Customer Reviews

Sony Ericsson W580i Urban Grey Phone (AT&T)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

A long-time Motorola phone user now converted. Not only is this phone lightweight and amazing looking, it's feature packed.

Pros:

- Crystal-clear calling. No static and loud when needed.
- The screen is amazing. The resolution is awesome. By far the best I've ever seen on a phone this size.
- This phone is tiny; in a good way. Super-slim and tucks nicely in your pocket. Being that it's a slider, you'll never have to worry about pocket-dialing. :)
- The software is very easy to navigate. This is nicely improved over the Motorola interface of my older RAZR.
- The MP3 player rocks; no pun intended. The Walkman software lets you sort by Artists, Albums, Tracks, Playlists and more. This is light-years ahead of the my old RAZR's MP3 player. This one rivals any standalone MP3 device I've used.
- The stereo headphones that comes with it include a 3.5mm adapter. While the included headphones sound great, this adapter gives you the flexibility to use your Bose, Shure or other stereo headphones. A very nice option.
- Carbon grey and anodized blue color is slick; nothing else like it. The back side of the phone, when in the up position, is where the anodized blue metal is. Amazon doesn't show a photo of it. It is stunning.
- Unlike "some" other sliders, the camera is protected and kept under cover when the slide is closed. This works great in keeping dust off the lens.
- The 2.0MP camera is actually pretty good. It takes great outdoor photos.
- I LOVE the fitness/step counter. It measures distance in steps and calculated miles along with the calories you've burned. It also keeps a daily average and each days results.

Cons:

- No 3G
- Sony Proprietary Memory Stick Micro M2 versus easy to find and less expensive MicroSD
- No LED Flash or Photo Light

In conclusion, if you are looking for a super-slim phone with great call quality and superb music capability, look no further. This Sony wears the Walkman name with pride.

UPDATE 9/27/07: I bought a SanDisk SDMSM2-4096-A11M 4GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) and it works perfectly. 4GB of music!!!

I'm very satisfied with this phone. I think it is the best looking non-smartphone available right now. I'll just add one point here because this information is very hard to get on Amazon:

The phone has a memory card slot, but it doesn't come with any memory stick. The phone has only 12 MB built-in memory with just 8.5 MB free. You'll have to purchase M2 (Memory Stick Micro) separately if you want to transfer music or other files from your computer to the phone. So the USB data cable is useless without a memory stick.

Just got my new Sony Ericsson W580i, and must I say, I am GLAD I bought it! Coming from the old 1st generation Razr, the w580i is a refreshing change. The only complaint I have (and the reluctance I had before ordering) is the 2-yr service agreement with att.
The good:
- The form factor: sleek and sturdy. Despite its thinness, it does not give any feeling of being flimsy.
- The display: I instantly fell in love with the default theme <lol>
- Excellent voice quality and stereo radio.
- I haven't checked out the video yet, but the 2MP camera is top of line for a cellphone.
- Intuitive and clean navigation. Much faster than most competitors.

The bad:
- Not really much, though the small keys can make it a bit harder to hold and dial with one hand - but thats the price you pay to have a slim device.
- The lack of locking ability for individual applications: If you don't need to access internet/ data services to keep you engaged with the device (its a cellphone after all) but keep hitting the upfront media buttons accidentally - or better still, you don't even realize you used data services for a simple looking game session on the phone - you may be surprised to see your data usage bill. I don't know if the device does not have individual locks or if AT&T disabled it. In any case, if you do not have unlimited data package and just want to avoid the pricey accidental usage, it may be a nuisance. The quick and dirty workaround I devised was to set up a new dummy data connection profile and set up the streaming and internet profiles to use the dummy data connection. The data applications are not locked as such, but they just fail to connect to internet upon launch. When needed, you just need to switch the internet profile to AT&T's mediaNet.

Overall, I couldn't have hoped to get a better phone.

Pros:
- small size
- great voice quality
- play music without headphones
- 2 MP still and video camera
- great screen

Cons:
- non-standard connectors
- no per-group ringtones
- poor mp3 management
- AT&T branding
- small keyboard

Upgraded from an original Razr to this via AT&T a few weeks back and I love this phone. I carry my phone in my pocket wherever I go, so I want a small phone with good battery life and great voice quality. This phone has that.

First thing to do after getting the AT&T version is to debrand it (search youtube for tutorials), and make sure you don't use the Sony Ericsson updater or it will update your phone firmware to a version that can't be debranded or further modified (e.g. changing the walkman skins). Debranding gives you flash menus, unlimited length mp3 ringtones, and the shortcut button on the front is customizable rather than being hard coded to AT&T Medianet. The phone is still locked to AT&T, but it's more fun to use and you no longer have those annoying AT&T splash screens.

