Buzz! GOGO!

Sony Ericsson W350 is a small, budget musical phone, targeting the young audience.

Design:

The W350’s design is quite youthful, but the only “WOW” effect is the opening lid. The size of the phone is really compact and it weighs only 2.6 oz (75 g). Sometimes, when it is in your pocket, you may get the feeling that you’ve lost it. Unfortunately, the small size is what makes the W350 inconvenient for use by people with big hands. It simply is too small, which can cause some discomfort for them. The device has been made of plastic, which feels like rubber-coated and prevents it from sliding.

The TFT display is 1.9” with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and supports up to 262k colors. The picture quality will immediately remind you that you are using an entry-level phone. However, in contrast with the competition it can even be defined as an average display since now, you can find a good picture even in the entry-level phones. Nevertheless, we are happy that even though the image is faded, the screen is still usable.

Interface:

The W350 uses old generation software, which we know from models such as W880 and W380. Nothing new will puzzle you on the home screen. The background can be replaced by static pictures and flash animations. The main menu is in the standard grid and the view can be changed only by using flash themes, and not independently.

Connectivity:

The Bluetooth 2.0 and the data cable included in the package are used for local connectivity. In the first option the speed is much slower. The phone also has support for A2DP, which allows it to transfer stereo sound wirelessly. The cable connection lets you select between: Phone Mode, used for synchronization (manufacturer software needed) and Data transfer, indicating the card as a mass storage device. However, in both cases, the large file (music) transfer is very slow.

The Internet browser that is characteristic for the manufacturer is Access NetFront. In our case it is version 3.3 and it could not load the heavy Phonearena.com. Nevertheless, we had no trouble logging in Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook mobile and other simpler sites. There are a few visualization options and they do a good job: zoom in/out, Smart fit and text only. Overall, this is a very good browser for an entry level music phone.

Camera:

The camera is е 1.3-megapixel, no flash and it is only intended to snap pictures. As we expected, it doesn’t offer any incredible options, but you can still select the size and the quality of the images. There’s also a self-timer, various effects can be selected and you can set the white balance. The pictures are low quality, but we didn’t expect anything else from a music-oriented, entry-level phone.

Conclusion:

Sony Ericsson W350’s key characteristics are its design and it musical abilities. It’s true that the flip form factor is not the most convenient or useful one, but it definitely differentiates it from the rest and ads a „WOW” factor, which is rarely seen in this class. However, we are disappointed from the music performance of the Walkman phone. We thought it was average, mainly because of the poor earpieces sound. Moreover, in case you can live with a simpler design, we recommend Nokia 5310 XpressMusic as the better choice.