Sony Ericsson Z520 / Z525
Average Ratings
Z525a ok, but has a couple of annoying things to me.
First, this phone was not a choice of mine. It's my work phone and I had no choice other than to take Cingular, plus our company only allows us to choose 'free' phones.
So having said all of that, this phone is ok. I don't care for GSM, but the call quality so far is good. No dropped calls since I got the phone approx 3 weeks ago.
Ok, so onto my annoyances. The PTT button on the side is WAY too easy to push. Even if you have that key 'locked' and don't subscribe to PTT service, if you hit the button (if you carry this phone in a coat pocket for instance, you always hit this button), you get a message asking if you want to activate PTT and that charges will apply. Not the end of the world, but it's annoying and I don't like daily annoyances for stuff like this. I did however solve this issue on my own. You can take button off with relative ease. On the underside of this button, in the middle, is a little 'boob' that makes contact with the actual button inside the phone. all you need to do is take the 'boob' off using a nail clipper etc and put the button back on the phone. Now, you can push the PTT button all day long and it makes no contact with the real button inside the phone.
The second annoyance, which I can't fix with a nail clipper, is the lack of reminder sounds for missed calls or text messages. You wouldn't think this would be a big deal either, but when you've been somewhere noisy or have left the phone in a another room, you have to keep checking the phone to see if any calls were missed or if you have a text message sitting there. They (Sony Ericsson) could have spent less time on the fancy lights that ring the bottom of the phone and put some handy reminder sounds available.
My favorite phone
I have had over a dozen phones and i can truly say this is my favorite. Although it has its bad points, but then again, what phone doesnt.
**pros**
Very strong internal antenna
good strong signal, even in the country
Easy to use, very comfortable to hold in hand or shoulder.
Bluetooth almost never disconnects, even driving through the country roads.
Fun stuff to do with phone ex. take pics and edit them.
create movies and edit them, even have background audience clapping noise :)
battery last a long time.
**cons**
backlight goes out too quick, less then 15secs.
Outside display not too clear when in sunlight.
loved the phone featuers hated the phone
this phone features are great. you can record voices songs ect. lots of memorery... now heres the thing
i have had this phone for a year and have had it replaced four times. 1st replace issue)first the screen went White for no reason. 2 replace issue)then it just started turning off on its own. and my ringer would ring over and over and over the first syllable of the sound or song.. example if the lyric was who asked.. then it would sound like wh.. wh.. wh.. wh... and when i answered it still ws doing it while i was trying to talk on the phone. 3 replace issue)the speaker phone was stuck on so every time i answered it was on speaker. the phone would freeze up while i was talking and i could not even turn it off or anything to re it.. i had to take the battery out and let it rest. not such a great thing when the phone is used for business. other flaws
~ear piece hard to hear out of...
~i loose service for no reason... and the cingular person next to me has full bars and no loss call.
~camera is very sensitive you have to hold real still and so does the person or thing you are trying to take the pic of...
~this phone needs a "nap" every day. you have to turn it off for at least an hour a day to rest it or it acts up. drops calls freezes ect...
pros~ great memory holds lots of songs and pictures i have about 300 saved pictured to this phone.
~it has video which love but you can't send it so whats the point.
~i can record calls ....
~i can record voices and other things and use them as a ring tone...
after now the 4th replacement on this cingular has exchanged it for the sony ericsson w300i which has comparable features and more...
let see how this one acts....lol
ill let you know
More battery. More Memory. Great phone.
Here's the scoop. this is not an add for any cell phone provider, but i need you to understand that i'm a customer service rep for Cingular Wireless. Which means all i do all day is tell people whats wrong with their phones and what they can do about them. I personally have Cingular because i look maps all day of coverage and have siblings with three different providers in my family. I only say that to let you know that i wouldn't recomend this phone unless i honestly thought it was a great product. because if this someone bought this phone under my recomendation just to have it suck, I'm the one who you'd talk to you when you'd call in because your phone sucks.
pros.
