The Sony Ericsson W710i doesn't give a Walkman badge to just any old MP3 playing phone. After all most mobiles have some form of onboard media player. A Walkman phone must go further, offering a package and acoustic experience that is designed for those that take their music on the move seriously.Moreover, this is a phone that is not just built to appeal to those on the move. Runners and walkers will be particularly impressed with the built – in pedometer, which provides a wealth of data to pore over during and after your training.



The Sony Ericsson W710i model meets the audio challenge by coming supplied with half a gigabyte of storage, external controls, and a sensible set of headphones. It is to be mentioned the set also takes up a new challenge that is how to provide a great musical experience to joggers, other sporty types and health fanatics. Not to forget, the W710i model is not a particularly small clamshell phone. It is a strange mixture of shiny plastic and rubber-like panels. It is available in two different colour schemes.

The phone W710i looks reasonably robust but Sony Ericsson hasn't gone to the max and provided the weatherproofing and shock-protection that some previous phones designed for active lifestyles have provided. There are nice touches, however.The rubber panels at the side of the external screen provide full MP3 track control with fast forward, rewind and play buttons falling easy to hand. The LCD is large, so that it is easy to read the track details without needing to open the phone. However, this passive display is a limited monochrome affair, which shows orange text on a black background.Opening up the flip you get a full-colour screen, although the quality of the small 220x176-pixel display is not particularly impressive. The camera viewfinder and video playback only occupy part of the available space.