It was started by Motorola and continued – or shall we say, finished – by Samsung. Phones have gotten crazy thin over the last few years and in a few more, I’m sure they’re going to be one-dimensional. Everyone has been busy squeezing the lard out of their phones, but one brand showed no interest in this trend. Sony Ericsson has been making fat phones for years. Some of them look very good and sound amazing, but they’re still fat. That has now changed with the new, much anticipated W880i Walkman phone, previously popular as the 'Ai' concept.
Will the slim new W880i prove to be a threat to Samsung’s ultra-slim line of handsets? Does it carry on the Sony Ericsson legacy of great multimedia performance in this near-half size avatar? Let’s find out.
Design
In the looks department, the W880i falls as far away from the Sony Ericsson tree as possible. First, of course, is the thickness of the phone which is a thin 9.4mm – less than half that of some popular Sony Ericsson handsets. After that, the entire front face of the phone is a silver, brushed-metal finish, which is again not seen in any Sony Ericsson GSM/3G phone till date. The front face is silver and the back is a rubbery black. The rear has minimum elements, so this phone isn’t a 'dual-front' phone because the back looks just like a back – it’s black.


