Sony Ericsson makes excellent mobile MP3, and cameraphones remarkable. Embeds both the W995: A Walkman 8 GB and a 8-megapixel photo sensor. A difficult synthesis: hit or flop?
The W995 is Sony Ericsson's answer to the famous Nokia N95, huge public and critical success. Like the Nokia, it has a sliding screen, almost as thin as a 2-euro coin with a resolution of 320x240 pixels. When unfolded, it seems troubling to hold an N95 in hand. In more compact and lighter. Like the Nokia, the W995 features a MP3 player 8GB, and a high resolution image sensor. It is obvious: the Sony Ericsson W995 looks like a "N95 killer". But Sony Ericsson comes two years after Nokia. He is obliged to do much better. Not a small feat. Nokia itself is trying to replace the N95 for over a year. His attempts were never fully convinced. The prodigy is hard to bury.
Inspired by so openly of the N95, Sony Ericsson takes a risk: in two years, the phones have evolved. Under the influence of Apple, a new family of phones has emerged: the tactile. Their huge touch screen is controlled with the finger. Often in great comfort. The W995's screen is not touch. The interface of Sony Ericsson is it as simple as a touch? Enjoyable?
Package Contents
• A charger
• A stereo headset kit
• A data cable
• A memory card 8 GB Memory Stick Micro (M2)
• A pregnant MS410
• 2 first episodes of season 4 of Lost and Grey's Anatomy
Sony Ericsson gives us a very decent package with the MS410 speakers, compact and powerful.
Appearance and Design
Sony Ericsson's designers have been pleased. The W995 is dressed in a beautiful brushed metal shell. Through careful observation, there are several plastic parts. But their coating provides a close look of brushed metal. The metallic gray plastic is quite dull and rather pleasant. Overall, this case gives an impression of modernity and luxury rather pleasant.
All gray, the mobile could be monotonous. He escaped, thanks to its chrome buttons, fairly well crafted, and fluorescent orange inserts. It is the color of the speaker grilles, the walkman button and the walkman logo. These inserts give the mobile a colorful touch of acidity that will appeal especially to young people and men. This assertive personality risk of offending women and fifties, who may see an unfortunate touch of "tuning". The shape of the mobile - a rectangular slider bar - is not original. But the W995 is very flat. This gives it a certain charm, and it is very pleasant to hold. The keyboard is slid forward.
The W995 is equipped with a mechanical keyboard numbered 1 to 9, very comfortable, nothing more. You can put the W995 all hands. It takes its operation in a few minutes.
The W995 gives the impression of being a robust mobile, that will age well. Its plastics are artfully arranged: they cashing shocks. We checked in accidentally dropping the mobile one meter high. Plastics have not scored a trace of shock. However, they are easily claws.
As for registration 8 megapixels, it disappears at high velocity. It will not take more than a few days.
OS & Ergonomics
W995 menus are very nice. The Sony Ericsson is not a touch screen: it is controlled via the directional pad, comfortable and responsive. These menus are nervous: they rarely suffer from slowdowns. The keys are very classic. At the center of the directional pad, the central button displays the menu of the mobile. The icons are clear. They could be more, but Sony Ericsson has chosen the color gray, which prevents the contrasts. Worse: the icons are animated. Colorful icons and fixed have been more readable. Fortunately, when you select an icon, the W995 displays its name in a clear French. Menu translation of the Sony Ericsson is excellent, better than competing manufacturers.
Returning to the home screen. Pressing the Media Library Media display. It includes photos, music, videos and games. This menu is very clear. It includes files without making any effort of concentration.
The operating system of the W995 is closed: not a smartphone. Unable to add selected applications in a vast software library. The Sony Ericsson comes with a few little fun software. A nice music application, which lets you create a piece by stacking the samples stored in the mobile memory. The W995 also loads a number of multimedia sharing software. Picasa and Blogger can post photos directly from your mobile with disarming simplicity. YoutTube, a little more difficult to access, can post videos from the mobile. Bluffing. But these applications, as interesting as they are, do not compensate for the lack of an open manner iPhone OS.
Connectivity side, it is faultless. The W995 is equipped with an antenna 3G + (HSDPA) and a WiFi antenna. His memory is elephantine: the Sony Ericsson comes with a 8GB M2 card. What store 80 music albums.
Functions Multimedia (Camera / Video)
Not surprisingly, photos of W995 are excellent. Their delicacy is exceptional for a phone. Their contrast is exemplary: the skies are blue. They rarely laundered, as on some mobile competitors. The color pictures of the W995 are quite nice, but they draw slightly towards green. The test model we have in hand is a prototype. This slight problem colorimetry probably disappear in the final version of the W995.
Inside a house, low light, the Sony Ericsson is still producing fairly accurate images.
