I got a cellular phone upgrade a few days ago in the form of the Sony Ericsson W850i. Used to have the W800i, which I might say is still an excellent phone. But its limited 512mb memory and hardware/software quirks forced me to get a better phone. The W850i takes bit of adjustment since it is a “slide” type handset, which I’m not used to. It comes with 1gb memory, enough to fit in as much music and pictures that I desire.

Compared to the W800i, this baby was made for music — overall music quality is much louder and crisper, software more user-friendly and cool lighting effects to boot (albeit a drain on batteries).

The navigation keys can be a pain for some. It lacks the joystick that my former phones had (W800i and Nokia 6600) and keys are a little tough to figure out. To those who grow their nails long — this might not be the right cellphone for you.

The 2 megapixel camera could use some improvement. It doesn’t have zoom nor autofocus and picture quality is grainy in darker environments. But like I said, it’s the music experience that I’m really after and in that area I’ve got no complaints whatsoever.

For those music aficionados with deeper pockets, you might want to check out the Sony Ericsson W950i.