Sony Ericsson W8 review: Robot dance

27 June 2011
No pause and rewind. Fast forward instead and rebrand. The Sony Ericsson W8 is an Xperia X8 in Walkman guise. There's not even a hint of surprise about it. The Sony Ericsson W8 has no new tricks up its sleeve. It’s a year old...

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  • k
  • kappal
  • U@3
  • 16 Nov 2011

How to up grade the is into new version for ginger bread can any one able
To give u r suggessiom

    • s
    • sitha
    • P@T
    • 06 Nov 2011

    who can tell me How to turn off the camera shutter sound in SE W8?

      • A
      • AssuncOxync
      • J77
      • 05 Nov 2011

      pmyt75, 29 Jun 2011Getting a 2010 mid-range phone with an obsolete Android ver... moreIt was a privilege to work along side you in the pits, maybe next time I will work out how to drive a stop watch! All the very best, I visited your site - there's is a lot to take in there, and I need to visit again for a longer look
      The love and support of Jackie is amazing, whilst the worst is hopefully behind you the road ahead is not certain but with your outlook on life and with Jackie by your side nothing is impossible this question
      thick ass mature

      Good Luck,

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • w0Q
        • 04 Nov 2011

        marksraider, 02 Oct 2011Good news-se declares official android upgrade! I am not bo... more Is this really possible ? It's been a month now since you posted of a 'official android upgrade ( froyo or better yet to gingerbread ? ) but it seems there is still no " official upgrade " on SE W8

          • D
          • AnonD-12580
          • utk
          • 02 Nov 2011

          Went the whole hog- rooted it and tried out a lot of different custom roms. Of these, Froyobread (final version) is the best and the most complete 2.2 rom for the W8. It's pretty, slick and quite efficient- I managed to get around 2-3 days of backup.

          The best Gingerbread rom out there for the W8 should be the GingerDX rom. I'm using this currently. It's faster and smoother than Froyobread, but it's less efficient. 1-2 days of battery life with moderate use. Lasts for a day with heavy use.

          The best thing about GB roms is the updated DSP manager. The Bass Boost option works wonders and can almost pass off as the MegaBass preset of the Walkmans of yore. Replaced the stock Music Player app with PlayerPro- it's really pretty and functional.

          Launchers are a personal taste. I loved the ADW launcher, but it's too heavy for the W8 and can cause slowdowns. LaucnherPro's fast, but it's a little too spartan for my tastes. GoLauncher's the best of the lot. I am currently using the SE Xperia Active Launcher. Slick and smooth without any clipping or lag between gestures.

          Thank you SE for not releasing the 2.2 update for the W8. If you had done so, I wouldn't have learned to do stuff like rooting, modifying and cooking custom roms. Now I'm not dependent on the manufacturer for their lousy updates. It's been an entertaining experience- like learning to drive. As with cars, people rarely keep their driving school cars. My case's no different. My next phone will be a Samsung or an HTC. Thanks again.

            • g
            • guru
            • 7wD
            • 15 Oct 2011

            hi friends i want to buy a w8.suggest t has good or bad

              • D
              • AnonD-25739
              • 2SM
              • 10 Oct 2011

              hey hand set is good with hardware........... but worst with software............ I sajussss not to sell this brand if ur not updateing it!

                • r
                • rdgrn
                • v0X
                • 10 Oct 2011

                im planning to buy this phone. what is it with phone? if the headset is included? and other. thanks. hope someone reply

                  • m
                  • marksraider
                  • uv7
                  • 02 Oct 2011

                  Good news-se declares official android upgrade! I am not boasting gingerbread gets in my phone the next week! I bought a w8 from an experience store the previous day and they told that the android 2.3 is announced for this and will be reaching the very next week. I guess it's the best time to make some changes to the review.

                    • s
                    • shabu
                    • v{U
                    • 26 Sep 2011

                    it want Wi-Fi to register androidmarket

                      • v
                      • vam
                      • v0q
                      • 31 Aug 2011

                      hate it! the battery not good!!
                      querty keyboard not good for this size of phone!

                        • n
                        • nagoli
                        • mYf
                        • 28 Jul 2011

                        You say it has decent audio, but when I check the readings it shows that it's worse than the Wildfire S everywhere where you guys said it's only fair.
                        And I found the same thing for different phones as well.
                        Make up your mind guys :)
                        For example create ranges for all the readings like crosstalk around -80 Excellent -70 Good -60 average -50 fair -40 crap... and so on. This was it will be more easy for us readrers as well to make the difference.

                          • D
                          • AnonD-14814
                          • tYV
                          • 24 Jul 2011

                          you missed out optimus one in suggestion list.... plz update....

                            • v
                            • vishnu
                            • utV
                            • 09 Jul 2011

                            I think i am expect so much about this phone but comments are saying the phone is not good

                              • D
                              • AnonD-12580
                              • utk
                              • 08 Jul 2011

                              Well, I updated the W8 with the latest system update from SE. The only changes I could make out was the updated Walkman app which added the album browsing view along with the Search option and the option to turn cam shutter sound off. The album browsing view can get a bit choppy unlike the standard artist view which was butter smooth.

                              SE could have added an EQ settings option- but who's listening to what the users say, right? I understand quite well that the W8's just a rehashed X8, but a Walkman phone without EQ settings is just not cool. However, since the sound quality was nice and clean even with the bundled in-ears, I'm not complaining too much. Tried it out with a Creative EP-630 and found the sound too flat. Best to use the bundled ones or else get something with punchier bass for entertaining sound if you're not an audiophile.

                              Frustrated of the the inability to install apps to the sd card, I rooted my phone yesterday and added the apps2sdmod. Happy with the result now. I'm a bit hesitant to install custom ROM-s as I like the UX UI SE has provided. Maybe later down the lane. Also, I installed Juice Defender Pro. It seemed to work well and my phone lasts a day and a half with some really heavy gaming. I'm satisfied with the W8- for now.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-12580
                                • utk
                                • 06 Jul 2011

                                [deleted post]Well, all of them except the outdated Android version is excusable. I'm not even demanding Gingerbread- even Froyo would have sufficed as it has performance, efficiency and the ability to install apps on the sd card. Worst part is that SE is refusing to give out any updates for this otherwise cute phone.

                                Another thing to note here is the phone's sub-par battery life. Having been spoilt by my erstwhile Nokia's good runtimes, I'm really dissappointed by the barely 1 day battery runtime of the W8.

                                I kill unnecessary tasks, have set the brightness to the lowest level and yet the battery hiccups through a day. I expected a runtime of atleast two days. What's the point of a phone if it can't be used at least moderately?

                                AFAIK, there're two ways to rectify this. Either flash it with an efficient custom rom or get a bigger battery. Anybody have a clue whether 1500 mAH batteries exist for the X8/W8?

                                  • u
                                  • utouh
                                  • t7X
                                  • 05 Jul 2011

                                  well its a walkman phone but theres no manual equalizer or presets equalizer in the music player.. why SE dind't see this things. i dont like it.. w995 or aino is MUCH better than this.. it sucks..

                                    • l
                                    • lou
                                    • uFj
                                    • 05 Jul 2011

                                    AnonD-12580, 01 Jul 2011Bought this phone yesterday. Loved the slick fit and finish... morewell said

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-12580
                                      • utk
                                      • 04 Jul 2011

                                      v-ki, 04 Jul 2011is the OS upgradable? Yes. It's Android after all. However, it appears that SE won't be giving out any official updates. Many users have resorted to using custom ROMs instead.

                                        • v
                                        • v-ki
                                        • ut1
                                        • 04 Jul 2011

                                        is the OS upgradable?