Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman Unlocked Phone with 3G, 8.1 MP, WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth, and Assisted GPS--U.S. Version with Warranty (Progressive Black)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.5 x 5.1 x 5.1 inches ; 14.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00284AMU4
• Item model number: W995aBlack
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,620 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Combining a high-performance digital audio player, high-megapixel digital camera and ultra-fast mobile communicator in one package, the Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman Phone will keep you easily connected to family and friends wherever you roam as well as keep you entertained with your favorite tunes and YouTube video. This slider style phone offers a gorgeous, brightly colorful 2.6-inch display that's great for watching videos streamed from YouTube via a special application as well as reviewing photos snapped by the 8.1-megapixel camera, which includes a flash and face recognition technology.

Enjoy your favorite music and video on the go with the Sony Ericsson W995a, which includes the Walkman 3.0 digital media player application.

Other features include Wi-Fi networking, Bluetooth stereo music streaming, and Memory Stick Micro (M2) expansion (an 8 GB M2 card is included).

The W995a has an 8.1-megapixel imager that works just like a standard digital camera--hold it horizontally with the screen acting as your viewfinder.

The clear and intuitive Walkman digital audio player interface makes it easy to navigate your mobile music collection, and with the innovative Shake function you can simply flick your wrist to randomly select a new song from your library. The W995a comes with an 8 GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) card, which can store thousands of songs.

The phone's integrated aGPS location feature not only enables you to find your way from point to point with the preloaded Google Maps application, but you can also geotag photos with the precise location where they were shot. Other features include Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), Bluetooth for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, integrated stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, preloaded fitness application (with step counter), web browser with RSS feeds, access to personal email and instant messaging, and up to 9 hours of talk time on GSM networks (4 hours using 3G networks).

Unlocked Phone
This unlocked cell phone can be used with a GSM network service provider and it provides quad-band connectivity (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). It does not come with a SIM card, and it requires that you provide a SIM card for usage with your selected service provider.

Additionally, this phone can be paired with 850/1900/2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA 3G networks. When paired with a compatible 3G network, you'll enjoy a high-speed connection offering a variety of feature-rich wireless services--from data connectivity to your office to multimedia streaming, and take advantage of simultaneous voice and data services. In areas in the U.S. not served by a 3G network or in foreign territories, you'll continue to receive data service via EDGE network (depending on network compatibility).

Phone Features
The Sony Ericsson W995a slider phone sports all the controls you'll need for accessing the features and functions of the Walkman 3.0 player, which supports a variety of audio formats as well as access to audio books and podcasts. The auto-rotating 2.6-inch display (320 x 240 pixels, 16.7 million color depth) is complemented by a circular toggle navigator, soft navigation keys, a control button to access shortcuts, and standard send/end keys. The right side of the phone includes music player controls and a volume rocker as well as a dedicated camera key, while the left side features a Walkman player shortcut key. The face smoothly slides up to reveal a standard alpha-numeric keypad.

The phone has an internal 118 MB memory that's complemented by the included 8 GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) card, which you can swap out and replace with additional optional M2 media for even more expansion. The internal phonebook can store up to 1000 contacts with support for multiple numbers per entry as well as caller groups and photo/ringer ID.

This Walkman phone offers a full-function digital audio player that's compatible with MP3 and AAC files, and it includes Sony Ericsson's innovative "shake to shuffle" feature. With Shake Control activated, just flick your wrist and a vibration lets you know that the track has been changed--a new song from your current playlist is randomly selected and automatically played. Playback settings also include an equalizer, playlists, stereo widening, and shuffle and loop modes. This Walkman phone also features a flight mode that lets you keep listening to tunes with the phone's network connectivity turned off.

The W995a is also the first Sony Ericsson phone to include the new Media Go PC application, which enables effortless and automatic transfer of any audio, photos and videos between your phone and computer via drag and drop. It features include:

• Automatic sync: Sync your music playlists automatically to keep the phone updated with your new music
• Auto convert: Media Go gives you the best quality playback of multi-media content on a mobile phone. There's no need to use extra applications to be able to bring your media with you.
• Podcasts: Apart from adding your own favorites, the directory is there to help you to find the new and exciting content.
• Audio CD Ripping: Use Media Go to burn your CDs and bring your music and audio books with you

With the TrackID service, you can identify any song that you can hear by just recording a snippet of sound using the microphone. After sending the file for recognition, you'll have the name, artist and album sent to your phone. It also includes a built-in FM radio with RDS, which displays the name of the currently playing song (when tuned to compatible radio stations).

