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The new Sony Ericsson W850i heralds the next phase in the Walkman phone evolution. As the eighth member of this successful musical family, this handset not only sports a Sony Ericsson first but also a more advanced Walkman player that hints at a far more exciting and enhanced experience for the mobile music fan.

3g.co.uk made a review of this phone and here are their impressions. The W850i is essentially the successor to the W900i. While we liked the W900i at 3G, there were some discrepancies that, thankfully, its inheritor has ironed out, and even ditched. Firstly, the W900i arrived from the old school 3G-camp; its hulking chassis meant it wasn’t matey with the trouser pouch. The W850i is far more compact, closely resembling the Nokia 6280 in size and weight.

As a 3G phone the W850i is graced with two-way video calling capabilities. With a front-loaded VGA camera, the performance doesn’t really deviate from other similar specced 3G handsets. The inevitable pixelation and drag appears but it isn’t too shabby. As with most Walkman phones the strong built-in speaker redeems its performance. Conversation are very distinct through the rear speaker so you won’t need the headphones to hear the chit chat.

The W850i is also graced with a rear two-megapixel camera lens that shoots photos in a maximum 1600x1200-pixel resolution. However, a few omissions mean it doesn’t rank alongside the likes of the W810i and K750i. Admittedly, like the W810i there’s no lens cover but unlike its 2.75G compadre it lacks auto-focus and resolution has been down-sized slightly from 1632x1224 pixels.

Merit points are clawed back with a built-in LED light that works okay in low-level environments but otherwise you’re looking at the V630i for picture quality comparison. While the snaps are of decent quality, alongside the likes of the aforementioned fellow Ericssons, they can appear a little washed out.

The Sony Ericsson W850i is by no means a disappointment, perhaps just a little underwhelming, but it still remains another worthy addition to the Walkman tribe. Perhaps the tantalizing thought of the upcoming 4GB flash memory-toting W950i is nagging at the back of our minds and this is the next Walkman phone we’re really getting excited about.

Read full review on 3g.co.uk.