Sony Ericsson Z500
Average Ratings
Good phone with a Great price!
Sony Ericsson's Z500a is an good phone with a great price it has mostly pros & a few cons.
Pros: Good consistent signal, no external antenna like most other flip phones, clear screen & external screen, animated themes / screen savers, attractive design, changeable face & back plates, excellent camera & video (you can use the camera with the flip closed), voice speaker phone, vibrate feature, & very cool ring tones included.
Cons: Not as user friendly as Nokia or LG phones, User manuel is complicated and some of the phone features were not explained thoroughly or at all, no bluetooth, volume could be a bit louder, poor battery life compared to other phones I've owned, this one needs to be charged almost everyday.
Very Good Basic Camera Phone for ADULTS
Maybe I expect too little of a cell phone, but I do not buy a phone to take pictures, or annoy all around me with nerve-jarring, annoying ringtones. These abilities entertain me for about the first ten minutes I have the phone. Yes, the hinge on the phone does click when opening or closing. To me, it feels much more solid than the polished turd of a Motorola I replaced with the SE. The camera does not take the best pictures, but if the pictures are viewed on a computer they are not bad. The phone certainly does better at taking pictures than my digital camera does at making phone calls. I have Cingular service and although their CS blows, the phone works very well in the urban/suburban area that I live in. MUCH better siganl and sound quality than Motorola and LG phones I have used. Bottom line--This is a basic camera hone and marketed as such, usually free with plan. In this case at least you get a dependable, solid phone for nothing. If you are looking for a Zoolander-esque fashion statement rather than a phone, look elsewhere. I personally do not want to look like my phone was on "Pimp my phone" and do not want to have to use a stylus to press microscopic bottons on a chicklet sized, chrome POS. I guess it is a matter of what you have a cell phone for.
ONE OF THE BEST PHONES IVE HAD, I RECOMMEND!!
Hello from Orange County CA. I personally have had a Kyocera,Audiovox,Motorolas,Samsung,Nokias,and now a Sony Ericsson Z500a with Cingular. I honestly LOVE this phone!!(best out of all above phones). The reception is great,Have never had a dropped call like with my Motorola and Kyocera.So many different features. I actually compared this to my boyfriends Razr V3. He has to play with his phonebook so that there is not multiple phonebook entries(mine has more entries,plus address and info slot),my phone actually takes longer video clips and I can screen 10 callers to accept and the rest with go directly to voicemail.It also has a voice tag that can record a name or word that I will hear right when the custom ringer rings(I can make my own songs to use as ringtones for free!!)So if I am asleep my phone will say bugging me" and a real song or tune I made special for her(along with her picture on FRONT display).The only "CON" is it is a little brick like a previous entry stated. But hey maybe it will come in handy as a weapon one day. (Dont tell Naomi Cambell this!!)Ive dropped it numerous times and no problem and like stated B4,cant say that for Razr V3,my boyfriend is on his 2nd one.Also the yellow keypad light could be different color. I love setting the alarm and turning phone off and it wakes me in morning to music.I also use the front display as a mirror by clicking the camera button on side to put my makeup on.It maybe needs a flash for camera(has night mode though)and cute frames to use on pictures as well as black/white,negative and other settings have not used yet. Good Luck.Cingular can get expensive but best overall service. TMobile has better deals but terrible customer service. As for prepaid service, Virgin Mobile ROCKS!!Hope this helps. Karen in O.C.
Good at the time
At the time of me having the phone back in September of 2004 with also the help of getting the replacement from the prototype. The only difference was that there was some OS fixes and the little "snapshot" sound that didn't make a sound during silence mode was taken away.
Anyways, my phone has been used in New Jersey, Florida, and currently Arizona. The signals are not that bad except for the places in Florida where there is almost no signal to go to.
Also the phone is sturdy considering that my phone has been through heck and back including the recent fall down the stairs and then off the side.
Also, I also noticed that someone that made the design of the phone made a design flaw with the battery compartment. The battery is roughly too loose. To fix it, I added an antannae booster and a piece of paper to the bottom of the battery and now the phone never turns off abnormaly unless its from low battery.
PRO:
Good signals
Great speakers for ringtones
Custom Ringtones you can make
Add content through direct connect, e-mail, MMS, or Web.
CON:
Sometimes, calls don't get through til like the caller's 5th or 6th ring
The headset is not always good for the phone as clicks are heard.
Mic is a bit too sensitive
6MB mem
Overall despite the fact this phone is now out of date, this has been a great phone that is still reliable. It will be used a little longer til my next upgrade is fully available.
Loooovvee it
We're a SE family, but i disliked the small non-flip phones, so getting the z500 was a great compromise.
Yes, the phone is big, but it holds up so well. I drop my phone at least once a day and the paint still looks good.
The battery lasts forever with my phone, if i don't talk on it too much, it can go without being charged for a few days. Compare that to my old LG that i charged nightly to have it die around 5pm.
The sound it makes when taking a picture cannot be silence, which is annoying, and the alerts for messages are limited and basic. However, the fact you can record sounds and make them your ring tone is awesome.
Basically, i love this phone. I'd be lost without it.
" I loved it at first...."
at first this phone was the best thing since sliced bread i thought. but after a while i got bored with it and i am now after the S.E. W600i
Pros... Descent memory,Speakerphone, I liked the music D.J and durable
Cons..... The pictures sucked, and the video sucked, and you could not Create Mp3's
Pretty GOOD phone!
I work in the Wireless industry and deal with many phones. I actually think this is a pretty dern good phone! I bought this phone for nearly $300 from Cingular when it was first released. I havent had any problems with it since, and it has been abused!! Here are my pro's and con's:
Pro:
Very Sturdy
Great Reception
Wonderful sound quality (LOUD!!)
Good MP3 player
Lots of memory
Con:
Battery life SUCKS
Keypad isnt great
Hard to get charger in port
Good but not the best
This phone is a very good phone but has a few problems but i still recomend this to anyone who wants a phone that serves a purpose.
PROS:
Great camera and video(with zoom)
nice style and customiziable
very tough and sturdy
CONS:
when it is closed to hard it blacks out
size is BIG
battery life SUCKS
Z500a A Good Phone
Design: A clamshell phone. Good for those with big fingers. Not to small and not to big. Has an internal Antenna.
Features: A good buy for its price. It includes so many features. It includes a Media Player, Camera wit the ability to record as long as it has memory. It has fast INTERNET for a Small phones thanks to EDGE. It can Fit many Ring tones. The Games looks great. And its capable of running 3D games. And Messaging is a breeze with T9 software, and with Sony Ericsson's Quickshare.
Battery Life: The battery life is average for its size. It has a talk time of about 4 1/2 hours and a standby times of 250 hours.
Call Quality: Call quality is awesome. Compared to many of my other Cingular Phones this phone has clear calls. And when I'm driving i can understand what people are saying.
Overall: This phone is amazing. This phones manages to put so many features onto a cheap phones. This phones has a very good price range.
Good Phone
I've had this phone for a couple of months and i think it's a great phone.
Pros
-great reception in minneapolis
-loud and clear
-nice screen (compared to my previous moto v180)
thats all that i care about is that the phone has good reception and this phone has very good reception i get a full bars everywhere except my house, but i live in the country.
Cons
-it's is HUGE...all my friends say that is one big phone
-the Internet doesn't work, maybe it's a bug it worked until one day
-can't log onto AIM maybe thats another bug
this is a VERY good phone if you are like me and only or mostly use the phone for talking, with a few added bells and whistles. Because this phone does have GREAT coverage.
-llkoola1
