Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman

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Sony Ericsson's previous 8GB W960i had various shortcomings that took away most of the hype. Dismal battery life and laggy performance were two of the issues we found. Did the company learn from its mistakes and make things right on its latest W980 Walkman flagship? Let's find out.

Design

The W980 is a solidly built fashion handset, but it is also a fingerprint nightmare with its piano black finish. Playing for keeps are the solid hinge that produces a satisfying click when we flip open the clamshell, rubberized back cover, well-spaced keypad (though we can't say the same for the control panel) and Walkman buttons with haptic feedback.

What's unique on the front panel of the W980 is the transparent strip which doubles as a window to the Walkman logo underneath. This area beams orange light to the tempo of the music and switches to white light for other incoming notifications. Adding to the aesthetic appeal is the flush surface of the handset and the LCD panel that disappears entirely from view when in standby mode. Likewise, the Walkman shortcuts found here show up only when in use. So you end up with a really sleek phone that disguises itself as a polished rectangular bar.

There are also two rubber nubs on the inner side of the clamshell which dampens the clacking sound when the two halves of the phone come into contact.

The proprietary Fast Port connector and strap eyelet are on the left, while the volume control, mode switch that toggles between the music player and radio, and keylock buttons for Walkman keys are on the right. The onboard stereo speakers sit on both sides of the phones.

As expected, the Fast Port connector is your best (and only) way to pair the W980 with a 3.5mm headset. The only problem is the total length of the cable (3.5mm connector and personal earbuds added up) is probably long enough to be a skipping rope for a six-year old. So unless you are using the bundled headset, you'll have lots of cable clutter to contend with.

We also find the W980's camera module poorly positioned. We had to hold the side of the phone with the numeric keypad upright (because the camera is on the opposite side), which results in the LCD facing downward. That made it hard for us to compose our pictures, not to mention the numerous occasions where our finger partially covered the lens.

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