Sony Ericsson W600i / W550i
Phone Scoop Review
Jan 18, 2006 by Eric Lin
In-depth review of the new Sony Ericsson W600 Walkman phone for Cingular. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
not bad
i got this phone after i broke my s710a (best phone ever) i think SE really went bad with the design to this phone the bar on the top just kills the phone other then that the features are not bad speakers are great music player is great lots of memory but the screen is to small and the camera sucks u cant zoom what is that i dont like the Numbers it is really annoying to text
Phone "Burnt Out" Twice
okay i bought this phone when it first came out in march. At first i loved the phone and thought it was a great idea to have a phone with an mp3 player on it that you didn't have to buy a card for, but after i had the phone for about a week i was putting some music on it and it shorted or something of the sort. the screen just went white and wouldn't turn on.
about a month after i recieved the second phone the ear speaker stopped working. the speaker phone and music speakers would still work, but the ear speaker would not. i just blew in it a couple times and it started to work again, but it still stumps me why it was not working in the first place
after i recieved another one of these phones it worked for about three months and then the other day the buttons on the phone started to not work, i would have to pull the screen section of the phone forward to get any of the buttons besides the "walkman" key and the "3" key to work. a short time after this problem with the buttons the phone screen went white and would not work again.
other than the phone breaking two times on me i think its a great phone.
Pros.
- Built in MP3 player
- Cool swivel design
- Great Speakers
- "Phone Lock" key
- Horizontal key mode for gaming
- You can set the music as ringtones
- Video length unlimited, as long as you have memory left
Cons.
- Phone "Burnt Out"
- Bad 0-9 key layout, very hard to text
- No call begin, call end buttons
- Have to use a connector piece for headphones
- Phone locks up when calls are made one out of 20 times
- Phone has to be closed to use camera
I finally gave up on this phone after replacing it twice, and it giving me problems. I'm still debating on which phone I'm going to get next, either the LG CU500 or the Samsung D800. The one thing about this phone that i won't be able to live without is the mp3 player. It's really nice!
Very Impressed
That's really all I can say about this phone. Great speaker, infact I ported over a couple of ringtones from my previous phone, and the SE speaker showed the Nokia speaker was sucky. I did wash my first one of these though, my fault, but I've never had a WSOD, so no complaints. The processor could respond faster.
Pros:
music player = great
(when you don't want to carry your iPod)
Speaker = great
battery life = great
reception = great
sceen clarity = great
Cons: (remember that I switched from a Nokia 6256i also a music phone, but flip)
screen brightness = a bit dim
memory expansion = nil
processor response = slightly slow, but it's really all the graphic themes that it has to render so give it a break
thickness = like santa clause
txting = keys are like little pieces of corn, if you switch from a little LG or samsung, then you'll be in love, if you had a nice big nokia, you'll be ticked. = me ticked
Overall get this phone, it roxors
It's an upgrade
It's a greadt phone.. Sturdy, and attractive..
A week after I bought it, I set it on the hood of my car, forgot about it, and drove off.. A neighbor returned it, and it honestly only had a few scratchs on it.. When I had Sprint, I dropped my PM-8200 onto lenolium, ONCE, and I had to replace it..
I never had a Bluetooth capable phone before, and I'm not going back.. I spent too much on ringtones.. With this you can use your own mp3 songs from you computer.. just get an mp3 splitter/converter and send them to the phone with BT..
I've loaded my phone with songs on the built-in mp3 player.. It hold a great amount.. I've taken it with me to the gym a few times and I haven't repeated a song yet.. The sound it great on it.. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the included earbuds it has too.. Get this, they actually stay in your ear and keep out noise from the outside.. It's fantastic!!
Overall I have no complaints about this phone at all.. I will, and have recomended this phone to others..
If you don't have Cingular, do yourself a favor and make the switch.. I've had the service for 2 months, and have not dropped a single call.. And buy the w600i!!
Loving it so far
Cons
It is a little annoying to open the phone and it be upside down.
Wired headphone required, but included, to listen to radio.
Pros
I like that you have access to most functions including talking without opening the phone.
I like the many personal options it has available.
I also like the dedicated buttons i.e. the Walkman button, lock, camera, & web.
I also enjoy the many features that everyone else has described.
Many comments about the exceptional clarity on the other end.
Overall I am very pleased with my purchase of this phone.
