Best cell phones

Sony Ericsson W980 - black (unlocked)

The good: The Sony Ericsson W980 has a sleek and attractive design with a nice-looking internal display and simple controls. The feature set is good and performance is satisfactory.

The bad: The Sony Ericsson W980's menus are rather sluggish and it takes several seconds to start up. Also, the external display has a low resolution and the rear battery cover felt a bit flimsy.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson W980 isn't our top choice for a music phone, but it's an attractive and reliable model just the same.

Specifications: Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 ; Talk time: Up to 540 min ; Combined with: With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio ; See full specs

Photo gallery:
Sony Ericsson W980

Ten months ago, Sony Ericsson made a big splash at the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona when it introduced a gallery of flashy new phones. True to its usual form, the company focused on multimedia, with new additions to the Walkman and Cybershot series. Even then, we were eager to give them a full hands-on, but we also knew that given Sony Ericsson's small presence in the United States it would be a long time before they landed on our desk. Fortunately, that time has finally come, as both the Sony Ericsson C902 and the W980a arrived this week.

Like other Walkman phones before it, the Sony Ericsson W980 promises a full media player, but it offers a unique design that we hadn't yet seen. With at least one notable exception, Sony Ericsson has done a decent job with its Walkman phones (the recent Sony Ericsson W760a won the CNET Editors' Choice Award), so we put it through its paces to see how it would fare. The design turned out to be both interesting and intuitive, and the varied feature set largely lived up to our expectations. Performance was also satisfactory, but some calls sounded a tad harsh. The W980 is not available with U.S. or Canadian carriers, so you must buy it unlocked in North America. Online retailers like Expansys.com sell it for about $550.

Design
With so many slider and candy-bar Walkman phones, the sleek styling of the W980 is a welcome diversion. The shiny, black skin catches the light without attracting fingerprints or smudges and the clean lines give the handset an attractive edge. Another cool design touch is a quarter inch of clear plastic on the bottom of the front flap. Sure, it's slightly gimmicky, but it's also eye-catching and we like how the embedded lights flash when you get a call and when music is playing. At 3.6 inches tall by 1.8 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighing 3.5 ounces, the phone travels well and fits comfortably in the hand. What's more, the hinge mechanism also feels solid. We noticed, however, that the plastic battery cover feels a bit flimsy and is rather difficult to remove.

The external display measures a generous 1.5 inches. It won't support photo caller ID, but it shows the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and numeric caller ID. None of display's options are adjustable, including the backlighting time. Below the display are the dedicated music controls, which have a design of three overlapping circles. The controls are touch-sensitive, so there is little tactile definition besides the center circle being slightly recessed. As expected, you can manipulate all aspects of the player and radio without ever opening the phone. It makes for a comfortable user experience, yet we had one complaint: When you close the W980, it goes directly into music mode with the external controls activated. It then remains in music mode until you switch to standard mode or activate the locking switch. It was a little annoying, and if there is a way to change it we couldn't find it.

The aforementioned locking switch sits on the left spine below a rather stiff volume rocker and the control that changes the handset from music mode to standard. Twin speakers sit on either spine, and the connection port sits on the right spine. Note that Sony Ericsson uses a proprietary connection for the charger, a wired headset, and a USB cable. Also, the combined port means that you can use only one peripheral at a time. The camera lens sits on the rear face, which unfortunately is the same place we wanted to rest our finger when we were holding the phone to take a picture. It's also disappointing that you don't get a flash or a self-portrait mirror for a 3.2-megapixel camera.

The internal display measures 2.25 inches and supports 262,144 colors (320x240 pixels). Like most Sony Ericsson displays, it is bright, vibrant, and colorful, with sharp graphics and photos. You can adjust the brightness and choose from a selection of menu styles. All of the styles are intuitive but the menu text might be a little small for some people.

We were apprehensive about the navigation array--typically that's where Sony Ericsson makes design missteps--but the W980 pulls through. The circular keys feature a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, Talk and End controls, a clear key, and a control that activates a user-programmable shortcut menu. Though the controls are flush, they're tactile and easy to use, even if the calling buttons are a bit cramped. You'll also find a dedicated power button and a Walkman control just below the array. The circular keypad buttons are also flat, but they have a spacious arrangement and a relatively comfortable feel beneath our finger. We could dial and text without any problems, but rapid texting felt a little awkward. The bright backlighting helps in dim situations, but dialing by feel is difficult.

Features
The W980 has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail, Web address, job title and company name, two street addresses, a birthday, and notes. You can save callers to groups and you can pair them with a photo and one of 39 ringtones. Besides polyphonic melodies, you also can save MP3s as ringtones and use videos as ringtones. Just keep in mind that the video or photos won't show on the external display. You can save an additional 250 names to the SIM card.

Basic features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, an alarm clock, a speakerphone, a task list, a notepad, a timer, a stopwatch, a calculator, a unit converter, a tip calculator, and two world clocks. On the higher-end, you'll find a file manager, a voice recorder, PC syncing, USB mass storage, integrated GPS, POP3 e-mail, a code memo for storing sensitive information, and full Bluetooth with a stereo profile. You also can use the Bluetooth feature as a remote control for other Bluetooth-equipped devices. But the W980 doesn't stop there. It also includes a number of offbeat applications like WalkMate (pedometer), AccuWeather.com and Music Mate 5, which takes advantage of the W760i's motion sensor. When you're not using the phone as a metronome, you can play a variety of percussion instruments by shaking the W980 in various directions.

The W980's Walkman player is not unlike other walkman phones. Settings include an equalizer, playlists, stereo widening, and shuffle and loop modes. The interface is minimalist, but functional. You can set visualizations and light effects, but the player supports album art, as well. Just keep in mind that it won't recognize every song it plays. In music mode, the W980's display will change orientation automatically as you rotate from portrait to landscape.

You also get an airplane mode, for listening to your tunes with the phone transmitter off. Like the W760, the W980 is integrated with the "shake control" application. By holding down the Walkman button when music is playing, you can advance to the next track by flicking your wrist. It works quite well and it's an attractive feature. You also get the standard FM radio, as well as a Music ID application for identifying likable tunes you can't name. Internal memory is a full 8GB of shared space. The W980 does not have an external memory-card slot.

Loading music on the phone is relatively easy. The needed USB cable and the PC Media Manager software are included, which means you're saved the pain of shelling out more money for a music kit. The Sony Ericsson software can be a bit clunky, so we're glad that you can also drag and drop music from your PC to the phone. You also can bypass the software and sync music with Windows Media Player. The software also offers a SensMe app that will analyze the acoustics and beat of a song to see where it fits on a four-point mood scale of "fast," "slow," "sad" and" happy." You then can compose playlists based on your mood and you can see tracks displayed on a graphical representation of the scale.

