Design
The phone comes all decked out in shiny silver and bright orange, the color of choice for Walkman phones. If that isn't your shade, you can easily switch the original casing, for instance, with the additional white faceplate that came packaged with our test unit. Coupled with excellent build quality and solid feel, the phone is one classy handset. Despite being a tad thick, the W550i fits snugly in the palm. While we're not a big fan of any sort of antenna nowadays, the looped variant does give the W550i a unique look.
The external controls are sufficient and logically well-placed. On the right, you have the volume buttons, camera shutter and infrared port, while the left side boasts a music play/pause button and keylock slider switch. The top half of the phone houses two menu softkeys, back and clear buttons, as well as one for Web access and one Walkman button. Overall, we found the navigation keypad easy to use and responsive.
Instead of the manual swivel, we would have preferred a semi-automatic mechanism, like that of the upcoming , where one little nudge springs the phone open. The contoured numerics of the recessed keypad light up with an orange backlight when in use. However, the top and bottom rows of keys are slightly too small for comfortable and speedy text messaging.
Thoughtfully, the phone connector at the bottom is covered by a rubber bung that doesn't detach totally from the phone and prevents dust accumulation. On the flip side, without a lens cover, occasional camera dusting may be required.
Features
The swivel design is such that apart from dialing numbers or typing messages, one can access just about every single phone function via the top half of the handset. As with other recent models, the menu and operating interface are speedy and very intuitive. Besides connecting to the PC for easy file transfer via Sony Ericsson's PC Suite, the bundled USB cable simultaneously charges the phone.
Most would agree that gaming hasn't quite taken off in the phone world, with most screen sizes modest at best and controls primarily designed for mobile purposes, as well as a weak lineup of game platforms and titles. When holding the W550i horizontally for gaming, two softkeys above the display offer a pseudo-console control buttons.
Commendably, the handset contains two recognizable game franchises, Worms Forts 3 and Gauntlet, and they're more fun than most other games currently available on a mobile. The third game, Extreme Air Snowboarding 3D, will also keep you entertained for hours as you attempt to beat your earlier score by attempting various tricks on a snowboard.
Like the W800i, upon depressing the power button, you can go straight to music playback mode without starting the phone, which saves battery life. True to its name, this Walkman mobile produces excellent sound quality for an MP3-phone. Music aficionados would appreciate the ability to manually tweak equalizer settings, while the less particular can use one of five presets, including the excellent Mega Bass mode. Holding the side play/pause button starts music playback immediately, though from the start of a song.
The lack of any expansion options would be crippling if not for the onboard 256MB of memory, good for around 50 tunes. We liked that the W550i uses a proprietary connector which offers a standard 3.5mm audio jack, so you can use your favorite earphones. That said, the packaged earpieces should be good enough for casual users, with extra earbuds conveniently included as well. An onboard radio completes the music setup.
Having seen the quality of photos from Sony Ericsson's 2-megapixel camera-phones such as the K750i, we're disappointed that the W550i's 1.3-megapixel sensor manages only decent snapshots that are slightly susceptible to noise. Also, you won't find the autofocus or macro modes on this model. To its credit, the Cyber-shot-like interface is excellent, where a lower row of tabs allows for changing settings such as white balance, effects and self-timer on-the-fly. Screen refresh rate is also smooth, and shutter lag is negligible.
Performance
We had no problems with reception or voice quality during our testing. The W550i is capable of very loud speaker volumes, courtesy of no less than three speaker grills, one each at the rear, left and top edges. Combined, they produce some excellent external sound you wouldn't normally associate with phones, both for calls and music. The 262K-color screen display is sufficiently vibrant with rich contrast, albeit a little small.
On normal usage, including music playback on the morning commute, the mobile lasted slightly over three days before running out of juice.
Conclusion
While the W550i offers the same music experience as the W800i, it lacks a Memory Stick Duo slot and the camera features are weaker. Nevertheless, there's plenty to like about the W550i. If you fancy a swivel handset and don't mind the limited memory size, the lower price tag may just justify the W550i as your next mobile phone purchase.