I would like to say thank you to the many people who have written reviews about this phone. They played a large roll in my decision to purchase this phone.
for it's flaws, overall a great choice
i haven't tried some features such as RF. i mainly wanted a mp3 phone that had camera for those emergency pics, speakerphone, and bluetooth. after reviewing the top 4 cameras cingular offers that fell in this category, this seemed to win hands down when compared side by side. he
pros:
**music player is nice
**easy usb transfers of music
**feels good in your hand
**changeable faceplates
**keypad lock
**animated wall paper themes (only 4 tho)
**flashlight
**radio sounds great
**decent sound from built in speakers for a cell phone (bout the = of a cheap alarm clock radio, only maybe a little less bass)
**blue tooth works great
**text msging is easy and it can go as fast as your fingers unlike some phones
cons:
**you can connect to your computer easily enough, and transfer music, however you can't pull pictures to your phone this way. you can but they won't be viewable, no matter what format you choose (jpg, gif, etc)
**u get a whopping SIX ringtones to choose from?
**not a single ringtone is a phone ring sound. u have to choose some gay dancy song, or use an mp3. c'mon, not everyone is 12.
**no mini card for increased memory
**rubber cover protecter makes it hard to plug in charger/usb
**very weird charge/usb input. unclear if you're plugging it in backwards or not
**camera is pretty bad, even for 1.3mp cell phone. must have just the perfect lighting conditions to rise above "pathetic" quality
**video is even worse. a waste. yes i know this isn't supposed to be a high end camcorder. even still
**must have corded antenna on for radio to work
**screen for me, is small. vivid, yet small. keep in mind i'm used to the audiovox vm4050. to this day i haven't seen a phone that could match that one's screen in both size and clarity and this screen is about half that size.
**tho the battery life is good, no way in hell it's 8.5 hours of talk time. yes i charged it to 100% before using it upon receiving it. i'd say it's more like 5.5
Best Phone out There
I surrently work for Cingular, and I have never had a phone with better reception, more features and more reliability than this phone. I am located in the Pacbell Market (California) and I have yet to have a dropped call. I previously had two different Motorolas, and they dropped calls all the time.
I have actually hooked my phone into the front deck of my stereo in my car, and use the phone as an Ipod! Amazing!
The only Con I can think of would be the fact that it doesn't have expandable memory. But I feel that there is enough memory for my purposes.
Excellent Job Sony Ericsson!!
That thing is....
The "thing" everyone is referring to is the antenna. It's not a built in antenna. There you have it, now you know what it is! I ordered this phone lastnight, so I will review after I receive it. I did play with it in the store, made calls, took pictures, sent text messages, played music, the radio, and played with the rest of the bells and whistles. I feel like I can't give a "proper" review at this time. I have just read so many reviews commenting on the "thing". Also, for people complaining about memory... really, it's a phone. It's not an iPod, it's not a top of the line digital camera. If you want more music, I suggest the iPod or any other mp3 player with large memory. You want to get in to photography and take "awesome" pictures, invest in a nice digital camera. Let's not forget that first and foremost this is a PHONE. I compared this to the razr and found this phone to be much more sturdy. I felt like one little drop of that razr, that'd be it! The phone is a bit bulky. I do like flip phones, I like to be able to shut and be done with my call. This will take a getting used to. Sony hasn't released any designer face plates for the w600i just yet. If you know any place to get them, please send me an email. The interchange face plate is a soft plasticy rubbery feeling texture, so like another use mentioned, it'd be hard to scratch it up. I pray I don't have problems with the white screen. However, I did contact SE about this problem and they said that only happens when you do not remove the phone from the usb properly. She said there is a proper way to shut down. I will be reading my manual very good before I play with the phone. I'm not a techy so I hope it's not too complicated for me.
worth the wait
Let me first just say that I think I luv this phone!
I've only had it for several days so I have not put it thru all the rigors yet, but it's looking pretty good. I've read about the white screen freeze and lemons that had to be exchanged, but time will tell.
I had to order an unlocked phone from an auction site, because my carrier would make me give up over 1000 minutes just to migrate with a new phone through them. 3 weeks later and it's all coming up daisies.
PROS:
reception
clarity (of both incoming & outgoing calls)
style compliments @ party today)
camera
FM radio
earphones
CONS:
bluetooth (could not connect yet)
that's all so far
An under-rated powerhouse
Best phone I've had. Everything I wanted (loud ring, better camera, awesome reception, more intuitive OS) and more. My first phone crashed due to improper USB removal (WSOD), my second one has been fine.
PRO: Awesome RF (Cingular) in Western North Carolina, outperforming all other brands in our mountainous area. Will connect to EDGE at 110kbps downstream (tested speed) as a modem. Camera is fun and easier to snap pics with than with flip phones, esp. timer pics. Opera Mobile and Google Local for mobile run great. Will wake itself from being turned off if alarm is set! I love the OS, so much more advanced and intuitive than my old Moto V-551.
CONS: People complaining about lack of memory card slot.
