Audio

As the W300i is a Walkman phone, music is more or less its second most important purpose after making phone calls. MP3, AAC, MP4, MIDI, 3GP, AMR, IMY, EMY, WAV - the W300i has them all covered. Plenty of phones offer MP3 capabilities nowadays, but most of them carry a much higher price tag than the W300i. Even the phone's physical design reflects its purpose as a music player - the left edge of the phone features a music controller near the hinge, complete with Play, Pause, Forward, and Back buttons. The phone comes out of the box with a custom set of headphones.

The Main Menu features a button for Cingular Music, in which most of the phone's music features are found. The most important feature found here is the Walkman program, which functions as the phone's media player software. This program arranges uploaded music files by Artist, Track, and Playlist, as well as providing a separate category for video files. The format is fairly simple, so new users can get started on music-playback enjoyment right away.

Getting music files onto the phone is, of course, an important first step. Users may download songs directly onto the phone (for a fee) via Cingular's MEdia Mall. Users may also transfer currently-owned music from a computer by using a USB cable or a Bluetooth connection.

Users may enjoy streaming music by purchasing a subscription to MobiRadio, Cingular's streaming radio service. This program allows access to a variety of digital radio stations, though users need to watch out for data-streaming fees. For those who wish to avoid extra charges, an FM Radio feature is also available. This program works through the handsfree device to tune into the local ground-based radio stations users might be familiar with from their car stereo or alarm clock.

The phone comes pre-installed with a few other previews for music applications, such as Billboard Mobile. Again, most of these programs require a fee or subscription. Interested customers should take a look at Cingular's MEdia Mall website.

Music ID is one rather handy program, available for a monthly subscription fee, which listens to a song from an external source, such as a CD player or radio, identifies the music, and then offers the user a link to purchase said music. Those who would rather identify songs by themselves and purchase them later can easily avoid this fee, but the program does offer a convenient way of immediately locating a song and offering it for purchase directly to the phone.

The W300i wants to be an MP3 player, and in many ways it succeeds. On-the-go users can to listen to a library of downloaded or transferred music files through the Walkman media player. Various music applications, such as Music ID and MobiRadio, add to the number of music options, although most involve separate fees. The only downside of using the phone as an MP3 player is the drain on the phone's battery, although this is a fundamental problem of all phone/media player combination-devices, not a unique flaw of the W300i. Those who wish to download songs directly to the phone should watch out for Cingular's data-streaming service plan and other related fees, but those transferring data directly from a computer should have no extra fees.

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