Customer Reviews

Sony Ericsson W580i White Phone (AT&T)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.
- 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!!!

Even though this phone received good reviews on CNET and elsewhere, I must admit being hesitant to get a slider phone. I was afraid I would accidentally being making calls or snapping pictures from my purse as I had done with a bar phone. I decided to give it a try though, and I am very happy with it. As a phone, it functions great with clear calls, long battery life, etc. However, it has some additional features that I found very useful.

What I like:
*Automatic key lock option - Turn this on, and you don't have to worry about accidentally calling anyone. All the outside buttons are 'locked' or protected until you touch two buttons. However, answering a call still functions as normal without pushing any extra buttons, and if you slide the phone open, you don't have unlock it either.
*Programmable outside buttons - You can program 4 outside buttons as 'shortcuts'. I have one set to toggle my bluetooth on and off, one to go to my phone directory, one to go the camera, and one to my files. Very handy!
*Synchronization - The supplied cable makes synchronization with outlook and transferring music a breeze! Download the PC Ericsson phone suite from their website. However, you can also tranfer via bluetooth and even by using your memory stick with the supplied adapter and Windows Explorer.
*Presentation Remote - If you have bluetooth, you can use this phone as a presentation remote from Power Point, or navigate your desktop/media center from afar.
*Pedometer/fitness trainer - Like it! Lets you keep a past history of your walking/running for the day.
*Walkman feature - Love it! I upgraded my memory to 2 gb first thing.
*Ringtones - Short MP3 files can be used as ringtones. You can also use the MusicDJ to make your own or even use the 'recorder' and save what you record as a ringtone.
*FM radio - another plus
*Password saver - This in an password protected area where you can save passwords or other sensitive information you want access to, but not have to worry if you lose your phone.
*Notes - You can synch Notes from Outlook, but you can also select a note to show in 'standby'. I've used this to keep an address handy or a train schedule.
*Screen - Very bright and clear. (I've even used it as a 'flashlight' at night to find my keys.) I did put on screen protector though to help prevent the inevitable scratches.

What I don't like:
*Battery cover very hard to put on or take off.
*Memory cover seems very flimsy - As though it would easily break.
*Lanyard holes - So small, I couldn't get any of any lanyards to thread through it.

What I wish it had:
*3G
*Ability to play audio books (and bookmark your place)
*Enhanced video playback capabilities
*Ability to show your calendar for the day in standby.

I can spend some time on the PROS, but mostly, if anyone is like me, they want to know just what it is that doesn't live up to what is billed.

MOSTLY, I can't believe the rated talktime versus the actual talktime in practical experience. 9 hours rated. Now, I haven't talked till the phone died. Nor have I just turned it on and talked after a full charge to get an idea of how long I MIGHT be able to talk. But I can say about 45 - 60 minutes of talk time and 3 days of standby put the battery into the 50+% range. Which leads me to believe that phone will get no where near 9 hours talk time on a single charge. (I realize these ratings are under the best conditions as tested by the manufacturer...and the usual rounding up but if anyone gets 5 hours of talk out of it, post a message about it)

Numerable messages on forums about the keypad cracking. Do a search and make your own decision. I learned of it after I bought it.

It's the first slider phone I have and while this is not necessarily a CON in the truest sense of the word (i.e., advertised as one thing yet doesn't funciton as advertised), one must understand that the screen is exposed all the time. That means, most likely, scratches and smudges will become the mainstay of that screen...I bought it knowing that but others should know it. Also, because it is a slider phone, more buttons are exposed and available to being pressed by accident than a flip phone.

When dialing, one must (duh) slide open the phone. The keys light up. But, if you find yourself stuck in voice mail menu hell and have to wait to see what key to press, you had better be in a lighted area...the key lights go off pretty quickly and then they are quite hard to see.

Finally, if you like the idea of the cute little flashing lights one can choose from, you should know in advance that the 10 (or is it 15) or so lighting choices one has to choose from off the menu are quite similar. In fact, some menu choices look exactly the same (just a different name). So, there's not as much variety as you might originally think.

Otherwise, most everything else I have used has met or exceeded my hopes and expectations. I give it 4 - stars even with what I have listed.

