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
Best cel phone I've had
Pro's
-the LOOK is distinctive, it will have anyone's attention
-you can use mp3's as RINGTONE
-SOUNDS very loud
-nice MEMORY
-very long lasting BATTERY
Con's
-NOT expandable memory
-I left it fell down and I don't know how to put the little screws back on (between slider)
-RECEPTION might be better
*fell free to contact me regarding the screws issue
Does it all in one package.
Cingular sent me a w600i in replacement of my old s710a. I am enjoying more than my s710a becuase of the size and some other features...Here's what I thought.
Pros.
World Phone
MP3 Player is better than iTunes
Great screen resolution
Speakerphone is amazing
Ringtones amazingly loud
EDGE speeds
1.3 mp camera, takes great pics
Cool software included, Like video DJ
3D games capabilites
video is above average
flashlight
Cons.
Swivel takes some getting used to
keypad lights are boring
camera not very good at night
no expandable memory
Pros out weight the cons by a thousand. this is really good phone, especially for the price. So what, it is disconinued, its been out for a while, but is by far alot better than most of the current phones cingular has to offer.
Very Awesome Phone!!!
I bought this phone on ebay becasue it is now discontinued on Cingular. I've only had it for a few days before I got the infamous WSOD (White Screen of Death). Anyway, that whole thing was frustrating because I couldn't take it in to a Cingular store to get a new one since I did not buy it from there. I could not return in to SE because I did not have the original proof of purchase. I ended up flashing it with the newest firmware (RC something) and it was fixed. It is now better than before (I did not realize how much cingular takes away from the phone).
I got my WSOD from an USB transfer trying to update my firmware. However, it has been said that a major cause of WSOD, along with the USB, is the cingular software put into the phone. They just conflict one another.
All that said, this is still an awesome phone. The speakers are so LOUD (I am listening to the radio right now, crystal clear), the pics and videos are nice, and it has great reception (GA). Gaming is really fun on this little device too (it comes with 3).
However, I don't think I will try the USB again. I'll just wait until I can get a bluetooth headset and a bluetooth dongle. Hope this helps anyone!!!
BTW, I flashed my phone with www.cellcorner.com for around $14.00.
nice phone
Ok here I go:
I have had this phone about 3 months now. I did get the WSOD that everyone talks about, but I flashed the phone with the software from SE's website, and I have had no other problems. The phone always has great RF and the bluetooth is excellent.
PROS
RF - absolutely excellent. Probably the best I have had with cingular.
Speaker-Unbelievable!! Great sound for the music and talking! People are amazed at how loud it is.
MP3-very nice ui for the mp3 player..had issues with the arranging of songs though
UI-pretty much the same as other SE phones..works well
Bluetooth - very nice. Works great with mu h750
Camera -I think the 1.2mp camera is great..i mean it is a phone
Cons
Slider phone - over time I have gotten irritated with the slider, but I knew what it was when I bought it.
WSOD -Not much info from Sony on the WSOD, but their flash did bring it back to life and make it less buggy
Overall it is a great phone I would recommend..keep the bio up-to-date though!!
Great Alternative to Flip Style
I put my SIM card in a family member's W600i and tried it out for a few days. Overall I really like the phone. Here are some pros and cons.
PROs...
--- Great Reception
--- Easy to use UI
--- Bluetooth
--- Excellent Camera
--- Great Size
--- Flash Light
--- Tools (Calendar, exc...)
--- Changeable face plates
^ so many more but can't think of any...
CONs...
--- Numbers are weird
--- No send and end key
--- No belt clip (I guess it is hard to make for a swivel type phone like this).
Other than those few cons this phone was great. I could hear everything and it was easy to use. Overall it worked like a PHONE and that is good...I recommend this phone to anyone if Cingular is good in your area.
The best i've seen yet
TO start off i'm a store manager for cingular wireless and i've used just about every phone we carry. the w600 is by far one of the best phones i've ever had. i used to hate the sony's, this one is different, the user interface is a breeze, the reception is better than any phone i've seen on our network. call quality is excellent. this phone is awesome. i switched to this phone from a nokia 6620 and i get a better signal with this sony. the walkman software is great, it makes it easy to acess your music without having to go through all your menus.
talk time is super long(unless you use the mp3 player alot). gaming is fun because you turn it sideways and play it like a gameboy. one thing that is nice is the sliding keylock on the side, with the nokia u have to press menu star and u forget to sometimes,just slide the switch and put it in ur pocket. this is way better than the razr or slvr. i'm giving this phone a 4.5 just because it doesn't have a bigger memory, which is fine u can put up to 55 songs and its easy to put them on and take them off.i have the fm transmitter for this and i play it in my car, awesome. the best phone, go get it.
pros:
excellent reception
superb camera for a phone(real sharp and detailed pics)
walkman interface
3-d stereo speakers are loud as hell
great sound quality
long talk time
easy to use
fm radio comes in great
sharp screen
cons:
no extra memory(ok though i dont need a thousand songs on it)
charger is different than all the other sony's, most stores dont carry them
overall this phone is great the best out there. you wont be dissappointed
Sony Ericsson Does It Again!