The biggest annoyance is that the phone doesn't use standard connectors, so the headset, charger, and file transfer all go through the custom connector on the side. It would so much more convenient if they used standard headphone connector for audio and standard miniUSB for charging / data. And of course the micro M2 memory stick is annoying since no one carries them so I had to mail order an 8GB card for my music, video, pics, etc.

Keyboard is tiny. It works ok for texting, and I haven't had any problems with keys breaking, but it is tight. There's plenty of room for larger keys, so a larger keyboard with more tactile feedback to make it easier to differentiate the keys would be nice.

MP3 management is lame. No other way around it. I was very disappointed to find that the only way to manage playlists is to manually create them on the phone. This is so painful that it's effectively impossible. I have playlists for itunes and winamp. I should be able to drag a playlist into my phone and have the playlist and the songs copied over and accessible on the phone. Instead, I create folders in my "music" folder, copy the playlist songs into that folder, and then go into that folder via the phone, send the songs to the walkman, and save as a playlist. Annoying for you to read about it, and even more annoying for me to do it. Huge oversight on the part of Sony.

Finally, the group ringtones. On my razr I can set a default ringtone for my phone, and then I set up groups of contacts (friends, family, work, etc.) and I can assign a ringtone for each group so I can easily tell from how the phone rings who is calling. The best part of this is that anyone not in my phonebook rings a different way, so when I hear that, I know I can ignore it or set that ringtone to silent so I'm not distracted by people I don't know. The w580 lets you set ringtones per contact, but not for groups. You can only SMS to a group and that's about it. This means I have to set the ringtone for each individual person which is impractical, and there's no way to set a silent ringtone for people not in your addressbook. This is basic phone functionality, and a huge hole in the w580 feature set.

I don't use the Internet on it, so no comments there. Overall, it's a good phone, and I expect to be happy with it for the next few years. I'm glad I bought it, and if it breaks I would likely buy the same thing again unless something that fixes the above problems in the same form factor becomes available.

I have had a sony Ericsson before as well and I loved the phone. I then switched to Verizon and their phones are just horrible (service is good). A month ago, I swtiched back to AT&T this year and got this phone. I have been very happy with this phone except for a few things.

PROS:
- Slick desgin
- I like the Slider (it is very smooth)
- Very light and easy to carry.
- If you get the Micro SD card you can add music on the phone and the quality is pretty good.
- FM Radio

CONS:
- If you forget to lock your phone and its in your pocket, you will find yourself browsing the internet without knowing. To stop this from happening, I just went to Menu - Settings - Connectivity - Internet Settings - Internet Profiles and switched to Software update instead of media net. So now it would not connect to the internet while in the pocket.
- The music that you add in your phone can not be used as a ringtone unless you convert it to a wmi file.
- Does not have a lot of themes to choose from.

Overall, I like this phone a lot better than the 2 previous LG phones that I have and the Sony Ericsson T610. Good upgrade!

I've used this phone now for a month & am really impressed with the quality. The small size has tempted some to slide it into a pants pocket & then be surprised that the screen cracked. It's a small thin phone that's just long enough to be stressed when you sit down, so don't put it in your pocket. The Walkman features are fantastic, the sound quality is exceptional from the included headhones, which are also a handsfree (sort of). The cable has a switch that ends up right below your neckline... you just press it if a call comes in while you're listening to music, the call is answered. The switch has a mike built into it, so you don't have to start fumbling for the phone to talk.

Others have mentioned the internet access button is on the outside of the phone & yes, this is a real problem/design flaw. It'll connect you at random every time the phone presses up against whatever you're storing it in. I had 8 hours of unintentional internet usage my first week of ownership. There are a variety of ways to deal with the problem, one reviewer here mentioned changing the internet settings so it won't connect. You can also call ATT & they can offer some good options. There is a keyboard lock function meant to prevent problems like this, but it sometimes doesn't work. If you get this phone DO NOT use a phone case with a magnetic clasp. With the keyboard locked, the magnet will not only deactivate the lock, but will activate a variety of phone features, from placing phone calls to people in your address book or recent call list, to connecting you to the internet. I know this from personal experience. I could pass the case over the phone without even touching it & it would place phone call.

The display screen is small, but it's very hi-def, bright, and has deep color saturation. I have bad eyes yet have absolutely no problem seeing the display. To me, this is a real plus over a lot of other phones.

So in conclusion, Sony... get that internet button off the cover of the phone! That was a really stupid idea. All they have to do is put it underneath where the number pad is where it's protected.

This phone is amazing. If you need to renew a contract or sign a new one this deal can't be beat! I got the phone two days after placing the order on Amazon, not the 2-4 weeks as advertised.

