Sony Ericsson may have a winner with the gorgeous and functional W880, the slimmest Walkman phone yet.

So what makes Sony Ericsson's newest addition to its Walkman series of phones so special?  

Shedding weight 

The W880i, which is about as thick as a CD case, only weighs 71g. It is so light you may even forget that it is in your pocket.  

Plus, it is amazing that the designers managed to stuff so many features into this slim phone.  

To sweeten the deal, the W880i comes bundled with a 1GB M2 Memory Stick, so you don't have to spend more money getting one. 

However, if you already own a Walkman phone, you won't be able to use your existing Memory Stick Pro Duo memory cards. 

Looking good 

Hands down, the W880i is a beautiful phone to look at. The phone's front panel features a metallic silver finish, giving it an element of style and flair. The back panel is coated with a layer of plastic that has a nice rubber-like grip. 

I can safely say that this is one slim phone you will want to be seen with anywhere you go. 

Regular buttons for camera, volume control (which doubles as the zoom button in camera mode) and the Walkman Player are all located on the side of the phone. 

The Fast port, located on the left side of the phone, is normally used for recharging and connecting the headset, similar to that of other Walkman phones.  

However, since the Fast port is located on the side, you won't be able to connect the phone to regular Walkman docks. 

Small keys  

Another aspect of the phone that will catch your attention is the buttons, which have a rice-like protruding design.  

While most people believe that the small keys will make text messaging more difficult (more so for a person with large fingers) but surprisingly that is not the case with this phone.  

SMALL KEYS: The W880i's key may be small but they are still comfortable to use.

All it takes is a little getting used to and practice to get yourself up to speed. 

As beautiful as it gets 

It is worth noting that the W880i has an amazingly bright QVGA (240 x 340pixels) display. The screen does a brilliant job of displaying animation and text indoors and even in the outdoors under direct sunlight.  

With a higher resolution screen, you can expect to see some great looking themes on the W880i. One theme that we liked was called gSharp, which featured multicoloured bars rising and falling across a dark landscape. 

Overall, the display is certainly a step above other Sony Ericsson phones. However, with such a brilliant display, it is a shame that the screen was not made bigger to facilitate better web browsing. 

Web browsing 

The web browser does a decent job of loading up different types of webpages.  

However, while we could view most of the webpages that we visited using the W880i's Internet browser, sites containing flash or videos were still off limits due to compatibility problems with the browser. 

Also, the browser gives you a lot of options to play around with. You can switch the screen orientation from portrait to landscape if you feel restricted by the narrow field of vision.  

Another nice feature included in the browser is the ability to zoom in and out of webpages. This comes in handy if you want to zoom in on a particular section of a webpage or want a closer look at a picture. 

Great user interface 

If you've used Sony Ericsson phones before, you will feel right at home with the W880i. Even if you are a first time user, the interface has a very user-friendly design that will get you settled in very quickly. 

The W880i's menu system is highly responsive and easy to navigate. While testing it, we hardly noticed any slowdowns or freezing up when launching applications or switching between functions.  

The Activity menu is a useful feature that alerts you to missed calls and incoming text messages.  

The menu serves a myriad of different purposes that makes navigating the W880i easy. You can look at applications that your phone is running and switch between them at will. 

The W880i is also able to run three applications at the same time, allowing you to multitask.  

alternatively, you can also use the Activity menu to enter web addresses, conduct a Google search and visit bookmarked webpages. 

The W880i comes with other standard mobile phone functions like alarms, calendar, task manager, notes and calculator, which should come as no surprise. 

Music for your ears 

The W880i is one serious music player. It is one of the first few in the new line of Walkman phones to include the Walkman Media Player Version 2. Though it is more of an aesthetic upgrade, the media player works as well as it did before. 

You can search through your collection of songs by artiste, album or playlist. Plus, the new version can now display album art or animated visualisations.  

The W880i supports all kinds of music formats including regular MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA and MIDI files. The sound was clear and crisp while using the bundled earphones. 

However, the same cannot be said of the external loudspeaker. While the loudspeaker is strong enough to be heard in a quiet environment, it can hardly be heard in a crowded room.  

It is odd that the W880i lacks the normal Walkman start up feature that allows users to enjoy music playback without having to switch on the phone function.  

The W880i's 2-megapixel camera is capable of shooting decent pictures in well-lit environments, making it perfect for day trips and outings at the park. However, due to the lack of autofocus, some pictures did not turn out so sharp.  

The camera does not perform great when indoors and pictures turned out highly grainy. As such, the phone's picture taking ability feels somewhat limited.  

The camera is also capable of shooting short videos at 176 x 144pixels. Because of the low resolution of the camera, even videos turned out blurry. 

Other features 

The W880i has few other interesting features. The Track ID application is a program that identifies almost any song ¡V just let it listen to a five second clip of any part of a song and it will identify the song.  

Musicians will definitely appreciate Music Mate, a music utility that you can use to tune your instruments with.  

Music Mate is able to emulate guitar cords and pitches from a piano. Interestingly enough it also can act as a metronome. 

Conclusions 

Overall, the W880i is a noteworthy addition to the Walkman series of phones. It has a good interface, excellent screen and useful features, and should fit the bill of every mobile user.  

Its most prominent feature has to be its ultra slim and lightweight design that is sure to be a hit with fashion conscious users.  

While it may not have a great camera, the W880i is definite a keeper if you are looking for a music playing phone to keep you company on your long commutes.  

Anyway, you can't go wrong with the W880i as it is a solidly built phone that does not compromise on quality. 

Pros: Super slim design; excellent screen; nice user interface; feature-rich music player. 

Cons: Average camera; no FM radio; poor video quality.