In a nutshell: Sony
Ericsson's premium Walkman phone is one of the best music phones
of all time, bundled with high quality headphones, an 8GB memory
card, FM radio with RDS and a brilliant 5 megapixel camera too.
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Sony
Ericsson W902 Review
Review:
October 2008.
Available in Volcanic Black, Wine Red or Earth
Green, the W902 is a 3G music phone with a classic "candy-bar"
shape. The W9xx series of phones includes Sony Ericsson's premium
Walkman phones, so we immediately have high expectations for the
W902. We're going to view the W902 as the successor to our favourite
Walkman phone ever - the W810i.
The W810i was perfect. Even though it was fat and only had a 2 megapixel
camera, for its time it was brilliant, and we want the W902 to be
as good now as the W810i was back in 2006. But is it?
Well, the W902 looks quite a lot like the old W810i.
It's a classic shape, with nice buttons and very easy-to-use Walkman
controls. It's a bit bigger than most similar phones, but nice and
slim, so we'll forgive that. It weighs 100g, which feels just right
to us. When you've spent this much on a phone, you want one that
feels solid, after all! The screen is good, although at 2.2 inches
it isn't the biggest. But remember that this is a music phone first,
so it's not about how it looks so much as how it sounds. Which brings
us on to ...
... the W902's music player is the latest version
of the Walkman player, and everything is here - you can play, rewind,
fast forward, equalise, shuffle tracks and create playlists on the
phone. There are eight equaliser presets. The FM radio with RDS
shows which station you're tuned into, as well as the name and artist
of the song playing. We're disappointed to find that the built-in
memory is just 25 Mbytes, which is frankly mean. However, Sony Ericsson
have been more generous in bundling an 8GB Memory Stick Micro card
with the phone, which is enough to store roughly 2,000 MP3 tracks
- more if encoded in AAC format. The audio quality is really excellent,
as the W902 uses the latest generation of audio technology - Clear
Bass & Clear Stereo - previously heard only on Sony
Ericsson's flagship Walkman phone, the W980i. On top of this,
the W902 comes with the premium HPM-77 headset supplied. This is
an outstandingly good headset. The icing on the cake would have
been a 3.5mm headset jack so that you could plug in any headphones
of your choice, but hey - the HPM-77 is an excellent headset anyway
and it's free with the phone!
There are plenty of other music-related features
available. PlayNow™ lets you download games, ringtones and
other content to your phone - although you have to pay for this
content. TrackID™ identifies a song (track, artist & album
information) from a few seconds recording. Shake Control lets you
change music track by shaking the phone when you press the Walkman
key. SensMe™ lets you create playlists based on tempo and mood.
Flight mode lets you listen to music (or play games, etc) whilst
the ability of the phone to make and receive calls is switched off.
Most Walkman phones compromise on the camera quality,
but not the W902. The camera has a 5 megapixel sensor, autofocus
and a flash. This is virtually up to the standard of the C902 Cyber-Shot
phone, so there's really nothing to complain about at all here.
As well as the autofocus and flash, there are a couple of photo
gadgets to help you get the best possible photos. BestPic™
automatically takes 9 photos in rapid succession, so that you can
choose the best one to keep. PhotoFix adjusts light balance and
contrast after you have taken a picture to get the most natural
looking result.
Another gadget that's included in the W902 is the
Walk Mate step counter computer. This stays on all the time and
counts how many steps you've taken during the day. You can monitor
your daily activity and set targets. Just keep the phone in your
pocket to keep counting. Did you know that 10,000 steps per day
is the recommended target to stay fit? This is pretty hard for most
people to achieve, so counting steps is a good way to motivate yourself
to do more. Oh, sorry, are we starting to
bore you? Back to the phone then.
The phone is pretty slimline as we mentioned earlier,
so we're anticipating that the battery life won't be too amazing.
If you're using 3G this might be the case, but switch to 2G and
you'll have no problems at all. That may not be 100% satisfactory,
but it's just the way that slimline 3G phones are. If you want a
big battery, get a fat phone!
Connectivity options are Bluetooth and USB. There's
no WiFi, so if that matters to you you should be looking at the
Sony Ericsson C905 instead.