I won't repeat the admirable qualities of the phone here, other reviews do a good job, but there are three things to note. First the walkman logo on the front of the phone is AT&T not the sony W, the W is on the back however. Second, no memory card is included in this hardware package. Third, the branding on the phone disables the flash based menus and locks out other standard features such as mp3 ringtones over 600k, although there are ways around this you can end up breaking your phone if you're not careful. Also the battery cover is really hard to get off if you don't have finger nails, the best method is to use your index nails at the top sides of the cover and pull towards the bottom of the phone. Otherwise, perfect.

Guys, this phone is good. I guess we can not compare with I phone. The thing I like compare to I-phone is its size. Also the FM radio. This phone feels good in hand. on negative side - key pad is small. Slider seems good but not sure its life. There are reviews about key pad issue (breaking keys). I hope it is fixed in newer lots. Even with these issues, I like the phone and I don't want to return/exchange it. I thought battery is issue but battery life improved after made screensaver off. Earlier navigation light was on most of the time and eating up the battery. Now I have to charge in 2 to 3 days depending on use. Its bad that no memory is included and so I could put only 2 songs. Plan to add 2 GB or 4 GB. Outlook contact/calendar sync works well and that is one of the deal breaker for me. Camera is good too. I returned W810 and got it. I am not too happy about it as W810i was more durable I guess but I love this phone though I have concens about its durability but it does not feel flimsy to me as some reviews said. There is no 4.5 so giving 4.
Update - It has been little over a month. No issues yet related to durability. Created my own ring using Music DJ application in the phone. In alarms I can play my own MP3. Since speaker phone is good , I can play Mp3s on speakerphone while phone is in my shirt pocket and get enough volume.

My previous phone was the Sony Ericsson S710a, and loved it. So I thought the W580i would be an improvement from that. But sadly it's not. And for the price through Amazon being $.01, I should have bought a different phone even if I had to spend more.

Good:
Clear sound.
Small but good clear screen.

Bad:
Keys cracked right after I had it a month. Amazon didn't seem to know their own return policy as, of the 8 representitives I spoke with, 4 said it could be exchanged with no problem for a different phone, and 3 said they would research it only to send a standard denial email, and one had the courage to say all of them were wrong, apologize for being transferred, and tell me what did I expect from a free phone.

No light on the camera
So so camera, there is pixel lines in every picture
Horrilbe speaker phone
Don't even think about using the speaker to play music.
Sometimes will receive an error of death.
Slider feels flimsy, and I worry that it will eventually break.
Battery life isn't great.
Wrist strap hole is useless

Overall it's a basic phone aimed at teens. Wheras the S710a I would say was marketed towards an older crowd. So I was a sucker for buying this, and now I have to live with it for my 2 year contract. I will most likely end up buying a phone off of eBay within 6 months just to get away from this one.

I recommend a DO NOT BUY...plenty of other phones are better than this one.

Overall: The phone has performed with near perfection. Every essential element works flawlessly.

Call Quality: Great. No static or interference in calls. Volume is great, and speakerphone works acceptably well.

Battery Life: Superb. The battery life has only barely decreased over four months. It performs at least as well as slated. In my experience, it lasts two days under fairly heavy usage. Additionaly, the battery can fully charge in about an hour. So a thirty minute charge can last you a busy day easily.

Screen: Excellent. Very crisp and clear. Easy to read and very vibrant. Also very sturdy, this is the place that you stick your thumb to slid the phone apart, so it recieves some pressure, so far it has caused zero problems.

Functionality: Very easy to use, menus are extremely intuitive, controls are ergonomic. One thing I have noticed when using other phones is how much better the menus on this phone look, they are attractive and clear. The additional memory is a little pricy, but performs beautifuly. I have had no snags in it's usage. In the way of durability, this phone is great. When shopping, I was afraid the sliding part of the phone may be fragile, but I have been thoroughly impressed with it's resilience.

Walkman: Good. Easy to use. Songs can be loaded on without any headache, although slightly slow. The sound quality is decent at best. However, I believe to the casual ear, the sound will be up to par. Included ear buds are better than expected. Included are multiple sizes to fit any persons ear.

Camera: Great. 2 megapixels is above industry standards, but don't expect your pictures to be photographer quality, fine details are non existent. Plenty of options and good funtionality. Night shot, variable quality levels, and shot styles (panoramic, burst, etc.).

Messaging and Internet Usage: Text messaging is easier on this phone than any other I have used. I cannot tell you much about internet usage, as I do not use it often. From what I have seen, it is pretty standard, and considering how everything else performs, I am confident this is too.

In Summary, everything on this phone is great. There are about five million other things on this phone, like a trivia game, that will keep you entertained for a long time. There is no reason not to buy this phone.