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
Great Phone!
This is by far the best phone that I have ever owned. It is especially awesome if you like the Music Player and Radio option.
The only Drawback about the W580i is that is has small keys, which take some getting use to. Other than that there really is nothing wrong with the phone. I only wish that it came with different faceplate's, like the W600i, The color options could be better.
But overall I give it a 5 Star Rating, its definitely worth your time.
Sony, Great Job A+
Great phone overall
Great phone. Very durable too.
Pros: Great sound quality.
Still works after drop several times(I droped it 10 times lol).
Great picture quality.
Good storage space.
Cons: Keypad gets cracks if you're texting a lot.
Great Phone
I've read a lot of negative reviews on this phone. I have no negative issues at all. I work construction and have dropped this phone several times off ladders onto hardwood floors and the worst that has happened is my battery cover came off once. No issues with keys cracking and good battery life. I charge mine once a week. Good call quality and I love the walkman and fm radio. The only problem Ive had (and it's not the phone) is finding a good case without a magnetic clasp. Magnetic clasps tend to unlock the phone. Finally got one from SE with a velcro clasp.(ICE-25) I have the black one and my wife has the pink one, she' not had any problems either. I've had several cell phones over the last 15 years and this is by far the best.
sony ericsson w580i review (get one!)
First off, I don't know what the whining is going on about the keys. I have had mine for several months and NO CRACKS! Do I text? Not much. Do I game? Oh Yeah!
According to others (even with my low "key usage") I should have busted.
Second. The phone itself? I just upgraded from a samsun a707. The goodies were OK, the phone sucked. Dropped calls or no service problems. This is how ATT ended up replacing my wife and I's phones. I get signal in places I couldnt before.
Third. Software out the wazoo!!! Lots of freebies! The sony Erickson suite for this phone is great! Can make your own themes! You will need a cable. ATT send cables with ours. They have given excellent service.
Forth. Ok. There is always a "but". There is a glitch in the thing. I will stop reading my M2 card (memory). Service desk suggested reseting it by removing the battery will powered up. It works MOST of the time. I am going to get it replaced this Wednesday. With the SAME type mind you! They say its a software issue. I have updated with the new patch but to no avail.
Fifth. I like the black unit because its good looking. My wife got the white one. Does it matter? yep. The white one comes with a 256 mb. m2 card. the black one comes with nada! The phone itself only has 12mb of memory onboard. Kinda sucky. Here in TEXAS the m2 cards (2gig) run about 35-40 dollars.
Sixth. Camera and Video. Folks, its a freakin phone NOT A OLYMPUS SLR! The pix are ok for a phone and the video is expected. The audio recorder is handy. Nice pick up. Dont expect dolby sound but its ok.
Seventh. Fragile? Not mine. Normal lite drops from waist level. No problem. Do suggest a good phone holster (exposed screen).
Eighth. I suggest setting up a bogus internet acct on the phone. The buttons are exposed and YOU WILL GET ONLINE
! This little tweak is easy and should be fixed by the company (I doubt they will. Gotta be smarter than what you buy!)
do not buy this phone
We purchased this phone for our teen so she does text a lot but we are on the 3rd one in two months! The keys keep cracking, one of the soft keys fell off and the phone keeps shutting down on her so she has to restart it. This is a very poor quailty phone and it will never last for 2 years!
POOR design of keys
Purchased phone Dec 2007 within a three weeks the keys cracked down the middle two months later two of the key cover fell off.
decent slider, with kinda cheap built
I have S500i, basically like W580i in many ways
the phone is pretty thin, about 2/3 thickness as 6263 closed
I like slider form factor, that the keys locked when the phone retracted, this is pretty easy, but you can't hang up when you retract the phone except you set it
the LCD is bright, but doesn't show standby clock-a minus
cam is OK as it doesn't have AF, no lighting-another minus
the reception is good, but still nowhere near W300i and N73, about same as K790a with T-mobile, but reception can be affected if you cover the bottom of the phone
the earpiece is very good, loud and clear, not "hollow" like K550
the speaker is loud when playing music, but kinda lacking when using as speakerphone (is it too close to mic, it's located behind d-pad)
the keypda is not that difficult to press, the only concern is cracking problem, the phone is still new, and I seldom use the keypad, that I don't worry for time being
the connector is located on the right side, it may be inconveient when using wired headset, bt works well, but I had hard time once with IVT stack on computer
the phone takes M2, the slot is located on the top, and it's covered-a plus
the phone build is kinda weak, the battery cover does not completely close, leave about 0.3mm gap on the left, the slider is OK
pros:
very loud earpiece and speaker for music playing
decent reception
keypad is easy to press even with big thumb without fingernail
decent battery time
cons:
weak build
phone can be very hot after about 15-20 minutes of talking
LCD does not display standby clock
if you want an SE slider, and you need 850, get this one, if not, get W830
It was good at first
I loved this phone at first. It looks awesome (both form and screen), felt great even with that slight slider wobble, and using it was an absolute breeze. Edge is plenty fast on it with a good signal, and Opera Mini operates on it fine, though with the nag (not the phone's fault). It plays music wonderfully loud and clear, takes good pictures given no auto-focus. All the extras of shaking and lighting are fun, too.