I got this phone two days ago, and I haven't been able to put it down yet. When I first took it out of the box, I was slightly disappointed by the overall size. Believe it or not, I actually wanted this phone to be bigger, like the S710a. Well, let's be honest here, I wanted a bigger screen. After toying around with the phone for two days, I can truthfully say I'm glad the phone isn't bigger. Sure, it doesn't have a huge screen, but the screen is extremely bright and vivid.
Secondly, I have to give many kudos to Sony Ericsson for slightly revamping their user interface. I like the fact that they take a "common sense" approach to their user interface and don't leave a lot of guesswork for those of us who don't have the time to read the manual cover to cover. An added bonus would be the speed at which this phone functions. I was amazed at how quickly the menu came up when I selected an option.
There are a lot of people who aren't exactly thrilled with the phone's swivel design, but I like it because when closed, the phone fits easily in your pocket. Besides, you can answer calls, access Media Net and access the Walkman feature with the phone closed. I also like the fact that you can change the options on the directional keys on the D pad.
Now, let's get to the most important aspect of this review, the sound. Everything is nice and loud, not to mention crystal clear with the best speaker phone I've ever heard. Also, transferring files from your PC to this phone is practically effortless. I did manage to learn a lesson, though. I did not convert my WMA files to MP3s, which is why my phone couldn't find any music files the first time I tried to transfer them. That would be my fault, though. I didn't realize that my music files were defaulted to WMA.
Overall, I was very impressed with the way this phone performed. The battery life is good as well. My only complaint is that the W600i doesn't have expandable memory. Only one con??? Not bad at all if you ask me.
BEST PHONE I'VE EVER HAD!!
Although i dont give it a FULL 5 for the overall rating, it is still the BEST phone i've ever had! it really isnt that big for a swivel phone. not that heavy either. to actually BUY the phone... from a cingular store without a contract it is around $480.
PROS: Fully functional radio, video camera with flash, camera with flash, mp3 player, photo/video editor, speakerphone, voice control (voice calling, voice answer/busy, orginizer, television (30 day trial), 7 games (trials).
CONS: Need a cord that connects to the phone to listen to the radio (gets in the way), gets confusing when opening the phone (its like its all upsidown and backwords.)television graphics SUCK.
OVERAL: This phone is by far the best phonet that i have ever have. sony ericsson has come a long way to make a phone like this, and i am VERY impressed with it. from my old samsung sgh-e317 this phone TOPS it in EVERYTHING by far! so if you are looking to buy a new phone for looks, style, and to be up to the new gadgets, this IS the phone.. and it also comes with an extra blue faceplate if you dont like the orange one, or just want to switch them off. HIGHLY recomended phone.
Great Entertainment phone
This is the first time moving to the SE line. I am formerly a Motorola and Nokia only guy.
PROS:The w550i has just about everything I could ask for slammed in a small package. Great interface, hotkeys, Excellent sound,solid build quality, very customizable.
CONS:limited to 256M(for an MP4 player, it kinda limits you), when you rotate the phone to open it it seems like it is backwards or now upsidedown(this just may take some getting used to), No EDGE, wierd loop bar across the top(can someone tell me what this is for?)it just eats up space and I belive they could have at least integrated the Radio antenna into this so that if I want to listen to the radio, I don't have to plug in the headphone set.
I've had no problems with connectivity with any of the bluetooth devices PC, MAC, Handsfree. However, syncing is not possible for Macs yet. In fact, even just plugging in the phone with the supplied USB cable causes both the phone and the mac to be hard resarted.(i had to pull the battery out of the phone to get it to power back on.)
All in all this is one of the best phones purchases I have made ever! I am very happy with it and Moto and Nokia will have to come up with something pretty amzing in the same price range to earn my business back(besides just marketing a phone with iTunes)
this is a great phone
What can i say, this phone is for people who think of there phone as another accessory.
the phones design is very unigue, although i do think there is too much going on in the front of the the phone, there are too many buttons, even ontop of the screen, i liked the s710a's simple design better.
The screen is smaller compared to the s710, well alot smaller, but the quality of it is very good, clear crisp.
I really like the camera, just as good as the s710, I find myself using the camera alot more than my past camera phones.
being able to store songs and use them as ring tones is great, no more paying jamster 2 bucks a tone!!
the phone comes with plenty of stuff,..dont like the orange?? change it to the included blue cover, on mine i have the back orange and the front blue, what can i say, im qnique.
the phone has a lot to do on it, and will always keep you entertained. lots of demo games, photo video and sound DJ's
The phone book is great, nice layout and lots of options for each contact.
you can change everytihng on this phone, theemes wallpaper ringers screen saver, very customizeable.
all in all im satisfed and will keep it till cingular comes up with another swivel phone!
