Review of Sony Ericsson's W980 flip music phone

Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman

Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman

Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman

Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman

The W980 is the latest Walkman branded handset from Sony Ericsson, featuring 8GB of built-in memory and unique touch-sensitive music buttons on the front panel. Currently at the top of the Sony Ericsson Walkman range, this device has a lot to live up to, but with features like an FM Transmitter, stereo Bluetooth^(INFO), and a 3.2 megapixel camera, it's got the ingredients to be a winner. We take the W980 for a test drive to see if it's as good as it sounds.

Physical Aspects

The Sony Ericsson W980 is a fairly average-sized clamshell device, featuring an external display and touch-sensitive music controls on its front. Measuring in at 92mm x 46mm x 17mm (3.6" x 1.8" x .7") the W980 is easily pocketable and weighs-in at exactly 100g (approx 3.5oz). The front panel has a dark, mirrored finish with three circled areas overlapping just below the middle. These circles represent the position of the touch-sensitive music controls, and the centre circle is slightly dipped into the fascia. Lightly touching any of these circles will cause the device's touch-sensitive controls and hidden external screen to illuminate from beneath the mirrored surface (assuming the device is unlocked). The touch-control icons are illuminated in orange and white, as is the external display most of the time.

The 176 x 176 pixel, 262k color external display is mainly used for music player purposes and caller/new event information. The bottom edge of the fascia is made from a transparent plastic, allowing you to see through to the mirrored Walkman logo beneath it. This transparent edge is also home to orange and white LEDs that illuminate at various times. The orange LEDs flash to the beat of currently playing music and the white LEDs flash for notifications and such.

The upper half of the clamshell is connected to the lower half with one robust central hinge. The design of this hinge causes the upper half of the phone to be set back slightly from the keypad when the device is opened. This isn't a bad thing, as it allows you to hook the upper half of the clamshell over your index finger as you use the device. However, this causes your finger to cover the camera lens when holding the device.

The lens sits on the back of the device, toward the top. Next to it is a red indicator light, used to signify when the video camera is recording. Below the lens is the battery cover, complete with protruding Sony Ericsson emblem and embossed branding. The entire rear and side surfaces are covered in a rubbery soft-touch finish.

The left side of the device is home to a lanyard fixing, the charger/headset/data cable port, a notification LED, and one of two speaker grilles. On the right side are the volume keys, the external applications key, the key lock switch, and the second speaker grille. The external applications key is used to switch between the three different functions available from the external display; Music Player, Standby, and FM Radio. The key lock switch simply locks all external keys to prevent accidental key-presses.

The top and bottom edges of the device are completely bare, complimenting the clean design. Opening the W980 requires two hands, although clamshell veterans may be able to manage with one, thanks to the smooth hinge. The interior of our device was clad with glossy 'Piano Black' plastic, which looked quite smart. The downside to the pretty gloss is the inevitable attraction it has to finger prints, showing every smudge and smear from even the cleanest of hands. If the black gloss doesn't appeal to you, don't fret, because 'Opera Brown' and 'Violin Red' variants are also available.

On the upper half of the clam is the 240 x 320 pixel, 262k color display, measuring 2.25 inches corner-to-corner. The display was easy to read in normal conditions and performed acceptably in bright conditions too. Above this you'll find the device's earpiece and small secondary camera lens for video calling. There's also some rubbery stoppers that prevent the two halves of the phone clashing when the device is closed. On the lower half of the clam you'll find the spacious keypad. All the keys are circular, or part of a group of keys that form a circle. The d-pad, softkeys, send/end keys, and activity menu/clear keys are shaped into three circles, mimicking the design of the external touch keys. The whole keypad has a white backlight, contributing to the simplicity of the design.

Between the d-pad and numeric keypad are two gloss black buttons, one with the Walkman logo on it, and the other with a 'power' symbol. The Walkman button, as expected, takes you directly to the music player, and changes the backlight color of the upper keypad buttons to orange. The power button provides the traditional shortcut to the profiles menu, and allows the user to turn the device on and off, as expected. Also found on the lower half of the clam are the ambient light sensor (top right) and the microphone (just below the Walkman key). The keypad was overall a joy to use, with good spacing and plenty of feedback. The only gripe I had was with the flat profile of the d-pad, which caused me to mistakenly press the enter button sometimes.