Photos: Hands-on with the Sony Ericsson W902

If last month's posts about the new Sony Ericsson W902 and W595 Walkman phones had you excited, wait 'til you see what we've got for you today. Not content with just specs and stock shots of the phones, we've got you an ultra-early hands-on report.

We're not allowed to show off the W902's workings at this point, as only prototype models are available, so you'll have to cut us some slack for that. But we can give you an extensive gallery of photos as we play with it.

If you can't remember or didn't read the specifications of this 5-megapixel music phone, pop back over to our previous coverage. Otherwise, let's get on with our prodding, fingering and poking.

It's a really solid handset, and easily a hot contender for 'nicest candybar Walkman design in a long while' award. The keypad comprises a well laid-out spread of keys -- far preferable to the circular keypad design we used on the new W980 Walkman -- and it feels really easy to text on.

On the W350i and aforementioned W980, SE has tried, fairly successfully, to incorporate dedicated Walkman controls in one way or another. On the W902, play and skip buttons feature down the right-hand side and are comfortable to use with the thumb.

This is a well-designed handset and feels solid to hold. It's got that great combination of style, weight and ruggedness that makes it ideal for loads of different environments. Now if only Sony Ericsson would get rid of that sodding proprietary headphone socket before the phone's released at the end of the year, we'll be even happier.

Design really is the key here, as specs-wise there's nothing super innovative going on. Of course that 5-megapixel camera is going to be a big selling point unless sound quality is stunning -- and trust us, we'll be testing it to death. It'd better be good, though a company that refers to bundled earphones that cost little more than a tenner as 'premium earphones' needs to tread carefully.

That's enough words for now. We've prepared a mammoth gallery of photos over the next few pages. Enjoy this preview for now and expect a full review for you in the coming months once finished products are released into the wild. -Nate Lanxon

• Previous
• Continue

• Share:
• 
• 
• 

• Tags:
• Sony Ericsson,
• Sony Ericsson W902,
• handsets,
• coverage,
• phones