Sony Ericsson W300i Walkman

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Positives: The Sony Ericsson W300i offers good call quality, a top-notch MP3 player, and a generous set of features.

Facts: Though it has a few design and performance glitches, the Sony Ericsson W300i is a quality, basic MP3 cell phone.

This Review By: Kathy Batesmin

Since Sony Ericsson first introduced its Walkman cell phone line last year, music-friendly phones have had mixed success in the United States. Though they're lauded by users and critics alike, including us, U.S. carriers, haven't clamored to include the handsets in their lineups. Sure, Cingular offers the W600i, but that's the exception rather than the rule. Sony Ericsson no doubt has taken notice of this discrepancy, which may be a reason behind the Sony Ericsson W300i. While previous Walkman phones were packed with the most expensive features, the W300i aims to be a low-end Walkman phone. Though you still get Bluetooth, a VGA camera, and the full range of Walkman music compatibility, the overall effect is a step down from models like the Sony Ericsson W810i. We weren't crazy about some design elements, but call quality was good, and we applaud Sony Ericsson for bringing mobile music to the masses. No carrier was set at the time of this review, so the GSM handset will run you $299.

Though the W300i is considered an entry-level Walkman phone, it still comes with a fair number of business-friendly applications. Inside you'll find a speakerphone, PC syncing for contacts and calendar appointments, a newsreader for accessing RSS feeds, USB cable support, and full Bluetooth for not only connecting to a headset but also for wirelessly exchanging files and electronic business cards. And like many other Sony Ericssons you can use the phone as a modem and use the Bluetooth feature as a remote control to connect with other Bluetooth devices.

The W300i's Walkman music player differs little from the previous handsets in the series. It supports a broad range of formats, including MP3, MP4, 3GP, AAC, and WAV files. Opening the player takes you directly to the main menu, where you can organize music by artist, track name, or playlist. Settings include album/song shuffle and loop, Sony's Mega Bass, and an equalizer. Switching between the cell phone and the music player is seamless, as music automatically stops when you receive a call. Hang up and press the dedicated music key, and your song picks up from the point you left off. There's an airplane mode that lets you listen to your tunes in flight with the cell phone turned off, and you can minimize the player while using other functions. There are stereo speakers as well, but still no stereo Bluetooth profile.

Getting music on the phone is relatively easy. In addition to using the included USB cable and Disc2Phone software, you can send tunes via e-mail, a multimedia message, Bluetooth, or infrared port. You also get an FM radio with 20 presets, though you must use it with a headset, which acts as an antenna. You can set it to automatically scan and program Radio Data System info from stations that digitally broadcast their names and call letters, and you can use the radio as an alarm clock.

You can personalize the W300i with a variety of themes, wallpaper, and screensavers. As always, you can purchase more options and ring tones from Sony Ericsson via the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Alternatively, the phone comes with a Music DJ application for composing your own ring tones and a quirky application called Music Match that plays guitar chords and piano notes. Though it was fun, it wasn't terribly useful. Gamers can enjoy three Java (J2ME) titles, Neopets, QuadraPop, and PuzzleSlider, with additional titles available for purchase.