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
Good Phone with its problems.....
First off i got this phone about 2 weeks ago now, Very happy with it for the most part texting takes a little getting use to but other then that I'm good with it now.
Pros:
Walkman: I love this use it daily works very well i also like the "Shack to Change".
Camera: Takes pretty good pictures but not the best in the world but then you have to remember its not a camera it is a phone.!
Slider: i always have loved the slider phones back from the old Kyocera V5 Sliders.
Call/Voice Quality: The best i have heard in a while
Menu/UI: I really like the layout of the menu and the styling Looks very good!!
Themes/Light Effects: the included Themes are very nice and fairly easy to download and install. Light Effects Love it very cool and the way it works with the theme is very very nice!!
Blue tooth: About the same as my other phones.
Favorites Button: this comes in handy when i need something fast and don't feel like looking for it in the main menu.
Screen: Very brite very colorful the best screen i have seen on a mobile phone!
Cons:
Battery life/Standby: Not the most impressive but then also not the worst i have seen on a phone.
So all in all Very good phone been very happy with it sofar and hope to stay happy with it
Reviewed
05.25.08 08:30AM
Motoman
Nice phone, but some minor issues
I kept with Sony Ericsson because of the features I've grown to like and expect. I went with this phone mainly due to the Walkman feature.
Overall the phone is nice, but it does take some getting use to.
PROS:
music playback is exceptional - loud; mp3 player is great! Headphones sound great!
Voice Command is always a nice feature - who wants to mess around with blue-tooth - just one more extra device to care for?
Voice Memo - again handy to record casual info. - no need to write things down!
CONS:
the "In Flight" mode, although a good idea, can only be invoked/selected when you turn on the phone. But, before you can even have the ability to select it in the first place from startup, you must specifically set it up so that everytime you turn on the phone it will prompt you with the option as to whether or not you want to be in "In Flight" mode - you can't just quickly switch to the IF mode on-the-fly. Kind of stupid setup if you ask me.
It would of been nice if they provided some kind of gripper for your thumb to grab to slide the phone open. As a result, you typically inadvertently invoke some function just to open the phone. To avoid this, I use the keylock feature, but that feature itself gets annoying.
Just handling the phone takes some getting use to - a little too slick. Rubberized case is recommended.
The voice Command playback sounds horrible, it's muffled - don't know why that would be when the music playback is excellent.
Opening the M2 memory slot is a little tricky.
Final note:
Use a separate USB reader (e.g BlueProton) with your M2 when downloading your music from pc - don't rely on the cable to download directly to the phone - it will take way too long! Check Amazon: cost for a 4GB M2 BlueProton USB is $35
mmm not so great
I got this phone after going through 3 or 4 Razrs (don't get me started on those) at first I was very excited about it and while it does have many fun and exciting features it has many downfalls.
1)battery life is terrible
2)battery gets hot...fast
3)not easy to use for an average texter (buttons crack easily)
4)feels cheap
5)continually freezes up...my screen has a habit of blacking out for no reason for long periods of time
6)camera should be better for a phone in this century
7)keys unlock while in your pocket or purse easily
...I think you get the gist
Thank U Sony Erisson 4 the best ever slider
Pros-
*sliding up and down felt very sable.
*u can change different themes and get more off websites.
*very good font.
*Very very very clear screen & camera
*has a Walkman
*camera is 2 megapixels
*everything is easy to use
Cons-
*takes Memory Stick instead of Micro SD cards
*Power On/Off button is on the back
*numeric keypad is very scrunched together
Don't Buy!!
I bought this phone after my blackberry phone pearl was stolen. So perhaps owning a blackberry and then making a drastic switch to this phone is like comparing apples to oranges.
PROS:
-Basically, if you want to combine your music with your cell phone, it will do the job. The only thing that actually impressed me was that they threw in a 256mb micro chip with the phone. It doesnt hold much but at least its something to get started with. The button on the outside of the phone brings up the music player. The sound volume and quality was decent. When listening to music while a call comes in, it will pause the song so you can answer, then resume where it left off and not start the song over.