Sony Ericsson's SensMe technology is used to incorporate mood analysis into the track details, which allows you to create playlists that suit your mood. Select SensMe in the Sony Media Go software, and it will mood-analyze all MP3 files on the computer. When you transfer music from a CD or a PC to your phone using Media Manager, the tracks will automatically be analysed. Instead of selecting tracks for your next playlist, just select your mood.

Handsfree communication is easy thanks to the integrated speakerphone. This phone also provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. This phone also offers integrated Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), enabling seamless connectivity with wireless networks at work, at home, and on the roam via Wi-Fi hotspots at airports and coffee shops.

Take dazzling pictures with the 8.1-megapixel camera with 16x digital zoom, which can be used just like you would with a standard digital camera by holding it horizontally with the screen acting as your viewfinder. And with the phone's GPS capabilities, you can tag your photos with information on where it was taken. The Face Detection and Auto Focus capability enables the camera to detect and focus on the face of your subject rather than the background, so that you can take sharp and high quality pictures of your friends. The phone also incorporates the latest in lighting technology--Photo Flash--giving you better quality pictures even in low-light conditions.

An image stabilizer compensates for those small movements, reducing the chance that your photo comes out blurred. The BestPic function gives you nine chances to capture the precise moment you want. As well as your shot, the phones take four images as you press the button, and another four afterwards. Pick the one you want, trash the rest. Select the Photo Fix function to improve pictures that you think can be better. In a one-click operation, brightness, light and contrast are adjusted to give you the best possible picture. The phone also provides support for PictBridge technology so you can print your photos without the need of a PC.

In addition to still photos, the phone can also capture video clips, with videos for messaging capped at 20 seconds and those meant for saving to your PC running for as long as you have available space.

The phone also ships with a built-in email client with support for POP3 and IMAP4 protocols, while the included Access NetFront Web Browser allows you to surf full HTML web sites. It also supports RSS feeds, allowing you to use your phone to view up-to-the-minute news and other content from selected Web sites and blogs. Just subscribe to the feed and let it come to you. Support is built in for sending and receiving text, video, graphics and sound via messages.

Other features include:

• Walk Mate step counter stays activated throughout the day. It keeps track of how many steps you've walked and how many steps you have left to reach your daily average health goal.
• Watch your favorite YouTube clips and even upload captured video to your YouTube account.
• DLNA support, allowing you to connect wirelessly to other electronic devices via Wi-Fi.
• Exchange ActiveSync: Stay seamlessly synchronized with your Microsoft Exchange email server.
• USB mass storage capabilities
• Synchronise and share phone content with your PC
• Organizer tools: Calendar, alarm clock, calculator, notes, stopwatch, tasks, timer

Vital Statistics
The Sony Ericsson W995a weighs 3.99 ounces and measures 3.82 x 1.93 x 0.59 inches. Its 950 mAh lithium-polymer battery is rated at up to 9 hours of GSM talk time (4 hours of 3G talk time), up to 370 hours (15.4 days) of standby time and up to 20 hours of music playback. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies, as well as 850/1900/2100 MHz 3G frequencies (UMTS/HSPA).

Product Description

W995ABLACK WM CELL PHONE GSM 8.1MPIX IMAGER

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent phone, but competition is stiff..., July 14, 2009

By 

F. Iacobelli "VIEWPROF" (University Heights, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman Unlocked Phone with 3G, 8.1 MP, WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth, and Assisted GPS--U.S. Version with Warranty (Progressive Black) (Wireless Phone Accessory)

I decided to purchase the w995a after carefully researching some viable alternatives such as the Nokia n86 8mp, the still-good and underrated n96, and the n82. I chose the Sony because it looks and feels better than the other phones, not because it IS better than the others. Let me explain.

