Customer Reviews

Sony Ericsson Z500a Phone (AT&T)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I wavered between giving this phone four or five stars, and settled on five when I considered its target market - the entry level. It's clearly better than any other phone in this segment if you ask me. Does it stack up to more expensive phones? No, not completely. But it has a lot of features usually reserved for higher-priced models, it's pretty good looking and it gets really good reception, which is still the most important thing to look for in a phone.

The features that sold me on this model vs. the competition in its price bracket were the external color screen (with photo caller ID!) and the EDGE support. These are not common features in lower-end phones. The camera, to me, was almost a bonus - although it obviously comes in handy with the photo caller ID (it is not required, though - you can upload photos from your PC and use them too). Photo quality is what you'd expect from a VGA camera phone - not bad, but it's pretty obvious what sort of device you used to take pictures with. Honestly, if you want to take serious pictures, buy a real camera. The screen quality was a pleasant surprise - I'd read some complaints about the brightness and readability, but I think both screens are perfectly fine, and I find them useable in any sort of light.

If you read a lot of reviews, some people say this phone is built like a tank, while others say it feels "cheap". I think this contradiction can be explained by the quality of the plastic used in the phone's construction vs. the feel of the hinge assembly. Honestly, the plastic cover of the phone is matte plastic and feels a bit brittle (the phone's covers are replaceable, so maybe you can find something better), but the hinge really bears special mention because it lends the phone an especially solid overall feel in use. It is a Japanese-style hinge with a positive and quite forceful "snap" or "click" in either direction - both when you open and when you close it. It is not simply spring-loaded or magnetic like most hinges on American or European phones. I wish more phones used Japanese-style hinges here, because it really does give the phone a quality feel. I have had a lot of problems with hinges going loosey-goosey over time on other flip phones here and I really doubt that will ever be a problem with the Z500a.

Call quality is probably as good as it gets in this country, despite the internal antenna (which was apparently stowed for cosmetic appeal, but I kinda think the phone looks like it's missing something without the stub). Talking mobile to mobile while in motion, there can still be an occasional dropout and there is an obvious delay (my wife and I each have this phone, which is how we've tested this), but talking land-line to the Z500a it's almost difficult to tell the Z500a user is on a cell phone at all. A definite improvement over our old Siemens phones.

In regular daily usage, this phone is really a pleasure. Some people complain about the recessed buttons, but I don't find them difficult to press and this sort of design helps me avoid pressing buttons by mistake. The phone's interface is clean and never gets in the way, the menus are responsive and quick, and the phone book seems to store quite a lot of information for each contact. Combined with the good call quality, the EDGE high-speed internet support, the dual color screens, the camera, and the high-quality hinge assembly, I think this phone's a real winner in its price bracket.

This is a great phone.

Especially since I got two of them for $50 total.

The screen is great. Yeah, the camera isn't all that great, but the pictures I sent to my computer looked fine. I didn't pay to get a camera that happens to be a cell phone, I paid to have a cell phone that happens to have a camera. I am happy.

I got the data cable from overseas from a site in the UK and if anyone is looking for a camera to hook to their laptops, guess what. . .this is it. The new Edge 3G data technology that this phone has is disgusting. I am getting broadband speeds in my car with my laptop.

I think that the screen is beautiful myself. 85,000 colors and a pretty sharp resolution is all I see. I have downloaded some pictures online to use as the wallpaper in my phone and they look pretty sharp to me.

The only con I can find is that because the faceplate can be changed, some dust can get into the little screen on the outside and that is kinda annoying to me. Personally, I like the size of the phone since it feels like a phone. I hate it when phones are so small that you are holding them with your fingertips. That's how they fall. LOL But for its size, how can you really complain? it weighs just over three ounces!

Get this phone. It has all the features of many $500 an up phones but without the $500 and up part.

after a disasterous relationship with a Motorola V-180, this phone is a delight. It's relatively easy to use, but for optimum usage, you should read the manual which is fairly comprehensive and well organized.
The usage of this phone is fairly intuitive to the user and will help guide you through features which is what I appreciated about Nokias and what I hated about the Motorola's.
Size: clam shell design is such that when fully opened, the length rivals a real phone; which for whatever reason, i appreciate.
exterior display: is programable to show a picture of the person calling you. will display numbers and time (although if you have it on "normal" setting, the display can be quite small. "car" setting will show you the time in larger numbers while maintaining the backlight display. if your phone is in normal mode, the screen will go to sleep and you will need to press an exterior button to show you the time.)
interior display: full color. size is ok. perhaps a little small for its size. it is difficult to view outside in sunlight however. there might be a way to fix that- i need to consult the manual.
Camera: this is my first camera phone, but i see nothing wrong with the quality. it does have a zoom feature.
speaker is loud and clear, and comes out of the earpiece so before using it, the phone reminds you you could damage your hearing and requires you to push a button again. I'm really one for one-button operation so sometimes that does get annoying.
favorite thing about the phone: has a built in recorder that makes it possible to make *anything* into a ring tone which for me makes downloading ringtones unneccessary.
this is a most welcome feature as the included ringtones that are already on the phone are *terrible*. i am not exaggerating.
the big drawbacks for the phone are fairly minimal:
the alert when you have a message is LOUD. and i mean LOUD. any of them. i think "click" was ok, but I haven't figured out if there's a way to dampen the volume on the alerts yet.
battery life: i'm torn on this- i tend not to turn my phone off at night (it's my only phone)so a fully charged battery seems to have only 3 strong days plus for me. however, the charging is FAST. a 20 minute drive to work plugged into your car adapter will no doubt give you enough juice for an entire day. I haven't had the phone long enough to find out if that will kill the battery faster or not and i'm kind of torn as to which i'd prefer- faster charging or longer battery life.
best unexpected feature: the text messaging has a dictionary.

