Sony Ericsson W880i / W888c


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We had a preview of the Sony Ericsson W880i last month, and now Sony Ericsson have revealed the full technical details of this new ''Walkman'' phone.

The Sony Ericsson W880i is an ultra-slim and exceptionally light 3G phone at just 9.5mm thick and an astonishing 72 grams in weight. The light weight is more surprising given that the W880i has a stainless steel finish.

The display is a 1.8'' 240x320 pixel TFT panel in 262,000 colour, and the W880i has a two megapixel primary camera with a secondary camera for video calls. A 1GB Memory Stick Micro card is included in the box, which by our calculations is enough for about 16 albums worth of high-quality audio. The W880i has stereo Bluetooth and an enhanced version of the Walkman player.

The W880i is a UMTS 2100 MHz 3G phone with tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM, but there's no word of a ''W880a'' version for North America. The W888c is a non 3G tri-band GSM version of the W880i with the video calling camera omitted, aimed at mainland China.

Talktime on GSM is quoted as 6.5 hours with 17 days standby time and up to 20 hours of music playback. 3G use and Bluetooth will reduce the battery life, of course.

The other features on the Sony Ericsson W880i are very similar to other handsets in the current crop of ''Walkman'' phones - there's a web browser, email client (with push capabilities), RSS newsreader, speakerphone, video streaming and of course a comprehensive multimedia player.

There are some compromises with the Sony Ericsson W880i though - the main one is the size of the screen. Although it's a 240x320 pixel display, it is only 1.8'', compared with the 1.9'' display on the lower end W610i and display sizes of over 2.0'' on many other phones.. however, the slightly smaller screen has advantages in weight and power consumption. There's no flash on the main camera (and 3.2 megapixels would have been much nicer), and unlike some other ''Walkman'' phones, the W880i doesn't have an FM radio. The other missing feature is the lack of quad-band GSM and the W880i doesn't have EDGE support either - so this is very much aimed at UMTS 2100 users only. This is nit-picking really - if you want some of these features in a Sony Ericsson ''Walkman'' phone, then you have plenty of other choices available.

In terms of looks, the W880i combines Sony Ericsson's typical understated design with a distinctly stylish finish. Combined with the ultra-slim form factor, and the W880i will clearly have plenty of ''wow'' factor. The W880i will come in two colour schemes of ''Steel Silver'' and ''Flame Black''.

Sony Ericsson say that the W880i should be available in the first quarter of 2007 in selected markets.
2/21/2007 9:42:33 PM
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