The Sony Ericsson W800 was a big hit. Now, here comes the sequel, the W810i. All the same great Walkman features are here, along with robust phone functions, but now you get quad-band GSM, a larger and brighter display, and perhaps most importantly, support for EDGE high speed data. In addition to a powerful and easy-to-use Walkman music player, the W810i boasts a 2-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, a Memory Stick Duo card slot, Bluetooth, and a speakerphone. Simply put, this baby's loaded.
Cutomer Review :
I just returned a Samsung SCH-A990 to Verizon, not because it was a bad phone, but because of the numerous ways Verizon crippled its functions (not to mention their lacking customer service in trying to make it work). The Sony w810i from Cingular is everything the Samsung wasn't.
As a phone: Isn't that really why we get these things? I mean cameras, music players, games etc are great, but if it sucks as a phone why buy it? This unit has great reception, clear sound, ample speaker volume, and ease of use. Occasional static where I live (in the woods in a rural area) but I consistently got 3 bars or better, as good as a Nokia with external antenna. So far no dropped calls, but that is as much a function of the network as the phone. I haven't tried the voice command functions, but I would guess they'll work fine. In fairness, as a phone, the Samsung was pretty good too.
The Camera: It's a 2 magapixel camera. The Samsung was 3mp, but the operation of the Sony is much more straightforward. It doesn't suffer from the Samsungs 2 second shutter lag, and really can be used as a camera, where Verizon has the Samsung set up more with having to use their services to transfer or use pictures. The Sony comes with a cable (USB), with wich you can easily transfer pics to and from your PC. The Samsung had no cable included, and even if you bought one, you couldn't use it for picture transfer (beats me why). The flash doubles as a flashlight. Just press abutton and your in camera mode. The phone includes a 128mb memory stick (the non-cingular version comes with a 512mb stick).
The music player: When you come down to it, this is a Walkman, too. The cable, headphones and included apps makes transferring music a snap. With the Samsung, you had to purchase a separate Music Essentials Kit, which got you a headset, cable, and a lousy application disk, which requires MS Music Player 10 (won't work with 11) for an additional 30 bucks that you don't have to spend with the Sony. The Samsung makes you deal with DRM (Digital Rights Management) to keep you away from unlicensed music, and try to get you to pay $1.99 for songs from Verizon. The Samsung also only played WMA format. With the Sony you hook up the cable (I believe you can use Bluetooth or Infrared for transfer as well). Drag and drop the songs, albums or artists you want, select a bit rate (quality), and your off. It even has Sony's 'megabass'.
Other stuff: You get syncing with your MS Outlook contacts, tasks, notes on the Sony. No such thing on the Samsung. Games (demos) are included on the Sony, again, no such thing on the Samsung. A radio (uses the headset as an antenna). Make your own ringtones on the Sony (not on the Samsung). It even has a music ID program. Record a few seconds of a song from a radio, and it will id it for you. Not necessary, but cute and thoughtful. In fact there are so many things on the Sony, it'll take a few days to discover them all.
Standby and talk times are quite generous for the Sony. I don't know why, but I woke up after the Samsung was on standby for two days, and it was already dead. Keys are easy to lock to avoid accidental pressing. 4 of the keys can be customized to your most used functions.
If you want a great phone, cutting edge toy, and Cingular service works where you need it. This is definately the phone to consider. So far I am delighted with my decision to dump the Samsung and Verizon and go back to Cingular. I also understand that if you travel internationally, you're better off with GSM (Cingular) than with CDMA (Verizon).
And with discounts the Sony w810i from Cingular is $150 and includes what you need to use all its functions. The Samsung is $350 (discounted) plus the $30 for the Music Kit, and another $30-50 for a memory card.
One thing the Sony won't do is support the stereo Bluetooth profile (the only ones I know that do are the LG Chocolate, and one of the Motorolas). It's expected in a future version of the Sony phone.
Not to mention the Sony w810 is a slick looking phone. If you're looking, make sure to check this guy out. I've also posted a spearate review of the Samsung SCH-A990.
10/13/06 update: A couple of things I forgot to mention, if only minor. The headset is a two piece affair. You plug in the adapter to the phone which has the microphone, and then you plug the headphones into that. So if you don't like the included one, which is very good, you can use your favorite headphones instead. Another thing, I have a little FM transmitter for my iPod (the thing that lets you tune your FM radio to a particular station and pick up the output of the iPod). Sony offers one for the w810 as an accessory ($40-50). Cool!
10/18 update: The phone doesn't come with a lot of great themes, but will wonders never cease? How about a free tool to create your own?
12/19/2006 update: After checking Cingular's website, I notice they are no longer offering this phone. That doesn't mean that you can't get it from other vendors, like Amazon, but it is certainly unusual that a phone that was only released a few months ago is no longer available through Cingular. New phones are coming out fast and furious. I am still delighted with this phone, with the only noticable drawback being the headphone adapter is unique, and uses has a wire with the built in microphone, so has no convient way to store it with the phone. Without it, the mp3 player is pretty much useless. The phone does support Bluetooth, but not stereo Bluetooth.
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