Brought to market in April, 2009, Sony Ericsson W395 came out just a little too late for anyone’s Top Ten List of Great Music Phones. But look for this sleek, cute, and functional little phone among 2009’s Top Ten.

Checking out Sony Ericsson W395, keep the phone’s function and demographic clearly in mind, knowing what to expect and especially remembering what not to expect. You cannot reasonably expect this cutie to rival anybody’s BlackBerry; Sony Ericsson W395 does not do business. This phone will not link you to your MS Office Suite or log you into Microsoft Exchange. W395 will not boost your business, track your investments in real time, or plot a perfect supply-and-demand curve for Angus beef. This phone will not download half a million apps or drive you to the top of the universe in World of Warcraft.

This phone will not especially improve your text-messaging efficiency or teach you all the standard instant message acronyms. If you plan to make money or corner the market on precious metals, Sony Ericsson W395 will not become your phone of choice. If, however, you want the industry’s best music player outfitted with a pretty good wireless phone, then Sony Ericsson W395 should contend for el primero on your list of look-ats and try-outs. In fact, several prestigious reviewers strongly recommend guys in pin-striped suits ought to work their acquisitions magic on Sony Ericsson W395 simply for the sake of the music.

Just Enough of the Basic Equipment

The industry’s toughest, most demanding analysts agree W395 has excellent build quality; it stands-up to lots of abuse and keeps right on rockin’. Functional and wonderfully unpretentious, Sony Ericsson W395 has a two-inch screen that displays in 264,000 colors with excellent resolution. The five-direction “joy pad” operates neatly and easily with good touch, and the numeric keypad has good feedback and travel. Because the set fits neatly into tight spaces, the slider offers the distinct advantage of rendering “pocket calling” impossible. Harsher fat-thumbed critics have complained the keypad’s top row crowds very close to the slider, making high-speed texting a little awkward. Your thumbs may vary. The set’s 1MB memory card stores all your contact data with plenty of room for music.

Sony Ericsson W395 does not multi-task, but it does multi-function. The handset includes a perfectly respectable 2mp camera, and it easily uploads pictures to the web. The handset also includes an FM radio, because…well, mostly just because it can. Some users complain about the call quality where signals do not quite push the meter up to five bars. Although the speakers allow W395 users to hear their calls without distortion or static, the microphone does not always return the favor. Bluetooth equipped, though, the phone delivers fine call quality through good headsets.

Users easily may download several valuable upgrades for W395: The set will support motion gaming, and users may install an e-mail client. Sony Ericsson’s promotional materials promise a wealth of downloadable themes, wallpapers, and custom ring-tones, but they have yet to become widely available. Users’ sites most frequently complain, “Not enough themes, dude! Just way-way not enough themes.”

Awesome Music Power

Officially the thirty-first of Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones, and just as officially the partnership’s least expensive music phone, W395 appeals to “the youth market,” offering great stereo sound in a variety of download formats, and providing all the essential phone functions in a sleek slider slim enough to fit the back pockets of the Popular Girls’ skinniest jeans. Available in several chic color schemes, Sony Ericsson W395 promises choruses of “How cute is that!” Most importantly, Sony Ericsson W395 breaks into the market at a perfectly reasonable $125.00(US). The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is slightly higher, but the internet’s major electronics vendors offer handsome discounts that bring Sony Ericsson W395 well within range of almost all tune-o-philes.

Unlike most comparably priced music phones, Sony Ericsson W395 has two speakers for genuine stereo sound, and its controls include an option for “stereo widening,” which comes remarkably close to recreating surround-sound as it boosts big bass, maintains clear mid-range, and sharply defines treble sounds. The set also features a fully functional equalizer, so that listeners may set the tone qualities precisely to their preferences. Proving its dedication to listeners’ musical enjoyment, Sony Ericsson W395 features dedicated control keys exclusively for managing the tunes. It also includes a number of tune-friendly functions designed to optimize the listening experience. TrackID gives listeners power to learn the name, artist, and lyrics of new music, and PlayNow allows multi-media fans to download all kinds of entertainment. Best of all, Sony Ericsson W395 delivers widely acclaimed HPM-64 stereo earpieces in the box—best quality headgear without the price of an upgrade. No other music phone in this price range can match the sound quality W395 delivers through these high-quality phones.

Two intelligent comparisons make the case for w395’s value. First, this entry level music player cum phone competes with Sony’s own top-of-the-line W760i at one-fifth the price—comparable sound quality in the music, comparable build and button function, just not so many gadgets and widgets. Second, Sony Ericsson W395 beats its closest competitor by a country mile. Nokia music phones in the same price range come nowhere close to this set’s durability and user-friendliness; and, of course, the sound quality is absolutely no contest.