Sony Ericsson W705

As usual Sony Ericsson is out with another smashing looking handset in the W705 Walkman Series handset. But all that glitters is not gold, at least not necessarily. So without further ado, here’s the W705 and my opinion on the same.

Form Factor
It’s a well crafted handset, that’s the first thing I thought when I laid eyes on it. The 2.4-inch display sports a 240 x 320 pixel resolution with 256k colors. It’s bright and clear enough to view in all lighting conditions. The navigation system (5 way nav-pad), shortcut keys and all other points of access are nothing new if you’re an existing SE handset user. The slider was not as smooth as I hoped though. It’s a bit jerky and there’s no grip to slide it up easily. The keypad is large and comfortable to use. On one side are the volume/zoom keys that are located above the camera button.

Sony Ericsson’s universal proprietary port is located on the other side. Thankfully, they’ve included their new charging cable that has a built-in socket for the handsfree so you can listen to your audio while charging. The handsfree has an adapter so you’re free to use any set of earphones of your personal preference. The bundled in-ear earphones were pleasantly comfortable to wear. A small Walkman button is located on the top of the device and can be used to activate the player as well as for the Shake-Control feature for changing tracks.

What really irked me initially is the fact that the W705’s M2 card slot is located under the rear panel. Although you don’t need to remove the battery to access it, I simply don’t see why it couldn’t have a removable panel on the outside. But SE has graciously provided a 4GB card with the package so removing the card itself for anything is redundant. The only problem is when transferring files to the handset via USB in Mass Storage mode, the handset goes into offline mode. In this case you can select Media transfer and the handset can be used as an MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) device.

Which brings me to the panel itself. It has a very neat lock switch at the bottom that ensures it stays in place even if the handset is the receiver of a harsh jolt for whatever reason. The 3 megapixel camera is located at the rear and a secondary camera is placed in front near the earpiece.

Despite of the slider being a bit sluggish and the absence of an external hot-swap slot, the W705 is a stylish and funky looking handset.

Features and Performance Interface

Nothing new here at all. I still got annoyed with SE’s attempt at a flashy animated menu that drains the handset’s battery and is not as fluid as the normal one with stationary icons. If you’re in agreement, I suggest you just download a few simpler themes. A couple of good sites are – Mobile9 and Zedge.net . The accelerometer may not be to fluid either but it is very responsive for all menus that it’s coupled with like the media interface, which is also the same with no visible changes incorporated. The new messaging interface actually looks like a chat application which is pretty neat and well arranged.

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Audio
The audio quality on the W705 is brilliant with the Walkman 3.0 player. I particularly like the new settings menu. The EQ presets unfortunately don’t make TOO much of a difference. A customizable option and Stereo Widening are also available for audio adjustments. The decibel level is high enough for comfortable listening and the quality is, of course, not an issue whatsoever.

The radio (with RDS) picked up and stored ALL the available radio stations in about 14 seconds and the reception was better than decent even on my commute. There’s no recording mode for the same although there’s a stand alone voice recorder that has pretty good range. The recoding quality is not great but it’s clear enough, if you’re close enough to the subject for recording.

SE’s TrackID feature is present and so is the online store – PlayNow - where users can download plenty of add-ons for the handset. The Music DJ application will allow you to create your own audio files to be used as ringtones. It’s not a very sophisticated application, of course, but it is fun to play around with. SensMe feature for arranging audio according to temp is also available.

Video
Videos look really good on the display but I did have a little trouble scanning through files while they were playing. Even though the orientation of the display automatically changed when I tilted the handset, the navigation system also showed up on screen with the appropriate changes, but I couldn’t rewind or forward a file without pressing into the keys with a lot of force. And even then it ended skipping the file altogether and moving on to the next file in queue. Oddly enough this was not the case with the music player. Acceptable formats are MPEG 4 and 3GP only.

The VideoDJ function allows you to add short clips or images, music etc. and create your own videos. Large video files will not work. Access to YouTube via a preloaded application is also available in the Application’s section.
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Other Entertainment
The W705 also has quite a few preinstalled games for entertainments. Bowling and Nitro Street racing are motion based games for which you’ll be required to physically move the handset around in order to play. There’s also a Music Quiz game much like the one you’d find in an Apple iPod. The device plays clips of your music files stored on the device and you have to guess the name from a list. Make sure your files are tagged properly. Images can be edited with PhotoDJ and PhotoFix.

Misc. Features
All other relevant features like a Calendar, Notes, Stopwatch, World Clock, Alarm, Timer, Calculator etc. are all present as well as a few others like an option to use the camera’s LED as a Torch Walk Mate and AccuWeather are also evident.

Connectivity
The W705 is rich in connectivity in options. Wi-Fi being part of the deal enables quicker connectivity to any applications that require net usage. It is 3G ready as well, but right now we’ll have to settle for EDGE and GPRS. The native browser is the same, nothing new here. Orientation changes automatically depending on how you hold the device. An RSS reader is available in the media section so you can receive immediate updates on sites you’re following. Stereo Bluetooth (v2.0) also has SE’s PC remote controller application.

Like most other handsets that support EDGE, the W705 supports POP and IMAP email downloading and IM (which requires a bit of intense setting up). If you can’t figure it out there are other apps like Fring or Nimbuzz that you can download and use. The handset doesn’t have an internal GPS antenna but comes preloaded with Google Maps that also has a Geotagging option tied into the camera. Data transfer is quick with USB 2.0.

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Camera
This 3.2 megapixel camera is not equipped with an Autofocus lens. The single LED flash isn’t too much help in low light conditions. The standard interface is easy to follow and navigate. The W705 has a few features to help adjust the camera to the external settings as best as possible. Those include – White Balance, Exposure compensation and a Night Shot option. Other settings include a Panorama mode, 12 second timer, a few frames for fun, color options and Burst mode.

Images in normal lighting condition outdoors look quite sharp and detailed.

The camera doesn’t focus too well when it comes to close ups though.

But the W705’s camera is not bad at all on the whole.

Battery
On a single charge with regular usage that included a bit of music, texting, a few calls and games as well as a little video, the W705 ran for an impressive 2 and a half days. This is quite a task for most handsets. Of course you’ll have to ditch the animated themes and menus and make sure that the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is not always on.

The Bottom Line
I was genuinely impressed with the W705’s overall performance till I heard the price. I pondered on the situation trying to figure out if it was justified at Rs. 18,000 and I came to the conclusion that although it has great features that work really well, there are other handsets out there that offer as much and function as well and cost a lot less. But the W705 is nevertheless a well equipped handset and is still aces in my book.