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More…Music lovers no longer have to pay a premium for a music phone. The $180 (with a two-year contract from Cingular) Sony Ericsson W300i comes with a music player, radio, and camera built in. It does the job both as a phone and music player, but the music software is basic and to achieve its compact size the phone forgoes some navigational conveniences.
Sony Ericsson W300i Cell Phone (GSM, Bluetooth, 20MB, Memory Stick Micro)
- Spec Navigator
- Processor
- Display
- Operating System
- Camera
- Form Factor
- Battery
- Storage
- Dimensions
- Carrier
- Cellular Frequency Technology
- Features
- Audio
- Connectivity
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Media
- Messaging
- Sync
- User Interface
- Video
Display
| Diagonal Display Size | 2 inches |
| Display Resolution | 128 x 160 inches |
| Display Type | Color |
| Number of Displays | Two |
Battery
| Battery Type | Lithium ion |
| Vendor Rated Standby Time | 398.4 hours |
| Vendor Rated Talk Time | 9.5 hours |
Cellular Frequency Technology
| Cellular Technology (Voice + Data) |
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Included Hardware
| Included Hardware |
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- Lab Tested
- How We Test Phones »
Pros
Nice, compact design
Plays music well
Cons
Lacks exterior buttons
Doesn't allow playlist creation on PC
Bottom Line
This budget music phone sports a light, compact design, but is a little hard to navigate.
Sony Ericsson W300i
W300i Cell Phone (GSM, Bluetooth, 20MB, Memory Stick Micro) Review, by Narasu Rebbapragada March 28, 2007
As a phone, the W300i is a quad-band GSM/GPRS model that offers good sound quality. Volume was loud and clear, and our test unit reached the 10-hour limit in our lab tests of its talk-time battery life.
At 1.8 by 1.0 by 3.5 inches, the 3.3-ounce device has a compact yet boxy clamshell design, making the overlapping circular number buttons difficult for all but the smallest fingers to press cleanly (especially when composing SMS text messages). Another drawback: The phone lacks some of the convenient external buttons offered by other models I've tried. For example, to take a picture with the built-in 2-megapixel camera (with 4X digital zoom) and even to turn the phone to silent, I had to flip open the black-and-silver lid. The 2-inch, 128-by-160-pixel display is sharp and bright but a bit too small to permit meaningful Internet browsing, especially given that the phone supports only GPRS and EDGE, not Cingular's faster HSDPA network. On the other hand, the phone proved its durability by surviving a few tumbles.
As a music player, the W300i--which handles MP3 and AAC music tracks--works well, aside from some inconveniences. It has 23MB of internal memory plus a Memory Stick Micro card slot. (Cingular doesn't include a card, but it sells a 512MB version for $60.) I loaded music easily via Sony Ericsson's included Disc2Phone software, which curiously didn't allow me to create playlists on the PC itself. To do that, I had to select individual tracks on the phone. Our test unit readily accepted a few albums, whose songs I could then search for on the phone by artist, track, or playlist.
External buttons on the side of the phone let you play, pause, and navigate through tracks. Sound quality was clear, though the volume didn't get terribly loud (it was loud enough for my noisy commute, however). The W300i comes with stereo earbuds, which double as the phone's hands-free headset. I was excited about the phone's FM radio (the headset holds the antenna) until I tried it out. I had no trouble searching for and saving stations, but the reception always had at least some low-level static.
The phone's camera takes decent pictures in either large (176-by-144-pixel) or small (128-by-96-pixel) sizes. It has a night mode and permits you to add black-and-white, negative, and sepia effects. In addition, you can shoot QuickTime video, which looked smooth as long as we didn't move the phone too quickly. Linking to the camera with the included USB 2.0 cable lets your PC see the phone and the memory card as drive volumes, to which you can drag and drop files.
This inexpensive phone certainly won't replace your portable music player, but if you just want to listen to a commute's worth of tunes, it does the job.
Narasu Rebbapragada
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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100
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66
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84
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Phones
100
100
50
100
Performance
| Battery Life Average (hh:mm) | 10:00 |
| Battery Life Word Score | Superior |
User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Sony Ericsson W300i Cell Phone (GSM, Bluetooth, 20MB, Memory Stick Micro)
3 Reviews Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 3 reviews
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Reviewed by: whydowehavetoregisterallthetime
Duration of ownership: 7 Months
Strengths: cheap great music software good net browsing and bluetooth filesharing very strong survives rough use great battery life good quality sound from mp3s mac compatible igig storage
Weaknesses: low res camera, M2 1gig memory stick is expensive
Overall: This is my sixth cell fone.... and the cheapest I have ever owned. Am a veteran fone user( bought my first analog motorola in 1995) and have used mainly Nokias since but I gotta say this is an awesome fone..... After seven months of trouble free use it is by far the best ever for me. I am a musician and I can compose audio tracks on it and use it as a metronome...I have actually created a commercial soundtrack using the music dj program!!! It now features in the gigs that i do in my electronic band as a audio loop player. I teach at university and it has replaced my briefcase. I have stored my phd word doc and powerpoint files on the 1gig flash memory stick and can blue tooth them to a computer in a blink I can even use it as a computer mouse! I can surf the net basically and it can just handle video news feeds and animated weather radars. I [plugged it into my mac G5 and it just worked. I am hard on fones and have repeatedly dropped stepped on and sat on this fone and it has handled well. I found the menu alittle different to NOKIAs but easy once I got used to the software. If you dont need a blackberry fone I would highlty recomend this. Only downer is camera quality but I supect the next generation 300i will be better. Overall a great(classic??) piece of technology
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Reviewed by: futurevijay
Duration of ownership: 1 Day
Strengths: this phone has a very unique and compact design. the features are excellent and it is easy to navigate through the phone.
Weaknesses: there are none
Overall: the phone is great and does the job.
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Reviewed by: rtaggi
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: superior battery talk time!!! lots of free wallpapers and themes on company web site. FM radio reads displays most station's digital signatures(station name, music and album ids currently playing) surprisingly good sound quality both on FM stations and music files
Weaknesses: can't adjust back light time--turns off too quickly. doesn't play .wma files, have to convert(easily done) to Mp3. microscopic phone buttons make texting very difficult(always an issue with sony-ericsson).
Overall: i purchased this phone on e-bay in very nice condition ergo; NO contract obligations with my carrier--even at $200.00 new this phone Rocks-it will take about 150 MP3 files on the 1Gig M2 Mini Media, (and some pics to boot)--best phone i have ever owned bar none!!! "takes a licking and keeps on ticking"!!!!
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: alanbf8
Strengths: Clam Shell, good FM reception - useful MP3 player (with purchase of extra memory - not too expensive)
Weaknesses: Buttons flat and overlapping - need to get used to typing on it.Screen isn't very bright.
Overall: I switched networks for this phone mostly to obtain the FM+MP3 feature, and I am happy I did. I am a clam-shell user, otherwise I would have gone with the Sony 810i. I have not experienced issues yet, but I have read that the camera isn't very powerful.
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Reviewed by: ooooo123123
Strengths: the first sony ericsson music flip phone....
Weaknesses: no loud speaker, the camera is not good, the memory stick (memory stick micro) is expensive
Overall: It basically has all the features of a music phone. I got it free after rebate @ Cingular's web site a few weeks ago. I like it a lot. Besides having mp3 functions, it also has FM radio with it. The headphone is included in the box. I recommend it for people who wants a combination of mp3 and cell phone.
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