Retro Cool

The world has a seemingly endless fascination with all things retro. 'Retro-ness' is... well, a hint of true coolness, really.

There's no denying that the Sony Ericsson W350i, their retro-flip-Walkman phone is genuinely, properly cool. But why is it retro?

Flipping Out

Well, the answer is all about design. In designing the W350i, Sony Ericsson wanted to make it thin. Super thin. But they also wanted full-on Walkman playback, with dedicated music controls. So, they needed a way to keep the phone buttons and the music buttons separate. The answer? Look at the pictures of the phone: that gloriously retro flip, seen on so many old Ericssons, that causes mass flashbacks when you see it!

But once again, the retro and the forward-thinking come together to make a feature that's both cool and awesome to use. So, with the dedicated music buttons on the outside of the flip, it means you can listen to music without opening the flip up, and increasing the size of the phone. Tied with the fabulous Walkman music player, that makes the Sony Ericsson W350i one classy music phone.

Sound Matters

Of course, if you ever tire of your music collection (hey, it happens to the best of us), and you're not at home to put new music onto the Memory Stick Micro card that comes with the Sony Ericsson W350i, then why not fire up the built-in FM radio, and listen to your favourite DJ. You might even find some new favourite songs!

Let's not forget, as well, that with Bluetooth with A2DP (stereo Bluetooth to you and me), you can connect up stereo headphones, and listen to music the way it was meant to listened to on your Sony Ericsson W350i.

Pretty Pictures

Let's be very clear, though, the Sony Ericsson W350i is and always will be a budget musical mobile phone, a mobile phone designed to give the ultimate in frills, without the massive price tag. Which makes it all the more astounding that on top of the top-end Walkman music player, you also get a 1.3 megapixel camera. They could have put a tiny camera in, and people would be happy. But no, they don't do half-measures, so you get a really nice camera, too!

If you're on a tight budget, it's perfect. If you love retro, then with that flip, it's perfect. Let's just face it, for what it is, the Sony Ericsson W350i is pretty much perfect!