The W980's camera lacks a flash and a self-portrait mirror.

The W980's 3.2-megapixel camera shoots photos in four sizes and two quality settings. Other options include three color effects, a night mode, white balance and brightness adjustments, a digital zoom (usable only at the VGA resolution), 16 frames, and four shutter sounds, plus a silent option. There's also a self-timer, a multishot mode, and an option for taking panoramic shots. The camcorder takes clips with sound and offers a set of editing options similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 20 seconds; otherwise you can shoot for as long as the memory permits. The W980 comes with PhotoDJ and VideoDJ applications, and you can connect the phone directly to a photo printer and upload photos to a blog. Photo quality was just OK. Colors were natural and we had enough light, but smaller images were slightly blurry. And, as previously mentioned, we'd prefer to have a flash

The W980's photo quality wasn't the greatest.

You can personalize the W980 with a variety of themes, wallpaper, screensavers, and clock styles. Some of the themes also support control vibrations as you navigate menus. As always, you can purchase more options and ringtones from Sony Ericsson via the WAP 2.0 Web browser. Alternatively, the phone comes with a Music DJ application for composing your own ringtones. Gamers can enjoy seven Java (J2ME) titles, Sudoku, Need for Speed, and Lumines Block Challenge, with additional titles available for purchase.

Performance
We tested the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Sony Ericsson W980 world phone in San Francisco using T-Mobile service. Call quality was quite decent in most respects. The volume was loud and the signal and voice clarity was respectable. At times, the audio sounded a bit harsh on our end, but it wasn't too bothersome. We could hear well in noisy environments and the phone didn't pick up excessive background noise.

On their end, callers said we sounded fine. They could tell we were using a cell phone, but that's a common experience. A few had trouble hearing us when we were calling from a loud place but that could very well be a problem on their end. Automated calling systems could understand us most of the time.

Speakerphone calls were quite decent, thanks to the loud output of theW980's twin speakers. Voices were a bit muffled, which is to be expected, but the clarity was respectable on the whole. Callers could hear us, as long as we were speaking close to the phone. Call quality with a Bluetooth headset was fine as well.

The W90 supports EDGE and 3G service. Yet, it supports only the 2100 band (UMTS and HSDPA), which works exclusively outside North America.

The W980 menus are rather sluggish, particularly under certain theme settings. It wasn't a big distraction, but it was noticeable, indeed. A bigger problem was that the W980 took almost 30 seconds to completely start up. That is the time from when we pressed the power button to the handset being ready for use. We're not sure why it took so long, but it was annoying.

The W980's music quality is up to the usual Sony Ericsson Walkman standards. Even on the phone's external speakers, our tunes were sharp and clear with a decent range. Deep bass is lacking when using the speakers, so we suggest a headset for the best experience. The W980 also comes with an audio cable for connecting the phone to a stereo speaker to better blast your tunes.

The W980 has a rated battery life of 9 hours talk time and 15.42 days standby time. The W980 has a tested talk time of 8 hours and 40 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the W980 has digital SAR rating of 0.67 watt per kilogram.

Sony Ericsson C902 - red (unlocked)

The good: The Sony Ericsson C902 has a sleek, sturdy design with a brilliant display and an easily understood navigation toggle. It also offers a generous feature set, a high-powered camera, and good call quality.

The bad: The Sony Ericsson C902 keypad is somewhat cramped, and its memory card slot is located behind the battery cover. Music quality was average, and photo quality could be a bit sharper.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson C902's photo quality suffered just a bit, but it remains a solid camera phone with a sharp design, a varied feature set, and good call quality.

Specifications: Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 ; Talk time: Up to 420 min (GSM) , Up to 210 min (UMTS) ; Combined with: With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio ; See full specs

Price range: $329.99 - $449.99 check prices

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Sony Ericsson C902

Sony Ericsson has never been one to shy away from the high-powered camera phone. Its Cyber-shot series, which includes the Sony Ericsson K850i that we reviewed earlier this year, offers a solid set of handsets that exceed both at taking pictures and making calls. At the GSMA World Congress last February, Sony Ericsson introduced more Cyber-shot phones but made a small change by swapping the "K" in front of the model number with a "C." We're not sure why Sony Ericsson made the switch, but when you think about it, a "C" makes more sense for a camera phone than a "K."

Though we've had to wait a long time to review it, the Sony Ericsson C902 is an appealing camera phone with a sleek, appealing design and a loaded feature set. Performance was respectable as well, though photo quality wasn't quite as good as were expecting. It's not offered by a U.S. or Canadian carrier, so you must buy it unlocked in North America. It won't come particularly cheaply; Sony Ericsson lists it for $549, but online retailers, such as Expansys.com, sell it for as low as $389.

Design
The Sony Ericsson C902 offers a typical Sony Ericsson candy-bar design in four colors: red, bronze, silver, and black. It's attractive by all accounts, and we like the silver stripes that wrap around the edges of our red version. At 4.3 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.4 inch, the phone casts a trim shadow and it slips easily into a pocket or bag. Weighing 3.8 ounces, it's a bit heavier than it looks, but the trade-off is a comfortable, solid feel in the hand.

The C902 has a 2-inch display that supports 262,144 colors (320x240 pixels). Like most Sony Ericsson displays of its caliber, it's bright and vibrant with bold colors and sharp graphics. You can change the brightness only. You can choose from three menu styles, but each interface is attractive and user-friendly. The display is rather difficult to see in direct light, but that's not unusual.

The navigation array consists of a square toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, Talk and End/power buttons, a shortcut control, and a clear key. The toggle is spacious and pleasantly tactile, but the remaining keys feel just a bit cramped. It will be a personal issue, so users with large hands should give the phone a test run before buying. You can set the toggle to act as a shortcut to four user-defined functions and you can access additional shortcuts with the aforementioned button. The keypad buttons are raised above the surface of the phone giving them a comfortable, tactile feel, but we noticed that they were somewhat cramped. You can dial by feel, but the backlighting was a tad dim.

On the right spine there's a volume rocker and a camera shutter key. The rocker is rather thin, and we wonder why Sony Ericsson placed it on the bottom end of the phone rather than the top. We got used it eventually, but it wasn't very intuitive at first. On the right spine you'll find the port for the USB cable, the charger and wired headsets. As you'd expect from Sony, it's a proprietary connection and the single port means you can use only one peripheral at a time. There is a Memory Stick Micro slot, but it's located behind the battery cover, which can be tricky to pry off.

