I took this phone out of the packaging and the first thing I thought was, “wow, this is smaller than it looks in the pictures.” Directly afterwards, I looked at some of the pictures of it online, and really, it does look as small as it is in the pictures, apparently I’m just blind. I stuck the phone in the charger until it had a full charge (something they suggest you do, which I don’t actually believe is necessary, but I did it anyway) and then I fired it up. This thing is a work of art, and if anyone tells you different, they’re lying. I read some reviews saying that this phone’s buttons are too small. No they’re not, they’re just fine. Anyone who says these buttons are too small must have fingers the size of Ball Park Franks — after you cook them. The only button-set that might be considered a little small is the directional pad, and that’s only when you’re playing games on it. Really, though, if the directional pad was any bigger, it wouldn’t be as good for making super-fast moves. Therefore, I am going to claim that it is perfect. The buttons have a nice little click to ‘em, too, and the numbers painted on them seem to be pretty rugged, so they shouldn’t wear off in your pocket too soon. The only button I don’t like is the Cingular button, but that’s unavoidable when you’re buying the phone through them.

The screen is also very, very nice. I’ve been kind of spoiled by the two-screen element of flip-phones, but I’m pretty sure one screen is all you need. I’m trying to think of why you would need that little screen on the outside of a flip phone, and I’m honestly drawing a blank. I’ve decided that candy-bar phones, such as this W810i, are just as good as flip phones except for two reasons: 1) you HAVE to use keylock, or else you’re going to call someone on accident, and 2) the phone probably won’t reach all the way from your ear to your mouth. This Sony cell phone is pretty small, so it doesn’t even come close to spanning all the way from my ear to my mouth. That’s fine, though, ’cause it doesn’t seem to affect the voice quality too much, even in light winds. In heavy winds, I think the flip phone would have it beat just because it has the microphone closer to your mouth. The fact I always have to put keylock on doesn’t bother me all that much, but make sure that, before you talk trash about someone, check and see that they’re not on the other line in your pocket.

The battery on this phone lasts forever. It comes with a Lithium Polymer battery that allows up to NINE hours of talk time, and up to SIXTEEN days of standby. I don’t know how truthful that first claim is, but I’ve been able to talk about 5 hours and still have a little charge left. As for the standby, I’m pretty sure it’ll at least come close to 16 days, if you do absolutely nothing to it after unplugging it from the charger. Java games seem to drain the battery fairly quickly, though, and it doesn’t display the battery charge level while you’re in a game, so you should be careful if you don’t have a charger nearby. I don’t know if it’s just the 18-bit screen that causes it to drain the battery so fast, but I’m assuming that it’s the main culprit. Sound, too, probably drains it pretty good. As far as playing MP3s or taking pictures, this phone holds a charge like a champ. That’s pretty surprising, too, ’cause this thing has got some killer picture-taking capabilities. The speakers aren’t so bad, either. The only thing I can think of that sucks regarding the battery is the battery cover. It’s flimsy, hard to get off, and makes a cracking noise the first few times you fumble with it. Everything else is swell.

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