Full Review and Specification for the Sony Ericsson W380

3G takes our carbon footprint seriously. Manufacturers automatically get brownie points when a phone arrives packaged in a sensible sized box. Therefore, when the Sony Ericsson W380 arrived in such a box the handset was already scoring well, but would our opinion dwindle?

Sony Ericsson W380 Clamshell Walkman

Sony Ericsson has been shipping out Walkman phones left, right and centre in recent months, but it has a been a couple of years since we've seen a clamshell version of the popular music phone range. Available in one of four colours, including the baffling black orange, the W380 is actually a little heavier than it looks, with a degree of thumb pressure needed to flip the phone open. Its shell also feels a little plastic.

Open the phone up to reveal the keypad and a somewhat small screen. All the usual Sony Ericsson controls are found here, including the navigation wheel, back button and cancel button. Under the navigation wheel are three much narrower keys. From left to right they are the internet key, the on/off button and the My shortcuts menu. You need a fairly steady hand to hit these, but the rest of the keys are both large and well spaced out.

Sony Ericsson W380 OLED external screen

While the Sony Ericsson W380 may not be the highest specced of the Walkman range, it does boast some appealing features. Even though it has a slightly plastic shell, we should also mention that on the front of the handset is an OLED screen that switches on and off depending if the handset is in use or not. Underneath the display are three braille-like symbols that are the media player's controls when the clamshell is closed. You can both skip and pause tracks by simply pressing the relevant buttons, which will give a short vibration to acknowledge a response. The OLED screen also displays the time as well as what radio frequency you're listening to.

While Sony Ericsson has boxed the W380 with a pair of 3.5mm headphones, somewhat bizarrely, there is no 3.5mm jack port and therefore you will need to use the supplied adaptor. The radio can be played via loudspeaker, but the aforementioned adaptor would still need to be plugged in to get reception. We were pleased with the quality of the radio with little if any static even when the phone was in transit.

Sony Ericsson W380 Gesture control

Another novel feature of the W380 is its gesture control. Switch this feature on and you will be able to silence incoming calls or snooze alarm clocks by simply passing the palm of your hand above the sensor, which is found just below the camera lens. It works a treat although it's difficult to justify that a simple silence key wouldn't be more apt.

While we were fans of the W380's gimmicks, we did find the 1.9-inch screen proved a hindrance when using the 1.3-megapixel camera. With icons at both the top and bottom of the screen, the actual image you are photographing only fills around two thirds of the screen - not great if there's a lot going on in the shot. The same issue arose when surfing the net, with limited content being shown at any one time. For this reason we would suggest using the full screen option.

Sony Ericsson W380 Overall

With the Sony Ericsson Walkman conveyor belt in full pelt, it's refreshing to see the manufacturer keeping things new. With its gesture control, OLED screen and funky colour schemes, the W380 is likely to appeal more to a younger audience than the early adopter. The internal screen is a tad small but overall the Sony Ericsson W380 is no runt.