...to ease the pain of losing my darling Wiie-Chan (W800i).
Truthfully, I've been (silently) hoping to change phones sometime in the near future, but what I pictured was nothing as drastic as actually getting mugged by miscreants and viles of Earthly scum whilst vacationing in Bandung.
Talk about taking the fun out of...having fun. Sigh.
Oh well. As they say, time heals all wounds - for me, it was less than a week.
The first time I'd seen the SE W980i was from a cinema ad just before the premiere of Twilight. As soon as it went on screen, I held my breath for a whole minute.
Literally.
My first thought was effing S-W-E-E-T. I've always had this unexplainable attraction towards flip phones. There's just something undeniably alluring about them. When i finally held it in my hands, it was like a dream came true for me.
As you can see, the W980 features a sleek clamshell design that is oh so easy on the eyes, if I do say so myself. To put it plainly, it looks hot with its glossy front, making it both classy and intimidating, which suit it as it is intended to be a high-end phone. It is medium-sized, with dimensions of 92 x 46 x 16.9 mm and a weight of approximately 100 g, as SE opted for plastic rather than metal for its body.
Though I must say that the phone handles very nicely, fitting perfectly in my (rather small) palm. No qualms over the build either as the phone feels quite solid, unlike many previous flip phones. When closed, it could be mistaken simply as a bulky mp3 player, especially if the front touch-sensitive, walkman-specific controls are active.
The modest OLED front display blends effortlessly with the shiny exterior of the phone, making it invisible unless activated. This system, called the Walkman-on-Top, allows the phone to access the walkman player without having to flip open the phone itself.
At the end of the front there's a see-through plastic that houses four LEDs that will pulse in sync with the rhythm of your music, a rather cool yet useless feature offered by SE. Behind this plastic end is a silver walkman logo.
A flattering 2.2 inch display (resolution 240 x 320 pixels) beckons immediately at you when you flip the phone open. That coupled with large circular keypads lends the phone an imposing look. Personally, I love the keypads as they are very responsive and are ideally apart from each other, just enough to offer a comfortable, one-handed texting experience free from any unnecessary typo error.
However, the six buttons surrounding the D-pad is different matter entirely. They are quite small and cramped, not to mention awkwardly positioned for those with larger fingers. A welcome addition to the phone is the ambient light sensor, which will automatically adjust the display brightness according to the current lighting conditions, thus saving battery life. There's also a secondary camera for standard video calls and a walkman-dedicated button.
Flipping the phone over will reveal the rather poorly placed 3.2 MP camera right where your fingers will rest when you're casually holding the phone. True to its identity as a music-oriented phone, the camera is mediocre with no autofocus or flash. It's almost as though the camera was thrown in at the very last minute by the designers just as an afterthought.
Snapshots aside, let's get to the heart and soul of this 'lil hottie - music.
SE incorporated the W980 with only the best of the best in audio experience. Along with Walkman 3.o and 8 GB of onboard memory, it uses two revolutionary technologies; Clear Stereo and Clear Bass. Add on the premium HPM-77 earphones and the result is simply music that stays true to the sound of the original recording. Moreover, a unique feature of the phone is the FM transmitter that allows you to broadcast your music to FM radios around a limited radius.
Too good to be true?
Hey, you just don't get hailed as the World's Best Music Phone for nothing.
