The Sony Ericsson W380 is a lower midrange clamshell, which is both attractive and well constructed. It boasts several juicy features such as Flash Lite theme support, gesture control, external touch-sensitive keys and light effects. Other specs are not that intriguing such as the 1.3 megapixel camera and the 176 x 220 pixels TFT display.

Sony Ericsson W380 official pictures

The Sony Ericsson W380 is expected to hit the markets in Q1 2008 so it won't be long before we see it in a retail version. It offers a balanced feature pack and if the price tag is right it's bound to be a success.

Design and construction

The Sony Ericsson W380 has a striking design that pleases the eye. It's fairly compact and as far as current clamshells go it's rather "rectangular" in design. The frontal cover is dominated by the touch-sensitive music keys. They have an auto lock feature in order to prevent accidental key presses. You can also spot the Walkman logo in green and the 1.3 megapixel camera.


The Sony Ericsson W380 is really nice looking and the surface material is fingerprint-proof

What you won't see on first sight is the hidden OLED display beneath the front cover surface. It displays status information such as the clock, the battery and signal meters plus some missed events such as a call or a message. It's also used for displaying music information while the Walkman player is running. The dedicated touch sensitive keys respond to each command with a slight vibration - that's the so-called "haptic" feedback. The keys themselves react only when pressed by a finger and not some other object.

The display and the keys have a nice backlighting, but only when used in the dark. Under bright sunlight the display is totally illegible and becomes useless.



The hidden display has a nice backlighting but is useless in bright sunlight

The secret behind the gesture control magic of the device is this. Once you get a call or your alarm sounds, the Sony Ericsson W380 activates the camera and uses it for motion detection - something even cheap webcams can do nowadays. Then you just wave your hand in front of the camera and the call or alarm gets silenced. According to Sony Ericsson you have to wave twice in front of the camera to accept your gesture, however as you can see from our video, even a single wave would do it. Unfortunately there are no advanced settings for this feature so you can't use it for other purposes or applications, nor does it understand other gestures besides waving.

In order for the feature to work, Sony Ericsson has equipped the camera with a really small LED (strangely enough it can't be used as LED flash for the camera). When there's an incoming call and the light is not enough for the camera to "see" you waving, the LED turns on in order to assist it.


The camera takes care of the gesture control • simply wave your hand to silence a call or the alarm

The keypad fares wellIt should be noted that the task of opening the clamshell becomes almost an impossible one if you attempt it single-handedly. Once you open the clamshell, the spacious keypad gets revealed. The keys are well made but the surrounding plate is covered in dots which reminded us of the now elderly Nokia 6170. The alphanumeric keys are somewhat hard to give in under your finger press, but there's ample space between them so you are unlikely to make typos, if that's a consolation.

The upper part of the keypad features the standard Sony Ericsson keys - a D-pad, two context soft keys, a correction C key and a Back key which is becoming obsolete in the upper range of the latest Sony Ericsson phones. Below those there are three really small shortcuts keys - one for the file browser, a second one for the Activity menu and finally, a third one that switches the phone on and off and toggles profiles (the location of the on/off key certainly caught us off guard as it's a bit unexpected).

You also might notice that just below the display there's a tiny ambient light detector.


The alphanumeric keys are hard to press but there's ample room for your thumb

On the back side of the Sony Ericsson W380 there is a hardware unlock slider that is used for unlocking the external music keys (you probably didn't think of that, did you?).


A slide-to-unlock key with a return spring sets the dedicated music keys free

The back cover hiding the battery has a pretty awkward opening system. Awkward, but simple - there's a little notch on the left that you use to stick your fingernail in and then you just push until the cover pries open. Opening the back cover this way surely packs an additional excitement element about the phone - you never know whether this next time you open it won't be your last one.

Beneath the cover there's the Sony Ericsson BST-39 Li-Ion battery, which has a capacity of 930 mAh. The manufacturer rates it at up to 300 hours of standby time and up to 7 hours of talk time. Unfortunately, we can't comment on those figures.

The M2 memory card slot is also accessible only with the cover off, but otherwise it's fully hot-swappable. So it seems that the Sony Ericsson W380 user might end up using the pry-to-open method more often than one would like to.


Beneath the battery cover

The user interface won't surprise

The user interface of the Sony Ericsson W380 is a pretty standard Sony Ericsson issue. It supports Flash Lite themes so it can be changed almost beyond recognition. It doesn't look bad even despite the low 176 x 220 pixel resolution.


The standard Sony Ericsson user interface

The Sony Ericsson W380 is equipped with the Walkman music player 2.0. It has several equalizer presets including the proprietary Mega Bass. It can be set to run in background so you can do other things with the phone while listening to music. When in background mode, there is an indication of the name of the song and artist of the track currently playing in the top part of the screen. The control of the player is intuitive and really easy to use. It displays the album cover during playback if you choose so.


Filtering tracks • playing a track with a visualization in the corner • music player options

There are two other skins beside the standard black one and you can use those to suit your themes, since the theming itself doesn't change the music player interface.


There two more player skins available

The Sony Ericsson W380 also has a FM radio that supports RDS. It can store up to 20 radio stations.


