Sony Ericsson W950i

Status: 🟡 Parts missing or broken

Photos: TBD

The Sony Ericsson W950i was something like the “musical twin brother” of the M600i: both devices were built on the same hardware platform with Symbian UIQ 3.0, had similar dimensions and casing, and their firmware could even be cross-installed. But while the M600i stood out with its unusual Half-QWERTY keyboard, the W950i received a classic 12-key layout and a strong focus on music. Its main trump card was an incredible 4 GB of built-in storage — with no need for expansion cards — which effectively turned the phone into a full-fledged pocket music player.

Its main rival was considered to be the Nokia N91, which came with a hard drive of the same 4 GB capacity. These two devices competed for the title of the ultimate “music smartphone,” but each played to a different strength. The N91 relied on hardware — a dedicated audio hardware stack designed for audiophiles with discerning ears. The W950i, on the other hand, enchanted with software: the Walkman 3.0 player was both attractive and convenient, and the ability to sort tracks by mood made interacting with the music library feel almost like a game. As a result, the device looked modern and bold, especially compared to its “stone-age” competitors.

I got to know this smartphone through a friend who bought the W950i with his very first paycheck from working on an elevator repair crew. I remember how we admired the orange backlighting of the touch keys and scrolled through the playlist, as if holding not a phone but a stylish musical instrument. For that time, the W950i felt extraordinary — both a compact computer and a music box, carrying the soul of a true Walkman.

All photos from Vintage Cellphone and PDA Museum by TiredSysadmin are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.