Customer Reviews

Sony Ericsson W850i Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, 3G, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick Pro Duo Slot--International Version with No Warranty (Precious Black)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A somewhat upgrade to the existing w810i, this slider phone will either impress you or make you want to hold on to your existing w810i a little longer.

The w850i is a 3G quadband handset with a micro camera in front (VGA) like the k800 for video calls. The graphic user interface is pretty standard Sony Ericsson with the higher resolution screen at 320x240, again like the K800. There's also the two photo shortcut keys just on top of the display screen for accessing the photo album like the k800. The joypad is something like w810i although it feels a bit stiff and irresponsive sometimes as it sinks into the unit.

The sound quality of the music player is no better than the w810i with the same equalizer and playback options, but the annoying clicking and popping noise between tracks has finally been reduced. There's also a few new gimmicks like "light effects" where the walkman light flashes according to the music being played.

Standby screen is an option with the w850 (unlike the w810i that just goes completely dark after a few seconds of inactivity and stays that way), so you can tell the time, the profile in use and if there's any pending messages without having to touch any keys on the phone while it's on standby.

The only thing missing from the w850 is a good camera. Although the manufacturer claims the w850 to have a 2 Megapixel CCD, the images the handset can produce is really poor by Sony Ericsson standards. They are oversaturated and noisy, with severe compression artifacts. The auto focus feature found on the k750, k800, w800 and w810i is also nowhere to be found. The macro mode is missing from the w850 as well. With just a single LED flash (k750, w800 and w810 has two LEDs while the k800 has a xenon flash), the camera is only capable of taking bright, daylight group and scenic pictures. Close-ups and portraits will most likely be out of focus. The add-on flash MXE-60 works with the w850, so if you own a unit, try not to sell it off with your k750/w800/w810 as it makes the w850 pictures look so much better.

Thankfully the w850 still accepts the trusty Memory Stick Duo, and it is bundled with a generously sized 1G stick. It works well with my 2GB memory stick, and I suspect it should work well too with a 4G memory stick (and hopefully the upcoming 8GB memory stick).

Had the imaging capabilities of the k800 (3.2 MP with AF assist light and Xenon flash) been incorporated into the w850, this handset would have been a perfect upgrade for the w810i.

I just bought this cell phone last week and get it 2 days ago, it's amazing, I guess it's simply the best phone ever; you got all you would like a cell phone to have... and more!

I'm one of those persons who like cell phones just for what they do, make and receive calls, but I discover that this device is amazing, bluetooth connection is smooth and won't get drop, the sound is clear, you can watch your videos and listen to your music in a clever way, even turn on the FM radio and go all the way. Tha camera has so many features it doesn't seem a cell phone, the contact information is amazing, storing more than just numbers in it and you can back it up in your outlook folder. I just have two days with it and don't know all the functions but seriously, it's more impressive that I thoguth it would be.

It's clearly the Swiss Army of the phones!

This is an excellent Cellphone/walkman

If you're looking for look, don't look any further. If you like technology, with good functionality and an excellent walkman then this is it.

Pros:
*Has pretty much everything you can possibly (Bluetooth 2.0, 2mp camera, Infrared port,back light, video calling,usb connection)

*Great screen with an outstanding resolution

Cons:
*At the beginning you can sometimes press the walkman button by mistake, but after a while you get used to it.

*If you want to press the power button sometimes you may slide the phone down by mistake since the slider doesn't present much resistance.

This is a great cell phone with a lot of good features, but its a little too wide for my taste. If you can look past those little design mistakes, then you'll have a cellphone in your hands.

Great phone, greate features, great sofware, great quality. The only negative thing is its price. A bit expensive in comparison to other phones

Great product, I don't know tha shipping 'cause I dind't bought it here, but is a great cell phone. Great Value.!

Nice Phone, very easy to use and great sound from the built in speaker.Battery life also pretty good, no complaints about this phone. You have everything you need on the go.

Over all this phone is really good. It 2 MP camera, play mp3, play video files (youtube) etc etc. all fun.

Only negative things which I found so far are :

You can't change the calendar alert sound (tone) or alter the duration.
Automatic key lock duration can't be changed.
Navigation keys cab be little small if you have big hands!

After some jerk at the gym stole my s710a, I ended up having to get a replacement and I went with the w850i which I had my eye on for nearly a year.

As the title of my review states, the w850i does not look as good as the s710a. It is a little smaller, and the buttons are much smaller. I have relatively big hands, so pressing the numbers with my thumb often ends up with me fat fingering keys or bending my thumb in some pretty uncomfortable positions. The slider design is ok, but I think if I had to pick one, I'd go with the swivel design of the s710a.

