Sony Ericsson W595 review: Music on the slide

We've already welcomed the W595 at the proto stage, but this time it's the real deal - we have a retail unit on our hands and we are ready to put it through its paces. The differences from the preceding model, the W580, stretch further than a design overhaul. A 2.2-inch QVGA display and the 3.2 megapixel camera will surely make it a tasty treat even without all the Walkman goodies on board. With its modern looks and intriguing specs list, it's about time we saw what the Sony Ericsson W595 brings to the Walkman party.

Sony Ericsson W595 in different colors

Key Features:

• Quad-band GSM and 3G with HSDPA support
• 2.2" 256K-color TFT display of QVGA resolution
• 3 megapixel camera
• Bluetooth (with A2DP) and USB v2.0
• Accelerometer sensor for display auto-rotate
• 40MB of internal memory and M2 memory card slot (2GB card included)
• Walkman 3.0 music player with Shake control and SensMe
• FM radio with RDS
• Multi-tasking support
• Smart dialing
• Comfortable keypad, nice sliding mechanism
• Stereo speakers
• Dual 3.5mm Stereo Share jack on the headset cable

Main disadvantages:

• Relatively smallish screen
• The camera has no autofocus
• Poor video recording capabilities
• No lens protection or flash
• No office document viewer
• Cheapish battery cover
• No video-call camera

Sony Ericsson W595 at ours

The Sony Ericsson W595 is currently retailing for about 200 euro - which seems like a reasonable price - but a true evaluation demands a little digging and some comparisons.

Strangely enough, the Sony Ericsson W760 is really close sibling of W595. It currently sells for a bit less than the W595, but outperforms it with tri-band HSDPA support and of course, the built-in GPS receiver. The way the prices currently are, the W595 doesn't seem to stand a chance to the W760.

Sony Ericsson W760

Again surprisingly, you can get the capable Sony Ericsson C902 Cyber-shot for the same price as the W595. It's got a nice slide-up cover over the 5 megapixel snapper, a bunch of touch-sensitive camera shortcuts and pretty similar multimedia capabilities. It's not a slider, but not every phone has to be, right?

Sony Ericsson C902

Having said all that, the Sony Ericsson W595 Walkman phone simply seems a bit overpriced right now. Once the situation changes, it would perhaps turn out to be a rather attractive package.

Meet us on the next page, where we'll go through its looks, handling and ergonomics.