1. i get battery life for around a week with low usage. with HEAVY use, i have three days no question asked. taking 15-30 videos making multiple hour long calls. three days. i've never had the phone die on me ever.
2. for the size of the screen, you get great picture quality and video.
3. very easy to use software on the sony ericcson. its the second one i've had and i now swear by the software because of the easy to use bottons and the ability to create new files and things.
4. Awesome reception. i get reception in places other cingular customers often don't.
5. very durrable.
Cons.
1. the push to talk botton is anoying because it will come up with a message asking if you want to get on PTT. this button is on the side and is easy to hit. but its a simple click and its off. honestly this is the only thing i can think of to make the phone unrecomendable.
with all the things working great with this device i can promise you'll get used to the botton. you won't even notice it.
finally, i have gotten only 2 calls ever when people call about this phone. one was for the botton and the second was for damage done by customer.
very easy to use. great reception. great battery. very durable. TONZ of memory.
PIECE OF JUNK
I have had my phone for under a year and it has so many problems it not even worth it. It doesnt hang up when half the time. If someone calls it automatically [icks up even if your phone is closed wasting minutes. The only thing good is the ability to record your own ringtones...but even thoughs come out horribly.
Sony z250a = Great
I Absolutely love this phone ive dropped it a couple times and its still kickin (lol)
Pros: Blue (Can change covers)
Bluetooth
camera
IR Port
small
Speaker Phone
Plays Mp3's
The List Goes On
Cons: None @ All
Z520 camera button solution :)
I tried this and it does work to disable the camera button.
From: http://forums.mobiledia.com/topic40772.html
Thanks to the poster:
JerryBoyIsHere
Posts: 1
Sat Sep 16, 2006 3:20 pm
Sony Ericsson z520a camera button fix
Ok guys, I seem to have found a solution. But again tell me if it works on your phone too. The solution does not require beating the sh*t out of the button like many of us have been tempted to do
Anyway, here's the trick:
Problem:
1. Flip open the phone, do whatever and then close it.
2. Now if you press and hold the camera button on the left, well pocket picture time!
Solution:
1. Flip open the phone, do whatever and then close it.
2. WAIT until the front screen dims out.
3. Now press that stupid camera button just once and the front screen is going to turn on for a few seconds allowing you to check the time and date
4. WAIT for the front screen to dim out again
5. ET VOILA! if you press and hold the camera button again (or just press once), its NOT gonna go in picture mode but rather it will just turn on the front screen for date and time view and then dim out in 15 seconds.
HOWEVER: if you press the camera button again while the front screen is on, then you're back into the picture mode and it may take a picture. In that case you need to repeat the procedure starting from step 1.
Ciao!
Jerry, 23, Montreal.
Z525a
Phone works great as a camera or video recorder. HORRIBLE as a phone!!! Calls dropped CONSTANTLY! Called Cingular to see if anyone else has had this problem and all I was told was "not that I have heard". My sister has the Z525 and she has the same problem! It seems as though we have only a 10-15min time frame to have a conversation otherwise our calls are dropped! You get a loud piercing busy signal sounding deafening tone in your ear that repeats approximately 3x. The other person hears nothing. Then the phone goes dead and you have to remove the battery and leave it sit for a few seconds and then you can sometimes reboot.
My sister and I both know it's our phones because we talk to other people who have "normal" phones and they aren't the ones hearing those sounds I've mentioned. They just realize that we're not connected anymore and when they call us back they get our vm because our phones are dead and are trying to reboot.
Think long and hard before purchasing this phone. It's just horrible!! Not worth a damn dime! But for any of you who are actually thinking about buying this phone...email me. I'll see you mine for $25.00!! LOL
Good luck on your next cell phone purchase!
Great phone
The z525 is a great phone at first it is not an outward great phone but with a little use that all stops. It is a great phone with great features.
Pros
1. true 3d card that supports 3d games not the old 2d stuff,
2. great video it records for 30 seconds much better than most more expensive phones
3.Blue tooth is excellent, easy set up and file transfers.
4.Great sound and reception.
Cons
only wish there was a cheater page to help with all the other great things that this phone has .