In conclusion, we really like the W902. It's a
much better phone than the old W810i that we have such fond memories
of, so if you're upgrading from an old Walkman, you can have confidence
that this is a good one to choose. Why not 5 stars? Well, we wanted
more memory and we think that the phone's pretty expensive. The
memory problem is mostly overcome by the 8GB memory card included.
The cost issue won't really apply to anyone buying on contract.
So we're probably just being too fussy here. If you like the look
of the phone, pretend that we rated it 5 stars and just get it!
Features of the Sony Ericsson W902 include:
5 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and
digital zoom
Video capture & video calling
Display: 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
(2.2 inches)
Music player
FM radio with RDS
Polyphonic ringtones, MP3/AAC ringtones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
3D Java games
Picture wallpaper
Organiser functions: Alarm, Calculator, Calendar,
Contacts, Stopwatch, Notes, Tasks, Timer
Memory: 25 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™
(M2™) support (up to 8 GB)
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, Modem
Internet: Web browser, RSS feeds
Vibration alert
Flight mode
Quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) plus 3G HSDPA
Size: 110 x 49 x 12 mm
Weight: 100g
Talktime: 4 hours (3G) - 9 hours (2G)
Battery standby: 360 hours (3G) - 380 hours
(2G)
Video calling: 2.5 hours
Sony Ericsson
W902 Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 38 reviews:
Reviewed by Atish from India on
6th Jan 2010
I brought this phone 5 ,onths before its started giving problem
like keys are not working all the time like 9,send key ,backkey,contineously
displyaing mesage like please press yes to record sound,while listening
track songs changes automatically, volume keys are not working,
restart autmatically sometimes Again its not launch in india I buyed
it in 17500 without bill Service center will not able to detect
the proper cause Sony service centr in india are so DHILLLE Log
My name is atish Jaiswal Mumbai my old number :9371238854 email:jaiswal.atish@gmail.com
helpout Rating:
Reviewed by SOMEONE WHO HATES THIS PHONE -.-
from Singapore on 6th Jan 2010
THIS PHONE SERIOUSLY SUCKS TO THE MAX CORE, i just bought it for
6months and it's.... so sucking Keep on auto restarting itself -,-
It respones VERY EXTREME SLOW ! even though, the camera is quite
attractive, overall, i think there are much more better and reasonable
priced phone than this phone Rating:
Reviewed by nader from Iran on
2nd Dec 2009
Hi, Finding an Slim and 5MP Camera is not easy. Sony Ericssion Made
it and it looks good like what mans want :-) Rating:
Reviewed by ????? from ????? on
17th Nov 2009
best phone........... i thougt if i can had it............ love
it.............. good review................ tq....................... Rating:
Reviewed by azanshaz from malaysia on
28th Oct 2009
this phone sucks!! i've had it for 5months. at first it was ok,
but i've formatted it 4times already. always software problem! browsing
the media is also slow and transferring media using bluetooth is
also veryyy slow! at this moment, i can't switch it on! OMG! this
is the worst phone i've ever had!! Rating:
Reviewed by death from mauritius on
22nd Aug 2009
tooo koool....loved it............ Rating:
Reviewed by Teesharo from Hungary on
28th Jul 2009
For those, whose phone has the restart problem: First backup the
files from the memory card, then format it by the phone (not by
a computer). I had the same problem, but since I have formatted
the memory stick by the phone, everything is OK. It is a great phone,
though I don't like the built quality of it, it should be sturdier.
Rating:
Reviewed by Phil from UK on 18th
Jul 2009
Superb phone. I was very apprehensive about moving from Nokia, but
I don't think I'd ever go back now. It's very reliable, it sometimes
starts being slow, but only for a few seconds, then it's back to
normal again. I got it as a company phone, and so I'm using it one
hell of a lot, despite that, I get a full day's battery out of it.
My previous Nokias needed charging whilst I'm in my office. I don't
use it for fancy features, but there are some great things on it.
