Sony Ericsson W580 / S500
Phone Scoop Review
Sep 18, 2007 by Eric Lin
The iPhone isn't the only new music phone on AT&T. The W580i packs a big sound into a tiny slider. With video tour. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Nice Little Phone
Pros:
not too difficult to unlock
great screen
good voice quality
small size (maybe not for some others)
great support community on the Internet
Cons:
feels a little fragile
Just got a full body protector from invisible shield and now it looks even better.
Don't Buy Unless You Change Phones Frequently!
I change phones quite often because I start to get board with the same phone menu/layout ect. This phone....worked well the first 15 days but then after texting a lot one day, my #4 key cracked straight up the middle. Before I bought the phone, I read the reviews on phonescoop and decided to ignore the problem that everyone else was having with their cracked keys. I SHOULD HAVE NOT OF BOUGHT THIS PHONE! When I called the At&T warranty exchange, they happily sent me a replacement.... the only problem is that the replacement that they sent me was also "broken". The slider did not go down all the way like it should., So instead of dealing with more hassling phone calls, I am purchasing the Pantech Duo.
Best phone ever
Pros
Really good looking phone.
great camera and colorful screen.
loud ringer.
come with $60 head phones with good sound.
this phone can do VIDEO TONES thats right you can use videos sound and all for ringers.
The themes are also good they can be found online and then downloaded to your phone.
Cons
No flash
small keys
memory cards are hard to find at least more then a gig
Good Phone
I chose this phone after long agonizing the V3xx and other phones that can do music. Overall I like the phone. I only wanted it for a phone and music, no texting or e-mail. The fact that mine accepts a 4gig card and goes to music with one button is why I chose the phone. However, the primary cons of the phone are:
1. Cheap construction. I believe this is why I couldn't find working versions of the phone in stores (5 stores, 3 states). No problem with cracked keys, but the slide is loose and getting looser. I've already exchanged it because it seemed too loose, but the new replacement had exactly the same problem.
2. The speaker sounds tinny when used as a phone, somewhat annoying. Possibly a result from being completely immersed in water for 5 seconds, though it recovered from the swim.
3. The memory card is held in by a flimsy plastic door and sometimes gets jarred out of place. I find myself having to be a lot more careful with this phone than I was with the V3.
4. The proprietary headset is bulky and inconvenient. I had hoped to use this as a replacement for my 1g Nano, but just the headset takes up more space than the Nano.
Overall I like the phone. The cons aren't enough for me to send it back again unless the slide gets really loose. If anything, the fact that iTunes music loads seamlessly on the phone and the one button music player has outweighed the cons. I gave it a 3.5 for all the cons listed above and the narrowness of the phone makes it a little hard to keep a hold of.
There doesn't appear to be a decent belt clip for this phone, though an iPod Mini holder will do in a pinch. This fact led to the short swim noted above.
Lastly, the sound is really loud from the speakers, no problems. It works well with the headphones provided, but I don't have a fine ear for acoustic detail.
my w580i died 3 wks out of the box
The features and design are sweet. Problem is, mine died 3 weeks out of the box; I never damaged it, just turned it off one day and was never able to turn it back on again. Sony is replacing but I have to pay to ship it to them to replace a brand new flawed phone. Google the phrase "w580i won't turn on"...many others have had this problem so it's an inherent flaw of the phone. I wouldn't choose this same phone again. I'll be without a phone for weeks waiting for the new one, paying for my service while I can't use it. My girlfriend had a similar problem with her Sony Ericsson phone (different model) and sent it in; they replaced it with one on which the camera constantly activates itself and shoots pics like a machine gun until the memory is full. I won't buy a Sony phone again.
Poor Call Qaulity
Everything on this phone was close to perfect. Great price, excellent music player, looks, felt solid, fantastic user interface. Even the camera was pretty decent. But the call quality was horrible. Everyone always sounded muffled. It became very hard to make out what people were saying unless i was in a very quiet area. The speaker phone was no better. I have a sony w300i and the call quality on that phone is spectacular.
Pros
Great music player and music sound quality
Great user interface (fast/intuitive)
Nice build quality
Great feature set (came with the 256 memory card)
Cons
Very poor call quality (no dropped calls - just poor call sound clarity)
Some notes: its an att branded phone being used in the dc/balt area
Sony Ericsson W580i
I have nothing but great things to say about this phone. Works great!! It was well worth the money I spent on it...I like it so much better than my Razor!!
Poor Reception
I upgraded from my Motorola KRZR K1 to the W580i. It is a great phone but this phone has very poor reception and thus I will be returning it.
Pros:
-Excellent menu system
-Great Graphics and screen resolution
-Loved the FM radio with RDS
-Pretty Good Camera
-Neat design
-Liked the slider
-Box includes everything you need for the phone
Cons:
-Very poor reception compared to the KRZR
-You have to store the contacts to the phone to be able to use speed dial
-The sound quality was just OK...even at the highest volume it wasn't too loud and it sounded hollow.
-There's no way to turn off or change the lights on the side of the phone...they're always on...you can only change the lights for incoming calls.
