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
AWESOME PHONE
This phone is an upgrade phone. I had a MOTO V551 which I loved. When time came to upgrade I wanted to get an MP3/Walkman phone, so the friendly sale personnel at ATT sold me and my family on the Z525, saying that it played MP3. After about 5-6 months and problems w/ all the 525's, I got a W300i, and my wife got a MOTO V3xx. I loved the 300i, but then when the 580i came out I gave the 300i to my daughter and got the 580i. My previous experience w/ SE was a T637 which I loved, but it burned up too many bluetooth headsets. I've had the 580i for 3 weeks now and I am so far very impressed. Reception is great (and I live in the middle of west bum f***), calls are clear, the display is very bright and clear (even better than the wifes V3xx), the menus are very easy to navigate and the toggle very easy to use. The radio gets very good reception w/ the included headset (which has very good sound), and the walkman is easy to use for a phn MP3 player. Excellent sound through the ingeniously designed speaker under the toggle. The 2MP camera also takes better pics than the wifes V3xx. The only "con", if you could call it that, would be the delicate feel of the slider and the really small keys. (but this I have gotton used to) Overall, this phn is a BIG winner in all areas (many of which I didn't even touch on, like long battery life and being able to use just about any music as a ringtone (just as long as it's less than 30 secs - dam att) so if you are considering this phn, or looking for an MP3 player/radio phn, this is da bomb!!
Nice Phone.. But...overly lightened for AT&T customers
I like the phone but unfortunately I am going to have to wait and unbrand it..
AT&T customizations.
1. Removed the sony push compatible email client, along with the RSS feed reader and the blogging application. They replaced the mail with their own client which is a piece of garbage
2. Removed all but two of the phone's built-in themes (which are really ugly)
3. Disabled FOTA (Firmware over the Air) as well as limiting mp3 ringtones to 30 seconds.
4. Disabled setting the backlight timer
5. Shutter click is on unless the phone is in Silent mode
ALso Disc2Phone is not included in the box.
My design gripes with the phone..
Opening the battery door. Its nice its on tight but try to swap out a battery on this phone is very difficult.. the battery door does NOT like to slide open..
Getting a sim out of the phone is a major ordeal.. The sim is located in a cutout on the topside of the battery compartment..
Getting access to the M2 slot on the top of the phone is also not easy.. have to pry open the door that covers the memory slot, then its just a simple push in, spring out to put in memory.
THe phone however has excellent bluetooth connectivity and AT&T does load it with most of the basic IM applications, though i wish it had a charge indicator that didnt require waking up the display of the phone to tell when it was fully charged.
The screen tends to attract oil/grease from your face but cleans off well with a microfiber cloth
Also the phone does NOT do UMTS/3G data.
Music Player is supposed to support cover art but did not get it to work with the Disc2phone app or WMP 11... but it is a great music player
This phone is a crack up
This phone is great is sleek has great features but if you text alot this is not the right phone for you Ive had this phone since Feb of 08 and Ive had to replace it 7 times whether it got to hot on the back or my keys kept cracking I wouldn't recommend this phone to someone who is constantly texting So after the 7th time Ive decided to get a different phone.
Awesome Phone!!
Lets see where do i begin. i come from a long line of motos and i must say i have fell in love with sony ericsson. This phone is awesome.at first i was kinda down about getting the white over urban grey but the white one looks so cool when you get it. You can shake to change songs, it tells you how many steps you have in a day/avg speed as well as how long it would take to walk to certain places in the world. Reception is awesome and the sound is LOUD and crisp.(Stereo works great). Lights are fun themes are cool,and make sure to register with sonyericsson.com so you can download your free themes and stuff.
PROS:
Everything except cons (haha)
Cons:
For the love of god could they make it any harder to remove the battery? I dont think they ever want anybody going in there! It took me FOREVER to get that dam thing off!
-The keypad is too close to the slide at the top. So the first row of numbers kinda makes it difficult to txt,but you get used to it.
Great Music Phone
I cosign with basically all of the Pros other people have listed, but here are my Cons:
-because I was so used to texting with a Motorola, the T9 function on the 580i is a pain; it takes much too long IMO to type words not recognized by the dictionary.
-I don't like the fact that call times are not listed.
-if I miss a call or text, I don't get a reminder. Motorolas can be set to either beep or vibrate.
-AT&T got rid of the great themes (amongst many other things) that are included on the unbranded phones.
-your internet usage is not shown when you exit the browser. I liked that my V557 showed my consumption.
-unless I just haven't figured it out yet, I can't rearrange the main menu items. However, you CAN with the navigation keys for the shortcuts.
Overall, this phone's cons are quite minor. But they do keep me from giving it a 5/5. One thing to note: even though AT&T removed the MANY themes originally offered through SE, I found that if you go to sonyericsson.com/fun, you can download themes, ringtones, etc. back to your phone. Those offered there are a lot better than the ones AT&T left on the phone.
nice phone
nice phone with alot of cool options ... loud mp3 sound and ear sound ... a big difference in the signal reception ...signal not as good as the w810i
Such a dissapointment
You will love this phone. It has the best features in the world! It's amazing, you will love the software it has, the games... everything! You will love the camera, then realize it doesn't zoom unless you take video. Everything goes down hill after you find that out.
The keys break, no matter how many times you send it back. I've sent mine back 6 or 7 times in the past 2 months, it usually takes a week and a half and the keys will break and the phone falls apart. It's really annoying.
Great Phone!!
It's been a while since I've gotten a new phone and I'm very impressed w/ this model.
I was holding out for an iPhone, but was disappointed with the final specs and price.
I got this from AT&T for free (2 year contract), and it's a great replacement for my old Motorola T720.
As a phone, sometime camera, and MP3 player this one is tough to beat.
The battery door was tough to get on, but other than that I like the build quality even though it is plastic.
I looked around a lot and read quite a few reviews and this phone is everything I needed.
Love this thing
i got this phone for christmas, and i absolutely love it.
i have a couple of phones, and this is by far the best.
comes w/ a memory card w/ lots of space
loud speakers
looks coool
includes mp3 player AND fm radio
cameras pretty good (2.0 megapixel)
easy to upload music onto phone
easy to put pictures taken onto computer
cool flashing lights (can change lights for specific ppl in contacts)
has fitness feature (can tell you how many steps you've taken in a day and more)
im 14 and this phone pretty much has all i could ask for in a phone
