Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Review

Finally, the hands of the editors of this blog reached the Android smartphone, but not Xperia. The final line for 2011 was an honor to bring the model Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman . The company decided to give a new life to the brand Walkman, first releasing it on Android. But, to avoid confusion with the brands from the title Xperia in the title refused, leaving just a Walkman. It should be noted that the "wokmen-backgrounds" did not disappear anywhere, successfully releasing all these years, but on this platform this is his first incarnation. Despite the difficulties with the name, Live with Walkman is made exactly on the same hardware as other models from the Xperia line of 2011, so that we end up with the best Sony Ericsson hardware at a modest price.

The characteristics are practically Xperia mini, only the screen is bigger.
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Specifications:

Weight and dimensions: monoblock with dimensions of 106x56 mm and 14.2 millimeters in thickness, 115 g
Screen: 3.2 inches, 320x480 pixels, capacitive, multitouch, with auto-rotate
Processor: Qualcomm 8255, 1 GHz
OS: Android 2.3.4
Battery: Li-Ion, 1200 mAh capacity
Memory: 1024 MB internal, 320 MB memory for applications available, 2 GB microSD card included, up to 32 GB supported
Camera: 5 MP, autofocus, flash and 8x digital zoom, panorama and 3D panorama
Video: up to 720p (1280x800), 30 fps
Colors: black, white

Appearance and ergonomics

Live with Walkman is made in the recognizable style of the latest Sony Ericsson. Outwardly, it resembles another model from walkmans - the Sony Ericsson W595 . But ideologically, this is rather the heir to the Sony Ericsson last year’s budget hit, the Xperia X8. Outwardly, these models are especially similar in the white color of the case. Live with Walkman differs only in the presence of the W button and the flush-hidden menu touch keys, as in this year’s Xperia mini.

The similarity is, presumably, not by accident - Live with Walkman performs in the same price category of ~ 8,000 rubles. , has almost the same dimensions and weight and a slightly larger (by 0.2 ") screen. So for X8 owners there is a reason to think about a new thing.



The two main buttons Live with Walkman - power / lock screen and launch the player - at the top, left and right of the 3.5 mm audio jack located in the same place and combined with a common rubber grip. The top audio jack for the phone is the most convenient option, but with a direct plug. The L-shaped plug of the headset bundled is not very convenient, because Constantly blocks access to one of the keys, and in general it is not clear why it is needed with this arrangement of the audio output - usually a bent plug is used when the connector is located on the side. Apparently, the whole thing in unification. So it makes sense to immediately buy headphones more expensive - especially since it is still an audio smartphone.



The headset connector is framed by an LED that blinks in green or orange (Walkman-branded) in color. Blinking can be disabled in the player settings.

The situation “on the sides” is more traditional - on the right there are two-shoulder volume buttons and a camera button, on the left - a microUSB connector. By the way, it's good that they abandoned the stub - in comparison with the same X8. He, I remember, I just tore off this plug as superfluous. This is only for any super-protected smarts like Xperia active, this is necessary, in other cases it just hinders.



Behind - not one, but two traditionally for Sony Ericsson high-profile speakers.

Interface

Live with Walkman is familiar with the interface of angles, familiar from other compact models of Sony Ericsson, sharpened specifically for manipulating with one thumb (this is, by the way, the answer to why it is not on “big” smartphones - try to reach the opposite corner of the Xperia arc with your thumb) eg).



As usual, up to 4 icons can be crammed into the corners in each - a total of 16 constantly available applications. The user has 5 desktops.

Music

Having a separate media player launch button is so convenient that it would be nice to make it the industry standard - as a separate camera key, for example.

A standard headset allows one key to realize all the main scenarios of music playback: a single press - pause / play, two presses - rewind the track forward, three - backward on the track. Well, the volume, respectively, is adjustable on the case. In general, this is enough to not get the phone out of your pocket.

The functionality provided by the Live with Walkman player is as follows:

sort music by albums / artists / tracks and user playlists. Of course, it works better if you download music to your phone with albums, rather than individual tracks, somehow and some people recorded somewhere. The smart phone is smart though, but it’s impossible to put the recorded in at least 3 different versions into one group name, for example, The Black Eyed Peas.



Infinite button, offering a context menu of actions with the track being played. Search for other extensions means the ability to extend this menu with more functions.



In the settings there is, of course, an equalizer, offering to choose one of the appropriate styles of performance.



However, as for me, in the musical apparatus there should be only one “sound - good” mode, the rest is self-indulgence. And if you get tired of your own music, you can turn on the radio.

Summary

Separate Walkman Button
Xperia High End Platform
Low price

L-shaped plug headset

The budget heir to the Xperia X8 with the characteristics of adult smartphones Xperia - what is not a great gift for the New Year? The winking green-orange LEDs Live with Walkman are designed to create a festive mood on winter evenings.

But seriously (although I was also serious above), then there is a good combination of consumer qualities and prices: a large screen and a powerful processor with a video accelerator are the best option for modest money. Many have already appreciated this - for example, at a past habrebele in St. Petersburg , one of the habrayusers showed a newly acquired Live with Walkman. That, in general, is not surprising - it is a good choice for a person who does not want to overpay and wants to squeeze the maximum out of a minimum investment.
Both copies - my test and his own - we took photos by memory:



By the way, I asked him with a predilection for the purchase - I am satisfied, he says.

Holiday greetings!