The C902 slides apart to show the camera lens.

You might be wondering where the C902's camera lens is, since it's nowhere visible at first glance. To expose it you must slide up the phone's top end about a quarter of an inch. As the phone's back slide splits apart you'll see the lens, flash, and self-portrait mirror. It's a unique and effective touch, since it conveniently hides the camera parts when you don't need them. Also, we appreciate that Sony Ericsson gave us a self-portrait mirror. A single speaker also sits on the C902's rear face.

Features
The C902 has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail, Web address, job title and company name, two street addresses, a birthday, and notes. You can save callers to groups, and you can pair them with a photo and one of 20 ringtones. Besides polyphonic melodies, you also can save MP3s and videos as ringtones.

Basic features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, a task list, a notepad, a timer, a stopwatch, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a speakerphone. The C902 isn't a smartphone, but it offers a nice assortment of advanced options. You'll find full Bluetooth with a stereo profile and remote control options, PC syncing, a file manager, USB mass storage, integrated GPS, POP3 e-mail, and a code memo for storing sensitive information.

Of course, the 5-megapixel camera is the C902's star attraction. Sliding the phone open starts the camera automatically, so there's no need to press a button or navigate through menus. When you're in camera mode, you'll notice that a series of lighted icons appears around the display, which also functions as the viewfinder. These icons actually are small touch controls for manipulating various icons, like choosing a scene, changing the shooting mode, disabling the flash, activating the self-timer, selecting the focus detection, or changing to photo view mode. The icons are a tad small, but they're easy to use and they offer a slight vibrating feedback. We also like that when a particular mode is selected, an icon for that mode pops up on the main display.

The C902's touch icons give it an intuitive camera interface.

When used in landscape mode, the phone has an ergonomic feel in the hand that resembles a standalone camera. And as we said, we like how the phone opens to reveal the lens. You use the toggle and soft keys to control camera functions, and we give points to Sony Ericsson for putting the camera shutter and volume rocker and zoom control on the same side of the phone.

You can take pictures in four resolutions, from 5 megapixels down to simple VGA. Editing options are more than generous. They include face detection, an autofocus, a macro setting, an infinite mode (disables the autofocus for pictures taken at a distance), a self timer, five white balance settings, an adjustable brightness meter, four color effects, two quality settings, a 16x digital zoom, an image stabilizer, Sony Ericsson's BestPic feature (for taking nine shots in rapid succession), and four shutter sounds (there's no silent option).

The C902's camera is fully equipped.

Besides an auto mode, the scene settings that we mentioned earlier include twilight landscape, landscape, portrait, beach/snow, sports, and document. Though that's an excessive assortment of options, we were hoping for a better flash. Not only is it rather dim, you also don't get any settings like a red-eye reduction or an "always on" mode. The panorama mode was disappointing as well. Unlike the Samsung Innov8 and the or the Motorola ZN5, you must line up and take each shot yourself, as opposed to the camera doing it for you. What's more, the onscreen guide for lining up your next photo isn't very useful.

For all its hoopla, the Sony Ericsson's photo quality falls a bit short in early testing. Colors looked relatively natural, but images were a tad washed out. Also, we detected some image noise around smaller objects.

The C902 photo quality could be just a bit better.

The camcorder takes clips in one resolution with sound. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 24 seconds, but you can shoot for much longer in normal mode. Editing options are similar to the still camera, if a bit slimmed down. The C902 has a healthy 160MB of internal shared memory, but we suggest getting a memory card just the same. Our review phone came with a 1GB Memory Stick Micro card, but the C902 will support cards up to 8GB. A handy onscreen meter will tell you how much space you have left.

When finished with your shots you have a number of options. You can scroll through them on your display in a slide show format. Creative touches abound--for example, as the phone cycles through shots, the display will zoom in slightly on the image's focus and pan around just a bit, or it will change the color tone, among other effects. You can even activate a background tune (sad, romantic, energy, and happy) as your shots whiz by. It's just too bad you can't select one of your own tunes as an accompaniment. Though it all sounds corny--and we admit that it is, just a bit--we still liked it.

What's more, when viewing photos you can zoom in and pan around the shot and the autorotate feature will always show the position in which you took the shot. The Photo Fix feature will adjust color and light balance, and you can use the PhotoDJ and VideoDJ apps to edit your work even further. If you've geotagged your shots, you'll be able to see where you took them. You also get Face Warp and Photo Mate applications.

Getting photos off your phone is very easy using Bluetooth, a memory card, or a USB cable. When using the latter, your PC should recognize the phone immediately-- even without installing the included PC Suite software (which we've never liked anyway). You should then to be able to access the phone and pull out the pictures that you want. You also can connect the phone directly to a photo printer and upload photos to a blog.

The C902's music player (MPS and AAC files) isn't officially a Walkman player, but it might as well be. Settings include an equalizer, playlists, stereo widening, Sony's Mega Bass, and shuffle and loop modes. The interface is minimalist, but functional. There are no visualizations, but the player supports album art. Just keep in mind that it won't recognize every song it plays. Other features include an FM radio, TrackID, and support for audio books and podcasts. Getting music on the phone is as easy as it was with photos.

You can personalize the C902 with a variety of themes, wallpaper, screensavers, and clock styles. Some of the wallpapers include animation, which can deplete battery life. As always, you can purchase more options and ringtones from Sony Ericsson via the WAP 2.0 Web browser. Alternatively, the phone comes with a Music DJ application for composing your own ringtones. Gamers can enjoy three Java (J2ME) titles, FotoQuest Finish, Need for Speed and Solitaire, with additional titles available for purchase.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) C902 in San Francisco using T-Mobile service. Call quality was quite good. We enjoyed clear conversation, with sharp audio and loud volume. The signal remained relatively strong, and we encountered no static or interference from other electronic devices. Voices sounded natural, as well. The only issue we noticed--and it was minor--was that the audio cut out for a split second on some occasions.

On their end, callers said we sounded fine. They could tell we were using a cell phone, but on the whole, they didn't report many major problems. Some callers said the C902 picked up some background noise. Automated-calling systems could understand us as long as we were calling from a relatively quiet location. Speakerphone calls were decent, though the sound was distorted at the highest volumes. Still, we could understand our friends, and vice versa, when making speakerphone calls. Call quality over Bluetooth headsets was satisfactory.

The C902 supports EDGE and 3G service. Yet, it supports only the 2100 band (UMTS and HSDPA), which works exclusively outside North America. In places with 3G, the C902 supports video calling.

