Sony Ericsson W760
Phone Scoop Review
Oct 20, 2008 by Stewart Wolpin
For a music-focused phone, the Sony Ericsson W760 makes a surprising number of concessions. See what stands out on the plus side in our full review. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Excellent Non-Smart Phone
This is the best non-smartphone that I've ever had. I had had many. The battery life is excellent. I really like the size and weight of the phone. It fits well in the pocket. It is very rugged. I have dropped it many times and it is still working. It has the best RF reception that I have ever had in any phone. It comes in almost everywhere on AT&T. I have used it many times in Europe and the UK.
There are a limited number of games available. It has a good web browser and is good for basic web surfing. It is great as a music player as well.
Great phone crippled by AT&T
Below is in addition to other reviews.
CONS:
- AT&T cripples this phone so much that GPS does not work with any 3rd party apps, including Google Maps.
- AT&T also wants you to only install applications signed with certificates. Otherwise, it'll nag you to death with confirmation prompts when accessing the internet, rendering the application unusable.
- For the size of the phone, the display can be larger. My old Samsung SGH-A707 has a larger screen, same resolution 320x240.
- The stereo speakers can be a lot louder with better sound quality.
- I hate the proprietary Fast Port plug. SE should just use a mini USB (like Motorola) and a 3.5mm standard headset jack.
- No USB cable/car charger/memory stick included. But you can get them cheap on Amazon. ($6 total for a car+wall charger+USB data cable).
NEUTRAL:
- It is not necessary to take memory stick out to put music or podcast on it. Use SE's PC Studio appl. I have not tried, but I think you can download music directly from the phone, perhaps even podcast.
- You can listen to MP3 w/o headphones, just use the stereo speakers (no hi-fi).
- FM requires wired headset because itâs also an antenna!
- Phone can do ring tone and vibrate at the same time.
- Appointment reminders are loud enough in an office environment.
PROS:
- Applications can run in the background, e.g., listening to music and GPS navigation at the same time.
- SE is pretty good at updating firmware with bug fixes.
- RF reception is pretty good, noticeably better than Samsung SGH-A707. I could carry out a normal conversation where I could not before.
- PC Sync is almost perfect and fast. Samsung who?
- You can change the firmware (de-brand) and get rid of all AT&T's crap fairly easily, and enable full potential of the phone, such as GPS for 3rd party apps, unrestricted ring tone size, 3G on/off option to save power, unsigned apps, much easier task switching, etc.
SUMMARY
You'll fall in love with this phone after freeing it from the captivator.
Good phone, Some quirks
First I want to say that I'm a Sony Ericsson fan. I believe they make excellent phones. I've loved every SonyE phone I've ever had. My previous Sony (w810i) was great. I dropped it in 3 ft of dirty water for more than 5-10 seconds & it still worked fine once it dried, including the camera! The camera took fantastic pics! So needless to say, I was really looking forward to this model. It could be I just got a bad one, but I'm not even 30 days into it and the handset speaker isn't working. I can only listen to calls with the loudspeaker. My headset, both wireless & wired won't work anymore. Hmmmph! I may exchange it for another w760a or try a different phone altogether. Anyway, here's the other things I've noticed about the phone:
PROs:
3.2 mp camera.
Sleek look & design
FM Radio
Lots of apps available
Phone has motion sensor for games, etc.
Large display
CONs:
Top buttons don't always register. I tend to have to press them harder.
If you don't set the phone to turn off the slide feature for answering or ending calls, you'll inadvertently end a call if it slides every so slightly during a call.
Seem to only be able to lock keys by opening & closing the phone.
The internet key gets pressed inadvertently when opening the phone.
There's no light on the phone. The w810i had a cool flashlight feature that also doubled as a flash for the camera.
There's no self-portrait mirror. The w810i had a little orange metallic mirror to help you align yourself for a self-portrait.
You can only zoom on the lowest setting
No quick access to recent calls
I think Sony didn't really think this one all the way through. It's a great phone, but with some not so great aspects. Or maybe I just got too used to my previous Sony phone.
Great New Phone
I truly believe this phone will be very popular! Personally I think this phone will be just as popular as the iphone - as long as people see the fullness of this phone! The fact that the phone comes with GPS Navigation system - and a walkman type of device that you can controll with just a shake... What do I mean? Well you can change the song forward or go back to another song just by the direction you shake the phone... Hey shake it hard enough and you can shuffle your music up!
Are you into games??? Well this phone also has games where you actually have to move the phone to complete the game... Bowling with the full arm motion or driving a car by "turning the wheel" aka phone. This phone has such neat little secrets about it that you will NOT be disapointed in this purchase!
