u l t r a m o o k i e

The iPod was labeled as the “Walkman Killer”, could it be that the Walkman is now the iPod killer? While Apple was busy redesigning and marketing the iPod as a standalone music player, SonyEricsson has been off perfecting the convergence of mobile phone and music player.

Tonight, I finally got a chance to play with the Walkman side of my new SonyEricsson W810i mobile phone. I must say that SonyEricsson has gotten pretty close to having an iPod killer — if they can just market this device correctly. There are some flaws that the W810i has and they are pretty big. But, I think the convenience of not having to carry an extra digital doodad (even if it is as small as my iPod nano) makes those flaws a bit more acceptable.

First, the good things. The music player sounds fantastic. Abso-fricking-lutely fantastic. When it runs flat, it sounds better than my nano: the sound is crisp, the stereo separation is spot on, and the bass is subtle. When I run the Walkman with MegaBass, that is where it really kicks the iPod’s ass. The bass is booming loud, yet the other sound is still crisp. There is no distortion. The iPod sound becomes very distorted and clips when set for bass enhancement. The interface is well thought out — it is much like the iPod interface with Now Playing, Artists, Tracks, Playlists and Videos. There is a dedicated Walkman button on the W810i, so getting to the music player is a snap. There is also a dedicated volume rocker on the W810i, something the iPod does not have.

The two drawbacks? First, for the Mac, there is no dedicated music management system like iTunes. I can mount the phone directly as a USB Mass Storage device and copy my music over to the “MP3″ directory. When I fire up the Walkman app on the phone, it will scan that folder and setup the Artists and Tracks lists. This is not a big deal for me, but if Sony wants the Walkman to be more mainstream, then a nice music management app would be a huge plus. I do applaud Sony for letting the consumer copy music directly onto the device (without some piece of software) and not hiding the files. I also applaud Sony for not forcing customers to use some silly DRM scheme.  The second drawback is that the W810i’s USB connection is a USB 1.1 connection. It is really slow getting files over to the phone. An easier way would be to pop the Memory Stick PRO Duo stick out of the phone and put it into a Memory Stick reader/writer. But that seems like an extra hassle. Sony should have put USB 2.0 connectivity on the phone for quick music transfers. One last small niggle is that there is no standard 3.5mm jack on the phone. I have to connect a funky connector to the FastPort on the bottom of the phone in order to use headphones. It was good that Sony put a standard 3.5mm jack at the end of the dongle that plugs into the phone so that I can use my own headphones.

Will I be leaving the black iPod nano at home when I return to work? I think I will. I carry my phone with me everywhere, so when I want to listen to music all I have to do is have my headphones with me — not a separate digital doodad. Apple may have won the war with the standalone music players, but I think SonyEricsson has a great product on hand. Apple will have to hurry up with that iPhone of theirs and they better make it good. SonyEricsson has a damned good music playing product on hand.