i bought this phone on ebay for a staggering $270 (included shipping and all that). why you may ask? well, don't ask. i thought it was cool. i wanted the phone, but didn't want to switch to cingular (i am an at&t customer). so, i bought this phone, slipped my SIM card in and i am good to go. here's the pros and cons so far:

pros:

* excellent call clarity, but that would depend on your area, plan, coverage, etc. people can hear me fine, and i can hear them fine, and isn't that really
what it's all about?
* speakerphone is nice. very nice. no complaints from friends to take them off it.
* menus are pretty intuitive. that is, if you've worked with a sony ericsson phone before.
* address book is very thorough and you can store a lot of information for each contact.
* themes are a neat concept.
* the options (zoom, brightness, special effects) for the digital camera are cool, but see below.
* phone has a nice solid feel when opening and closing the flip.
* option to record a sound and then use it as a ringtone is cool!

cons:

* VGA camera is horrible! i know, i know, it's a camera PHONE, not a phone CAMERA. however, the images are some of the worst i've seen. don't know if the camera is really that bad, or the display is just not that good, but yeah, don't count on taking nice, clear photos on this phone, or anything remotely close to good.
* inside screen display is "fuzzy". this is just a sony ericsson thing, i've heard. the colors and clarity of the screen are soft. i think SE does this to conserve battery life. kinda hard to see things on the screen in direct sunlight, or if you're not looking at it just right.
* screen does not make use of space available. poor design on SE's part.
* available games through sony ericsson's site are lacking in number and interest. maybe 'cause this phone is new. only seven games available to download and none of them interested me.
* phone only comes with 7 or 8 ringtones. HUH?! 7 or 8? that's just unheard of. not too many you can download from SE's site, either.
* no bluetooth or infrared.
* battery life is NOWHERE NEAR the 10 hrs/250 hrs (talk/standby) it says on SE's website. not even close. talk time might be 3-4 at best.

the "eh, it could go either way":

* phone is kind of bulky. the thing reminds me of a giant, silver maxi-pad when it's open. you may or may not like this.
* plastic parts on the phone feel cheap. someone commented that my phone "felt like a toy". it kinda does, really. the finish on the plastic doesn't look sleek at all, but rather matte and really makes it look like a low-budget phone. it almost seems like this was a prototype phone and what i got isn't the final model! just a "draft". it's not very stylish or refined.

this phone seems like it's packed with really cool stuff, and in some ways, it is. the specs on this phone are pretty impressive when you look at them. but, you have to ask yourself if you're the kind of person that's going to use all these features. are you going to send videos through MMS? are you going to listen to streaming audio through your phone? are you interested in ringtones and themes and games (if so, this really isn't the phone for you).

in summary, this phone isn't worth the money. it IS a good phone with some cool bells and whistles, but it's not worth anything over $175, period.

Previously, all of my phones have been from Nokia. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about switching brands. I'll begin by saying that they basic controls on this Sony Ericsson are quite a bit different, but they were extremely easy to figure out. This phone is quite a bit larger than most other flip phones out there, and it is a bit heavier. Because of its substantial size, text messaging is easier and talking is more comfortable. It's still small enough to fit in my pocket, which is a major plus.

Everything on this phone is customizable. For everyone contact you can include up to five phone numbers, a picture, a special ringtone, and tons of other personal information. The factory-installed ringtones are pitiful, and Cingular ringtones are extremely overpriced. That said, anyone can easily use the sound recorder to make their own ringtones off of their stereo (or singing friends).

The camera phone is sufficient. The games are only demo versions so be prepared to invest in downloading a real game if it's important to you. My favorite feature is the speakerphone, which has surprisingly clear sound quality on both ends of the call.

For the price, you will not find another phone loaded with this many features. Why waste your money on a phone you'll only use for a couple of years when you can a Z500a with the same features and a smaller price tag?

