After waiting for months for a phone to be released, and now that its out, I am still waiting. So what phone is it exactly? Making me wait for such a long time..

Its w890i, Sony Ericsson's newest walkman phone, and it is finally out after much hype. Its regretable that after reading so many reviews and seen so many photos of it, I still do not have it in my hands. However, its official website promises that it would delight music lovers on the go.

The w890i is just the kind of phone I would go for, it is super slim (imagine a CD cover), has a stylish metallic design and also comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera . There is also a 2 gb memory card in the box. Although these are tempting features, I was apprehensive at first, due to the fact that no LED flash was built-in for the camera. This would mean that pictures would need to be taken in well-lit environment. In bad light conditions, the iso could be increased to compensate, but only at the expense of its image quality. The consolation for me would be the support of external memory up to 4 gb (an upgrade from w880i from 2gb).

The keypads here are also well spaced to be user-friendly when messaging(also an improvement from w880i). Till here, this is still a phone worth considering, a slim phone on the go, packed with features for the music lover.

Together released with the w890i is another phone, the w380i, a clamshell Walkman phone. However, as I am not really impressed or interested in it, I shall skip it for now. As seen from a released statement by Sony Ericsson, they looked to be confident with their offerings this time. “With these latest phones, we address the needs of young, fashion-conscious music lovers with the W380i, as well as music connoisseurs who demand the latest Walkman® features and fast downloads offered by the W890i,” says Chris Lee, Vice President of Marketing, Asia Pacific at Sony Ericsson. “These Walkman® phones combine Sony Ericsson’s undeniable expertise in mobile communications and mobile music to stunning effect.”

Specifications: Sony Ericsson W890i Walkman® phone

Size: 104.0 x 47.0 x 10.0 mm

Weight: 78.0gr

Screen: 240x320 pixel
262,144-colour TFT

Memory: Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (up to 4 GB)
Phone memory 28MB*

Performance GSM
Talk time: 10 hours -30 min
Standby time: 360 hours 0 min
Video call: 0 hours 0 min

Performance UMTS
Talk time: 5 hours -30 min
Standby time: 310 hours 0 min
Video call: 3 hours 0 min

Networks:
GSM 850
GSM 900
GSM 1800
GSM 1900
EDGE
HSDPA
UMTS 2100

Personally, I would get the 4 gb memory so as to not store only more music, photos and videos, but actually to have adequate free space for future photo and video taking. You won't want to be in a situation where you need to browse your favourite music tracks to make way for a photo taking session with your best friends or girlfriend. The moment to capture might already be past. However, I cannot say if any service providers or mobile shops would trade in a 2 gb memory for a 4 gb one, but really, there is no harm asking. A 2 gb card would be estimated to store 1800+ songs. And even if these tire you, there always the FM radio around.

The next issue to be concerned is how well the music is delivered? It would really depend on what mode you are on. With the w890i, it comes with a pretty good stereo speakers, as with most SE phones. This would be cool when you want to share your music with your friends. However, when you are on the MRT, bus or want to enjoy your music without attracting too much attention, the way to go is to use the handsfree headset.

Now, handsfree headsets are plugged into the side of the phone(see photo) and not the bottom (different from other series). I don't know about you guys, but I always thought SE phones' cable connector fragile. Would plugging at the side makes it getting detached or broken easily? I tell you when I get the phone. However, for those richer lot, who won't think twice about spending an additional S$100, I would suggest getting a bluetooth stereo headset. However, a downside would be it being powered by a battery which would need replacement after a few days of intensive use. An example which is compatible with the w890i would be the stereo bluetooth™ headset HBH-DS220.

Another feature which might actually be of interest is the SensMe™ music experience. It works by automatically plotting your music by tempo and mood, thus letting you create a playlist that matches how you feel. I think this would be sweet.

As with all electronic devices, speed is everything, and it seems SE has not fail us after all. It claims that with w890i’s HSDPA capabilities, downloading music at speeds up to four times faster than with regular 3G devices or speeding up the internet for surfing would be very possible. With this, the posting photos and videos to your blog or online photo gallery would be even faster and convenient. The updates to your friends and family of your activities would be almost instantly or literally realtime.

It is now available in 3 styles, sparkling silver, mocha brown and espresso black. Although I don't really drink coffee, but the moment I saw the phones, it had to be either espresso or mocha. I think mocha would suit me better..

After waiting so long since it was announced way back in November last year, the retail price at its release is at S$668. If I sign up for a line, it would cost me S$268. A S$200 trade-in is available, but currently I don't have a good phone to do it. So should I continue to use my nokia 2100 (which was lent to me by my aunt) and wait even longer for the price to drop? Or do a mad rush tomorrow to grab this phone? My logic is saying no, but my animal instinct is already telling me to do the latter.. Well.. we shall see.


Its.. Its finally here!!