TechRadar Verdict
The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman doesn't hit the sweet spots of just enough features for the price
Pros
- +
Wi-Fi
- +
Excellent external speaker
- +
Very little distortion from the media player
- +
Capacitive touchscreen
Cons
- -
Buggy platform prone to reboots
- -
Walkman music player is incredibly basic
- -
No QWERTY keyboard
- -
Laggy touchscreen
- -
No real apps
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The latest budget offering in the Walkman-branded mobile phone range by Sony Ericsson brings the music to the party, but what we'd like to know is: does it bring much else?
Firstly, it's a chunky-but-light candybar phone with a curved, rubberised plastic back that sits fine in the palm but doesn't feel particularly solidly built. Style-wise, it apes the standard black appearance of its higher-specced stablemates, but comes with one of a range of plastic customisation bands that we can only imagine is intended to appeal to the young music-loving audience the phone's aimed at.
The overall effect, however, is a little tacky.
Still, the Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman certainly isn't ugly, it's just more of a non-descript pebble than a thing of beauty, that's all. The back is smooth and the chassis well balanced, and a 3-inch (400 x 240 pixels) capacitive touchscreen is squeezed into the tiny 3.8 x 2.1 x 0.6 frame that is dwarfed even by our small hands.
Soft key-wise there's a power/lock button on the left-hand side, a thin volume rocker that's almost impossible to find while you're talking, a camera key, home key and two Walkman-related shortcuts embedded into the top of the phone, surrounding the 3.5mm jack.
Powered by Sony Ericsson's own Java-based platform, the capacitive touchscreen (running the Touch UI) is a technological bonus of sorts, offering decently bright picture quality, but the general navigation of the phone isn't particularly smooth or quick. Attempting to scroll through the menu with a light touch, for example, often leads to accidentally opening programmes you didn't mean to.
The need for a firm touch quickly gets irritating, especially when even that can't negate the lag.
Despite no 3G internet connection, it does come equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, which helps internet browsing speeds immensely. Given the target group of young, music-loving people who don't want to spend a great deal on an powerful handset, the internet experience is going to be secondary to the Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman, anyway.
Additionally the phone features a 3.2MP camera with video functionality, microSD slot (up to 32GB) and micro USB port and an external speaker that is astonishingly loud for such a little piece of kit. All in all, the specs are not too shabby for a feature phone.
