FOR those who prefer slim mobile phones, then the Sony Ericsson W890i Walkman phone is worth a look.

Being a Walkman phone, the design and appearance clearly show that its intended audience are young adults, students, the fashion-conscious and music lovers.

At just 78 grams and measuring

104 millimetres by 47mm by 10mm, the W890i is arguably one of the smallest music phones in the market today. And despite its slim profile, it is sturdy, thanks to its steel casing and neatly positioned ergonomic keypads.

The handset features a huge two-gigabyte storage, which is enough to hold some

1,800 songs to satisfy any music appetite.

In terms of media, it supports a huge list of media formats, including eAAC+/WMA/WMApro and MP3/AAC. It also features a MegaBass equaliser, but the function doesn’t have much of an effect on the sound it produces.

When it comes to playing music or watching video, this is just a two-step action with the W890i. A neat feature is the way music and video files are categorised. You can categorise your media based on artiste, album, track, audio book, playlist, genre or year.

To make music listening easy, the W890i features SensMe, a function which allows you to search song collections or create playlists based on the tempo and mood of the songs.

The SensMe interface is like a radar screen, with tracks appearing as dots. You can circle a group of tracks that match your mood to create a playlist, or simply select individual tunes if you wish.

You also can listen to your favourite radio station through the radio function. Just click on the menu button and radio, and voila! you’re ready to listen. But you need to plug in the hands-free kit to allow the cord to act as the antenna.

In addition, the W890i is compatible with some of the latest Sony Ericsson music accessories, including the Portable Bluetooth Speaker MBS-100 and Stereo Bluetooth Headset HBH-DS220.

Display-wise, the two-incher features a bright and crisp display, and when paired with the handset’s 3.2-megapixel camera, it is as good as the average personal digital camera with zoom function minus flash.

You can access the camera function by pressing the camera button at the lower right side of the phone, making picture-taking effortless. There are also shortcuts such as zoom-in/out, shoot mode and self-timer.

The W890i produces rather decent pictures. But if the picture quality is not up to your standard, there is a Photo Fix application that allows you to make quick adjustments to the pictures taken. The feature is integrated into the camera so a picture can be fixed right after it is taken.

At RM1,499, the W890i comes standard with Bluetooth 2.0 and a universal serial bus connection, and supports UMTS/HSDPA 2100 GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900).

The good thing about having High Speed Downlink Packet Access capability is that it allows you to download music at speeds up to four times faster than with regular third-generation devices. On top of that, it makes viewing Web pages quicker and easier.

The handset also is compatible with Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow mobile entertainment experience. This provides you with instant access to the latest content – full-length music tracks, the hottest mobile games, ringtones or wallpaper – downloadable either direct to your phone or through your PC.

Other features include file manager, applications, video call, calendar, tasks, notes, synchronisation, timer, stopwatch, calculator and alarm.

Product: W890i

Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson

Enquiries: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (Tel: 03-78082946)

Price: RM1,499

Specifications

Dimensions: 104mm by 47mm by 10mm

Weight: 78g

Network: UMTS/HSDPA 2100 GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900)

Camera: 3.2 megapixels, 3.2X digital zoom

Display: Two-inch, 262,144-colour TFT (240 by 320 pixels resolution)

Memory: 2GB M2 Memory Stick

Features: Stereo speakers, Walkman player, FM radio with RDS Media Manager Software, audio/video streaming, Macromedia Flash, Windows Media DRM, eAAC+/WMA/WMApro, 3-D games, music tones (MP3/AAC)

Colours: Mocha Brown, Espresso Black, Sparkling Silver