Music quality was enjoyable, though it suffered in comparison to Walkman phones like the W980.The speaker has decent output, but our tunes lacked range and sounded tinny. A headset will provide the best experience.

The C902 has a rated battery life of 9 hours talk time and 15.83 days standby time. It has a tested talk time of 5 hours and 55 minutes. According to FCC radiation charts, the C902 has a digital SAR rating of 1.32 watts per kilogram.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - silver (unlocked)

The good: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 features an interactive panel interface that lets you customize the smartphone to your wants and needs. The Windows Mobile device also has an attractive design and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The bad: Without U.S.-carrier backing, the Xperia X1 has an exorbitant price tag. The navigation controls are difficult to use, and the Web browsing experience wasn't the greatest.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is a well-designed and fully stocked smartphone that offers great customization through the interactive panel interface. However, with its high price tag, the X1 will be a hard sell for most customers and will be a purely luxury item.

Specifications: Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 ; Talk time: Up to 600 min ; Combined with: With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio ; See full specs

Price range: $599.99 - $709.99 check prices

See all products in the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 series

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

When it rains, it pours. In recent weeks, we've seen the release of a number of highly anticipated smartphones, including the RIM BlackBerry Bold and the T-Mobile G1, and now we have the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. First announced at GSMA 2008 in February, the Xperia X1 made headlines for being the company's first Windows Mobile device and for its interactive panel interface. It was such a showstopper that we barely got a look at the smartphone because of the swarms of spectators.

Fast-forward to now, where the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is finally ready for release and we've had a chance to spend some time with the final product. The X1 panel interface is undoubtedly cool, and we like having that extra level of personalization. It's also a well-crafted handset with a strong set of features and good performance. However, we have big doubts about its success. Unfortunately, the Xperia X1 will not be offered by a U.S. carrier at this time, but you will be able to buy it unlocked from Sony Style stores for $799.99. Yes, you read right: $799.99. Sony Ericsson was very clear in stating that the Xperia X1 is aimed at customers looking for a high-end phone, but even so, this is a bit ridiculous. Aside from the interactive panels and a couple of multimedia extras, Xperia X1 is very much like other Windows Mobile 6.1 devices and the aforementioned features don't seem to justify spending the extra dough. Unless you've got money to burn, we just can't imagine spending $800 for the phone. It's truly a luxury item. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 will be available for preorder on November 13 from the Sony Style Web site and will be in stores November 28.

Design
Smartphones with slide-out keyboards (a la AT&T Tilt and Sprint Mogul) have a tendency to be large and bulky, but this certainly isn't the case with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. At 4.4 inches tall by 2.1 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and 5.6 ounces, the Xperia X1 is compact and has a nice, solid construction. The phone is available in two colors: silver or black. We reviewed the silver model, which has an attractive steel finish and feels cool in the hand. The X1 definitely has wow factor and Sony Ericsson really did a nice job on the hardware.

For a device that has a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is quite a compact handset.

The Xperia X1 features a 3-inch touch screen that displays 65,536 colors at an 800x480 pixel resolution. With such a sharp resolution, it's no surprise that images and text looked crisp and colors were vibrant. However, the highlight of the smartphone is the interactive panel interface. Sony Ericsson created this feature to give users one-touch access to the features they wanted and the ability to customize the smartphone to their lifestyle.

Basically, you can choose from nine panels and, depending on whether you're at work or at play, you can pick whichever panel you want to fit your needs and have that be your Today screen for the day. Seven panels come preloaded on the device: Microsoft Today, Sony Ericsson (two variations), Google, 3D Fish, Xperia Radio, and Media Xperience. Most are self-explanatory, but if you're curious about the 3D Fish, it basically shows you the date and time and then three or four fish, which each represent some type of notification. For example, the speckled fish (called Ryukin) alerts you to missed calls, and the other fish will turn from one color to another when your battery is low or if you have a new message. It's all spelled out in the quick guides, but good luck remembering what everything means. You can also customize what type of information is displayed on the Today screen and add widgets to the Sony Ericsson panel, such as Web feeds and clocks and weathers for different cities.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 allows you to customize your smartphone with nine interactive panels.

In addition to the standard seven panels, you'll be able to download more panels from other developers through Sony Ericsson's download site. Unfortunately, when we tried on our review phone, we were met with a 404-page not found. Sony Ericsson said the full site will be up and running by the time the X1 is out. While the X1 panel interface is a cool concept and we love the customization, in reality, we only used about three of the panels. It's rare that we wanted multimedia or the radio to be at the forefront. This, of course, is a personal choice, though, and we appreciate the customization option.

Below the display, there is a navigation array that consists of two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, an X1 panel key, an OK button, and an optical joystick/directional keypad with a center select button. We weren't huge fans of any of these controls, as they're small and stiff to press, particularly the two sliverlike soft keys. We missed having a Home key. The optical joystick operates similar to the optical mouse on the Samsung Omnia and Samsung Epix, but like the Omnia, the trackpad is somewhat small, limiting how much you can move around on a page. Alternatively, you can press the outer edges of the trackpad (up, down, left, right), so it acts more like a traditional navigation toggle.

Below the touch screen, you'll find a navigation array, which includes the X1 panel key, but we found these buttons small and stiff to press.

To access the keyboard, just slide the screen to the right. The sliding mechanism is smooth and feels strong enough to endure multiple openings and closings. In its open state, you'll notice that there's a slight arc to the phone. Sony Ericsson did this to provide a better ergonomic experience when using the keyboard, and we think it succeeds. The slight curve makes it comfortable to hold the phone when typing messages, and it also props the screen at a nice angle for better viewing. The screen orientation will also automatically switch from portrait to landscape mode when you open the phone. The keyboard itself is pretty good. The buttons are slightly on the smaller side but there's enough spacing between them that we think it shouldn't give most people problems. We were able to compose messages and enter text without too many errors, though the number keys are a bit hard to find at first.

The X1's full QWERTY keyboard is spacious and easy to use.

On the left spine, you'll find a mini USB port, while the right side holds a volume rocker and a camera activation/capture button. The latter two controls are somewhat tiny so they're not the easiest to press; the volume rocker was particularly tricky, as it was hard to accurately press up or down while on a phone call. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack and a power button on top of the handset. The camera is located on the back, and there is a microSD expansion slot, but you have to remove the back cover to access it, which is an inconvenience. Also, a minor issue but worth mentioning: there's no release button or switch for the battery cover; you only get two little indentations on either side of the smartphone where you can pull it off with your fingernail, which wasn't always the easiest thing to do.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a 2GB microSD card, a wired headset, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Features
Behind all the flash of the panel interface lies another Windows Mobile smartphone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, so you get the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite and support for Microsoft's Direct Push Technology for real-time message delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server. In addition, you can access any POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts that you have; we configured our review unit to get our Yahoo Mail by simply entering our log-in ID and password and we were set up in just a couple of minutes. Other PIM tools include a task list, a notepad, a calculator, and a PDF reader. For added functionality, you can always download more applications, and there's even a shortcut included to the Handango store.

