The main keypad, however, is one of the few weak points of the device, being a bit too stiff for my liking.

Click here to see the Sony Ericsson W800 in action.

Sony Ericsson has made it especially easy to get to your music. A dedicated play/pause button on the left side of the phone will start and stop your music no matter what you are currently doing. The button directly above the joystick will take you to the Walkman music application, which is as full-featured a media player as you are likely to find. The player is very well laid out and organizes your music by track, album, and artist. You can also create your own track lists, fast forward and rewind the current track, and even watch video clips. If you prefer to get your music over the airwaves, you can make use of the built-in FM radio instead.

The W800 comes with a special earbud headset that allows you to use your own stereo headphones. The earbuds can be disconnected from the clip-on microphone to expose a regular 3.5mm headset jack, the same kind used by most other audio devices. This means you have your choice of headphones, yet still can make and take calls hands-free.

The W800's camera has a real autofocusing lens mated to a very capable CMOS camera sensor, all backed up by real digital camera ergonomics and a proper user interface. To activate the camera you just slide the switch on the back of the phone that hides the protective lens, turn the W800 90 degrees, and put your finger on the dedicated shutter button. A light press on the shutter will focus the image, and a full press will take the photo--just as with any dedicated camera. The volume rocker works as a digital zoom control when in camera mode, and the camera's UI will have you thinking you are using a regular camera. But it is the image quality that really clinches the deal. While the photos might be a tad behind a top-class digital camera in terms of resolution and image quality, they are on par with many digital cameras on the market.

Our test W800 had over 32 MB of internal storage available and shipped with a 512 MB Memory Stick Duo card. The card slot on the W800 can support cards of up to 2 GB in capacity, which should satisfy most people. Battery life was fantastic in our test, topping 10.5 hours of talk time. Sony Ericsson claims that the W800 can play up to 15 hours of music with the phone in standby, or up to 30 hours with the phone subsystem turned off.

In the end, the Sony Ericsson W800 offers about as much functionality and entertainment value as you can find today in a 3.5oz (100g) package. At this time there is simply nothing available that can top it.

Pros:

• Great media player

• Can use your own headphones

• 2-megapixel camera

• Bluetooth

Cons:

• Stiff keypad

• Color might not be for everybody

What's in the Box:
W800 handset, battery, desktop charger, PC suite CD, stereo headphones, user's manual, Sony Memory Stick 512MB DuoCard, Memory Stick adapter and case.