The sound through the 3.5mm jack was simply stellar, perhaps thanks in part to the phone's Clear Stereo and Clear Bass gizmos for improving stereo separation and a great kick in the pants on the low end. Granted, we conducted our testing on a pair of exquisite Shure SE530 buds equipped triple-flange sleeves, but we use these on virtually every music phone we test -- and we can say without hesitation that the W995a provides the best sound we've ever heard from a phone. Sound was rich and well-balanced, but perhaps more importantly, there was virtually zero hiss or other unwanted electronic interference. In fact, we'd go so far to say it's among the best sound we've heard from any portable media player.
Enhancing the phone's multimedia-centric image are stereo speakers that are creatively positioned at either end, top and bottom. Stereo speakers in a device this small are gimmicky by nature, but Sony Ericsson's done the best it could by separating the two by as much distance as they could possibly be -- and they're clear enough to rival some notebook PCs.
“Yari is the industry’s first mobile phone with gesture gaming outside of the Japanese market,” said Catherine Cherry, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson. “It’s time to move like you’ve never moved on a mobile phone before! With Gesture gaming you move your body to play instead of pressing buttons on the phone, giving you a fun experience that even helps you keep fit. If you’ve exhausted yourself with the games there are loads of other multimedia features to enjoy. Snap your friends with the five megapixel camera or chill out to your favourite tunes with the state-of-the art music player”.
Sony Ericsson Yari network connectivity is duly covered with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support and dual band UMTS (with HSDPA).
The other interesting features of the Sony Ericsson Yari include Bluetooth, FM Radio with RDS and USB support. It will also have a microSD card slot for expanding the 60 MB of built-in memory.
Sony Ericsson Yari is set to launch in September in Achromatic Black and Cranberry White color versions.
So there you have it - while the Sony Ericsson Yari isn't a revolutionary device, Sony Ericsson have just successfully revolutionized their portfolio. You've got a top-notch music player, high-res camera with Face and Smile detection, GPS receiver, a praise-worthy web browser and the latest in Sony Ericsson UI development all in one device. Not to mention the extraordinary gesture-based gaming. The newly adopted and much welcomed transition to microSD cards support is also something to cheer about.
Sony Ericsson has hit out at press reports saying it would drop its Walkman and Cybershot handset brands in favour of the “entertainment unlimited” concept headed up by the ‘Idou’, which features a 12MP camera.
It denied that it would discontinue the popular ranges after a report titled “Sony Ericsson axes Walkman mobiles” appeared on Marketing Magazine’s website this week.
It said, however, that future Walkman and Cybershot devices would be aimed at prepay users, as “entertainment unlimited” would become the manufacturer’s flagship handsets.
A Sony Ericsson spokesperson confirmed: “We do not plan to drop Walkman and Cybershot branded devices from our portfolio in the UK.
“At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February we announced our intention to combine the best of experiences from Walkman and Cybershot into more entertainment focused handsets. The first of these is a handset announced as Idou.
“By taking the very best elements of our Walkman and Cybershot devices we will deliver, new 'high' end devices into the market. This will mean that both Cybershot and Walkman branded devices will become more of a prepay proposition within the UK market. This is a very important part of the market for us to address and we are very confident Walkman and Cybershot devices will have strong appeal to UK consumers in the prepay segment.”
The Sony Ericsson W508 doesn’t bring anything new to the table with its moderately strong vibro alert, a bit too loud ring tones and decent call quality. The phone is set to arrive some time in April at the price point of 250 Euro, which may seem like a bargain until you take the Sony Ericsson W910 (220 Euro) and W595 (220 Euro) into consideration. While the W508 will retail for 30 Euro more, it doesn’t offer any significant upgrades compared to the abovementioned models. With its slightly revamped A200 platform and bog-standard specifications, it will never make it out of its pretty narrow niche, thus repeating the fate of the Sony Ericsson W980. Its target audience will definitely see it as a nearly perfect phone, but much like the case of the W980, there won’t be many people with this mindset and demands.
The memory on the Sony Ericsson W205 is expandable via the M2 memory card slot so you can fit in quite a number of music tracks. Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) and FM radio with RDS add to the music-centric features.
It's also the first Sony Ericsson handset to ship with the excellent Opera Mini web browser, which has been preinstalled on most Nokia feature phones. It also offers a multi-person phonebook so that users from emerging markets can share the handset with their family but keep their contacts private.
Sony Ericsson W205 will be available in selected markets from Q3 2009 in Ambient Black.
Also announced today is the MS410 Snap-on speaker. It supports all Walkman phones.