For Web browsing, the Xperia X1 ships with the Opera Mobile Web browser, in addition to the default Internet Explorer Mobile. There's also Windows Live integration and the aforementioned Google panel, which gives you quick access to search, Gmail, and Google Maps. On the Sony Ericsson panel, you can get Web feeds from up to 10 of your favorite sites, and you can choose how frequently you want to receive updates. As far as connecting to the Web, the smartphone offers integrated Wi-Fi and 3G. The X1 supports the 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA bands, which means to get the 3.5G speeds in the States, you'll need an AT&T SIM card. You'll still be able to make calls and surf the Web with a T-Mobile SIM, but it will only be on EDGE speeds since the carrier's 3G network runs on the 1700/2100MHz bands.

The Xperia X1's phone features include quad-band world roaming, a speakerphone, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. The phone book is limited only by the available memory (the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts), and there's room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, instant-messaging handles, and birthdays. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a picture, one of 41 polyphonic ringtones, or a group ID. Bluetooth 2.0 is also onboard for use with mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, and dial-up networking.

The smartphone also comes equipped with assisted GPS. To speed up the process of determining your location, the X1 also includes a utility called QuickGPS that we've seen on a few GPS-equipped smartphones; it downloads the latest satellite information via an Internet connection. While Google Maps for Mobile comes preloaded on the X1, you will only get text-based driving directions from the app. For real-time tracking and voice-guided prompts, you'll need a location-based service or online application like Wayfinder Navigation, which is provided on the software CD.

Sony Ericsson makes a big deal about the Xperia X1 being an all-in one device for both work and play, so it's no surprise there are a number of multimedia goodies. The X1's media interface is built to resemble Sony's other consumer electronics, including the PlayStation, the PSP, and the Bravia TV line, so it may look familiar to any owners of those products. The media player supports MP3, MP4, M4A, AAC(+), WMA, WAV, MIDI, MPEG-4, WMV and other music and video formats. Other goodies include podcast support, a streaming media player, and an FM radio, though you have to use the included headset for the latter. The X1 has about 400MB of onboard memory, and the expansion slot can accept up to 16GB cards.

On back, you'll find the Xperia X1's 3.2 megapixel camera and flash.

Finally, the Xperia X1 comes equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with a number of advanced features. The camera's interface is based on Sony's CyberShot camera. For still images, there are five picture sizes, three quality settings, and six shooting modes. In addition to face detection, you can tap on an object on the screen to focus on it. There are also white balance options and various effects. These tools are also available for videos, and you have two scene options and two shooting modes.

Photo quality was decent, with rich colors and good object definition.

Picture quality was pretty good. Colors looked almost true to life and while we thought there was a bit of softness to the image, we were still able to clearly identify objects in the photo. Video quality was also good. There was minimal pixelation, even during scenes were there was a bit of movement and action.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100) Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was good. When making calls, we could hear a slight background hiss that subsided when our friends picked up. Audio was clear and there was very little voice distortion, and we used an airline's voice-automated response system with no problem. We also didn't experience any dropped calls during our test period. Friends had positive comments, saying that they couldn't tell we were using a cell phone and there was good sound.

Unfortunately, the speakerphone quality wasn't the greatest. Voices sounded a bit garbled and volume was weak. We were able to pair the X1 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones. Using AT&T's 3G network, the X1 took about 40 seconds to 1 minute to load graphics-intensive pages like CNET.com, while mobile sites for CNN and ESPN took about 10 seconds. As for multimedia performance, we watched a couple of WMV clips, which looked excellent on the X1's sharp display. Playback was smooth as the images and sound were synchronized, and there was minimal pixelation to the picture. Of course, it helped that we played high-quality video. As with most smartphones, we weren't particularly impressed with music playback through the phone's speakers. Songs sounded very brassy, but we suspect many users won't be listening to tunes this way, which is why we're thrilled to see the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. We plugged in a pair of Shure E3s and enjoyed great sound quality.

Overall, the Xperia X1 was a responsive device. There's a slight lag when you activate a new panel, and some sluggishness when we had numerous applications open--typical Windows Mobile behavior. No system stalls or crashes, however. Despite the HSDPA support, we found the Web browsing to be a little pokey compared to other smartphones.

The Xperia X1 has a rated battery talk time of 6 hours on 3G and 10 hours on GSM/EDGE and up to 20 days of standby time. The Xperia X1 knocked out an impressive 9 hours of continuous talk time in our battery drain tests.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - black (unlocked)

The good: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 features an interactive panel interface that lets you customize the smartphone to your wants and needs. The Windows Mobile device also has an attractive design and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The bad: Without U.S.-carrier backing, the Xperia X1 has an exorbitant price tag. The navigation controls are difficult to use, and the Web browsing experience wasn't the greatest.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is a well-designed and fully stocked smartphone that offers great customization through the interactive panel interface. However, with its high price tag, the X1 will be a hard sell for most customers and will be a purely luxury item.

Specifications: Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 ; Combined with: With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio ; Weight: 5.1 oz See full specs

See all products in the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 series

CNET editors' review

Photo gallery:
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

When it rains, it pours. In recent weeks, we've seen the release of a number of highly anticipated smartphones, including the RIM BlackBerry Bold and the T-Mobile G1, and now we have the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. First announced at GSMA 2008 in February, the Xperia X1 made headlines for being the company's first Windows Mobile device and for its interactive panel interface. It was such a showstopper that we barely got a look at the smartphone because of the swarms of spectators.

Fast-forward to now, where the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is finally ready for release and we've had a chance to spend some time with the final product. The X1 panel interface is undoubtedly cool, and we like having that extra level of personalization. It's also a well-crafted handset with a strong set of features and good performance. However, we have big doubts about its success. Unfortunately, the Xperia X1 will not be offered by a U.S. carrier at this time, but you will be able to buy it unlocked from Sony Style stores for $799.99. Yes, you read right: $799.99. Sony Ericsson was very clear in stating that the Xperia X1 is aimed at customers looking for a high-end phone, but even so, this is a bit ridiculous. Aside from the interactive panels and a couple of multimedia extras, Xperia X1 is very much like other Windows Mobile 6.1 devices and the aforementioned features don't seem to justify spending the extra dough. Unless you've got money to burn, we just can't imagine spending $800 for the phone. It's truly a luxury item. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 will be available for preorder on November 13 from the Sony Style Web site and will be in stores November 28.

