Posted by Mia in Sony Ericsson W902 claims the title of a musical tube and is in the same level with Walkmans. But her photographic abilities will be envied by many modern devices of the camera class. It is disheartening though that the cost of the W902 does not compete with phone prices, but with communicators.
Appearance
The dimensions (110.0 x 49.0 x 11.7 mm) and weight (99.8 g) of Sony Ericsson W902 can be considered as medium – it is better to be carried in a pocket or in a belt case. The design of the innovation is strict, but without minimalism.
Moreover, the black plastic body from all sides has literally distinguished design elements. So, right end differs from the left by applied diamond-shaped notches, smoothly passing on to the right side of the unit. By this the manufacturer wanted to emphasize the key block, managing multimedia functions, located on the right facet. With this solution Sony Ericsson W902 does not look symmetrical, and that is what attracts attention. By the way, the whole idea of unbalanced design is very seductive, but manufacturers rarely gratify it with attention.
The feeling of the high cost is only intensified if you remove partly the metal lid that covers the battery – on the reverse side there is a riffling for roughness, soft inset for contact with the lens and the metal screen that simulates the electrical mass of the body. All these thoughtful little things once again underline the high status of the new item.
The front panel, covered with transparent plastic with a dark polished substrate is, of course, soiled, but it is the disadvantage of many modern tubes. The display of the device is covered with mineral glass; it is not afraid of scratches, and consequently, image eclipse in the future.
In general, Sony Ericsson W902 produces a very pleasant impression reinforced by the fact that the smooth curved lines and the oval surface are successfully combined with the sharp edges of upper ends. The play on the contrast of lines and forms, together with the broken symmetry makes the unit quite attractive.
The unit of Sony Ericsson W902, located below the display, is made in the form of protruding on the front panel keys. The manufacturer wisely decided not to implement any sensory “zests”, totally unsuitable for the harsh Russian winter, or a single keyboard, which creates a lot of problems with random functioning. But the form of government is very unusual. Above the digital block three circles are located, each containing three keys.
Complicated at first glance, the design was very easy to use. There was no false in functioning, and at the same time the buttons are easily pressed with finger pads, rather than nails, as with other models. As a result, we have a bold and original design combined with high functional management (there is even a button, which is responsible for switching between tasks), and perfect work (tactile efficiency of all buttons is ideal).
In addition, the block of multimedia keys should be noted. It is located on the right end, as well as a round button Walkman at the upper end.
They provide not only convenient management of entertainment functions, but also quick access to the MP3-player and camera. All these keys are significantly above the surface of the shell, but at the same time have a relatively tough course, so they cannot be pressed accidentally.
The only button that we would like to see in this musical phone is a slide locking button. The program blocking copes well with its functions, but hardware blocking would be better all the same.
Other Features
The phone connects to a computer via USB-cable from the traditional for the Sony Ericsson brand interface. This connector is also used for charging and for connecting an audio adapter to a standard mini jack of 3,5 mm, to which the set headphones or any others are connected.
It is probably useless to appeal to the developers of the Swedish-Japanese joint venture, for installing a normal 3.5-mm mini jack in their musical models.
A slot for a memory card of M2 format is located under the battery compartment lid. However, in order to install the card itself you do not need to remove the battery, and therefore – and do not have to disconnect the phone.
But to call this method of installing the memory card easy is hardly acceptable. By the way, in the set with the new model a card of 8 GB capacity and a stylish USB-adapter are supplied.
This amount of memory is sufficient to create a music library for a few days, and even some additional space will remain for photos. Those who find it insufficient can buy a 16 GB card, its cost, though, will not be cheap.
Time of autonomous work
If you do not use the MP3-player, but talk on the phone about 20 minutes a day and regularly work with the address book, the device will have to be charged about once every three days. But if this includes exploiting the MP3-player (for three hours a day), then the battery of the W902 will operate for two days. Well, and with continuous music playing the time will be just over 25 hours, which is a fairly high rate.