Photos taken from the Sony Ericsson W995 3264 * 2448 pixels in [click to enlarge]
If needed, the flash illuminates subjects up to two meters away. The photos of the W995 are almost as good as the Sony Ericsson C905, the best picture of the mobile market. From one to another, only the photo enthusiasts will notice a difference.
As for video, then disappointment. Sony Ericsson shoots in 320x240 (QVGA). Many competitors filmed in 640x420 (VGA). These videos are postage stamp still quite enjoyable. They are fluid and stable: their images or hang saccadent rarely. The colors are nice, the contrast medium more. The sound is quite good. These videos are viewable. But it is far from the films of N95, whose sensor films almost as well as a regular camcorder.
Other functions (internet, MP3 player, WiFi, Bluetooth ...)
The MP3 player from Sony Ericsson is very well designed. We can connect their favorite headphones with a mini jack. The W995's sound quality is excellent. The sound is balanced, dynamic, precise. Almost as good as an iPhone. The Sony Ericsson comes with two stereo speakers to the volume of Dante. At bottom, these speakers can almost sound to a room. Of course, bass is missing. But the mids and highs are clear, defined and balanced. It takes relatively fun to listen to these speakers. It's very surprising.
The sound library is very nice. The menus are fluid, clear and colorful. It contains a few clicks his MP3. On the hull of the W995, Sony Ericsson has placed no less than 5 direct access buttons. The first three are used to start playback, skip to the next or previous track. The last two are used to access the MP3 player and access to the library. Very handy. Sony Ericsson has added a control function fun: the Shake Control. When the phone is locked, simply shake to zap the titles. Ideal for showing off, but not very practical in everyday life.
The video player of Sony Ericsson is pleasant to use. But he does not play DivX. Must convert videos before uploading them to the W995. The mobile comes with software that performs this conversion easily. But the maneuver is still long. We strongly prefer that the W995 is compatible DivX.
GPS side is opulence. The W995 is your position in seconds. On foot, Google Maps lets you find your way easily. On the W995, the cards are very fluid. It zooms with keys 1 and 3 with ease. It is also necessary to know the shortcut. But how, when we drive? The W995 comes with an auto navigation software. The pleasant voice of Wayfinder guides you efficiently, showing indications of clear directions. Warning: This is a trial version of three months. After this period, he must buy a license.
Can you surf the Internet with the W995? The answer is no. The browser is a maddeningly slow. It persists in the form of breaking the web, in order to display it on a thin column and interminable. Scrolling pages stutters a lot. Pages heaviest "freeze" for many seconds to appear. Some do not pass at all. The W995's web browser is unusable: we tried once and it is never coming back.
The email software is better designed. Parameterization of the most common places (such as Yahoo, Gmail, Free, Neuf) is almost automatic. Simply enter the email address and password, the W995 is responsible to pay the rest. Emails pile up in a folder rather fluid and enjoyable. Unfortunately, reading may be more comfortable: the screen is only 240 pixels wide. Worse, the W995 does a email account at a time.
Conclusion (Plus Minus)
The W995's battery is relatively low. In use hyper-intensive, it takes ten hours. The autonomy achieved two days when using the MP3 player and camera in moderation.
The W995 manages his bet: your photos are remarkable. Its music player delivers sound very convincing, the integrated speakers, and the helmet. The W995 stores 80 albums of music and its interface is very nice. Imaging side, the W995 filming short videos unpretentious but pleasant enough. Its GPS is handy. To download, no flow problem, since the W995 is compatible 3G + and WiFi. The software lets you view emails of an e-mail easily. In everyday life, the Sony Ericsson is particularly pleasant. His menus are simple, clear, colorful and alive.
Still, the W995 innovates very little. It is far behind the iPhone. He embarks no specific characteristics that are the salt of the Apple mobile, as thousands of downloadable applications, or Web browser ultra comfortable. The W995 is unlikely to attract the curious and technophiles. But for other consumers, Sony Ericsson offers mobile terribly reassuring and efficient, to photograph, as if listening to music. No doubt the W995 will find its customers. Hopefully sales help Sony Ericsson to get its head above water. The Swedish-Japanese manufacturer is going through a difficult.
The W995 is sold 450 €, a price that seems fair enough. Faced with the N95, the W995 wins the confrontation. It is more pleasant and easier to use. His pictures are a bit better. Her look is more polished, its size is finer. In contrast, the W995 does not film in VGA, unlike many mobile Nokia N Series. It is also not compatible with the thousands of Symbian software. But for many users, these flaws are not insurmountable.
The W995 is still a serious competitor from Samsung: the ultra Player. It also takes good pictures as the Sony Ericsson. He filmed some nice VGA video. And the Ultra costs 50 € less. But his MP3 player is less pleasant. And it comes with only 1GB of memory. The rest is perfect equality: the operating system of the Ultra is also closed, and just as enjoyable. Its browser is not much more convincing. Status quo between the two phones. The heart of each will tip the balance one way or another.
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