Video hands-on: Sony's W810i

Sony Ericsson's been doing pretty well for themselves on their Walkman phone series; their newest, the w810i, doesn't disappoint. It's expected to drop in March, but as before with their Walkman phones, we're not exactly going to hold our breath on a carrier subsidizing it. For our CES writeup of the phone, head here, otherwise, hit up the download.

[Download] QT MPEG4, 1:31, 6.5 MB

[NGM @ Jan 15th 2006 10:12PM]

You guys really need to do something about that hard house soundtrack.



Phone looks ok, but like any music phone, pretty useless if you already have a music player.

[Optimus Rhyme @ Jan 15th 2006 10:20PM]

I like this phone a lot. BUT, i'm not sure if its really what I want. It's basically the phone I'd like, with a lot of the features i'm looking for, yet it does have the music funcionality that I dont need. That just makes it more expensive. I'm still looking for a candy bar phone that just makes me say "Thats it!"

[Benji @ Jan 15th 2006 10:26PM]

yea, im thinking the same thing, ditch the techno guys, maybe something indie or alternative. that sounds straight out of GB or fruity loops.

[Jonathan @ Jan 15th 2006 10:34PM]

I agree with #1. Please change the music intro and outro. It's horrible. I like the contet of the videos though.

[Donald @ Jan 15th 2006 10:54PM]

Q1 '06?



I can dig that. By the time I have free cash, the price will have dropped a bit and 2gb Pro Duos should be a little less... how can I put this... bank-breaking.

[Galley @ Jan 15th 2006 10:59PM]

Worst... Non-rap music... ever!

[IK47 @ Jan 15th 2006 11:38PM]

The K750 looks nicer, no doubt.

[js @ Jan 16th 2006 12:13AM]

I'm sorry, but the intro song is just too geeky... even for us. Very, very lame. Very lame.

[why�nu @ Jan 16th 2006 12:14AM]

Actually I pretty good with my Nokia 3300. Have no need to upgrade anytime soon being going strong for 3 years. Has everything I need;



- mp3 player

- interent browser

- storage



I wonder if phone companies keep this mind, that eventually make products where people won't need to but anymore, but then again I am unique individual :)

[mark smith @ Jan 16th 2006 12:19AM]

A little higher than the W800... GEEZ. It was $469 a month or two ago... $405 currently on myworldphone... Probably not gonna be in my arsenal anytime soon. Sadly.

[Cloud @ Jan 16th 2006 12:28AM]

I don't even want to spend any money on a cell phone lol $100 is too much for me even though I can afford it. I see no purpose to have a gazillion functions for a phone. Give me mp3 quality communication and ability to make calls from anywhere in the world including subways and tunnels and I will consider paying $400 for a phone. But this is the type of phone needed in an industry not private use :P

[YT @ Jan 16th 2006 2:00AM]

#1 - Hopefully soon enough, people can say the opposite: "An mp3 player? Pretty useless when you have a mp3 phone."

[Mike @ Jan 16th 2006 2:07AM]

You'd think they'd clean up the screen before snapping a shot for a popular site like Engadget.

[Peter McCaffrey @ Jan 16th 2006 2:57AM]

It looks like a screen protector...



-----

Peter

[SLeeK@ER @ Jan 16th 2006 3:55AM]

WOW, YOU GOT A LOT OF TRAFFIC HERE! GOOD JOB!!!

[Honifer @ Jan 16th 2006 6:02AM]

The SE Walkman phones may not have their own dedicated market, but they do give a few things that are universally useful on a phone.



Upgraded memory (albeit on a memory stick - included with phone) give a lot of storage for photos, other media and of course music. Even if you don't use the music player functions, the mp3s sound way better than a lot of bought ringtones from websites/services, plus you can have whichever ones you like (and a variety of them on the large memory stick).



If the screen is anything like the K750i it will show up a good amount of fingerprints in the right light. When the screen (backlight) is on you'll be pressed to see any though - or you can just give it a wipe!

[Tom @ Jan 16th 2006 7:11AM]

I'd like to go for this the time to upgrade my D750 (rebadged K750/W800) rolls around in June, BUT:

Sony really needs to drop the price of Memory Sticks, a 4 gig stick costs much more than three times as much 4 gig iPod nano (Amazon UK prices), utterly ridiculous.