Display
In addition to the aforementioned the TFT-display of the W902 has large angles of view, high rate of brightness and clarity of the image. But its technical features are standard – 2.2-inch diagonal, with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and support of 260 thousand colors.
However, this cannot be considered a weakness. Photos on the screen of the new model look superb – loss of details is minimal, and the color is as close to the natural as possible.
Connection
In terms of communication a musical top-model has to be omnivorous. The W902 not only works in all the GSM networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), but also supports 3G networks. Access to the Internet in the GSM-network is supposed to be via GPRS or EDGE, which is faster. And the connection to other devices is possible due to a built-in Bluetooth-module with support of EDR. No criticism to the quality of communication (we have not tested only the 3G) the phone works even in areas with weak signal. However, one detail was noticed – in such problematic places the indicator signal often behaves inappropriately, descending completely to zero, then suddenly issuing the highest rate. It has no effect on the quality of communication, but nothing like that was observed in other devices.
Another module on board is the FM-radio, which is operated by an original program with a fairly strict interface. The radio is no worse than in any stereo system.
As an antenna traditionally serves the wire of headphones, so without their connection the application does not operate.
Menu
The Russian menu of the W902 – is the acme of perfection, which the developers from Sony Ericsson have reached to date. Beautifully selected colors, stylish animated icons and intuitively comprehensible structure makes the interface of this phone one of the best in its class.
For beginners tips are provided for each section, not intrusive pop-up tips, but produced with hand.
The main menu is a matrix of 3 x 4 icons, but depending on the chosen topic it may be a text menu, and a rotating three-dimensional one, and in a form of a large icon displayed on the screen. Preset themes are available for every taste. The office abilities are presented by a standard set of tools: an extensive address book, alarm clock, calculator, stopwatch, a list of calls, internet browser tool to memorize the codes, etc. The flash of the built-in camera, may also serve as a flashlight. To determine the location, the supplement Google Maps is used. There is even a utility calculating steps.
The pedometer has few configurations, but also helps to maintain your body in tone (unless, of course, you fulfill the everyday norm). And among the three pre-set games with a three-dimensional interface the famous Need for Speed was found.
Camera
As we have said, the main priority of the new item is its musical ability. Nevertheless, the camera of the W902 deserves no less respect. It has a 5 MP resolution, with a possibility to save the image up to 2592 x 1944, an autofocus and flash.
The latter, although it is LED, has an extremely bright light – not xenon, of course, but the user will hardly feel significant difference. The lens is protected by glass, but unfortunately no shutter is provided – before shooting you often have to wipe the lens.
The program of working with the camera has a simple but attractive interface, which will certainly seem familiar to owners of other camera phones by Sony Ericsson. Settings are many: image quality, white balance, enabling / disabling of the flash, the choice of one of the standard scenes of shooting (including a panorama mode), the imposition of special effects, and insertion of a frame on the photo.
The quality of images is decent. Bright vivid colors, rich details and the availability of excellent focus will be an excellent incentive not only for the transfer of shots to the Internet, but also for their print, however, the format is not more than 10 x 15 cm. Still, this is not a photo camera, but a camera phone, though with an 5-MP matrix. The camera loses a little in competition, but in general the quality of images is worthy of deep respect – even in night scenes there is not so much noise, as we used to see. Below you see the test shots, and the archive with full size photos, can be downloaded here.
And on the following pictures you can see how the image stabilizer works. The filming was carried out with a hand in a moving subway car. The first upper frame corresponds to shooting without using a stabilizer, the picture below – with the stabilizer on.
Conclusions
Sony Ericsson W902 is good in everything: the original design, sound ergonomics, high quality images, excellent music capabilities, rich set. And though everything in the new model is of the highest quality, the price does not stand up to competition. Alas, but competitors showed slightly better results at lower cost for example Nokia N79 equipped (with a GPS-navigator, a Wi-Fi-module etc.).
