The W302 Walkman phone from Sony Ericsson could be seen as the low cost way to enter into the continuously growing Walkman range with phones ranging in price and performance. The important question with the W302 is that of whether or not it has what it takes to live up to the iconic Walkman brand.

The Sony Ericsson W302 Walkman Phone

What’s in the box?

• Sony Ericsson W302
• User guide
• Software CD
• Battery
• Mains Charger
• Stereo Portable Handsfree
• USB Data Cable
• 512MB Memory Stick Micro (M2)

Check out Matt’s Sony Ericsson W302 unboxing video for a more detailed look at the handset and what you get with it.

Sony Erisson W302 Walkman Phone specification:

• Dimensions – 110 x 49 x 11.7 mm
• Weight – 99.8g
• Screen – 240×320 pixel – 2.2 inches
• Music – Walkman Player – PlayNow™
• FM Radio
• Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
• Camera – 2 mega-pixel
• Networks – GSM 850, GSM 900,GSM 1800, GSM 1900
• Messaging – Email, MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
• Memory – 20 MB memory – Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (512MB included in box)
• Bluetooth 2.0

General

Looks-wise the W302 is a very small, extremely compact device. However as is so often the case with technological products smaller is not always better. The phone feels very small in the hand and feels very light indeed so certainly won’t be leaving any unsightly bulge in your pocket.

The Front of the device is obviously where the main controls of the phone can be found. The screen is a fair size and below this are the navigational buttons which also double as playback controls. Either side of this are the call and shortcut keys.

Sony Ericsson W302 front view

The left side of the phone is home to the standard large Sony Ericsson proprietory connector port and situated further along the phone is the Walkman quick launch key, allowing quick access to the phones multimedia functions.

Sony Ericsson W302 left side

The right hand side of the W302 is again fairly limited button wise, there is a two way volume control which can also be used to check the phones status(battery life, available memory etc.) and located further down is the camera quick launch and shutter button.

Sony Ericsson W302 right side

The Back of the device is home to a 2 mega-pixel camera however no flash which is a little disappointing, below the batter cover apart from the obvious is the M2 card slot for additional phone storage.

Sony Ericsson W302 back view

The top and bottom of the Sony Ericsson W302 are rather non eventful, which when you take into account the lack of buttons on the sides of the device there being no buttons on the top and bottom does leave the W302 very bare and rather plain looking.

Highlights

• Small and Compact
• Low Price

Lowlights

• small and fiddly buttons
• Low in-built memory

Review

So lets start this review with the styling and overall appearance and feel of the W302. As I mentioned earlier the W302 is very small and very compact and feels very lightweight, I also said that smaller is not always better when It comes to mobile phones and I have to be honest and say in the case of the W302 its size is also a downside, The phone being small and light is great as it makes the phone easy to carry etc. however a downside to this is the size of the phones keys, on multiple occasions while texting on dialling I found myself pressing 2 buttons at once and I don’t have particularly large thumbs. The phones styling is fairly minimalist with little in the way of buttons around the sides of the device making it a clean, sleek and smart device.

Being a Walkman device it is important to talk about the W302’s multimedia functions. The phone has 20MB of internal memory and included support of up to 4GB via M2 memory card. This is not great however given the phones price it seems like a reasonable compromise. The multimedia features are extremely simple to use and as with other Walkman devices the navigation is the same allowing those with previous experience to navigate quickly and easily. Transferring music from PC to mobile is as it always is with Sony Ericsson and that is quick and simple whether you take advantage of the software included or not. If you have read my reviews before you will be well aware of my personal gripe with the Sony Ericsson proprietory connector not only the size but also the Position, although this is not a massive problem when I see the size of Nokia’s connector and the fact that it would not be out of the question to include a standard 3.5mm jack on the device I cannot help but feel annoyed at this obvious design flaw.

The W302 would certainly be described as a ‘budget phone’ now this tag a few years ago would have left you expecting no more than the basics and possibly a basic camera if that, however now a budget phone can have no excuses in not meeting the changing demands of the consumer and I just feel that the W302 does not quite come up to scratch when compared to other devices of a similar price elsewhere.

The W302 comes equipped with a 2 mega pixel camera but as I mentioned earlier no flash, despite this I have to be honest and say that the image quality the W302 produced did surprise me somewhat, the phone also boasts a video recorder, the quality of which will be of no surprise to regular Sony Ericsson users and for those of you who have not experienced a Sony Ericsson before the quality is fair however is certainly nothing compared to a budget camcorder or in many cases as high as the video function on many digital cameras. Accessing photos and videos can be done with ease through the familiar Sony Ericsson navigational menu, the screen which is a 176 x 220 TFT makes for a reasonable viewing surface however is not ideal for watching videos of any great length and is not particularly friendly when it comes to sharing photos with friends.

I mentioned a little earlier about using the phone on a day to day basis and as with all Sony Ericssons I have used in the past the W302 is no different, simple and easy to use with easy to navigate menus which on occasion I did find to be a little slow on the W302. The phone comes with the usual batch of free games and features including a very addictive Roller-coaster simulator. The phone also includes an FM radio and the ever useful inclusion of Track ID for when those DJ’s just refuse to name the song. As for connectivity, connections between the phone and PC are made via the propitiatory connector to USB or bluetooth. That is about it for connectivity as is expected of a device of this price it is very unlikely to include premium features such as Wi-Fi etc. The W302 has a quoted battery life of around 7 hours talk and 300 hours standby however as I always do I feel it is important to note that these quotes can differ, often quite dramatically based on personal usage so are always hard to review however in the time I spent with the phone I didn’t find myself reaching for the charger a whole lot.

There are areas of the W302 which I feel could do with some improvement, changes which I feel would have been easy enough to make and would have just helped the device in going that little bit further to competing with other budget music devices. It will not be encouraging you to bin your dedicated MP3 player just yet but is a step in the right direction for Sony Ericsson and with a little improvement and tweaking lets never say never.

Conclusion

The Walkman brand is certainly an Iconic one and I just feel that although the W302 Is a step up from previous budget Ericsson phones it just misses the mark slightly. It does have the features we have come to expect it does do what it says on the box but it just doesn’t go that little bit extra which in Today’s highly competitive and expanding market of budget phones can make all the difference. The Sony Ericsson W302 would make a perfect first phone for any young music lover however will certainly seem insufficient for the hardcore music loving phone user. A good offering from Sony Ericsson just missing the mark in some minor areas.

Review by: Nick

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