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If you are familiar with the Sony Ericsson G705, then you already know what is all about the new Sony Ericsson W705. Both phones have the same design, both of them have alternative versions with UMA (for Orange), Sony Ericsson G705u respectively Sony Ericsson W705u, and both phones come with almost the same features. "Almost" the same features because G705 and W705 come from different ranges. The G705 is a lite business orientated model, while the W705 is marketed under the Walkman logo. The W705 is more appealing, because it targets a younger audience, primarily 16 to 25 year olds. As most of the Walk man branded phones, W705 will not be a market success from the launch point. First the price will go done with 15 to 25 percent, in the next six to eight months, and then it will become a good purchase.

The Sony Ericsson Walkman buyers are people (even if young) more calculated, than the customers of Apple iPhone or the latest Nokia gadgets. Walkman brand is for people who are looking for a great balance between prices and features. This doesn't necessarily happen to Nokia customers, or Apple customers. Remember the huge line up in the summer of 2007 for the first iPhone? Or maybe the recently 2 million units sold of N97. Unfortunately 70 percent of nowadays customers jump into a purchase without planning ahead. Good for the manufacturers, bad for their clients finances. The Sony Ericsson W705 doesn't even have a direct competitor. It is a nice looking, slide form, music oriented phone. The Sony Ericsson W705 comes in two color choices (like most of the Walkman branded phones): passionate red and luxury silver.

Don't expect to a black finish, because Sony Ericsson is offering that color on the G705. If it would be offered on the W705, it would probably make confusion for the potential buyers. The back cover hinges on a side latch. Therefore it might seem not that solid in the matter of build. On the left side you will find the interface connector, while on the right side you will find the volume keys and camera trigger. On the top of the W705 you will find the music key, while on the back W705 sports the 3.15 megapixel camera lens and a LED flash. The walkman phone has a height of 95 mm, wide of 47.5 mm, deep of 14.3 mm with an estimated weight of 98 g. judging from this values you will get a pocket friendly phone.

The Sony Ericsson W705 runs in 2G networks (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900), but also in 3G networks (HSDPA 900 / 2100). W705 is equipped with an average range display. Therefore you get a nice 2.4 inches TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, capable of rendering up to 256.000 colors. Beside the entry level wallpapers and screensavers you also get the excellent accelerometer sensor for auto rotate. The W705 screen can accommodate up to 9 text and 4 service lines (in some sub menus you might be able to accommodate even more). Unfortunately, in the sun the display gets washed. Therefore the legibility is at mediocre at best. The keypad is easy to use.

It is made out of too much plastic. Even so the middle size buttons feel nice at touch and provide good feedback. Unlike the W905, W705 offers a more comfortable keypad. All keys are lit in white, making them friendly to look at. Compared to the G705 keypad, the one found on W705 is not as good. Sony Ericsson didn't provide with specifications regarding the processor used or the random access memory included in the W705. The internal memory has a small value of 120 MB. You can improve this value by adding a memory stick micro M2 card. The W705 is already shipped with 1 GB M2 card, however you can easily go up to 8 GB values. Even so, this is a music oriented phone, and in doesn't have an x GB built in memory. Well Sony Ericsson understood that less is more, at list in the storage department.

The connectivity is ensured by Class 10 (4 + 1 / 3 + 2 slots) GPRS with 32 to 48 kbps, HSCSD, EDGE with Class 10 and 236.8 kbps, HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA with 2 Mbps, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g support, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and 2.0 USB (used with Media Transfer, when the phone goes off and extends the data transfer speed up to 2 MB per second). You can also use the W705 as a modem; by connecting it to your laptop it will provide you sufficient speed for browsing. Sony Ericsson ships the W705 with a small 930 mAh Li - Pol battery (BST 38). The official standby time in the 2G network is about 400 hours, while in the 3G network is about 350 hours. In the 2G network the W705 battery will last for 10 hours of talk time, and up to 4 hours of talk tome in the 3G network. For an average consumer, these values mean around 2.5 days to 3 days.

The phone takes around 2 hours to charge its battery full. If you will use the Wi-Fi connection, then you should know that the W705's battery will last about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Because W705 plays in the middle range, Sony Ericsson equipped it with a 3.15 megapixel camera. You can use this camera to take pictures with three possible resolutions, 2048 x 1536 pixels, 1632 x 1224 pixels, 1280 x 960 pixels. You can chose to take pictures using the "fine" data compression or "normal" data compression. The camera comes with a full set of setting features: shutter sound, white balance, timer, night mode, effects, and shooting mode.

The user interface was not changed; you get the same Sony Ericsson operating system. However, this phone is walkman braded, making the music player from the W705 a good feature (even more with the Sens Me feature). Because of the accelerometer sensor, you can use the Shake Control on your W705. You just have to shake your W705 when listening to a playlist as you will turn the shuffle mode on.

The phone offers a good quality music playback as long as you use a pair of headphones, or stereo speakers. The sound offered is loud and by using the equalizer feature you can listen to music with any effect you would like. The Sony Ericsson W705 doesn't try to be an ultimate multimedia phone. It was created for the middle range, and sports a perfect balance between price and performances. However, as a nice surprise in this class, you get a full connectivity package, a relatively good battery and an excellent music player. If you are looking for a normal music phone, then the Sony Ericsson W705 is a safe choice.