Design
Smartphones with slide-out keyboards (a la AT&T Tilt and Sprint Mogul) have a tendency to be large and bulky, but this certainly isn't the case with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. At 4.4 inches tall by 2.1 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and 5.6 ounces, the Xperia X1 is compact and has a nice, solid construction. The phone is available in two colors: silver or black. We reviewed the silver model, which has an attractive steel finish and feels cool in the hand. The X1 definitely has wow factor and Sony Ericsson really did a nice job on the hardware.

For a device that has a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is quite a compact handset.

The Xperia X1 features a 3-inch touch screen that displays 65,536 colors at an 800x480 pixel resolution. With such a sharp resolution, it's no surprise that images and text looked crisp and colors were vibrant. However, the highlight of the smartphone is the interactive panel interface. Sony Ericsson created this feature to give users one-touch access to the features they wanted and the ability to customize the smartphone to their lifestyle.

Basically, you can choose from nine panels and, depending on whether you're at work or at play, you can pick whichever panel you want to fit your needs and have that be your Today screen for the day. Seven panels come preloaded on the device: Microsoft Today, Sony Ericsson (two variations), Google, 3D Fish, Xperia Radio, and Media Xperience. Most are self-explanatory, but if you're curious about the 3D Fish, it basically shows you the date and time and then three or four fish, which each represent some type of notification. For example, the speckled fish (called Ryukin) alerts you to missed calls, and the other fish will turn from one color to another when your battery is low or if you have a new message. It's all spelled out in the quick guides, but good luck remembering what everything means. You can also customize what type of information is displayed on the Today screen and add widgets to the Sony Ericsson panel, such as Web feeds and clocks and weathers for different cities.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 allows you to customize your smartphone with nine interactive panels.

In addition to the standard seven panels, you'll be able to download more panels from other developers through Sony Ericsson's download site. Unfortunately, when we tried on our review phone, we were met with a 404-page not found. Sony Ericsson said the full site will be up and running by the time the X1 is out. While the X1 panel interface is a cool concept and we love the customization, in reality, we only used about three of the panels. It's rare that we wanted multimedia or the radio to be at the forefront. This, of course, is a personal choice, though, and we appreciate the customization option.

Below the display, there is a navigation array that consists of two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, an X1 panel key, an OK button, and an optical joystick/directional keypad with a center select button. We weren't huge fans of any of these controls, as they're small and stiff to press, particularly the two sliverlike soft keys. We missed having a Home key. The optical joystick operates similar to the optical mouse on the Samsung Omnia and Samsung Epix, but like the Omnia, the trackpad is somewhat small, limiting how much you can move around on a page. Alternatively, you can press the outer edges of the trackpad (up, down, left, right), so it acts more like a traditional navigation toggle.

Below the touch screen, you'll find a navigation array, which includes the X1 panel key, but we found these buttons small and stiff to press.

To access the keyboard, just slide the screen to the right. The sliding mechanism is smooth and feels strong enough to endure multiple openings and closings. In its open state, you'll notice that there's a slight arc to the phone. Sony Ericsson did this to provide a better ergonomic experience when using the keyboard, and we think it succeeds. The slight curve makes it comfortable to hold the phone when typing messages, and it also props the screen at a nice angle for better viewing. The screen orientation will also automatically switch from portrait to landscape mode when you open the phone. The keyboard itself is pretty good. The buttons are slightly on the smaller side but there's enough spacing between them that we think it shouldn't give most people problems. We were able to compose messages and enter text without too many errors, though the number keys are a bit hard to find at first.

The X1's full QWERTY keyboard is spacious and easy to use.

On the left spine, you'll find a mini USB port, while the right side holds a volume rocker and a camera activation/capture button. The latter two controls are somewhat tiny so they're not the easiest to press; the volume rocker was particularly tricky, as it was hard to accurately press up or down while on a phone call. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack and a power button on top of the handset. The camera is located on the back, and there is a microSD expansion slot, but you have to remove the back cover to access it, which is an inconvenience. Also, a minor issue but worth mentioning: there's no release button or switch for the battery cover; you only get two little indentations on either side of the smartphone where you can pull it off with your fingernail, which wasn't always the easiest thing to do.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a 2GB microSD card, a wired headset, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Features
Behind all the flash of the panel interface lies another Windows Mobile smartphone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, so you get the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite and support for Microsoft's Direct Push Technology for real-time message delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server. In addition, you can access any POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts that you have; we configured our review unit to get our Yahoo Mail by simply entering our log-in ID and password and we were set up in just a couple of minutes. Other PIM tools include a task list, a notepad, a calculator, and a PDF reader. For added functionality, you can always download more applications, and there's even a shortcut included to the Handango store.

For Web browsing, the Xperia X1 ships with the Opera Mobile Web browser, in addition to the default Internet Explorer Mobile. There's also Windows Live integration and the aforementioned Google panel, which gives you quick access to search, Gmail, and Google Maps. On the Sony Ericsson panel, you can get Web feeds from up to 10 of your favorite sites, and you can choose how frequently you want to receive updates. As far as connecting to the Web, the smartphone offers integrated Wi-Fi and 3G. The X1 supports the 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA bands, which means to get the 3.5G speeds in the States, you'll need an AT&T SIM card. You'll still be able to make calls and surf the Web with a T-Mobile SIM, but it will only be on EDGE speeds since the carrier's 3G network runs on the 1700/2100MHz bands.

The Xperia X1's phone features include quad-band world roaming, a speakerphone, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. The phone book is limited only by the available memory (the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts), and there's room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, instant-messaging handles, and birthdays. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a picture, one of 41 polyphonic ringtones, or a group ID. Bluetooth 2.0 is also onboard for use with mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, and dial-up networking.

The smartphone also comes equipped with assisted GPS. To speed up the process of determining your location, the X1 also includes a utility called QuickGPS that we've seen on a few GPS-equipped smartphones; it downloads the latest satellite information via an Internet connection. While Google Maps for Mobile comes preloaded on the X1, you will only get text-based driving directions from the app. For real-time tracking and voice-guided prompts, you'll need a location-based service or online application like Wayfinder Navigation, which is provided on the software CD.

