Copying music from a PC is straightforward too. Sony Ericsson's Disc2Phone software can help you rip tracks and manage them on your PC before transferring them over the bundled USB cable. Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop files from your PC or Mac straight onto your memory card, or get them via Bluetooth.
At 1.5cm thick, the W660's eminently pocketable
As well as being able to store your tracks, the W660i has an FM radio with RDS and 20 station pre-sets. Sony Ericsson’s TrackID software on the Walkman can be used to identify tracks you hear around you or on the radio - it samples the tunes and interrogates the Gracenote database remotely via a (cheaper than text) data connection.
As you’d expect with a 3G handset, online video downloads and streamed video are handled neatly by the W660i. The display isn’t the most detailed Sony Ericsson makes, but you can choose full screen playback in landscape mode.
The W660i does video calling with a front-mounted camera, and standard mobile phone video recording too, at 176 x 144 pixels maximum resolution. No surprise, its quality isn’t great, but that’s par for the course with cameraphones.
The W660i’s main camera is something of a disappointment. The two-megapixel shooter does without autofocus, flash or macro mode, restricting its photographic abilities. It’s not a bad camera, just limited compared to what we know Sony Ericsson can do, and it has a fairly standard set of cameraphone controls and effects.
Generally, images take by the camera are perfectly acceptable, with a decent amount of detail and colour rendition, particularly for mid-distance shots. Close-ups can be disappointing, though.
Sony Ericsson includes blogging software on the W660i, allowing users to send pics with text quickly and simply to a Blogger account that can be set up automatically for you or others to view and edit online.
Could do better on the photography front
Among a familiar features line-up, the W660i comes with a NetFront web browser that can browse full websites in normal view or reformat them to fit the phone’s screen. The W660i can display RSS feeds too.
COMMENTS
Conspiracy Theory
I'm not certain that it isn't a deliberate ploy by manufacturers to cripple phones so that they only do certain things properly, in order to get you to (a) buy a more expensive phone than you really wanted, or (b) buy two phones (and forever be topping them up). So the K-series have the best cameras, while the W-series have the best media players, and the P-series ..... well, we all know what the P is short for, don't we?
I've also noticed that Nokia phones seem to be getting a bit less ugly -- not that they could possibly get any *more* ugly. In fact the latest offerings from Nokia could almost be mistaken at first glance for Sony Ericssons, were it not for the "send" and "end" keys.
But when all is said and done, the primary purposes of a mobile phone are sending text messages, making and receiving voice calls and remembering the necessary names and phone numbers to make this possible. Photography, music-playing and personal organiser features are secondary. But then, we live in a culture where some people attach greater importance to ticks in boxes than the text alongside those boxes .....
why the awful camera?
The k750i, years old now, also had a 2mp camera but with macro and (especially) autofocus. With this phone they've managed to add the ten things you could possibly have missed on a k750i - but taken away autofocus, to blur your pictures.
I do hope this isn't camera-crippled just for marketing reasons - "ah, a half-workable camera? you want the *K* range, this is the *W* range mate, more walkman-oriented"...
Cheap 3G phone
This looks like the chepaest 3G phone yet.
When you're stuck with a Three SIM that only works in 3G phones, which have a habit of breaking, it's good to know there's a sub 200 pound replacement available. It'll be better when they get to sub 50 pound, then I'll consider buying a spare. Three's repair service isn't bad, but a 3 day turn around soon grows with Royal Mail's strikes.
It's pretty good actually...
Decent phone, decent MP3 player, OK camera. Had one for two months, nothing to complain about! Web browser is good for such a small screen.