FM radio supports RDS

The 1.3 megapixel camera sounds really low end, since there are a number of handsets now that come with 2 megapixel modules. Well, indeed it is, and the camera interface follows the same simplistic line. The only thing that the camera outperforms the others by is the Panorama shoot mode which none of the other handsets in this roundup has.


Camera viewfinder • some of the camera settings

We even have some camera samples for you to enjoy, however those will be listed on the last page of this article.

There are two games preinstalled on the Sony Ericsson W380 we received and those are ExtremeAir Snowboarding and QuadraPop - we've seen them in past models two. Obviously gaming is not the selling point of this device and the two games are only there to complement the package. You can of course download more Java games to enjoy.


There two games preinstalled

So that's about our hands-on experience with the Sony Ericsson W380. Jump to the next page for an overview of its twin the Sony Ericsson Z555 and don't forget to hit the last page of this article for some comparative camera samples.

Sony Ericsson Z555

Sony Ericsson Z555 official pictures

Sony Ericsson Z555 held in hand

Sony Ericsson Z555 compared to Sony Ericsson W380

The Sony Ericsson Z555 has a unique, but controversial design and a glossy surface that's a fingerprint magnet

The 1.3 megapixel camera lens is again the main eye-catcher on the glossy external surface. Since the Sony Ericsson Z555 uses its camera for gesture control much like the W380, there is also a tiny LED just below the lens that lights up when it's too dark for the camera to detect your movement.
In the corner right below the camera lens there's again a LED light

The external display of the device is not only hidden but it also has some sort of a cool reflection effect. But again it's unusable under direct sunlight.


The external display has a cool reflection effect

We like this keypad better

Opening the clamshell single-handedly is again impossible as with W380. Once you've got past that, you will immediately see the 1.9 inch 262K color TFT display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and the large keypad. The keypad has the same layout as the one of Sony Ericsson W380, however the keys are designed differently. They are still a bit hard to press down and the keypad has a rather uneven backlighting in the dark but we like this keypad more than the one of W380 - at least visually that is. The shortcut keys for the browser, the profiles and the Activity menu are a lot bigger than the ones on W380.

You also might notice that just below the display there's a tiny ambient light detector.


The display is the same as the one on W380, but the keypad is not and we like it better

The back panel of the Sony Ericsson Z555 is of the same novel pry-to-open type and under it is the Sony Ericsson BST-39 Li-Ion battery, which has a capacity of 930 mAh. The manufacturer rates it at up to 360 hours of standby time and up to 8:20 hours of talk time. Interestingly enough those figures are 20% more than the expected battery life of W380. Unfortunately, we can't comment on the real-life performance of that battery either.

The M2 memory card slot is also accessible only with the cover off, but otherwise it's fully hot-swappable. So it seems that the Sony Ericsson Z555 user might end up using the pry-to-open method more often than one would like to.


Removing the back panel

Ever-changing theme

When it comes to the Sony Ericsson Z555 user interface, there are no surprises in store for the user. It has an enhanced Flash light theme support - its implementation remind of the more expensive Sony Ericsson T650 model. The animated standard theme changes its colors and shades according to the time of day.


The theme at noon, at late afternoon, and at night

The image gallery of the Z555 is something most of the Sony Ericsson users have already seen. It allows filtering images based on the memory they are stored on. Further on, much like W380 you have Timeline view, which allows you to filter the photos in the camera album based on the date they were taken on.


The file manager and image galley • filtering by month and day is possible with the Timeline view

Since the Sony Ericsson is not in the Walkman lineup, it doesn't have the Walkman music player either. The music player on Z555 has a similar functionality when it comes to filtering tracks and working in the background. However it lacks light effect support, visualizations support, skins and the MegaBass preset. Otherwise since the Z555 and W380 are virtually identical, we suppose that sound quality is similar too.


The music player • filtering tracks • playing a track • the player has rather modest settings

The Z555 also has a FM radio with RDS support. It's the same as the one on W380, but with a different skin. Again, it can store up to 20 stations.


The FM radio has RDS support

The Sony Ericsson Z555 1.3 megapixel camera has pretty much the same interface as the camera on W380. The only thing that's lacking here is the Panorama shooting mode we saw on W380.


Camera viewfinder • some of the camera options • there is no Panorama shooting mode

The Sony Ericsson Z555 has two applications preinstalled - both rely on Internet access to work. The AccuWeather is a mobile application for access to their popular weather service. Audible is the second application and it allows downloading of podcasts and audio shows. They are all paid though, and you only have a right of a sample.


AccuWeather.com - getting weather in Barcelona


Audible - downloading a free sample

The Sony Ericsson Z555 comes with only one game preinstalled - it's the Jewel Queen II, which is a version of the highly popular game Bejeweled.

Jewel Queen II

So that's about our hands-on experience with the Sony Ericsson Z555. Jump to the next page for an overview of the slim and compact Sony Ericsson W350 and don't forget to hit the last page of this article for some comparative camera samples.