I love TrackID! For me, it does exactly what I want it to do. My
only gripe is that I can't PIN protect the keypad, which is a little
bit annoying. Other than that, I love it! Rating:
Reviewed by francois from mauritius
on 14th Jun 2009
great phone! but there are things that i dont like.. its slow when
browsing music, photos, videos in media.. i got a bug yesterday
that emptied my battery, the power saver stayed light up all along
the night..i didnt realize it.. another problem is the connection
between the phone and the handfree cord...it became loose after
a week.. autorotate is slow.. but over all these, im satisfied with
the phone.. good camera, but not xenon flash great sound in headphone,
though ipod is still better ^^ i like the remote control application
:P were playing with it last night, control my pc from my phone
>< so nice!!!lol,anw i think every new phone has this application
.. even if its slow sometimes(lags), its far more rapid than other
phones.. i love the design!!! so, improvement to be done: has to
include more ram and another more rapid chip...^^ thats all!!! Rating:
Reviewed by ambisha from england on
14th Jun 2009
ive finnaly got the w902 its fantasctic camera is brilliant nice
music features i hope walkman can keep it up Rating:
Reviewed by james from england on
18th May 2009
This phone is sooooo gooood :) Rating:
Reviewed by rakesh from india on
11th May 2009
lovely Rating:
Reviewed by Flamur azemi from Kosova
on 10th May 2009
wery nice mobil sonyericcsson Rating:
Reviewed by Glac from Maldives on
7th May 2009
john from huddersfield go eat somethibg. The phone is awsum.................... Rating:
Reviewed by john from huddersfield on
29th Apr 2009
this phone is rubish, do not buy it trust me 5mp looks like a 2mp
music player not as good. Rating:
Reviewed by Ali from United Kingdom
on 17th Apr 2009
I have this phone and till now m using it. Its a nice one to choose
after your w810. Me ma self used w810 for 3 years. And now its the
one thing which will satisfactorilly be the perfect replacement. Rating:
Reviewed by Gopan from Oman on
27th Mar 2009
its really good.....but there should have been xenon flash and even
the sound is a bit low...it gets switched off by its own during
certain intervals!! Rating:
Reviewed by beetlebabe from uk on
7th Mar 2009
Functionally fantastic phone - great camera, walkman etc. Love the
style too. Sadly I'm getting rid of it because it keeps switching
itself off at random times.Hence the 3 stars and not 5 which it
would have been. Gutted because otherwise it really is one of the
best phones I've had. Rating:
Reviewed by rups from UK on 3rd
Mar 2009
Had this phone for 4 months. I agree with previous comments - it's
almost perfect. I'm not going to repeat all the praises, so let's
go straight to flaws: - music control buttons on the side are sometimes
oversensitive. I carry mobile in my jeans. When walking, playback
tends to stop because of accidentally pressed buttons. - as mentioned
in previous reviews, back cover is slightly loose. I put folded
piece of paper underneath it, that helped a little. - there's no
information about time of missed call, if the same person tried
to reach me more than once. Only last time is shown. - phone sometimes
freezes and gets slow especially when there's an active application
in background. - software for PC is a bit messy and not user-friendly.
- presence of WIFI, would make me more than happy. But hey - there
are no perfect phones, aren't there? :) Apart from few flaws W902
is almost perfect. Full recommendation!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Neil from Czech Republic
on 1st Mar 2009
I have had this phone for two weeks and I am very happy with it
in general. The player is brilliant quality and plays back with
detail and clarity normally only found on cd. The camera is very
good and the general functions of the Phone are great. Battery life
so far is better than my prevoius S.E V 630. now to a few down points:1),
the phone has a mind of its own sometimes and turns itself off !(an
incident that has happened with alarming regularity!!) I will be
taking it back next week to see what Vodafone have to say about
it !2), the connection for the hands free/headphone/charger is already
playing up!!( even though I handle this phone with kitten gloves
and have done exactly what is recommended in the user manual!) 3),
the software is a bit of a problem when downloading music but might
be a glitch with my p.c ! I am generally happy with the phone apart
from these few irritating points. Rating:
Reviewed by big up pakiz from unknown
on 26th Feb 2009
this is the best walkman phone going. . . I strongly reccomend you
to buy it Rating:
Reviewed by ya mum from a h on
15th Feb 2009
the best phone in the world it beat the samsung tocco/ i hav both
of the phones this phone is really load i advise u too get it :P
:D :) :s Rating:
Reviewed by Mobile Test from English
Island on 5th Feb 2009
Best all round Sony Ericsson on the market the w902. You get a 5mp
