Sony Ericsson W760i review:Walkman Meets GPS

Sony Ericsson W760 made a name for being the first Sony Ericson phone to offer an integrated GPS receiver. With a large QVGA display, stereo speakers, Media Center and the 3 megapixel camera on top, the W760 packs a nice punch. It's an exciting slider that may look no-thrills on the outside, but has all the prospects of becoming a bestseller.

Key features
Quad-band GSM support
Tri-band HSDPA
Built-in GPS receiver
3 megapixel camera with geotagging
Walkman player with Shake control and SensMe
Media center
Stereo speakers
FM radio with RDS
YouTube integration
2.2" QVGA TFT display
M2 memory card slot (1GB card included)
Stereo Bluetooth
Built-in motion sensor

Main disadvantages
No video-call camera
Camera has basic portrait interface and no autofocus
Poor legibility under direct sunlight

Integrated stereo speakers are not impressive neither in sound qiality, nor in loudness
Expected in Q2 2008 Sony Ericsson W760 may as well make this summer hotter. It's got nearly all the high-end Walkman stuff. Right from the very first moment we saw it, we were struck by the resemblance to Sony Ericsson W850. Both handsets share pretty much the same size, form factor and market positioning, so we think it's a safe bet the W760 is the true successor of W850, bringing the best of the Walkman range to the current Sony Ericsson lineup.

For starters, the W760 takes advantage of the proprietary Sony Ericsson Media Center enabling users to organize and enjoy all their multimedia files, be it music, video, photos, games or streaming content such as YouTube. The Sony Ericsson Media Center offers ease-of-use and rich functionality unmatched by current feature phones on the market.

The user experience with the Media Center is further enhanced by the built-in accelerometer that enables screen auto rotation, as well as Shake control. Speaking of multimedia, the W760 packs in the latest Walkman 3.0 player and even supports the SensMe mood recognition feature that allows creating playlists based on mood and tempo.

On top of that, you also get the benefit of the integrated GPS receiver - you can use it to geotag your photos, work out with the Tracker fitness application or use turn-by-turn navigation and Points of Interest search.

Sony Ericsson W760 will be available in three different color versions: Rocky Silver, Fancy Red, and Intense Black. We had the grey/silver one for a review. A definite thumbs-up for the 1GB memory card in the retail package, though we've seen Walkmans ship with 2-gig cards.

W760c GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz for Mainland China

General
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Announced
2008, January
Status
Available. Released 2008, May
Size
Dimensions
103 x 48 x 15 mm
Weight
103 g
Display
Type
TFT, 256K colors
Size
240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches

- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate- Wallpapers, screensavers
Sound
Alert types
Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3, AAC ringtones, composer
Speakerphone
Yes, with stereo speakers
Memory
Phonebook
1000 contacts, Photo call
Call records
30 received, dialed and missed calls
Internal
40 MB
Card slot
Memory Stick Micro (M2), up to 4GB, 1GB card included
Data
GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
HSCSD
No
EDGE
Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G
HSDPA
WLAN
No
Bluetooth
Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port
No
USB
Yes, v2.0
Camera
Primary
3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels
Video
Yes
Secondary
No
Features
Messaging
SMS, MMS, Email
Browser
WAP 2.0/HTML(NetFront), RSS reader
Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games
Yes + downloadable
Colors
Rocky Silver, Fancy Red, Intense Black
GPS
Yes
Java
Yes, MIDP 2.0

- MP3/AAC player- TrackID music recognition- SensMe- Shake control- Push to talk- T9- Picture editor- Organizer- Voice memo
Battery

Standard battery, Li-Po 930 mAh (BST-38)
Stand-by
Up to 400 h (2G) / Up to 350 h (3G)
Talk time
Up to 9 h (2G) / Up to 4 h (3G)
Music play
Up to 20 h
Misc
Price group

140 Euro