I have had this phone for one week now and it is great! About 1 year ago, I was looking for a phone with a music player and not having to buy an mp3 player or ipod so i decided to buy the Samsung SGH-d807. The samsung is far from being a music phone, especially with the low quality OEM Samsung headphones ! USB music tranfer is slow, (about 25sec per song) and most of the time it woudn't let me transfer songs ! ( i ended up buying an ipod shuffle just to listen music on the go )

In the other hand, the unbeliavable Sony Ericsson w580i and its 2.0 USB cable lets me "drag and drop music, pictures, vidoes..!" straight from my computer to the phone with no hassle ! Transfer speed is about 10sec per song.
- Headphones sound REALLY GOOD, in my opinion.. they sound better than my ipod.
- My phone included a 256mb memory stick M2, but i recommend getting a 1gb or 2gb.
- This phone sends standard messages in one second and multimedia messages in about 3-5sec.
- The cool thing about the Walkman on this phone is that while you are listening to music, you can minimize the music player and use your phone without having interrupt your song. When you recieve a call or text, your music will fade and then resume when you are done. No need to push stop and play.
- The battery last a loong time, 9hours talk time, 14days in standby and 20hours in Walkman mode. The battery will drain a little faster if you play your music straight from your folder, so it is best to use the Wlakman when ever you play your music and save power.
- From my experience, Sony Ericsson phones have excellent reception and call quality (phone or speaker). The other line can hear you loud and clear just as they would from a regular house phone. (There is an option in "Settings" where your number is automatically blocked on every call you make without having to dial *67 before making a call, wich is great for your privacy. )
- 2.0 mega pixel camera is awsome ! Cristal clear pictures every time, whether you are taking a picture in 2mp, 1mp or vga format. (Note: you can only zoom in when you are in VGA mode, and your pictures still come out very good !
- The nuber pad on this phone is a bit small. I personally have big hands and dial / text with no problem. The keys can break easily if mistreated.
- Phone has very good graphics, so you will always enjoy viewing your picture and playing games with little loading time. Speaker is LOUD ! . . Fast Internet, just as fast as 3g phones !

VERY GOOD PHONE OVER ALL.

I had been looking for the right phone/mp3 combo for quite a while and finally settled on this phone after trying and rejecting the Nokia N75 -- no stereo bluetooth on ATT version, poor battery life. The W580i is a clear winner. Although I wrote much of this review on the phone, I would say that a heavy texter probably won't like the small keyboard.

Design:
Compact form, sharp, colorful screen and sturdy slider. Can answer calls with phone closed (not so N75). Don't like flips, wanted a candybar, but this now feels like a better format. Faux metalic finish on large front nav control already beginning to show the plastic underneath.

Nav buttons on the closed phone are raised, textured, and of different sizes and shapes allowing me to control many features without looking at the phone (not so iphone). This is great for stopping/starting the music player, ending a call, closing out apps.... without looking.

Keys have a nice click but number pad probably too small for heavy texters.

Menus:
Easy to use and logical. Easy transition from my 3 yr old Nokia. Voice recognition is speaker dependent, but works. Don't voice dial much anyways as most calls are on speed dial. Pop up submenus are also great and always seem to be where you expect them.

Calls:
Strong signal, no drops or interference. Sound from the speaker could be a bit clearer, but calls on the included headset are excellent.

MP3/Storage:
This is a really nice interface and the sound is very good and includes an equalizer. It is easy to complain about the proprietary POP port rather than a standard headphone jack, but the included earbuds are just fine for podcasts and non-critical music listening. Better still, their 2 part design allows you to plug in your own standard headphones and use the included headset simply as an adapter. This POP port design is a lot better than the Nokia one. It is easy to insert and remove but still stays put; not so Nokia.

Sony includes a POP to USB data cable, but Sony's included Disk2Phone music management software hangs up under Vista. Fortunately the phone synchs fine with Windows Media Player. Maintains tracks by album and artist automatically, but playlists can only be created on the phone. Album art gets transferred too, but only in a very small thumbnail (bet there will be a firmware upgrade to allow viewing full size).