Sony Ericsson makes a big deal about the Xperia X1 being an all-in one device for both work and play, so it's no surprise there are a number of multimedia goodies. The X1's media interface is built to resemble Sony's other consumer electronics, including the PlayStation, the PSP, and the Bravia TV line, so it may look familiar to any owners of those products. The media player supports MP3, MP4, M4A, AAC(+), WMA, WAV, MIDI, MPEG-4, WMV and other music and video formats. Other goodies include podcast support, a streaming media player, and an FM radio, though you have to use the included headset for the latter. The X1 has about 400MB of onboard memory, and the expansion slot can accept up to 16GB cards.

On back, you'll find the Xperia X1's 3.2 megapixel camera and flash.

Finally, the Xperia X1 comes equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with a number of advanced features. The camera's interface is based on Sony's CyberShot camera. For still images, there are five picture sizes, three quality settings, and six shooting modes. In addition to face detection, you can tap on an object on the screen to focus on it. There are also white balance options and various effects. These tools are also available for videos, and you have two scene options and two shooting modes.

Photo quality was decent, with rich colors and good object definition.

Picture quality was pretty good. Colors looked almost true to life and while we thought there was a bit of softness to the image, we were still able to clearly identify objects in the photo. Video quality was also good. There was minimal pixelation, even during scenes were there was a bit of movement and action.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100) Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was good. When making calls, we could hear a slight background hiss that subsided when our friends picked up. Audio was clear and there was very little voice distortion, and we used an airline's voice-automated response system with no problem. We also didn't experience any dropped calls during our test period. Friends had positive comments, saying that they couldn't tell we were using a cell phone and there was good sound.

Unfortunately, the speakerphone quality wasn't the greatest. Voices sounded a bit garbled and volume was weak. We were able to pair the X1 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones. Using AT&T's 3G network, the X1 took about 40 seconds to 1 minute to load graphics-intensive pages like CNET.com, while mobile sites for CNN and ESPN took about 10 seconds. As for multimedia performance, we watched a couple of WMV clips, which looked excellent on the X1's sharp display. Playback was smooth as the images and sound were synchronized, and there was minimal pixelation to the picture. Of course, it helped that we played high-quality video. As with most smartphones, we weren't particularly impressed with music playback through the phone's speakers. Songs sounded very brassy, but we suspect many users won't be listening to tunes this way, which is why we're thrilled to see the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. We plugged in a pair of Shure E3s and enjoyed great sound quality.

Overall, the Xperia X1 was a responsive device. There's a slight lag when you activate a new panel, and some sluggishness when we had numerous applications open--typical Windows Mobile behavior. No system stalls or crashes, however. Despite the HSDPA support, we found the Web browsing to be a little pokey compared to other smartphones.

The Xperia X1 has a rated battery talk time of 6 hours on 3G and 10 hours on GSM/EDGE and up to 20 days of standby time. The Xperia X1 knocked out an impressive 9 hours of continuous talk time in our battery drain tests.

Sony Ericsson W995a

The good: The Sony Ericsson W995a has a brilliant display and a loaded feature set that includes Wi-Fi and 3G. It also offers a 3.5-millimeter headset jack and a kickstand.

The bad: The Sony Ericsson W995a keypad doesn't feel sturdy and e-mail support is limited. Call quality could be variable and videos were unimpressive.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson W995a suffers from some design concerns and performance issues, but it remains an attractive and functional music phone.

Price range: $399.99 - $650.90 check prices

CNET editors' review

Photo gallery:
Sony Ericsson W995a

Sometimes, we get excited about the little things. For example, when we first saw the Sony Ericsson W995a at GSMA 2009 we got excited not because it has an 8.1-megapixel camera and a Walkman player--we've seen those before--but because it had a 3.5-millimeter headset jack and kickstand. Yes, we know that those features may seem insignificant when compared with a flashy media player, but as usability goes, you can't top them. The kickstand lets you prop the phone on a table and the standard jack lets you use your own headset. Did we mention that the W995 is the first Sony Ericsson phone to give you such freedom?

Besides those high points, the W995a has other attractions, even if it's not the sexiest phone around. The display is brilliant, the media player performs well, and the feature set includes Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, and GPS. It also is a full quad-band world phone that supports AT&T's 3G network. There were some things that we didn't love: the volume is low, some aspects of the design felt flimsy, and the unlocked W995a will put a serious crimp in your wallet. Without any carrier subsides, it cost about $600. You can get it in Sony Style stores and at SonyStyle.com. And as a bonus, Sony will help you hook up the phone for use with your carrier's multimedia services.

Design
"Boxy" is the main word that comes to mind when you see the W995a. Though it's not unattractive by any means, the straight lines and sharp corners don't scale the heights of striking design. Despite its many features, the W995a manages to be rather compact (3.8 inches tall by 1.9 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick) and lightweight (4.0 ounces). The phone travels well and it has a solid feel, but we noticed that the slider mechanism wobbled just a bit. The W995a comes in progressive black, cosmic silver, and energetic red, though the features are the same on all models.

The W995a's real estate is dominated by a gorgeous 2.6-inch display. Supporting 16.7 million colors (320x240 pixels), it lends itself well to still graphics, photos, and simple animations. The menu interface is standard Sony Ericsson; you can choose from four styles, but we consider the list and grid options to be the most intuitive. You can adjust the brightness to your liking.

Sony Ericsson can stumble when designing navigation controls, but the W995's come off pretty well. The circular toggle and central OK button are large and pleasantly tactile. The surrounding navigation controls, which are shaped like half circles, are a bit small, but they're also raised above the surface of the phone. You'll find two soft keys, a clear button, and a control that activates a user-customizable shortcut menu. Spacious Talk and End/power keys sit on either side of its navigation array.

The keypad doesn't fare quite as well, unfortunately. The buttons are rather small and they have a slippery feel. Compared with other slider phones we could dial without looking, but it wasn't the most comfortable experience for rapid dialing or texting. Also, we're worried about long-term durability since the area that surrounds the keys "gives" just a bit when we pressed down. It's worth noting that a similar phone--the Sony Ericsson W580i--developed cracks over time.

On the left spine you'll find a Walkman player shortcut and the proprietary Sony Ericsson headset jack. We're hoping that before too long Sony Ericsson joins other manufacturers in moving to a standard Micro-USB charger connection. On the right spine are a camera shortcut, music player controls, and a volume rocker. The latter doubles as a zoom control for the camera, though it's a little too small for our tastes.

We liked the W995a's headset jack and kickstand.

The 3.5-millimeter headset jack rests conveniently on the top of the phone between stereo speakers. You'll be able to use your own headset while carrying the phone in a pocket. On the rear side are the camera lens, flash, and kickstand. The former two are in the top-right corner so that the W995a resembles a standalone camera from behind. The camera controls are easily accessible when the phone is the horizontal position--just be sure to keep your fingers out of the way.