Also, SE need to sort out some kind of tag-based (artist/album/genre) browsing for their Walkman interface, for anyone who does shell out for a 1gb-plus stick, navigating by the exisitng folders and playlists setup must be a nightmare.

[no3rdw @ Jan 16th 2006 8:33AM]

Just got my w600, and while it's limited at 256mb for songs... at least it was free after rebate with a plan.



This phone is going to be like $499 since it will have to be bought without a plan. How can they expect these things to sell if no carriers pick them up.

[Bobby Davro @ Jan 16th 2006 8:35AM]

Totally agree with all the soundtrack-related comments. What a pile of embarrassing rubbish.



But to the phone - looks okay, but what happened to the funky white/orange of the W800i? This is very sombre and business-like, plus the 2 new buttons on the front look like a bit of an after-thought.

[Grant Guthrie @ Jan 16th 2006 11:42AM]

I picked up the W800 on my own, and will look at this when and if a carrier has it available. The W800 is seriously my favorite purchase in a long time - everyone uses their phone every day, and I've stopped carrying around my iPod because who needs that extra bulk when I only listen to a select number of songs anyway.



BTW, comparing MemoryStick prices to the Nano is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard - comparing SanDisk's retail for the Ultra II SD and MS Pro Duo 2GB cards: SD-$239 MS ProDuo-$229 Hey look! Cheaper!

[nj @ Jan 16th 2006 2:47PM]

Sounds like it's time for a music (for the videos) contest!!! Give away a 810 this time! ;) ;)



Seriously though, the t-shirt competition produced awsome results... why not open it up to the community?

[NGM @ Jan 16th 2006 3:34PM]

@music - If you ask 'can you do better?' well yes, and ill provide it for free.



@#11 - Good point. But it will be a long time before a phone can hold 60g.



The problem is that most people who are hyped about phones like this are tech geeks who already have the music player and hense it is somewaht of a novelty only.

[geekmorgan @ Jan 16th 2006 3:56PM]

I don't have a problem with the intro music, just that ITS WAY TOO LOUD. turn that thing down, If I've got the video loading in another tab, I don't want to think iTunes has freaked out on me.



Otherwise, great video.

[Tom @ Jan 16th 2006 8:24PM]

Grant Guthrie, your response in mistaken in many ways, but I will try and explain the my point which was obviously so complex to appear bogus to you.

I was pointing out that Sony expect more than three times as much money for a MS than something (a nano) which includes an equivalent piece of technology as a component. I made this comparision to point out how overpriced Memory Sticks are.



Another comparision which hopefully will be a bit more illuminating to you is that a 4gb CF card is �170, compared to �640 for a 4gb Memory Stick. As these are essentially the same technology, there is no decent reason for this ridiculous premium.

I hope this is clearer to you.

[/sarcasm off]



You must be using rather odd choices for comparing memory card prices, for 2gb cards Amazon UK comes up with �131 (the SD card you mentioned) and �171/�237 for MS made by Sandisk/Sony. You might find one-off instances where an MS will be cheaper than the equivalent storage SD/MMC/CF, but generally MS prices are much much higher.

[Alex @ Jan 18th 2006 4:55AM]

For some reason, the bottons' positions reminds me of premini-II... And I do prefer premini-II's design.
Hopefully it won't be too hard for someone to do a case-mod. When that's available, I'll buy a w810.

[Jordan @ Jan 18th 2006 6:02PM]

@ 25 - case mod to what?? k750? w800? cant do it...
w810i has no joystick and has different button placement...

[Angel P @ Jan 22nd 2006 10:37PM]

how much do you think it will cost ?
in gay ass mexico the whouldent sell me a w800i ,and they whanted like 600 bucks (rip off)

how many songs dose a 512 hold ?

[Red @ Feb 8th 2006 5:18AM]

How long is a piece of string?

I listen to Dream Theater, so if I use the best sound quality lossy format i can barely squeeze on 3 tracks to 512mb If I use loseless, just about 2! I geuess you really need to know how many minutes of music..

[Nestor @ May 13th 2006 3:42PM]

I can't tell by the specs if the stereo music can be listened to through a pair of bluetooth earphones.