Other phone management software works just fine and the phone shows up as just another drive in Windows, so you have access to all music and photos that way too. Threw away all the kid pics in my wallet and just copied the jpg's to the phone. POP to USB doubles as a spare phone charger.

M2 memory: yeah, another proprietary memory format from Sony. Don't worry, available cheap over the net with an adapter to allow use in any modern memory card reader. 2GB works just fine. I hear 4GB is out now. Inserting and removing is not very fun, and the card cover feels flimsy. Who cares, just use the included data cable and leave the memory alone.

Photos: Wow, not bad, but not why I bought the phone. No flash, still cant get zoom to work.

Web/Email: sorry haven't used these.

Other: Cute fitness apps, plus usual calculator, stopwatch, calendar... It's all here. Have not tried synching w/ Outlook or the like.

Battery life: Excellent. Play music, make calls, take photos, never use up more than a 1/3 of the battery in a day.

Myths: Battery cover hard to remove? Not for me. Slide a thumbnail in the crack, pop off cover. Cracking keys -- maybe, but not sure how much abuse you need to throw at them to make this happen.

Summary: Need a great phone and music player without heavy texting. This is it.

Background: Over the past two months, I have spent a great deal of time debating between whether to get the Sony Ericsson W580i or the LG Shine CU720. After making numerous threads at various forums regarding this question, reading countless reviews, watching many videos, looking at hundreds of pictures, and mapping out the pros and cons of each one multiple times, I have settled on the Sony Ericsson W580i. Since my family just got a family plan with ATT (3 lines/550 minutes shared) and one of my sisters got the Shine, I was able to do a comparison between the phones.

Battery Life: The claim that Sony Ericsson has poor battery life, in short, is complete bull ****. Those that say they had short battery life... you just got a lemon (or are trying to reason yourself out of the fact that buying a shine was actually a poor decision). My OTHER sister, who also got a Sony Ericsson, also gets great battery life with hers. Rather than the claimed "3-4 day charge" that many people on this forum and others are claiming, I have found that the phone will last over a week (11-13 days). The LG Shine, which is said to have poor battery life, disappoints: its battery life is indeed very short. The papers that the LG Shine comes with claims that battery life is around 3 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time, is standard marketing bull ****: through a test of 10 different charges with three different batteries, the phone has lasted no more than 3 days before it required a charging.

SE: 10/10 Shine: 3/10

Durability: People say the LG Shine has a stronger build than the Sony Ericsson, but if you actually compare the two, you find that you cannot actually compare the two... Why? The SE is a plastic phone; the LG shine is a plastic phone with metallic components. One thing that is not usually noted is that the Shine actually has VERY little metal in its body; it's only the battery cover and some of the front. The LG shine doesn't really feel that much more durable than the SE. If you drop the shine, you will certainly damage the screen, and/or scratch the body, and/or break the phone. With something plastic, eg. Sony Ericsson, a drop will do no more than give a few scratches. Regarding the slider mechanism, the LG Shine's "snaps" when you open and close it, whereas the SE's slider is not as snappy. Due to the difference in the way that the phones slide, it isn't really accurate to say that one feels more durable than the other. Since the durability was one of my biggest concern in getting the phone, I did a test of each phone upon cracking open the box: I opened and closed each phone 300 times. Results: The LG Shine's slider remained the same; the SE's slider got smoother after the test.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 6/10

Fingerprints/Scratchability: The claims that the Shine is a fingerprint magnet could not be more true. The Shine cannot stand to be touched at all. Walking around with the Shine put in my side jeans pocket for a day, the Shine went in looking stellar and came back looking pretty poor. The back plate had obviously been rubbed on, the front plate exhibited small, but noticeable scratches. I'm sure you could prevent the Shine from getting scratched by getting a screen protector and/or case, but the hassle of one is not something that I'd want to deal with (not to mention such protection would take away the "beauty" of the Shine). The Sony Ericsson, as one may predict, does not scratch easily. Same jeans, same walk, and the SE still looked great after. There was something that looked like a small scratch on the front screen on the SE, but nothing a wipe could clean off. Speaking of which, with the LG Shine, you cannot wipe the phone with any shirt; it will scratch if the fabric of the cloth/shirt is rough. A BIG reason people get the Shine is because it looks good. Well, if you don't take care of it like a newborn baby, it's going to look like **** and ipso facto, it was a poor decision to buy the phone for its looks.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 1/10