As we mentioned, you can use the kickstand to prop the W995 on a table without resting it against your hand or a book. It certainly makes for convenient media viewing, though the kickstand's hinge is rather loose. We'd prefer that it click into place in the open position. And for what it's worth, we'd like it even better if the display offered better video quality.

Features
The W995's phone book accommodates a generous 1,000 contacts. Each entry stores seven phone numbers, an e-mail address, a company name and job title, two street addresses, a URL, a birthday, and notes (the SIM card holds an additional 250 names). You can save callers to groups and you can pair them with one of 30 MP4 ringtones. If you're not happy with the selection that came on the W995a, you can use your music tracks to identify callers.

Essential features include text and multimedia messaging, a speakerphone, a vibrate mode, a task list, a notepad, a stopwatch, a notepad, a calendar, a calculator, and an alarm clock. More advanced options include Wi-Fi, USB mass storage, PC syncing, a voice recorder, instant messaging, a file manager, and a code memo for storing sensitive information.

The Bluetooth feature includes stereo and object exchange profiles. What's more, you can use it to send a personal business card or as a remote control for other Bluetooth-enabled devices. The W995 offers assisted GPS with support for Google Maps and a Web-based Wayfinder application for turn-by-turn directions. Overall, that's a decent selection of features, but on the downside, POP3 e-mail access requires a clunky Web interface.

As a Walkman phone, the W995a has a full service digital music player. It's not unlike other Walkman phones that came before it, but that's a good thing considering Sony Ericsson's respectable track record with music handsets. Settings include an airplane mode, an equalizer, playlists, stereo widening, and shuffle and loop modes. The interface is minimalist, but functional. You can set visualizations and the player supports album art, as well. Just keep in mind that it won't recognize every song it plays. The dedicated controls make for an ergonomic experience and we again thank Sony Ericsson for including the 3.5-millimeter headset jack.

As with a few of its Sony Ericsson siblings, the W995 is integrated with the "shake control" application. By holding down the Walkman button when music is playing, you can advance to the next track by flicking your wrist. It works quite well, though we didn't use it much. You also get the standard FM radio, though you will need a wired antenna to act as an antenna.

Loading music on the phone is relatively easy. The needed USB cable and the PC Media Go software are included, which means you're saved the pain of shelling out more money for a music kit. The Sony Ericsson software can be a bit clunky, so we're glad that you can also drag and drop music from your PC to the phone. You also can bypass the software and sync music with Windows Media Player. Internal memory isn't excessive--you're limited to 118MB of shared space. The W995a's Memory Stick Micro slot will accommodate cards up to 8GB, but you'll need to remove the battery cover to access it.

The W995 has a flash, but no option for self-portraits.

The 8.1-megapixel camera takes pictures in four resolutions and two quality settings. Editing options are quite extensive. You'll find four color effects, a self-timer, a macro setting, four white balance choices, a brightness adjustment, an infinite mode (disables the autofocus for pictures taken at a distance), spot metering, a 16x digital zoom, an image stabilizer, 12 frames, multishot and night modes, an option for taking panoramic shots, and four shutter sounds. You can turn off the flash or you can keep it on and use it as a flashlight. An auto-rotate feature changes the orientation of the display as you tilt from portrait to landscape.

Sony Ericsson also added a couple of unique options. With face detection, the camera will shoot automatically when it detects a subject's face in the frame. On a similar vein, the smile detection feature shoots automatically when it finds a smile. Rounding out the selections are settings for twilight landscape, landscape, portrait, beach/snow, sports, and document shots.

The W995a has decent photo quality.

The camcorder takes clips with sound and offers a set of editing options similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 20 seconds, but you can shoot for much longer in normal mode. Photo quality is quite good with bright colors and little image noise. On the other hand, video quality was just average. Photo DJ and Video DJ applications give you a bit of freedom for editing your work. If you're not the creative type, you can watch videos with the integrated YouTube application.

The W995a comes with a solid assortment of applications, many of which center on music. Track ID will find the names of unfamiliar songs: MusicDJ lets you compose ringtones; Music Quiz will grill you on trivia; and the silly Rock Bobblehead app lets you control a cartoon Elvis-like figure by shaking the phone. Music Mate 5 is an interactive music app that plays guitar and piano chords and background beats. You also can use the phone's motion sensor to play various drum sounds.

We also found some thoroughly offbeat selections. The Sound Sensor app measures sound with visualization graphics; Voice Transformer takes voice recordings and warps them with a selection of effects like robot or high-pitch; Walk Mate turns the phone into a pedometer; and Comeks Strips transforms a selection of photos into a comic strip. The Voice Transformer was the most fun, but we can't imagine using the others more than once.

You can personalize the W995a with a variety of screensavers, clock sizes, themes, and wallpaper. More options, and additional ringtones, are available with the WAP 2.0 Web browser. Gamers get a nice selection of options. Game titles include Bowling, Bubble Town, Diamond Island, Guitar Rock Tour, NitroStreet Racing, Playman Extreme, and Real Football 2.

Performance
We tested the quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) world phone in San Francisco using AT&T service. Call quality was fine, but it could be variable. Though voices sounded natural, the signal seemed to waver, particularly in buildings, and we noticed some occasional static and "GSM buzz." The volume level was also lower than we'd prefer. We had to turn up the phone to the highest level if we wanted to hear in noisy environments.

On their end, callers said we sounded fine, though most could tell that we were using a cell phone. Our friends didn't mention the static that we heard, but a few reported background noise when were talking on the street. Automated-calling systems could understand us as long as we were calling from a relatively quiet location. Speakerphone calls were just OK. The volume was much too quiet and we heard an echoed effect. On the upside, call quality over Bluetooth headsets was satisfactory.

The W995a supports EDGE and 3G services. It's a tri-band (UMTS; HSDPA 850/1800/1900) phone, so it is compatible with wireless broadband networks in Europe and North America. In places where carriers support the service, the W995a has video calling. The Web browser was zippy, but YouTube videos were average.

Music quality rated favorable with other Walkman phones. The external speakers have decent output, but as is usually the case with a music phone, our tunes lacked warmth. Also, music was tinny at the highest levels. A headset will provide the best experience. During transfers, music loaded on the phone relatively quickly.

The W995a has a rated talk time of nine hours with GSM and four hours with 3G. The W995a has a tested talk time of 9 hours and 45 minutes. Its promised standby battery life is 15.4 days with GSM and 15 days with 3G.