Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Available now
22nd August 2011

A smart phone with a daft name, the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman is an Android 2.3 entertainment phone with enhanced media capabilities.

We'll come to the musical and media capabilities in a moment, but the main specifications are a 3.2" 320 x 480 pixel display, a 5 megapixel main camera with 720p HD video recording, a front-facing VGA camera for video calling, an FM radio, a 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and all the usual Android features such as GPS, WiFi and 3.5G support.

Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson tarnished the Walkman brand in the past by over-using it, but this time the Live with Walkman really does look like something special. Not only does this phone include the Walkman player and TrackID, but it comes with an enhanced Sony sound system called xLOUD plus integration into Sony's Qriocity content service and an "Infinite" button that opens up more content by the current artist.

Sony Ericsson say that the Live with Walkman has "Deep Facebook" integration, which basically means that you can pop across to Facebook from most major applications and do stuff. This sounds a little like the HTC Salsa, although the Salsa comes with a physical button.

Because this is an Android phone then it does everything that an Android phone can do, plus it has access to thousands of applications in the Android Market. Sony Ericsson have added some of their own enhancements such as Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation. Some users might find that the screen is a bit on the small size, but on the other hand it has a fast processor and plenty of memory so applications should run smoothly.

Inside is a 1200 mAh battery that Sony Ericsson say can power the Live with Walkman for over 6 hours talktime and 35 days standby time, although the 17.5 hours music listening time and 6.5 hours video playback might be of more interest to the sort of customer who would buy this. The Live with Walkman measures 106 x 57 x 14mm and weighs 115 grams.

The Live with Walkman is available in Black and White colours, and in our view the white one is the best looking. The standard sales package includes a stereo wired headset, a 2GB memory card and a micro USB cable.

Sony Ericsson say that the Live with Walkman should be available sometime during Q4 2011. No guidance was given on price, but our best guess is that it should cost about €300 or so at launch including tax.