Sony Ericsson W960i Cellular Phone

I got this as an upgrade of my W810i (which I'd also rate 5/5) and was very impressed.

It's 3G for fast internet, and has in-built WLAN (Wi-Fi) so I can browse the net in my house for free over my broadband connection. It can even be used on my university's wireless network, and at various coffee shops etc around Sheffield with Wireless hotspots. This makes it very useful.

It can read PDA files, either downloaded directly, or transferred by the (included) data cable. I have Sheffield's bus and tram maps and timetables of my most frequently used buses, so that if I'm in the pub and need to remember the time of my last bus, I needn't even use the internet! it also supports MS Office files (word, excel etc) - so useful! I have a diabetic friend who uses the in-built spreadsheet to keep note of his glucose levels on his W960!

the camera is wonderful. At 3.2 megapixels, it's bigger and better than my primary digital camera, and because Sony have been making cameras for years, the lenses are all top-quality optics (Sony's economy of scale means they're so cheap). I am constantly disappointed by Nokia's camera/lens offerings (my girlfriend's Nokia 6300's 2 megapixel camera is an abomination, seemingly barely worthy of status as VGA)

The Walkman media player is STUNNING! It's a massive leap on Walkman player in the W810, and the clunky player on the P990. You can browse with album art, have the player automatically sense the mood (happy/depressing) and tempo (fast/slow) of a song, so you can choose music to suit your mood - a very cute little effect. There's no shake control as the W910, but who want your walkman to skip when you drive over a bump? You can also browse it using the touch screen, either with the included stylus, or your finger (much like the adverts for the, iphone you will see on TV).

Well, I've alluded to it now, so I may as well be explicit about it - this is basically Sony's competitor to the iphone. Well, sadly, there is no competition. W960i wins hands down. Better camera, 3G and wireless support, more storage than the standard model iphone, proper (rather than virtual) buttons and a massive range of additional software already available with Symbian/UIQ having been running for years, and OSX mobile brand-new to the scene, and kinda lacking in decent apps. Iphone doesn't even support google maps yet.

Whilst I'm waxing lyrical (and I must admit a loyalty to SE phones) I can see faults in the phone. Why does it not support HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) as it's lighter-weight brother, the W910 does? Some may argue that HSDPA is not necessary, since the phone has WLAN, but what if you are in a Wireless Coldspot? Also, some of the cute way-up recognisers (such as the iphone sensing it position and changing it's screen from landscape to portrait to suit) are not here, and would be nice, but not necessary. In spite of these minor oversights, Sony has created a demon here.

In conclusion, this is a really great phone that somehow bridges the gap between media manager, phone, office PDA and camera with ease. A brilliant release Sony, keep up the good work!