Sony Ericsson W350 Cell Phone Review - Hardware

Entering text on the W350 goes pretty quickly despite the tiny keypad. Its screen is pretty darn small but is exceptionally bright and easy to read in bright daylight. We could do with much more internal storage, but are somewhat mollified by the Bluetooth capabilities of this Lilliputian device.

Text Words Per Minute (7.88)
To test how quickly it is to enter text, we time how long it takes to enter standard text on a device using the fastest text entry method available. On the W350, this meant enabling the T9 predictive text entry mode to cut down on the number of key presses needed to enter a word. The W350 performed well here with a result of 39.38 words per minute, making it quicker than its big brother, the Sony Ericsson W580i with 30.7 words per minute. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.

T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
The W350 has a T9 predictive entry mode that can be enabled and disabled by pressing and holding the * button, which speeds up text entry beyond the standard multi-tap method quite a bit.. There is no auto-complete mode that will complete your words for you before you've finished typing them.

One-Handed Typing (6.89)
To see how easy it is to enter text with just one hand, we enter the same text as in the first words-per-minute test and time how long it takes. Using the T9 predictive text mode was still the fastest way to do this, so we enabled this feature for this test as well, though using one hand is almost always slower than using two hands despite this, and the W350's results bore this out with a lower words-per-minute result of 34.47. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.

Keypad Backlighting (5.0)
The W350's keypad is backlit with an even white light - which does show in between keys, unfortunately - that adjusts in brightness in tandem with the screen. This type of adjustment is a nice feature and is better than the keypad backlighting found on the Nokia 5310 that operates independently of the screen for no apparent reason.

D-Pad/Joystick (5.0)
In keeping with the other tiny keys on the W350, the D-pad is also correspondingly small. Larger fingers will find it a bit hard to press the correct portion of the D-pad, and the lip of the screen above it makes it even harder to press the up button. The center select button, also teeny, is recessed by a hair compared to the rest of the D-pad so your finger can differentiate it from the surrounding buttons, but it can still be a little dicey to pinpoint. Other than this, it offers good travel and tactile feedback - if the buttons were larger and not inhibited by the lip of the screen, it would be pretty darn good.

Touch Screen (0.0)
The W350 does not have a touch screen.

Jog Dial (0.0)
The W350 does not have a jog dial.

Soft Buttons (4.0)
The W350's soft buttons are designated with a variety of functions depending on the application you're using at the moment. As mentioned in the Placing and Receiving Calls section, they can also act as the Send and End buttons. The primary issue with these buttons is their placement immediately below the edge of the screen where there's a substantial lip to allow the front of the phone to be completely flush when the flip is closed. Additionally, they have no markings on them so that they can be found by feel alone. Beyond this, they have good travel and tactile feedback, but like the rest of the buttons on the W350, they're rather small and can be hard to press by those with larger fingers.

Volume Control (2.0)
The W350's volume control is a rocker button the left side. While it's not flush with the side of the phone, it is very narrow, blending in with the chrome strip that runs around both sides and the top of the phone. This results in very little surface area to press. They have a decent amount of travel, but offer little in the way of tactile feedback. We've definitely seen better volume rocker buttons before.

Power and Standby (5.0)
The W350's Clear button doubles as its power button, and it offers the same feel and response as the soft buttons.  Turning the phone off or on simply requires a press of a few seconds, and the phone will vibrate in response to let you know that this long press registered. Turning the phone off accidentally should be a rare occurrence, though we do prefer when a phone has a separate off button to make such accidents even less probable, like on the Nokia 5310.

Other Buttons (2.0)
The W350 has a hold switch on the top of the phone that serves to lock out any further input while music is playing so that the volume isn't adjusted or a song is skipped accidentally. It's textured and very easy to find and it slides in both directions easily and stops with a barely-audible yet satisfying click.

As mentioned in the Multimedia section, the W350 also has "buttons" on the front flip. Not buttons in themselves, they are merely button fronts that push through the flexible back of the flip to activate the dial pad buttons below when the flip is closed. We award no points for these pseudo-buttons.

Also as mentioned in the Multimedia section, the Walkman button is on the top of the left side of the phone. It's exactly like the volume rocker in that it is very narrow, integrated with the thin strip of chrome that runs around the top and both sides of the phone.

Primary Screen Gross Resolution (4.0)
The W350's screen resolution is 220 x 176 pixels, earning it 4 points in this area. Even on such a tiny screen, this resolution is low enough that individual pixels can be made out in most images on the screen. Even the comparably-diminutive Nokia 5310 has a higher-resolution screen, and it would be nice if the W350 at least matched it.

Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (7.61)
Pixels per inch is a measure of how densely pixels are packed in a screen, and we calculate this using the actual viewable area of a screen and its resolution. The W350 has 152.25 pixels per inch, giving it a score below the comparison phones with higher-resolution screens, as expected.

Screen Physical Size (4.65)
The claimed screen size for a phone is often overstated, and we measure the actual viewable area of a phone's screen to find its true size. The W350's claimed screen size is 2.0 inches diagonally, but we measured it at 1.86 inches.

Screen Brightness (10.50)
To test screen brightness, we adjust it to its highest setting, navigate to a blank white web page, and measure the output with a lux meter in a dark room, all while activating and isolating the light sensor to keep the brightness as its highest level. The W350 put out a substantial 145 lumens, making it the brightest screen among all of our comparison phones. Maximum brightness is the only screen setting on the W350 and there are 5 levels to choose from - there is no way to adjust how long the backlight stays on.

Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
To evaluate the screen's performance in bright light, we set the display to its highest brightness level and use it in front of a light putting out the equivalent of bright daylight. It was very easy to read menus and see icons on the W350 in this test, which we attribute to is brightness and the contrasting font and screen colors of its default theme.

Color Depth (6.0)
The W350's screen is capable of displaying 65,000 colors, putting it on par with the Samsung Beat, but below every other comparison phone.

Secondary Screen (0.0)
The W350 does not have a secondary screen.

Power & Data Ports (2.0)
The W350 has a single proprietary port for charging, syncing, and headphones. We dislike proprietary ports, since replacement cables are often more expensive to replace and harder to find. Additionally, the selection of accessories is greatly diminished. The W350 earns the minimum number of points in this section with its proprietary port.

Headphone Compatibility (4.0)
With its single proprietary port, the W350 will not work with standard headphones, nor is an adapter included in the box to allow the use of standard headphones. The only thing that earns the W350 points in this area is the fact that it has the A2DP Bluetooth profile that allows the use of Bluetooth stereo headphones.

Internal Storage (1.0)
With 9MB of internal storage, the word "paltry" seems even too generous to describe it. As ridiculous as it sounds, this isn't too far behind the W350's more impressive sibling, the Sony Ericsson W580i with its 12MB of internal storage. Clearly, both of these devices are meant to be used with additional storage since nary a song will fit into this amount of storage and leave room for PIM data and photos.

Expansion Slot & Format (5.0)
The W350's card expansion slot format is Memory Stick Micro. This is a proprietary Sony format that is less common than the SD card formats, and it earns less points as a result.

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