This phone is absolutely gorgeous. Its made of brushed metal, it feels amazing in your hand, and the sliding mechanism is nearly perfect. It's a feature phone, so you really don't have any options to customize the UI like you would with a symbian phone (i.e. the nokias mentioned above), but if this doesn't bother you (which it did not bother me), it really won't matter because the menu layout is really perfect and intuitive. It has great sound, it's beautiful when lit up, and the call quality is superb. That being said, it's simply not a "better" phone than the nokias I've listed.

For one, the camera is simply "ok." Shots taken indoors will disappoint you, while those taken outdoors look very good. The video recording is old-school at 30fps QVGA while the nokias mentioned record DVD quality video at 30fps in VGA. Not to mention the nokias have carl ziess optics (regarded as one of the best lense makers in the world).

I decided not to go with the Nokia N86, it's "closest" competitor. The N86 is a better phone, it has an 8gb hard drive while the w995a comes with an 8gb card. The nokia can be expanded with up to a 16gb card, has a variable aperture 8mp that takes exquisite photos, and has the ever- customizable symbian UI. But its ugly, and plastic; typical Nokia.

So, to sum it up:
THE GOOD:
-beautiful
-well built
-beautiful interface
-good pictures
-excellent media player
-best sliding mech. ever

THE BAD:
-other phones in its price range are arguable better
-should take great pictures, not good ones
-video recording is 2004-era phone
-has a TFT 256k screen, while all others in its price range have AMOLED 16M screens.

It was a tough choice, but for me, the look and feel of this one took the cake!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last of the best before touch screens take over?, September 1, 2009

By 

Krishna Polina (Leesburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman Unlocked Phone with 3G, 8.1 MP, WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth, and Assisted GPS--U.S. Version with Warranty (Progressive Black) (Wireless Phone Accessory)

Updated: Got a different phone recently and it didn't have the battery cover wobble I had with my first phone. I decided to keep this phone as a keepsake as it could be the best of last phones without touch screen.

This review is very hard for me as I lovED the phone so much for so many things but there are few things that really ticked me off for making me hate the phone I love so much. Sounds complicated? Well, first let me tell why I returned the phone.

Reasons I returned the phone:
1. Battery cover doesn't feel solid when you hold the phone and press keys. You will feel your hand pressure slightly pressing the battery cover that causes movement. This got very irritating for me as this is otherwise an excellently built phone that looks super sexy. First I thought it could be with my phone. But the replacement phone had the exact same problem. Then I went to couple of Sony Style stores and noticed one store phone didn't have problem but another one had. So, looks like some lucky buyers may get a good one but not sure how long that will feel firm if you keep opening and closing the phone. I do that quite often to change SIM cards.

2. Fonts are too big for beautiful display with 2.6" screen. Where were SE developers thinking? For example, the contacts screen shows only 6 contacts at once. With a slightly smaller fonts it would have displayed 8 contacts quite easily. They should have had a settings to choose small, medium, and large fonts and the current fonts should fall in X-large fonts.

3. Kick stand. What a joke! The phone would have felt better if they left this completely or designed it in a way for users to remove it if they don't need it. You have to place phone in your shirt pocket with screen facing front or the kick stand would pop out easily. Another silly design by their engineers.

4. 256-K colors. What are you thinking SE? When will you catch up with others here?

Good things about the phone:
If you already are familiar with Sony ericsson phones they have the best OS among non-smartphones. Frankly, they have many features better done than many smartphones including iPhone. First, the one's common to all new Sony Ericsson phones.

Some of the cool things found in SE feature phones:
Smart Dialing, ease of sending SMS, MMS, emails to a contact and the interface of MMS is super cool. I think they have the best implementation for MMS among all phones, FM radio, Accelerometer, Exchange ActiveSync (office outlook emails and calendar syncing and also to sync your google contacts and calendar with Push) and Call logs. With SE phones when in call logs you can select "Open" and it brings up all other contact information for that person like other numbers, email, etc. So, you can easily call that person at his other numbers or just send SMS, MMS, or email from logs. Also, D-pad arrow buttons can be used to create shortcuts (4 applications) to your favorite applications. This is one of my favorite feature in SE phones along with call logs and smart dialing as I hardly have more than 4 apps I like to use on a phone.

