Sony Ericsson W980

Ever since mobile phones acquired the ability to play music and take photos the buzzword 'convergence' has been on the tip of everyone's tongue. Logic dictates that as soon as a device is capable of performing roles usually associated with other pieces of equipment, there's little point in lugging said equipment around with you. The big issue with this line of thought is that the mobile phone has long been the jack of all trades, master of none.

However, you can feel the tide slowly turning. We're seeing some thoroughly capable camera phones emerging on the market and Apple's iPhone more or less offers the same functionality as its stablemate the iPod. Sony Ericsson's latest Walkman effort – the W980 – also has designs on unceremoniously ousting your MP3 player from you pocket.

And with 8GB of onboard storage space, dedicated external music playback buttons and typically robust Walkman-branded software for handling media playback, the W980 initially appears to be in with an excellent chance of taking down Apple's famous MP3 player/phone hybrid, but sadly there are a few troublesome quirks that conspire to hold it back.

Externally it's a moderately attractive piece of technology; the clamshell design is a departure for Sony Ericsson, whose recent top-spec handsets have tended to come in either candybar or slider format. The casing is a mixture of shiny black plastic and rubber, and although it feels solid there are some irritating issues - the model we tested had a slightly flimsy clamshell operation that failed to inspire confidence.

Still, in its closed position this is undoubtedly a phone that's going to gain a fair amount of attention from onlookers. The external screen is one of the best we've seen on a phone and the touch-sensitive external controls – which enable you to effortlessly manage your music whilst on the move – function extremely well.

Also, during playback the W980 becomes a portable light show, with an orange glow emanating from the bottom of the phone which pulsates in time to whatever track you're listening to. Irritating for people around you, perhaps, but it's certain to appeal to show-offs who want to be the centre of attention (and let's face it, we're all a bit like that sometimes).

Given the phone's position at the vanguard of the Walkman range it's unsurprising to find that all of the recent evolutions witnessed in previous phones have been carried over here. The software is the latest version and works brilliantly; the excellent SenseMe feature allows you to select tracks from your library that match your current frame of mind (naturally you have to go through the slightly laborious process of 'tagging' each track with the appropriate 'mood rating' first). There's also the ingenious 'shake' control – previously seen in the W910 – which makes it possible to change or shuffle tracks with a simple flick of the wrist.

However, one of the most impressive features of the phone from a music point of view is the FM transmitter, which enables you to play your music through a traditional radio (so long as you can find a free slot in the FM frequency). We tested this with several radios and while it didn't always deliver the kind of sound quality we'd hope for, it's an undeniably neat bonus that we'd definitely like to see incorporated into future handsets.

Sadly, although the W980 is literally bursting with music-related brilliance, the lack of a 3.5mm headphone socket stops this from being a true contender to the iPhone's crown. As has been the case with Walkman phones since the line first made its debut, you have to use a bothersome proprietary adapter that plugs into the phone's Fast Port connection; while this has been perfectly adequate in the past it's hard to deny that the playing field is changing. Motorola and Nokia (along with Apple) now fully embrace the 3.5mm jack and you'd expect Sony Ericsson – with its burning focus on aural superiority – would have followed suit long ago.

Granted, the Fast Port option does have its benefits (it keeps the amount of clutter on the phone's casing to the bare minimum, for example). However, in this day and age it remains an awkward inconvenience, especially when you take into account the excessive length of the adapter cable. When you've hooked up your own pair of headphones it's likely that you'll be in possession of enough spare cable to tie yourself up and perform an impromptu Houdini act.

With the W980's musical aspirations curtailed slightly, it falls to the phone's other features to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The 3.2-megapixel camera doesn't inspire much confidence, as it lacks a flash and is mired by slightly muddy photo quality and uninspiring colour balance. Also, the location of the camera is totally misjudged – when holding the phone normally your fingers entirely obscure the lens. Therefore to actually take a photo you have to participate in some rather uncomfortable hand-contortion which inevitably leads to badly-framed shots.

Thankfully those of you who appreciate mobile gaming will be buoyed to learn that the W980 showcases an excellent D-pad and accelerometer control. The latter might not be that much of a selling point these days (what with every other phone seemingly offering the same capability) but here it's used in both gaming and when viewing photos (to view an image in landscape mode you simply have to turn the phone on its side). Bundled software includes Need for Speed ProStreet and Lumines Mobile, with the former looking especially stunning on the W980's crisp 240x320 pixel display.

Sony Ericsson has been dutifully chipping away at the music phone rock face for so long now that you'd expect the company to have released the truly definitive Walkman handset by now. Had the iPhone (and iPhone 3G) not stepped in and stolen the glory, there's every chance we'd have been willing to forgive the W980's lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack and slightly disappointing build quality. Sadly though, the fact remains that even with 8GB of storage and the support of the remarkable Walkman software, the W980 isn't likely to usurp Apple's market-leading phone any time soon. But that doesn't stop it from being a great option for mobile gamers.