Keypad: People always complain about the keypads of the Sony Ericsson and the LG Shine and say how small they are and how difficult it is to text with them... Most of these complainers are complaining from hearsay (they repeat what they read/hear from others, not from their own experience). The problem of cracking keypads is also a huge concern for potential buyers of the SE. First, to address the keypad. The size of the keypad is very usable for texting and other usage. I have 6'2" and have large hands and I can still manage to comfortable use the phones' keypads. Texting with both is very easy (albeit not as easy as texting on a RAZR). The SE's keypad is not as responsive as the Shine's, meaning the click down are not as solid, and that the row of numbers are connected so that one press on a number slightly depresses the row, but nonetheless, it is very solid. The LG Shine's keypad is like a smaller version of the RAZR. Regarding the cracking keys on the SE, I performed a test to see if this rumor was true. Over a period of 2 days, I had the phone off and during my spare time (which is a lot since it's summer), I've been clicking away at the keys (with a good amount of pressure I might add), and the keys exhibit no sign of cracking. Clearly the cracking keys is an issue with older phones (which you could potentially still buy if the reseller of your phone has old stock).

SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10

Navigation: Those that say navigation on the Shine is difficult are clearly retarded: physically or mentally. The joystick on the Shine takes no practice to nail. It is very easy to use, and is not too small. The SE, with no joystick, as imagined, is also very easy to use. My only caveat with the SE is that there's no dedicated end call button like my old Nokia. The numbered menus in the Shine are very easy to use.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10

Reception/Sound Quality: I live in Northern California in a well populated city, and everywhere I go, I get 5 bars with the SE and from 3 to 4 bars with the Shine. I have found the number of signal bars that you get has a big impact on the call quality (as it should)... The Shine frequently echoes what the other person says, and a background static seems to be present in all calls. To ensure that I didn't receive a lemon shine, I tested a friend's shine and sure enough, it was the same. My friend told me they didn't notice the static (he probably got use to the poor call quality)... The SE's reception and sound quality it top notch. No complaints whatsoever here. Even with 3 bars (in a tunnel), the call was still strong.

SE:10/10 Shine: 5/10


Features: SE wins hands down. Read the features at each phone's respective website; I won't waste your time here. The LG Shine is the most basic of phones. The only thing its got over the SE is 3G. The Shine is all looks.

SE: 10/10 Shine: 2/10 (absolutely pitiful for a phone be so lackluster in features)

Other concerns and notes:
- The speaker on the SE kills that one which is on the Shine
- Both phones have ringtones are loud enough to be heard
- Both phones can [be modified to] receive games and , but with the SE, you have more options.

I've had the phone for a little under 30 days now. I doubt this review will be much help. I love everything about this phone except:

Battery cover is difficult to take off. I found myself using the point of a letter opener to try to pry it open. If you take it off every other day, it gets easier! Trust me, it really does! You'll also need a long fingernail or a thin card (i.e., driver license or credit card) to insert the SIM card or the M2 card in place.

Battery life is hit or miss. At first, it only took about 3 days until I had to recharge the phone. I blame this on my curiosity of trying everything out. To make your battery last longer, turn off the flashing lights, reduce the backlight to 50%, and turn off the screensaver. Now, I'm getting about 5-6 days on one single charge.

My phone is NOT white like what Amazon or any other website says. Depending on the light, it's sort of silverish/whitish. But I'm not complaining...I looove the color.

Compared to my old RAZR phone, this phone is dainty. With the phone closed, it fits in the palm of my hand. Some people look at me funny when I'm talking on the phone. WHY is that guy talking in his hand? :-)

The headphone jack is a bit bulky, if you try to put it in your pocket. I wish you could just insert the headphone jack like you see on Ipods.