Then, I started having problems. I now despise this phone, and will be getting something else as soon as I can.
The cracked keys? 9 of 12 numberpad keys are cracked. I do a good bit of texting, but I'm not going to accept the explanation that I shouldn't use my phone to text because the keys are too fragile. Unacceptable. The key functions still work fine, though, a plus...except for my # key, which started working on and off before it was even cracked. Big problem seeing that I text a lot, and # is the space key. I have to hit the key between 1 (rarely) and 4-5 times to get it to work every time I need a space.
My other huge problem is lag/freezing. This problem's been with me from the beginning, but was rare at first. Now, I have to restart the phone all the time. Sometimes it'll last a few days before it either freezes or starts lagging so much that it might as well be frozen, sometimes it only takes 10 minutes from the last restart. It's not dependent on what's running or data usage, it just happens. I've been told be ATT and anyone else that I've talked to to turn it off and on every day, but I restart it much more than that now, and besides, I've never had to do that with any other phone I've had....ever.
So, only two problems. But less than 5 months in, I've been ready for something new for the last 2 months.
Best 1 yet!
I had many cell phones in the past few years, mainly Motorola's and Nokia's. This is the first Sony phone i bought, and i now had it for 4 months. I can't understand the problems other people are writing about. "Breaking buttons, bad button placement, cheap construction, etc." I haven't experienced any of these problems, and i don't expect to, the way things are working. All sliders have some kind of "jiggle" to them, ans the sony's isn't a problem. It stays together and operated just fine.
The buttons won't break if you don't try to break if you use normal pressure. The slider won't break if you, again, apply reasonable pressure. Like anything, if you abuse it, it won't last. Just buy a belt clip for it, and you will be fine. Also, i plug mine in at night when i go to bed- this way, i never have to worry about a low battery.
PROS:
>Good reception
>Super construction quality
>The only things with more features is a Blackberry
>Handsfree headset included (at least with Rogers Wireless)
>Looks superb- has changeable lighting effects
>Great sound quality, especially with the included earphones
>Many more- see for yourself
Cons:
>You need to keep your headset adapter, so you can connect different headphones if you wish. This phne does not have a regular headphone jack built-in. Sony's way of making more money, buy it's no hassle.
In all, be nice to the phone and responsible for it's features, and it will make you happy.
Good...but room for improvement
I just upgraded to the W580i from my W600i with AT&T. The W600i is very similar and my review is based on this comparison.
PROS:
- Reception is good so far. Seems better than W600i
- Very slick look. I have the grey one.
- Speaker is loud..Very loud just like the W600i. Thing is like a mini boom box
- Battery life seems to be pretty good so far
- Camera take decent quality pictures in daylight
- Light Effect light up when you receive call or text...however (see CONS)
- Screen is bright and sharp
- Slider is smooth
- Has ability to change songs by shaking phone
- Has fitness application (functionality not yet verified)
- Up to 5 alarms. Very handy
- FM Radio!
- MP3 player is fun, you need M2 memory card though
- Ear piece is loud enough, though in my opinion, could be louder
CONS:
- No clock or text/missed call symbols are displayed on screen when it is in standby/sleep mode as in W600i. I am very disappointed that this feature is missing
- Light Effects stuck on green despite changing in settings. Probably due to AT&T branding...could always flash to fix
- No options to control how long the LCD back light stays on or the screen...kind of annoying compared to w600i
- Mp3's cannot be used as ringtones unless they are cut to a certain size (~600k I believe). THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AT&T! Just another way for them to make money. This is carrier branding. You can unbrand this phone to remove this
- Vibrate alert could be stronger
- As with most phones, the MediaNet button on the face of the phone causes you to accidentally get online when phone is in pocket, etc.
- If like other Sony Ericsson phones, message inbox is limited to 200-250 message. This can likely be unlocked through firmware also.
- Small buttons make txt'ing more tedious
Overall, a great feature phone. Has everything you need and more. Perfect for anyone. AT&T branding is the main reason for my rating. Otherwise my CONS would be short.