With a 3.7 Mega Pix camera - you can also take some GREAT pictures to text onto your facebook webesite... I am truly impressed with this phone and I carry a lot of different devices (due to my job)
I give this phone 2 thumbs up :-)
Good phone, but poor multimedia interface
Hey, it's a phone. Sure it has a camera without a flash and internet availability, but it functions best as a phone. Calls can be answered without opening the phone. The multimedia interface isn't the best.
I can rarely slide the phone open without fat-fingering it and opening a window I didn't mean to open. All the camera shots are too dark and need to be modified to be of any use. The internet is a toy at best.....the interface is poor. Texting is poor too as the numbers and letters are poorly backlit. If you just want to see the time you'll find the screen washes out in sunlight.
But as a phone it works great with excellent call clarity. The bluetooth is crystal clear too and easily interfaces with bluetooth devices. The speakerphone and alarm clock are good too.
Battery life is excellent. I don't use the phone too often and after 3 days I usually have half a charge left.
Given the choice I'd probably opt for a larger screened multimedia phone next time. I got this bcuz I didn't want a giant phone, but now I see it's just too small to do what I want.
uh-huh....
So i initially traded this phone in because i had the newest nokia flip. it was good for a while but then the problems started...
cons:
1-battery life sucks. maybe its because i get on the interet a alot but either way...it sucks. one or two 45 min conversations kill it.
2-its been dropping calls and ive been getting interference or like static noises while im on the phone.
3-i started texting and it has a delayed response. all the sudden the three words or so i typed in show up.
pros:
1-good camera. takes clear, crisp pictures a majority of the time. also has cool editing effects, like black and white.
2-big keys.
3-motion censored so the screen flips bu itself when you flip the phone. tho its likes to freeze and go black if you do it to much. ugh.
so yeah...ok phone but i plan to do an exceptional upgrade in the near future. we'll see...
I love this phone!
I got the att quickfire... but it wasnt
for me so i traded it in and decided
to get the SE. Best decision ever!
the menues are awesome and its fast.
I have full 3G signal everywhere I go (Baltimore) and
I can text with ease. I recommend this phone
to anybody...
Pros: 3.2MP Camera, edit pictures and videos on phone, accelorometer, great menues, comes with a lot of free software, awesome battery life, cool looking
cons: I had to get it replaced 1 time because the off button didnt work.
Great Phone.
I won this phone from a Sony Ericsson Promotion party and I have not regretted leaving my beloved W810i since.
This phones seems to have combined the size and sleekness of the W580 and the features and sturdiness of the W810.
I found that if I lower the brightness to 50% (which is still plenty bright) it will extend the battery life significantly.
Pros-
Sleek design
Light
Great camera quality (3.2 MP)
HSDPA (Used Google maps seamlessly when I went on my road trip.)
GPS
Great Resolution
Games (People thought I was crazy when I was bowling at the airport)
Nice key layout
Loud speakers (internal and external)
MP3/FM Radio/Movie Player
Cons-
No Flash on camera (that used to be one of the coolest features on teh w810i)
Camera cannot zoom unless in VGA mode (come on, really!?!)
No USB/Ear Piece available in box (I spoke with the SE rep and he said that was a decision made by AT&T to leave them out. Damn phone carriers.)
Now this is more of a pet peeve. I wear a holster for work and whenever I get a call and pull the phone out it always hits the end call button and reject the call. It's great when I am using bluetooth, but when my bluetooth is not around it is annoying.
Overall-
Great phone. I am glad SE recovered from the flop that was the W580. Keep up the good work. For a cell phone that is not a smartphone, this phone is packed with features.
Very Nice......
Probably the best sony ericsson to hit AT&T since the w810i.
Pros
- 3G (H) In the Right hand corner meaning its even faster on the Internet.
- GPS is very nice.
- Keypad layout is great.
- Loud, speaker volume is great.
- The Browser is awesome. Uses a mouse type of icon to scroll around screen.
- GAMES are awesome on this phone. The Phone moves likes a Wii controller in order to move the game around.
- Resolution on the Screen is great.
- 3.2 MP Camera is great and feature packed with options.
Cons
- Keys feel flimsy, although its nothing like the w580 keypad that cracked.
- No Headphones in box or tethering cord.
- No Flash on Camera.
Overall,
This is more like it. I wish Sony Ericsson and AT&T got along so we could all see the benifits of a high end phone that can do it all.
Email, MP3, Movies, Youtube, Gaming, GPS ETC...
This phone does it all.
4.6 out of 5.0
Love this phone!!
After looking at the LG Shine, the LG Vue, as well as the Samsung Propel, and the Pantech Slate I finally decided on the phone and I love it. After having an LG for the last two years that I liked in the beginning but later grew to dislike it was hard for me to find just the right phone and this is definitely it. I can't find anything about this phone that I don't like except for maybe the buttons being a tad smaller than I am used too. Overall though it is amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone in the market for a new phone.
