glossy black plastic. The screen hardly fades in the sun, above it there is a speaker and a camera for video calls. The keyboard consists of fairly large buttons, which are convenient and practically eliminate erroneous presses. Large milky-white symbols on the keys and bright backlighting will help you navigate both day and night.
For more convenient use of the music player, there is not only a side key to switch the phone to “music” mode, but also a quick activation key for the player on the main panel. But there is no quick activation key for the camera, which is quite annoying, and, to be honest, it’s also inconvenient to take pictures - the position of the hand for pressing the shutter button is such that your fingers are constantly trying to close the lens.
In general, the design of the device is unusual and stylish, and it’s all the more offensive that the ergonomics of the W980i are clearly not fully thought out.
There were no reasons to complain about the quality of communication. The battery pleased me with its relatively long service life.
The personalization options aren't impressive, but they won't make you feel left out either. There are two theme options, you can choose the background image, menu type, screen saver, clock size, call sound and volume, vibration mode, message tones and the sound the keys make when pressed. There are a lot of settings options, but the set of items in each of them is quite meager.
As for access to the Internet, everything here is typical for Sony Ericsson devices: direct access to Google services, a line for entering an address, an RSS feed, a magazine, entry to specialized pages of the Sony Ericsson website. It is also possible to create bookmarks, save pages, copy text, configure the display of web pages, etc.
Having criticized the camera's ergonomics above, let's praise its quality. The photographs she took (when they do not show the photographer's fingers) are quite good.
The camera's customization capabilities are also quite adequate: in addition to the standard ones (such as size, quality, white balance, effects, etc.), there is panoramic shooting, which is performed as a series of three shots with slight overlapping of edges. True, it’s not easy to take such a photo successfully - you may not succeed the first time. Already a fairly common setting is adding frames to photographs; in this model, it should be noted that there are a variety of them, some of them are truly beautiful. They tried to compensate for the lack of flash with the presence of a night mode, but the pictures are of low quality.
Finished images can be edited by adjusting light and color balance, brightness and contrast, adding effects and objects. In addition to a fairly common photo editor, the W980i offers the use of a video editor, in which you can compose several videos or photographs, adding music and transition effects. You can change the length of individual videos, add texts and other features.
There is also a video camera itself (which is natural, if you have a video editor). Nobody expects particularly high quality from it - after all, it’s a phone. As for the settings options, they are similar to the camera settings, only in a slightly reduced form.
But let's return to music - after all, this is the main “additional” function of the Sony-Ericsson W980i phone, which proudly bears the letter W in its name. You can control the player when the phone is closed, and when it is open, you can also set settings. By holding down a special key, you can use the function of controlling the player by shaking it, however, given that to do this, the “clamshell” must be opened and entered into the player menu, it is difficult to imagine that someone will use this opportunity more than once. Moreover, there are keys on the front panel. You can sort tracks by artist, album, track, genre and year, and you can create your own playlists. You can set your preferred playback mode, choose one of the suggested equalizer settings, or manually create your own, which is not very common. Lighting effects (an indicator that lights up orange when music is playing, and white when there is an incoming call) and visualization can be turned on and off, as well as extended stereo.
One cannot ignore such an important point as sound quality. When played through a headset, the sound is clear and rich at any of the available volume levels. Sound transmission through the speakers is somewhat degraded maximum volume, but the sound power is enough for a small room. You can distance yourself from strangers in a noisy environment using headphones; the sound power is quite enough for this.
The Sony-Ericsson W980i and radio are no worse. The sound here is also clear, rich and powerful. The FM receiver is able to remember up to 20 channels, which are set manually or using auto search. The receiver can also be controlled using external touch keys, and playback can occur not only through the headset, but also through the speakers. In addition, a transition from the FM range to AF is provided.
There are also special music applications found in most Sony Ericsson devices: PlayNow, TrackID, SensMe. There is a MusicDJ ringtone editor.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the presence of six more mini-applications, the most interesting of which, perhaps, is the step counter, which functions as in the W595. The phone offers the ability to enable a video call, where you can adjust the image size from the main or secondary camera, brightness and quality, and enable night mode. It is possible to determine your location from using Google Maps, although the W980i does not have a hardware GPS receiver.
The Sony Ericsson W980i mobile phone generally left a favorable impression, although it is difficult to call it ideal. First of all, attention is paid to image, and only then to functionality. An unusual stylish design, but a easily scratched front panel, no play in parts, but an inconvenient opening, a good camera, but no quick activation button, a high-quality player and radio, but no output for standard headphones and a slot for a memory card. The present shortcomings, of course, do not cover all the advantages of the device, but they mask them well.
Basic specifications Sony Erisson W980i mobile phone:
- Form factor: clamshell
- Frequency range: GSM 900, 1800, 1900, 3G (UMTS)
- Antenna: built-in
- Screen type: color TFT screen, 262144 shades, 240x320 pixels
- Interfaces: USB, Bluetooth 2.0
- WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, POP/SMTP client
- Message types: SMS, MMS
- 64-voice polyphony, MP3 melodies as calls
- Camera: 3 Mpix (2048x1536), digital zoom 3x, PictBridge support
- MP3 player, FM radio, voice recorder
- Games, Java applications
- Organizer
- Features: Shake control, RSS feeds, TrackID, Net Front
- Built-in memory: 8 GB
- Battery: Li-polymer, capacity 930 mAh (up to 9 hours talk time)
- Dimensions: 46x92x17mm
- Weight: 100 g
- Equipment: phone, battery, Charger, headset, USB cable, software disk, instructions