The Sony Ericsson W200i Mobile Phone - Martin's Quick Review

The Sony Ericsson W200i makes me feel old. I've been reviewing mobiles for long enough that I can remember when I used to salivate over a phone with the W200i's feature set, and while I wouldn't camp out in a line to get one (I won't even do that for an iPhone), I would make a note on my calendar to go by my mobile provider's shop to get a new phone, swap my card in and try them out. Fast forward three years, and I now get review phones as part of my job, and it's easy to get blasé about them. My daughter, spoiled by my getting review phones, is absolutely getting nonchalant about these things.

I shouldn't be. When I compare the W200i to what I used to pay my own money for, eagerly anticipating, it's better in nearly every single regard. And now it's a £50 model that I can almost consider disposable; it's clearly aimed at working class folks who don't have contracts with free mobile upgrades on renewals, and I predict it'll become the obligatory "introductory" phone for O2 within six months.

In terms of features, it's got an upgradable memory stick of 128 megs; I suspect that vendors will offer bundles with 2 gig sticks shortly, and you can get them online for under £10. This stores a decent amount of music – more than the onboard storage of my venerable old Motorola ROKR, truth be told. It's also got decent sound quality, the bundled ear phones are excellent, and the usability of the application for the music is top notch – it's Sony's generally excellent Walkman software package for digital music.

While a phone this cheap won't be grabbing eyes from across the room as a style object (and, being an old fuddy duddy, I double check most style techniques with my daughter; they're aimed for her anyway), it is reasonably attractive, with charcoal coloring, a nice heft and rubberized plastic for a solid, good grip. The keys are large and have good contrast, and are well laid out. The thumbstick you use to mash through the menus is a bit tacky to the touch, and not terribly responsive. My daughter found it frustrating, but we may also be used to a more fluid interface.

While the W200i has some token "multi-purpose" phone capabilities, they're definitely sub-par on the hardware side. The built in camera is only 640x480 resolution, and the colors are flat. The display appears to be made up of the last batch of LCD panels stockpiled from 1999, the viewing angles and contrast are so murky. There's an IR port. We didn't actually check to see if the IR port works; we don't have anything that connects to it, and its presence is baffling. One pleasant side effect of the old hardware is that apparently it drives good battery life; ours ran three days between charges, with moderate use.

On the other hand, considering the price, it's functional, usable, and will certainly get the job done. If you've a teenager who desperately wants a music phone, this is good one for them. You won't feel badly about replacing it when it inevitably falls out of a pocket, or gets left in a friend's car. If you're trying to spend less on your phone, consider the Sony Ericsson W200i with free gifts and free line rental, or alternatively have a browse and compare contract mobile phone deals with free gifts to know what's really available in the market.