The new Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman phone promises superior sound quality, and of course, a whole lot of spunk with its Walkman on Top feature, which lets you control your playlist even if the clamshell is closed.

The Sony Ericsson W980 has 8GB of internal memory, 3.2 megapixel camera with 3.2 digital zoom, as well as an FM transmitter, allowing the streaming of music to any device with an FM receiver.

You can also access Sony Ericsson's over-the-air download service, PlayNow, to download music to your mobile phone. The model comes with the Stereo Portable Handsfree HPM-77 headset.

Key Features:

• 2.2" 262K-color TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution
• 3 megapixel camera
• External 262K-color display with a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels
• Walkman 3.0 music player
• Shake control
• Light effects
• Touch-sensitive keys
• Ambient light sensor
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP profile support
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• FM radio with RDS
• Good battery life
• Comfortable keypad

• No auto focus nor flash for the camera
• Inconvenient camera lens location
• Shiny surface a fingerprint nightmare
• Display kinda small for a high-end phone
• Awkward context keys
• Camera interface not user-friendly

Aiming to meet some high-end demand, Sony Ericsson W980 brings the cream of the music centered niceties of the house. The clamshell form factor and the quite eccentric features such as FM transmitter and light effects make it hard to point a finger at its main market rivals.

One suspect that comes to mind is Samsung G400 Soul. Featuring the same flip-up bodywork, it trades the FM transmitter and the large storage space for a 5 megapixel camera. You figure if it's a square deal or else. If the G400 Soul has some of those good Samsung audio quality genes, it's in for a match with Sony Ericsson W980. With no information about the cost of either at this stage, the two devices might actually end up running in different lanes pricewise.

Anyway, we think the odds with W980 are towards a hefty price tag, which opens the door to some serious smartphone competition.

Now, one last thing before we get to the point. We should warn you that ours is a pre-release unit, so some minor changes are likely before D-day. Our units was rock solid and gave us no problems at all. So, significant changes to the overall user experience are quite unlikely.

Sony Ericsson W980 360-degree spin

In clamshell terms, Sony Ericsson W980 has the rather compact dimensions of 92 x 46 x 16.9 mm. It also weighs exactly 100 grams, which doesn't sound like tearing a hole in your pocket. Our 360-degree spin of the Sony Ericsson W980 pretty much says it all.

Design and construction

In plain words, Sony Ericsson W980 is hot. The glossy front looks terrific and gives the phone a classy look when closed. Flipping it up ruins some of the pleasure, as the round buttons on the keypad are suspiciously reminiscent of the low-end Sony Ericsson R306. Imagine how that's immensely flattering the other way around. Anyway, we are still pleased with the exterior of Sony Ericsson W980 and we are sure it will make the right impression in public.

We start inspecting the Sony Ericsson W980 flip in closed position. The front panel features the square secondary display of 262K colors and a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels. When it's off, it blends perfectly with the opaque mirror surface, so much so that you cannot even guess its exact location.