Sony Ericsson W710i Walkman

Performance
We tested the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE) W710 world phone in San Francisco and New York City using Cingular's service. Call quality was good in both places, with admirable clarity and volume. Reception wasn't a problem either, even in a building notorious for spotty coverage, but on a few occasions the phone took longer than expected to connect. Callers could tell we were using a cell phone, but they didn't report significant problems except that they had more trouble hearing us when we were on a busy street. Only rarely did callers sound a bit hollow on our end. Speakerphone calls were surprisingly loud and clear, and Bluetooth headset calls were satisfactory as well.

Music quality on the W710i was on a par with other Walkman phones, though the lack of stereo speakers is disappointing. We still wouldn't chuck our stand-alone MP3 player altogether, but the W710i is fine for commuting, working out, or on plane rides. We also tried the included stereo headphones and were pleased overall, and we love that the phone comes with a stereo Bluetooth profile. Music player navigation, however, was occasionally sluggish.

The W710i has a rated talk time of 10 hours and a promised standby time of 14.5 days. In our tests we eked out 9 hours of talk time.

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