Not sure, if anyone else might be having this problem, but I found the phone charges faster on the wall jack - NOT the USB jack to the PC. On the wall jack, it takes 2-3 hours to charge. On the USB jack, it took almost 7 hours to charge, but only charged up to about 95% (It was time to go home from work!).

...and the one thing I'm looking for...something with a case where you can wear it on your arm and operate the keys while working out!

HUGE improvement from the RAZR.

When I got the phone, the 0 button was not working. Sent that back and got a replacement phone. I am not the most gentle person when it comes to phones. I was kind of skeptical about the slider, whether it will stand up to abuse etc.

I absolutely love it. You can play mp3 and radio(with the headset). I've had it for about 4 weeks or so and I love this phone more and more. I've always been a big fan of Sony Ericsson phones, so this might be a very biased review. But this phone IS amazing..

I was running to catch a train, forgetting that I had left the phone in my jacket pocket. And then the most unthinkable thing happened! The phone flew out of my pocket and onto the tracks right behind the train. I actually saw it hit the ground and the battery cover and battery breaking loose upon impact. I was just ready to cry right then and there. I picked up the 3 pieces, battery, cover and phone. Proceeded to put it back together and just basically praying it works. And to my amazement, it started up without a hitch.. it still slides as normal, and the phone still functions as it should. My phone has a few battle scars, but I love it even more now.

I have the white one which actually comes with a 256 mb memory. The only hitch is the Sony Memory Stick M2 micro, which is expensive and can only be used with other Sony products. Other than that, this phone is the BOMB!!

I'm not going to repeat what you can read above other than what is really, really special about this phone over others.

It is a slider phone, instead of a flip, so I can have it open on my car's dash and it's slim to fit in any pocket. The buttons are small, but we are all used to that by now. Sure it also has the obligatory camera and video, but it is 2.0 mega-pixels which is better than most. It provides support for "PictBridge technology" so you can print your photos without the need of a PC, but again, 2.0 mega-pixels is good for the internet, built not great for printing out.

It is a Walkman that shuffles the songs with just a shake of your wrist. With the "TrackID" service, you just identify any song that you can hear by just recording a bit of the song (using the microphone, like at `Starbucks'). Later, you can send the file for recognition. It gives you the name, artist and album right to your phone. That's cool.
You have FM radio access and a slot for extra memory for songs, pics, video, etc. The ear buds are actually good quality and are attached along with a microphone (for hands free or finding that bit of song). It has all your high-speed mobile internet access, web browser, email, messaging, Java support needs and plenty of the basic games and is "Bluetooth" compatible.

If you like listening to music while working out, the integrated motion sensor counts your steps, your calories and monitors your running speed, distance and time. Your workout results are stored in your phone so you can monitor your progress.

There is even a calendar, place for notes, an alarm, a calculator, stopwatch and timer! There are plenty of good free ring tones and more you can buy on-line. There's more!

But what I like best is this phone has one of the cleanest, clearest and brightest (adjustable for night) screens available. I intentionally bought this so I can use my "Allen Sports GPS" system with it. It just has everything but that silly kitchen sink!

When I first got the phone I was amazed at the types of things I could do with it. The phone feels heavier than I thought it would, but the weight is balanced in your hand whether open or closed. As other reviewers stated, this phone is more of a light silver than pure white.

The reason this phone gets a 4 over a 5 has to do with AT&T. And since this product description includes AT&T I will comment. Many features that come with the phone are locked or altered. An example the games. Sure, you could unbrand your phone, but that is something that some people would feel very nervous about doing. The real problem (and something I was aware of when I purchased it) is that you can not use regular MP3 songs as ringtones without modification. I chose to edit my MP3's down to about 30 seconds and they work just fine. There is also a small circular button on the lower right of the face of the phone that opens up a connection to the internet. I found this out when I removed my phone from my pocket only to find I had inadvertantly connected and was on for about 30 min. This just seems like a money grab by AT&T and a sneaky one at that. I fixed the problem by creating a "fake" profile for all applications that would access the internet.

Overall, I would recommend this phone. Despite a few problems with what AT&T did to this phone, most problems can be worked around and the functionality of the phone doesn't suffer too much (at least for what I use the phone for).