camera with a flash , the best audio walkman and its a slim n loud
mobile with a chemically toughened scratch free screen. Voice dialling
is so simple and no others mobiles have this feature anymore that
enables you to record your OWN VOICE at the press of a button and
then dial the contact (unless EDITOR can suggest any other phone
models with good voice dialling which i cant find)and best of all
if you have 100 contacts in your phone you can have a different
ringtone for them and ALSO a different mp3 or voice recorded SMS
alert for them too !!!!!! COOL COOL phone by SOny Ericsson and its......FLAW
FREE Rating:
Reviewed by lily from england on
1st Feb 2009
this phone is aaammmmaaazziiinnnggg:) i mean having a really goood
music player and a 5 mega pixel camera!!! wow!!! i love this phone
and the sony ericsson W980i even the the camera on that one is awful
:) xx Rating:
Reviewed by Paulo G from UK on
31st Jan 2009
Brilliant phone in every way. Nice feel, good screen, excellent
user interface, great camera. Buy one! Rating:
Reviewed by Andrea from England on
22nd Jan 2009
This is a really great phone - the best Sony Ericsson i've had for
some time (its up there with the the W810). The new Walkman software
is really good along with the easy to use menu system. The software
is rock solid, the sound quality is excellent and with 8gb storage
you have room for more than enough music. To be honest almost everything
is good with this phone - the battery life, HSDPA access, the browser,
the list goes on... Time for the bad points: It has no flight mode
(so although it's a Walkman phone you can't use it on a plane),
it has a flimsy battery cover and there are no WIFI or GPS features.
I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could but as I can't i'll have to give
it 5 as I really do like this phone! Rating:
Reviewed by Hayley from England on
14th Jan 2009
I've had this phone since Christmas, and personally I find it amazing!
I definitely recommend this phone. It's got everything, I really
wanted a Walkman phone, but most of them have a 3.2mp camera, and
this phone has 5! Love this phone so much! Rating:
Reviewed by Scotty2hotty from Baku on
4th Jan 2009
Ive been a nokia fan for 8 years but took a gamble on the W902 and
havent looked back at all. Im not into having music phones (thats
what ipods etc are for) but this phone is a top gadget, and the
looks are awesome! Turn off the wallpaper and have a black screen
and its the mutz nuts!! Its on par, if not better than nokias for
being user friendly - absolute ease! Text messaging is a joy compared
to some phones. I totally cant fault this phone at all except for
the profiles, you cant have a different ring tone for each one,
whatever tune u set as ur ringer is used for all profiles. I swap
sim cards between a Omnia for business and the W902 for pleasure
and i find the W902 the more enjoyable device! It gets 4 stars,
if it had wi-fi and a internet connection of the Omnia then it would
be the best phone on the market! Rating:
Reviewed by James from Malaysia on
29th Dec 2008
I Love the SE w902~ it is one of the best phone ever! fantastic
handling with no slowup at all! error free!! and I love the camera!
on par with most of the camera phones. IMO ranks better than nokia
- sorry guys this stole my heart from nokia. keep it up se walkman! Rating:
Reviewed by Beth from Scotland on
26th Dec 2008
i got this phone the other day. and its one of the best ive had.
good battery life, great camera, and the music player is excellent!
the only trouble im having with the phone is getting my memory card
to work. having tried 2 or 3 in the phone it still doesnt work.
apart from that the phone is superb and i recommend it to everyone
! Rating:
Reviewed by Ry from Manchester , UK
on 4th Dec 2008
After trying many phones this year i think i finally have the one
for me ive had the w910,w980,w595,c902 so far im a Sony Ericsson
an purely because of their Voice Dialling feature that no other
brand of phone has where you can record your own voice not the hit
and often miss speaker independant dialling , the w902 does best
what i need it to do... it rings loud , its a lot slimmer than you
would expect , the screen is nice n bright , call quality is superb
and mp3 playback is best on the market ,textin can be super fast
the quickest SE i have used it keeps up with you for a change ,
the camera is excellent and the alarms work unlike the c902 !!!
The only gripes i have are the dual led flash aint no xenon dark
situations still aint lit well enough for pics and the rugged feel
is plasticky were slightly rubberised would have been better and
given more grip and the position of the loudspeaker means if the
phone is left on its back then ringtones get muffled, these are
not faults just things SE should have learnt but i guess if they
release a phone that does everything then no other model will sell
hence each model missing something another has.... ill be keeping
this w902 a while as i thinks its great and the memory is fantastic.
