Sony Ericcson W8 Walkman Android - WOW and WHY?

The Sony Ericsson W8, the first Android powered Walkman phone is now available in the Philippines. With a 3-inch 320 x 480 screen, a 600MHz processor and Adreno 200 graphics which can be had for the price of Php8,600, it is a steal. With 99 x 54 x 15 mm and weighing in at 104g it is a great choice for those looking for a small form factor Android. Those in the market for a budget Droid will find this to be a worthy competitor to the Samsung Galaxy 5, Galxy Mini or the LG Optimus Me both of which have lower resolutions screens.

There is only one fly in the ointment. It runs Android 2.1 (Eclair). Pretty much every new phone in the market these days is coming out with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) although many phones being sold today still carry Android 2.2 (Froyo).

In our opinion a Froyo phone is not a deal breaker. Gingerbread is cool, but the Eclair to Froyo upgrade is much more important than the Froyo to Gingerbread move. I could happily live with a Froyo phone for the next year or two. But Eclair? Who releases a phone running Eclair in 2011? With Eclair, you can only install apps on the phones internal storage. With on 128MB of internal storage (and much less user usable storage) the number of apps you can install on this phone will be limited.

So to Sony, WOW and WHY?

Posted in: Smartphones