CONS:
Everything about this phone is SLOW. You go to make a call and enter a number and there is a long delay when entering the number and hitting send. It takes a long time before you start to hear the ringing. The applications are very slow to load especially the internet browser. It doesn't let you use a song as a ring tone, at least mine didn't. There is absolutely no point to having a slide feature except to make it more appealing to the buyer. When you slide it shut after a call, the light on the outside stays lit until you press a button. If you forget to press the button, this drains the battery life. Speaking of battery life, it is TERRIBLE. I only got about two hours of life when making calls, sending text and listening to music. When the battery life was near the end, I would be in the middle of a call the phone would shut off without warning. This phone is by no means, user friendly. It was difficult to navigate and hard to change settings. The keys didn't seem to be set up in a logical manner. The return/clear keys on the outside of the phone were confusing at first.
Overall, I would find myself getting frustrated with this phone's performance. I have a back up $20 wal mart phone that I prefer to use over this one.
it was the best of phones, it was the WORST of phones
i got this phone for Christmas last year because it was the coolest new phone on the market. i switched to this phone from a razr because this phone looked SO much cooler than my razr. ive had this phone for about 5 months now and it SUCKS!! when i got it, it worked fine for the first couple of months, then it started screwin up. every key on my number pad cracked! i text a lot but this is ridiculous! i never had this problem with my razr.
PROS:
looks AWSOME
sounds great
feels sleek
UH DUH, ITS A SLIDER!!
CONS:
keys crack after frequent use
slide got loose after a week
paint around nav. arrows peeled off
back and ok key is falling off
the least of my worries about this phone is that the vibrate could be a little longer so i can feel it. but no biggie
GREAT phone! Just avoid letstalk.com
This phone has more features than I could ever ask for in a phone. The only thing that could improve it would be if it had a mini USB port instead of the proprietary Sony Ericsson connection and a standard 2.5mm headphone/headset jack.
I love all the great features that are included. It may seem silly for someone over 30 to like whistles and bells such as flash menus, but I really like them. It's a lot easier to work with so far than my old Motorola V557. My Motorola H500 bluetooth connected with only one minor user-side error.
Other than to give props to Sony Ericsson for a wonderful phone (in pink too!) I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage people interested in buying this phone to stay away from letstalk.com. Their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered. Seriously. I'm not being a drama queen here - they really are that bad. I've tried to contact them via phone twice now, leaving messages each time after waiting in queue for over 30 minutes, and I have left them a number of contacts via their web site. Not once has anyone contacted me. Their packaging was really crappy too; they put the little box that contains the phone inside a larger box with some of those air bag things, but hardly any air was in the bags. The box my phone was in was allowed to bounce all over the place.
Sony Ericsson w580: 5 stars!
Phonescoop.com: 5 stars and then some!
letstalk.com: Zero stars is too good for them.
A worthy phone.
As a whole I really like this phone. I got it as a replacement to the 810 which I still think is a better phone.
Cons: All the keys have cracked. No flash. I had to buy yet another type of memory card because only the white version comes packaged with a card (what's up with that AT&T??). Removing the battery cover could be easier.
Pros: Great for music or listening to the radio. Nice set of headphones included. Loud speaker-phone. Easy to navigate menus.
it was good at first
Pros:
-very loud
-pretty
-great menu
-great themes!! (different looks)
-camera quality is excellent
-nice lighting affects
Cons:
-buttons cracked after 10 days
-not a texting phone
-cheap quality
haunted w580
I've had a w580 for three weeks and really enjoy using it. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that when I took it out of the case it was no longer locked. Another time it was in the address book and another time in the volume setting. To make a short story longer the spook is the magnet in the flap on the case. I took it to Wal-Mart where I got it and showed the amazed clerks what happens when it gets close to the magnet. A test showed the same result with their phone. All of the cases that I liked also had magnets so unless there is some trick to it I'll continue to find the phone turned on. I won't give it up regardless. Has anyone else noticed this??