Roll on 2009 and lets see what SE can offer id have gone for the
c905 but its bulkiness put me off aswell as its keypad , a phone
should be slim not a big lump. Rating:
Reviewed by stacy from uk on
29th Nov 2008
this phone is great i had it for 1 week know and im not sick and
tried of it its full of stuff that you dont get sick and tried of
it and it looks really nice as a phone not big or fat i say get
it Rating:
Reviewed by Kevin from Swansea on
22nd Nov 2008
Had the phoe a couple of weeks now, and think it is fantastic, had
the w810 when it first came out, and tried nokia's & samsung's in
between, but my heart is with the trusty sony ericsson's, fantastic
feel to this phone, easy to use menu, brilliant 5mp camera (who
needs 8mp?), and stores loads of music with the 8gb mem card included,
it's gonna be hard to beat this in such a compact handset. 5 stars
from me. Rating:
Reviewed by oscar from st.thomas on
15th Nov 2008
eyepoping,amazing Rating:
Reviewed by joe johnson from england
on 23rd Oct 2008
this phone is absulutley amzing it has all the features you can
possibly want e.g. music player 5mp camera and 3G. This phone holds
up to a 8GB memory card which can hold about 2,000 songs. I would
really reccomend this phone event tohoe i think the ball in the
middle of the centrepad might weare out after a bit but it is still
an exellent phone. The older version the w810i was a good phone
but very chunky now the w 902 is a slimline phone and can still
hold loads of music. Normally walkman phones have rubbish cameras
but not with the w 902 this has a 5 megapixel camera which is as
good a the cybershot c905. So all togeter this is a great phone
and you should so get it. Rating:
Reviewed by Westy from England on
20th Oct 2008
Took delivery of my W902 recently. Glad I chose it. Its possibly
the best phone I've ever had and looks simply stunning. The camera
is excellent and the flash more than adequate. The music player
is superb, It rivals my iPod but could do with perhaps going a little
louder. All other function are excellent too, Googlemaps, Youtube
etc. Texting is lightening fast thanks to the extremely responsive
keypad. I have nothing negative to say on this phone at all really.
Best SE since W810i (which I still have) I highly recommend this
phone if you want a very good camera and excellent music player
with loads of memory (8GB card) and enough extra stuff to keep most
people happy, lets face it how many of us really use all the other
stuff anyway. Rating:
Reviewed by Sikamena Siyumbwa from Zambia
on 14th Oct 2008
I've had my W810i for three years now and we've basically been inseparable.
It's time now to move on, though, and this looks like a keeper!
I can't abide sliders, ungrippable super slims and flips. Candy
bar is my thing, and I've waited a long time for this natural successor
to my trusty, near-perfect W810i! I just wish it had Wi-fi and the
8MP camera from the C905, but that's just me being greedy. It looks
great; I love the glossy finish, but I fear the black paint on the
central toggle pad will be worn through in no time, just as the
metallic finish on the W810i's cursor pad eventually gave up. Maybe
there is a little touch screen functionality to reduce the load
on the cursor keys? In Zambia we don't have 3G yet so the presence
of EDGE is reassuring. I just hope and pray that the initial batches
don't have major manufacturing snags. Thanks Grattus for your review
and for giving me hope. Rating:
Reviewed by Grattus from England on
12th Oct 2008
I have had this phone for just under a week and can thoroughly recommend
it! Lots of other reviews state that it is just the C902 in a different
body but that is not the case. I would say that it is an upgrade
to the K850i and therefore superior to the C902. I don't know if
SE used the same camera module that is in the C902 but they must
have tweaked the algorithm as it is better than the C902 and up
there with the best around. The video is also very high quality
and with the photo light you can use it low light conditions. The
W902 beats the C902 in that the keypad is vastly superior, giving
good feedback when buttons are pushed (allowing quick texting),
battery life is far greater (although the same battery is used in
the C902!?) and of course the media player is excellent. It also
has Google maps pre-installed to help you find your way around although
this appears not to use GPS but the nearest phone signal towers
as it thought I was 5 streets away from my actual location. Internet
access is quick as the W902 has hsdpa for your browsing needs. The
only downside I have is that the back cover is slightly loose but
I imagine I shall be able to cure that with a replacement cover.
Anyone who had the W810i and has been wishing there could be a new,
improved, updated version of that world beater does not have to
wait any longer. It is here!! Rating:
