Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman review: Music to go

Retail package

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman’s retail package has the essential USB cable and detachable charger head, a pair of comfortable earphones and some quick start guides. There is no microSD card included in the box.

The one extra accessory you get is the exchangeable band. We had the Green color in our package. The others we know of are Pink Cloud, Pink, Green Bird, Chrome, and Gold.

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman retail package • the Green Bird rubber and the default Chrome plastic bands

Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman 360-degree spin

At 95.8 x 52.8 x 14.3 mm the Mix Walkman is reasonably compact and comfortable to hold. The all-plastic handset weighs a manageable 88 g. It does look a bit chubby but the hand fit is great.

Design and build quality

There’s some from both generations of Sony Ericsson minis in the Mix Walkman styling. The curved rubberized back gives it a nice fit in the palm and feels nice to the touch. We’ve seen the so-called human curvature in many of the company's phones. The Mix Walkman is compact and all the controls are within comfortable reach.

The Mix Walkman has a unique customization feature: the exchangeable bands. After removing the battery cover, you can take off the glossy chrome-like frame and exchange it with a more appealing rubberized band from your retail package. It’s easily done and won’t require any special tools.

The default chrome band • An extra color accent

We have to admit we like our Mix Walkman with the Green color accent better.

The Mix Walkman sports a 3" WQVGA capacitive touchscreen. No, there’s nothing to love about the sound of it, but even recent smartphones are still stuck at the QVGA resolution. The 3” diagonal is more than the Sony Ericsson Yendo got. The small screen means even this low resolution produces decent sharpness. In the end though, it's hardly the best quality display around.

The Mix Walkman's 3” QVGA display • The Mix Walkman compared to the Live with Walkman and Xperia active

There is noticeable gradient banding, and the viewing angles and sunlight legibility are also disappointing. They could have been much worse though. We guess this kind of screen is standard for a cheap phone. On the plus side, the sensitivity is decent – it’s a capacitive unit after all. But one that doesn’t support multitouch.

Below the display is the single hardware button on the front. The Home key, somewhat confusingly, works as a back key sometimes. Above the display are the earpiece and the hidden proximity sensor.

The Home-sometimes-back key below the display • Earpiece and proximity sensor above

The right side of the Mix Walkman features a barely protruding volume rocker and the shutter key. They’re both placed on the curve towards the rear – because of the exchangeable color bands – but reasonably comfortable to reach and press. The shutter key doesn’t have half-press – the Mix Walkman has a fixed-focus camera.

The left side accommodates the Power/Lock key and the microUSB port.

The side controls and ports on the Mix Walkman

Centrally placed at the top of the handset is the 3.5mm audio jack, with music controls on either side: the Walkman key and ZAP button. The bottom of the phone features the mouthpiece and the lanyard eyelet. There's also a tiny dent to put a fingernail and pull the back cover open.

The audio jack and music controls on top • lanyard eyelet and the microphone pinhole

Rearside, we find the 3 MP camera lens, an etched out Walkman logo, the usual Sony Ericsson badge and two speakers for stereo music playback. Just like with the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, if you place the Mix Walkman down on its back the perceivable sound loudness gets amplified instead of muffled. The battery cover is all black with matte finish for better grip and fingerprint resistance.

The camera lens, the stereo speakers and a few logos on the back

Removing the back panel reveals a 1000 mAh battery, the SIM compartment and a non-hot swappable microSD card slot under the battery.

The microSD card slot and the SIM bed are under the battery • Exchangeable band

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman is a simple phone that seems well put together despite the all plastic build and an extra detachable element in the color bands. The screen is said to be scratch-resistant and so is the rubbery finish of the body. Thanks to its curved back the phone is comfortable to hold and operate. The screen is small and the low resolution isn’t that bad indoors. The sunlight legibility is below par though.

Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman held in hand