When it comes to apps for the phone, there are plenty to feed your needs. Check out getjar.com or even browse Sony Ericsson site from the native browser in the phone and you will see several free apps you can download. If you change the Location of the country in the sony ericsson site while browsing you will find more free apps as Sony seems to provide few different applications for different countries. Also, if you google you will find lot of Free Themes for the phone that will let you customize the look of the menus and standby screen.

Some specialties with W995:
1. In spite of the problems with the kickstand and the battery cover, the phone feels like a tank and it's sure to 'WOW WOW' your friends. One work around to fix the battery cover issue is to fold a small piece of paper and place it above the battery to stop the movement on the cover. Kickstand? Glue the stupid thing if you think you will never use it.
2. Display looks super bright and clear even in sunlight.
3. Walkman sound quality is simply amazing. I thought it sounded as good as Zune which I thought sounds way better than iPhone.
4. It will be a joke if I mention having 3.5 mm audio jack is a plus with this phone. But, Sony finally did it. Good job there.
5. WiFi, GPS, 3G on AT&T all work like a charm.

Some of my favorite FREE apps:
Gmail, Google maps, Shozu, GetJar, TruTap, Fringe, Comeks, Opera Mini (of course), Blogger, TrackID.

Even though I returned the phone I still am addicted to Sony Ericsson phones for their well thought out software for making calls and sending messages. Unfortunately, most of their recent phones have severe build quality issues. Most of them with the slider design or the battery covers. Still, I sometimes feel like buying W995a and deal with the problems it has as the goodness of the phone over shadows the problems. Moreover, there really is no perfect phone out there. At least for me :-(. Well, I even sold my iPhone after few months of use as I thought it feels too wide, battery doesn't last a full-day, and making calls is not as convenient as it's on Sony phones, or Windows Mobile phones, or Blackberries.

The current $399.99 price on Amazon is tempting but I will try hard to resist until Xperia X2 gets announced this week.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite SE Phone, December 5, 2009

By 

Ben (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony Ericsson W995a Walkman Unlocked Phone with 3G, 8.1 MP, WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth, and Assisted GPS--U.S. Version with Warranty (Progressive Black) (Wireless Phone Accessory)

The W995 is probably the best Sony Ericsson phone Ive used to date. I was considering higher end smartphones like the Sony X1 and Nokia N900 but couldnt bring myself to paying the high premium price. With the rate technology is going nowadays it would be worthless in 6 months, or the price would drop considerably. I got the W995 for a good deal and feel it was a good compromise. Physically the device looks very sleek. Build quality is very good with the brushed metal finish, definitely feels more sturdy than your average plastic phone. The screen is very nice as with most Sony phones Ive seen, very bright and vibrant display. Also I just learned that it is made out of scratch resistant material which is another plus. The biggest difference Ive noticed on the W995 compared to past phones Ive used is how snappy and fast the UI feels, especially things like browsing the internet over WiFi which is usually a chore on such a small device. Whether its the menus, GPS, scrolling on pages or turning the phone to landscape view (using the accelerometer) everything responds instantly. One cool thing I use the phone for (why I wanted WiFi in a small device in the first place) is to use it as a remote to wirelessly control my Logitech Squeezebox and it does it perfectly. Out of all the phones Ive owned, the SE UI remains my favorite because it is fast and to the point. The phone also includes an 8.1 megapixel camera, walkman with standard 3.5mm audio jack and 8GB memory card. Finally, Sony includes a 3.5mm jack on the phone which I dont know why they didnt do it sooner.. after all it is called a walkman phone. The camera also takes pretty decent photos, still some noise when indoors (or low lighting conditions) but much better than previous models. It wouldve been nice if it had the xenon flash over the LED, like on the C905. But the camera is not my first priority and its adequate for my uses. Ive found that as long as the subject is properly lit the phone will take good pictures. Using the phone for all the tasks mentioned above the battery has held up OK. Almost depleted at the end of the day but thats under heavy usage since its my new toy. For normal usage I think it could last 2-3 days before a charge. Guess Im just used to older SE phones which could last up to week, but they also did not have as many features as the W995. Overall, feature and quality wise the W995 is one of the best phones Ive used and probably the best non-smartphone.