Sony Ericsson W902 Review

Introduction:

Hello Phone Arena readers! Today, we will take a closer look at one of Sony Ericsson’s latest additions to the Walkman line, namely the W902. It is a high-class music phone, but is marketed as an all-in-one multimedia device by the manufacturer. To prove that, the new musician is able to provide decent pictures with its 5-megapixel camera. This is quite nice news since it is the first phone from the Walkman line with more than 3.2-megapixel unit. The W902 is equipped with an accelerometer as well, which lets you control its music player. The phone comes with new earphones included in the package. The set is the HPM-77, which the manufacturer claims that produce a very good sound quality. You can be sure that we’ll check on that.

The package includes:

Design:

The W902 is not the smallest or the best looking device on the market, but it doesn’t look bad at all. The manufacturer has added a few elements which make the phone slightly more attractive for the consumer. For example, on the right of the screen there is a diamond pattern which reminds us of a soldier returning from the battlefield with a half-torn uniform. Overall, the W902 fits well in the hand and is very comfortable to hold, and the rubber-coated surface of the battery lid will ensure that the phone doesn’t slip from your hand and has no unfortunate encounters with the floor/ground.



You can compare Sony Ericsson W902 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Its display is 2.2”, which is a bit larger than the W890’s and exactly the same as in K850. The image looks very good with bright and lively colors, but probably the most important thing is the fact that it remains usable in direct sunlight, just like the C905. Over the display we see a small light sensor and located below is the D-pad outlined by an orange circle and somewhat reminding us of a speaker. On both sides you will find the functional buttons and the SEND and END keys. They are quite small, but are protruding enough and are easy to press. There is adequate space between the numeric keys and they have good tactile feedback, which will not give you any trouble when writing an SMS or dialing a number.


On the right side of the W902 we have the transparent music player controls. Unfortunately they don’t have a back light, so in a dark environment you’ll have to find them only by touch. Luckily this is not a problem because they are protruding enough and the play/pause button has a relief of the symbols on it. On the same side we have the orange buttons for the camera and the volume control. Regrettably, they are not that easily felt when pressed and sometimes the sound volume or the camera activation are the only proof that they have been activated. The only other physical button is located on the upper part;that is the Walkman key used to start the music player and its gesture control. Its location makes it hard to operate with the right hand but that’s no big deal.

Software and Features:

The software is the same as the C905 and W980, or in other words, it is the newest version offered by SE. On the start screen, you can put animated wallpapers, but there are also two applications that can be visualized on it. The Standby World Clock 3D shows the time in three cities with a background picture, showing which part of the day it is there, and the second application is called Walk Mate which counts the number of steps you make during the day. This is a very interesting idea, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work properly. Quite often it only reports 1/3 of the number of steps you have taken during the specific day. 


In this review we won’t discuss the boring stuff such as the organizer, the phone book, etc., because they are the same as the C905 and frankly, this is not what the phone is all about. However, the music is! All media options are gathered in groups in the flash menu we’ve seen before. The music player is Walkman 3.0, which we first found in the W910 and later the W890. It allows you to sort your tunes by artist, album, song, genre and create your own playlists. Everyone has personal preference as per how the music should sound, so having an equalizer is a good idea. In the W902 we found nine preloaded ones and the option to add your own ones and the stereo widening.



OK, it looks like we have a good variety of settings, but what is the sound quality? As we expected, the quality is good. The HPM-77 earphones included in the package provide quality insulation from background noises, have good bass and clear highs, but still, your ears won’t bleed from a sound too loud. Let's not forget that music is something we are happy to share with our friends. For that purpose, the phone is equipped with only one loudspeaker, which although producing quality sound is not very loud.

The phone plays H.264 and H.263 encoded videos well. The resolution that brought us best results was the one of the display, and it is more than enough. At higher bitrate (512 kbps) the sound does not correspond to the picture and the videos are choppy. We recommend converting your files by using the software included in the package or to compress them in one of the two formats at the bitrate indicated above.  In addition there’s an integrated YouTube player with a user-friendly interface, through which you’ll be able to go through the largest internet site for clips.


We were about to forget that the phone has a built-in FM Radio. This is a quite handy function if you care about the news or just want to hear something different from your tunes. Its interface is not very beautiful but we can’t call it ugly;  it’s simply functional. It shows the frequency of the station you have tuned in to and its name via RDS. On top of that there’s also an automatic search option, which will store up to 20 of the radio stations available.

It’s the camera’s turn. It is the first Walkman phone to feature a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus. It also has the Photo Flash we know from the C902. The interface of the camera is the same as found on the C905 and K850; it’s equipped with a big variety of options and is quite easy to use. Still, this is not the most important thing for a camera. First of all, it has to provide quality pictures. The outdoor images are similar to the results of the K850, which delivered an average performance in our 5-megapixel cameraphone comparison. The detail level is not perfect and there’s heavy noise but at least the colors are saturated and real. Indoors, the situation is not much different with a lot of noise and lack of detail. The flash doesn’t contribute much for the better quality and is useful only at about 3 feet. If you try to shoot an object at 6 or 12 ft, its effect will be barely noticeable. Overall, we are not impressed and the 5-megapixels do not bring much improvement in contrast to the W890’s 3.2 megapixel shooter.




The video recording is the same as the C905. QVGA is the maximum resolution, which is good but far from enough. Nowadays, more and more phones can record videos in VGA and even DVD resolution and we think it’s time for Sony Ericsson to work on that.

Web browsing on the go has become ever so popular and this requires better mobile browsers. Sony Ericsson has taken this under consideration and we are very happy. The pages visualize very well; the text shrinks so it can be read without the need for constant horizontal scrolling, and the # activates the panning mode. This is an excellent browser for a non-touchscreen phone.


Everybody loves games no matter the age.  The W902 comes with three full versions, which is nice. In FMX III you have to complete various missions on a cross motorcycle,  and in Jewel Quest II you score points by destroying three or more from the variety of precious stones (think: Bejewled.)  The third game is the latest from EA’s long-running Need for Speed franchise.   We like all three of them and we think you’ll be able to loose a few hours playing them easily.

Performance:

The W902 is a worthy member of the Walkman family and is a very good music device. As far as regular phone functions go it performed quite well; the sound quality is good at both ends of the line but if turned to the max it becomes too sharp. We cannot say such good words for the loudspeaker however. The sound it produces is monotonous and not loud enough, which makes it useless unless you are in a very quiet environment.

Sony devices have been very battery-friendly and the W902 is not an exception. The phone is claimed to be able to provide up to 9 hours of talks or 16 days in standby mode.

Conclusion:

The design and the built quality of Sony Ericsson W902 are at good level. According to us, it main targets the male audience because of its “rough” and aggressive look. Sony Ericsson has not forgotten about the ladies and brings them the W595.

The W902 has a great display and music capabilities. This definitely makes it worthy for a high-class music oriented phone, but let’s not forget it also has a 5-megapixel camera. It doesn’t make perfect pictures, but it still is better than the W890. Overall we liked the W902 and would recommend it if you’re looking for a phone from this class.