Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman review: Music to go

Introduction

This Walkman is still learning to walk. But it sure knows how to mix. One part spicy, one part sweet, sprinkled with sexy and fun. Just don’t expect it to mix business with pleasure.

This is not a smartphone. Smartphones come farther down the road. It looks like a long way for the Mix Walkman and it takes music to go.

Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman official pictures

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman is a fairly basic handset with music, Wi-Fi, stills and video. It’s a touch phone with a neat and efficient interface, good hand fit and customizable body. Affordable and simple to use, it’s not ticking boxes and getting serious stuff done. It’s not in a rush to grow up.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Touch-friendly four corner UI with Walkman player
• Stereo speakers
• 3.0" capacitive touchscreen of WQVGA resolution
• 3.15 megapixel fixed-focus camera with QVGA video recording
• Wi-Fi b/g
• Stereo FM radio with RDS and TrackID
• Standard microUSB port for charging and data
• Stereo Bluetooth
• microSD card slot, support for up to 32GB
• 3.5mm-compatible audio jack
• Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
• Facebook and Twitter apps
• Customizable color bands
• Scratch-resistant surface

Main disadvantages

• No 3G
• Low-res display
• No on-screen QWERTY keyboard
• No equalizers or repeat function for the music player
• Disappointing camera
• No file browser
• No smart dial
• No multi-tasking
• microSD card slot under the battery

An entry-level phone, the Mix Walkman is trying to stay focused on features that are relevant to its target audience. Having covered its music and social bases, it carries no unnecessary weight. It’s an upgrade of the Sony Ericsson Yendo though and has something to show for it. The bigger screen and Wi-Fi are worth noting.

Work’s been done on the software too. Sony Ericsson have done their best to emulate the Android experience with the four-corner UI. There’s Facebook and Twitter integration too through the Friends app. You can follow the status updates of five of your friends right on your homescreen.

Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman live pictures

We’ll get to that in due time but first things first. The hardware checkup follows right after the break.