Conclusion

With the oncoming shopping season at hand, manufacturers are pushing out their flagship music phones. Released for Cingular, the W600i is Sony Ericsson's answer to the Motorola ROKR. Both vying for attention in Cingular's portfolio, comparisons between the two competitors are inevitable.

Both have similar features, including MP3 play capabilities, a built-in camera, Bluetooth connectivity, GPRS transfer rates, and Wireless Village instant messaging. However, that's about where the similarities end. Sony Ericsson has clearly surpassed Motorola in features and functionality.

It seems much of the W600i's advantage is its swivel design. Allowing consumers to use horizontal and vertical implementations depending upon application, its versatility is something missing on other devices on the market.

Featuring a 1.3-megapixel camera, capable of taking high-quality printable photos, imaging could easily be mistaken as the W600i's main focus. The innovative design of the horizontal layout allows consumers to use the W600i much like a standalone digital camera. Bundled with a plethora of filters and effects, the W600i's robust photo capabilities are hard to beat.

Aside from MP3 playing abilities, Sony Ericsson managed to pack in an FM radio. Crucial when songs are overplayed, the FM radio is not found on many devices on the market, and a much welcomed surprise.

Gaming is just as unique as well. Allowing horizontal controller-like handling, games are much more enjoyable.

Overall it's hard to find drawbacks on the W600i. To nitpick, the lack of an expansion card slot would probably be it. Sony Ericsson managed to integrate a cell phone, camera, and gaming machine, into an original compact design.

Users will be hard pressed to find a music phone, camera phone, or all-around multimedia device with such a combination of imaging, audio, messaging, gaming, and connectivity on the market today. Quite simply put, the Sony Ericsson W600i should be the example all the other manufacturers emulate when designing a multimedia device.

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