With these faults I think I need to justify my 5 star rating for this phone; I give it 4 stars on the design and 5 stars on functionality. I, like a lot of people would choose functionality over just looks any day. Sure the item has to be at least visually appealing, but if the functionality is lacking who cares how good it looks. Functionality is where the w850i excels over the s710a. First of all the 850i can accept PRODuo memory sticks meaning your capacity for storing MP3's, pictures, videos, themes and other media is immediately up to several GB's. Compare that to the 128MB max external memory capacity of the s710a. Even with "only" a 1GB memory stick, you can store hundreds of songs on this phone, as well as room for pictures and videos. I am not what you call a "music freak" who listens to songs all the time, so I do not need an I-pod or a similar MP3 player. However this phone definitely meets my needs for those times when I do want to listen to music particularly at work. In addition to the MP3 capability, this phone can also recognize WMA (Windows Media files), something which the S710a cannot do. I am not sure what other music formats it can play, but I am sure there is more. Of course it can play movies, but still its only limited to Mp4, and 3gp formats. The camera on this phone is 2.0 MP which is slightly better than the s710, and the picture quality is quite good even though you need pretty ample lighting as the light on the phone does not do much good.

One thing I kind of don't like about this phone is the small design. I cannot tell you how much I despise electronic devices whose main selling point is how small it is. Call me old fashioned but small is definitely not something I look for in a new gadget. Once reason I have never been impressed with the RAZR because of every one drooling over it, saying how small and thin it is and the countless commercials about it does not help either. Small means that it would be impossible to find if misplaced, and is more than likely a piece of junk when it comes to durability. My s710a took a lot of abuse, but still functioned like it did when I got it out of the box. It was even slammed down on a wood floor once, and even though the battery and the memory card popped out, after I got it back together again, it still worked fine, had that been a RAZR I would have not have been so lucky. That said the w850i is not TOO small; it's around the same size as the T637 I had a few years ago. However, any smaller than it is right now would be a problem for me. One final thing I don't like about the phone is the "convenient" internet button on the front of the phone. I don't know when phone manufacturers will get that 99% of us do not want this button to be so easy to accidentally press. I usually carry my phone in my pocket and many times during the course of the day, this internet button gets pressed when I don't know it. I have been hit with a pretty good internet usage charge on my last Cingular bill because of this; $13 bucks caused by accidentally pressing the button and being connected to the internet for hours and not even knowing it. I don't know if cell phone makers are somehow in collusion with wireless companies so they purposely do this, but it is real frustrating, and there needs to be a MUCH better design with these buttons. At least with the S710, the internet button is on the keypad and is covered up if the phone is closed, there is no way for the button to be accidentally pressed. However, this is not the case with the w850. What's even more frustrating is that there is no way to disable this button through the phone's OS. Short of taking apart the phone and disconnecting the wire that this button uses, you are pretty much stuck. I've considered doing that, however I finally messed around with it and figured out all I had to do is to set the home page to a bogus site, so if the phone does try to connect it won't be able to; that should cut down on the usage charges. Another solution is to create another internet profile with incorrect settings so when you are not using the internet and you accidentally press the button, it won't connect; but you have to remember to set it back to the bogus account after you get done using the net.

What this phone lacks in looks and size makes up for in functionality. I would have preferred a phone with a similar design and size of the s710a, and while I gave it 5 stars over all, I still kind of miss my previous phone. My next phone will more than likely be bigger than this one, and hopefully will be my last for quite a while. I don't sign contracts to get discounted phones from my wireless company so when I buy a phone, I buy one that will last me for a few years.

I've been using this phone for the past 6 months and i love it! Like many other comments on the page, I agree with their assessments. Superb functionaility, great 2.0 megapixel cam and also (my personal favorite), the option to hide your number. Whenever this is activated, nobody you call will know your number, even if they stored your number in contacts beforehand. Great for Prank calls!

My only disappointment with this phone is that it does not have a builtin 3.5 audiojack. There is, however, an Sony adapter that you plug to the bottom port which can allow you to plug in your favorite headphones. I find that this creates a hazard of long headphone wires. However, I give Sony credit for even including an adapter (most other cell phones has only 2.5mm audio and does not provide the adapter). Aside from that, i'm very stastifed with the audio and the phone!

This phone is one awesome piece of tech, u have 2 cameras, a 2 megapixel for picture taking and a 3g camera for video call, its just like u imagined when u were a kid, a video mobile phone!!!
Not to mention a 1 gb memory stick(no competition there fron ANY other brand) and did i mention this phone is so cool looking everyone will be asking too see it.
If u have the dough BUY it if u dont, drool then.