Sony Ericsson W350i
The Walkman series has a long and illustrious history that started with the cassette based Walkman back in the 1980s. The brand eventually made its way onto a new wave of Sony Ericsson phones, where it continues to thrive. We take a look at the next product bearing the Walkman legacy, the Sony Ericsson W350i.
A Little Beautiful Package
There is a certain sense of minimalist chic about the W350i due to a simple design that exudes elegance. Our Electric Black model is lined with thin orange metallic streaks on the borders, punctuated in the middle with a circle. It is also small and compact, weighing a mere 80 grams and measuring only 1 cm thick. However, due to its petite nature, some trimmings had to be removed to accommodate its size.
The placement of its proprietary connector for the headphones on the left profile of the phone makes it slightly unwieldy to listen to music, which also contributed to awkward moments when we tried to do some track selection on the phone. Additionally, the slightly stiff and slippery keypad did make texting slightly cumbersome, but this was easily rectified by prolonged use. The inclusion of a separate lock to the Walkman function is pretty nifty though, as this removed the need to unlock the entire phone to change the track. The phone can also play music without a SIM card, letting you use it purely as a MP3 player.
The W350i is a flip phone (quite a rarity these days) but its flap neither protects the screen nor conceals the keypad; it just locks or unlocks the phone. However, the flap features one of the unique selling points of the W350i, the Walkman on Top Function. The Walkman on Top function utilizes 'buttons' (which are really pressure points that contacts the keypad below) on the flap, so you can control your music without having the need to unlock the actual phone. Considering that the flap makes it cumbersome when trying to SMS, the choice of this on the W350i is questionable. Gimmicky or innovative? You decide.
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