Sony Ericsson Blog

What mainly differentiates the W715 from other Walkman feature phones is that it’s the first one to feature Wi-Fi. It’s also got a big screen for better browsing, a GPS module, a great and stylish shell and, last but definitely not least, Sony’s trademarked Clear Audio and Clear Stereo sound enhancement technologies. It’s not even a high-end phone, at that.

Some may think that it’s yet-another Walkman slider that is almost identical to previous models. I’ll try to prove them wrong in this review. Oh, you’ll also find lots of photos and UI snapshots, in case you want to just skim through the boring, yet highly informative text part.

Advantages

• UMTS / HSDPA 2100, up to 3.6 Mbps
• Quad-band GSM
• Great design
• Thin and light body
• Clear Bass and Clear Stereo
• Wi-Fi
• Relatively large screen
• GPS (W715 only)
• 8GB card in-box (4GB for the W705)

The w715’s design follows a sort of monoblock philosophy. Its fascia is devoid of curves (sans the buttons), featuring only clean, straight lines. The back also lacks clutter and is only slightly curved at the sides. All in all, the phone is very light and feels very good in the hand, its thickness measuring only 14mm. The length and width are respectively 95 by 47.5. The phone is quite petite, despite what its largish front screen may insinuate. The metallic accents and the front plate also look and feel very nice (especially when cold!).

The front of the phone features a relatively large 2.4″ TFT screen with a QVGA resolution, which is able to display up to 262k colours. Quite frankly, it’s one of the best screens I’ve seen. The contrast is excellent and the colour reproduction isn’t far behind, while screen legibility suffers a bit from the glossy coating, but it’s no too bad, really.

Now, you may say that the W715 is a tad too similar to other recent Walkman sliders. You’d be wrong to think so. I’ve held almost all Walkmans, but the W715 is by far one of the most stylish ones. Feels great in the hand too. Considering that it isn’t exactly a high-end phone, the addition of Wi-Fi, GPS and the Clear Audio sound enhancement technologies is very welcome. Also, the great bundled earphones and the included 8GB card makes the phone all the more valuable. So if you’re looking for a great-looking and relatively cheap GPS and Wi-Fi-wielding musical slider, there are few alternatives to the W715.

By Kaloyan Stoychev

Source: Blog-se-nse