Sony Ericsson W350

The Sony Ericsson T280 is a low-end handset that doesn't nave any of the hip features the other mobiles in the bunch have. It's got a small display with a mediocre resolution of 128 x 160 pixels, but for a cheap priced-tagged device it does offer some goodies - a 1.3 megapixel camera, MP3 ringtone support, Bluetooth support and WAP 2.0.

Sony Ericson T280 official pictures

The Sony Ericsson T280 along with its camera-less twin T270 is expected to become available in Q1 2008.

Sony Ericsson T280 held in hand

Design and construction

Truthfully there's nothing special about the Sony Ericsson T280 besides the metallic body panels, the conservative design and the 1.3 megapixel camera. The 65K color TFT display is small - 1.7 inches, and it has a lowly resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. The T280 does warm the hearts of low-price-tag fans with Bluetooth support and MP3 ringing. You would probably be let down by the fact that the T280 can be charged via USB cable but there is no USB support, meaning that your only way of transferring music and images to and from a computer is via Bluetooth.

Sony Ericsson T280 compared to W350 • conservative but stylish design in metal • the earpiece


You can notice the body is made of mostly metal and we can testify it's fingerprint-resistant

The keypad of the Sony Ericsson T280 offers both nice tactility and ample space between the keys. The D-pad is comfortable enough to work with but the fact that there's no confirming center felt a bit awkward at first.

We find the Sony Ericsson T280 keypad pleasant to work with

The backlighting of the keypad is a nice blue color and it's even all the way around.

The Sony Ericsson T280 keypad in the dark

The highlight on the back, which has a brushed metallic finish, is the 1.3 megapixel camera lens and the loudspeaker grill. The back cover is again the pry-it-open type, which is even harder with this one since the back has a metallic plate that doesn't allow it to flex that easily.

The Sony Ericsson T280 is equipped with a Sony Ericsson BST-36 Li-Po battery with a capacity of 780 mAh. The manufacturer rates it at up to 300 hours of standby time and up to 7 hours of talk time. Unfortunately, we can't comment on those figures.

The camera lens and the loudspeaker grill • removing the back cover

The user interface fails to impress

The Sony Ericsson T280 has a scaled-down version of the regular Sony Ericsson interface. It doesn't look nearly as good as the real thing and its functionality nowhere near the interface described briefly on the previous pages. It's also runs a lot more sluggish than the other user interface.

The T280 user interface is nowhere near the regular

The file manager of T280 is really basic but it does the job alright. One thing we noticed about the pictures is that during browsing, the phone displays a downsampled variant of the images and only after you stop at an image it shows you the full-quality photo (with a significant delay though). Also there is no thumbnail view in the file browser.

The file browser is really basic and there's no dedicated image gallery

The Sony Ericsson T280 1.3 megapixel camera is as simple as it possibly gets. There is even no dedicated camera key on the side of the T280.

The camera is as simple as it gets

The Sony Ericsson T280 also has FM radio with RDS support. You can save up to 20 radio stations, the radio can also be used as alarm sound, as long as you've plugged the wired headset, which serves as an antenna.

The T280 radio has RDS support

So that's about our hands-on experience with the Sony Ericsson T280. Jump to the next page for some comparative camera samples and our conclusion.

Comparative camera samples

So here are the photos produced by the 1.3 megapixel cameras of all the four handsets in our Sony Ericsson roundup. We won't comment on the image quality as those models are still under development. They are prototypes and in the course of their fine tuning before they hit the market the cameras will surely see some changes.

Sony Ericsson W380 • Sony Ericsson Z555 • Sony Ericsson W350 • Sony Ericsson T280


Sony Ericsson W380 • Sony Ericsson Z555 • Sony Ericsson W350 • Sony Ericsson T280


Sony Ericsson W380 • Sony Ericsson Z555 • Sony Ericsson W350 • Sony Ericsson T280


Sony Ericsson W380 • Sony Ericsson Z555 • Sony Ericsson W350 • Sony Ericsson T280


Sony Ericsson W380 • Sony Ericsson Z555 • Sony Ericsson W350 • Sony Ericsson T280

Final words

The Sony Ericsson W380 left us with a really nice impression. The touch sensitive keys with haptic feedback, the gesture control and the overall design totally had us so we will be eagerly looking forward to following how it fares on the market once it's out.

The Sony Ericsson Z555 has a design that we find somewhat controversial, but we like its keypad layout better than the one of W380. It also offers much the same features as the W380, while the W380 will probably cost slightly more, we suppose that the Sony Ericsson Z555 might turn out to be a good deal for someone who is after the clamshell form factor and wants the gesture control feature at a best bargain.

The Sony Ericsson W350 explores a form factor that's hasn't been around for quite some time. In this sense it's a rather novel and fresh approach on behalf of Sony Ericsson and we definitely like the design. With the added Walkman functionality and the presumably affordable price tag, the Sony Ericsson W350 would have gotten all our admirations, if it wasn't for the awkward D-pad that ruined it for us.

The Sony Ericsson T280 has enough to revive the low-end market niche. Sony Ericsson have produced a great design and rock-solid construction, which would give anyone the impression that this handset is much more expensive than it really is. So given the right price tag, we really think the Sony Ericsson T280 might be a total success.