Review: Sony Ericsson W580i
The camera on the W580 is hidden behind the slide. Because the phone has to be open to take pictures, you hold the phone vertically to use the camera, the same as you would to talk on it.
Because of this, the W580 does not use the CyberShot interface found on most high end Sony Ericssons. It uses a distinctly phone-like interface, which is generally less powerful and requires extra key presses for most functions.
The camera is launched by pressing up on the D-pad from the home screen. There is no dedicated camera key or shutter button, again providing a more phone-like than camera-like experience. It takes less than 2 seconds to launch the viewfinder, which is a letterboxed strip across the center of the screen. With ample light the viewfinder tracks the scene quickly and adjusts fairly well to light and color conditions. In low light the viewfinder leaves a trail that looks like long exposure pictures of a night sky. There is a night mode that helps the viewfinder as well as low light pictures, but it must be manually activated (and de-activated).
Snapping a 2 Megapixel picture takes less than 2 seconds to save, at which point you are taken to a review screen. The picture is automatically saved, so from here you can send, use or delete the picture without having to worry about saving it. Pressing the back key returns you to the viewfinder almost instantly.
Gallery
Even though the W580 doesn't have the photo power of some other Sony Ericsson models, it still provides an excellent photo experience. When the gallery launches, thumbnails are displayed very quickly, and are kept in memory so even if you scroll away from a page and then back, the thumbnails are displayed again instantly.
The gallery itself is only used to view and manage photos. In the thumbnail view you can select multiple files to send, move, and more. You can also select from a variety of ways to view your photos including a time line view that lets you see pictures by day and month.
You can view single pictures letter boxed or in landscape mode and start a slideshow to automatically page through them. The single picture view allows you to manage photos, but to edit them you have to open the photo in PhotoDJ (their misleading name for a simple photo editor). Photo DJ lets you adjust level, contrast, color, and even apply some filters to the photo. Oddly you can rotate the photo right in the gallery.
CTIA 2007
SoundCore Debuts new Space Series
iPhone 14 Plus Offers a Big Screen For Less
iPhone 15 Series Goes All-In on USB-C and Dynamic Island
Sony Ericsson W580 / S500