This is a very good cell phone and Amazon.com gives the best deal. But, you can't transfer your old phone number from different provider to Cingular through Amazon.com. If you transfer your old phone number, you won't get your amazon.com mail-in rebate. Please read amazon.com mail-in rebate rules carefully!!!
You can read about how to transfer your number through this link : http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/102-6686881-6992121

In terms of features, I'd have to say this phone is pretty nicely loaded. I bought this phone a month ago. I really didn't like the way that it looked, but my number one criteria was reception and I was assured that was top notch in this area. As I used it though, I started noticing things that I'd never experienced with other phones (previously have had Motorolas and a Samsung):

1) Simply turning the phone upside down caused it's reception to drop dramatically. This posed a problem, as I can not be constantly checking to make sure that my phone remains right-side-up in my pocket or bags!
2) The phone has an internal antennae. For some reason blocking it with your hand causes a partial or, if your signal was somewhat low already, full loss of signal.
3) Closing the phone causes a drop in the level of signal. Frustrating, considering most of us prefer to keep our phones flipped shut!
4) Problems 1-3 caused me to consistently miss calls. In order to check for a missed call, I had to open and check the screen. (The outer screen shuts off automatically, even when you turn off the energy save feature. The screen becomes useless.) It never seemed to ring or vibrate to alert me to these missed calls or new messages.
5) The keypad *really* needs to be more sensitive. When you suddenly can't seem to dial your own home number correctly, you know there's a problem. Of course, this can be avoided by using the phone book or dialing slooowly...

It is possible that I simply received a fluke phone. Obviously some people are perfectly happy with this phone, and it really does receive high ratings from a lot of sites, including Consumer Reports. But for me, the combination of a phone that was a little squarer and chunkier than I preferred and required me to carry it open and right side up with its ingenious internal antennae bare to the sky was just too much.
For those seriously considering this phone, I would simply recommend that you keep a close eye out for the symptoms I was experiencing. If you catch them early on, you can always return it.

I went looking for a new cell phone with only one need in mind: the sound quality. My previous Cingular phone (a Samsung) had horrible sound quality. It constantly dropped calls, I couldn't hear anybody, and nobody could hear me. I was about to drop Cingular before I decided to give them one more chance by switching to a different phone.

I chose this phone after seeing it recommended on Consumer Reports. The sound quality is VASTLY superior to my old phone. I have not had a dropped call yet (after a month of use) and the sound is clear even when the signal isn't that strong. It turns out that all my complaints about Cingular were really problems with my old phone, not the service.

Now the cons: this phone is bulky. Personally, I don't mind because it is easier to find in my purse. However, a person who carries the phone on their belt or in their pocket may not like the size. Also, the buttons are somewhat difficult to push, and the user manual isn't very intuitive. However, as I stated before, the only thing I really cared about was the sound quality, and in this regard, I would highly recommend the Ericsson.

I just bought this phone a few weeks ago and I am very happy with it! I LOVE the fact that you can use REAL SONGS for ringtones, and that you can assign a different picture (even of the person) and ringtone to everyone. I think the camera is good hey it's a phone...sooo as camera phones go, it's good! I had the Motorola V220 and the pics weren't as good (I returned it) I do agree that the phone is a little large, I had a Motorola V180 and the size was great, the color was too, black and silver with blue lights. I do miss that!!!!!! I gave it to my daughter. The screen colors are bright not like some SE, the T237 was HORRIBLE! It holds ALOT of pictures for wallpaper and screensavers and alot of ringtones, I'm addicted to getting 'em!
On the con the battery life is not good, but most flips suck 'em dry! My test of true phone clarity was my once a week night out....could I use it in the bar or would I have to go outside? To my surprise (and DELIGHT!) I could use it in the bar and actually HEAR with no cut offs a RARITY as cells go! I was worried I'd wasted my $$$$$$ and would have to live with it, then take back my Motorola :) But again I'm for the most part happy with it....(but I do miss the COOL blue backlighting and black/silver of my V180!)

first off my previous phone was the T610 and love the phone!



second, The Z500a has the same features and layout like all ericcsons. few minus and plus

As for other things

Memory-
I am not too dissapointed that the memory is 7mb (if you delete everything that can be deleted on the phone it will expand to 7mb), because if you compare to the new Motorola RAZR, A630, and Nokia 6230, this is just standard. But i really do wish the z500a supports Memory stick (it doesnt).

Sound-
It has a media player software which you can play music just like how you play it on your PC. This isnt a great feature cause of the 7mb memory, it is pointless to have it. If play music while the phone is open, the sound is automatically set to minimum volume (not loud). If you play the music through media player and close your phone, the music will continue to play (all songs repeatedly) and will play at maximum volume (you can change music on the side buttons). This phone is loud enough, Ringtone and speaker phone is great. also with 40 channel polyphonic tone, sounds more fresher then 32 channels.


Display/Screen
I would say the screen is alot prettier than most phones. The color is quite the same as t610, just a bit sharper. Whats very neat is that you can have a screensaver (gif) but at the same time when you click to the front cover, the background can also play as a screensaver (gif). ok ok most phones has this feature but its smoother the most phones. oh yea, and the buttons are caved in, meaning you will have to put alittle more effort to button pressing. <-- very annoying and faustrating sometimes, im use to the quick press and go.


Camera/Video
This is a dissapointment, the camera is almost the same quality as the ERICSSON T610! its not better, but with the brightness adjustment atleast you can see everything. Whats really strange is that the Video Camera has better picture quality then the Picture Camera, very weird. Video camera is acceptable, it captures mostly every movement and not as much frame skipping.

Connectivity-
this is the BIGGEST dissapointment, the elimination of Infrared (IrDa) and Blue Tooth (BT) (both fastest data transfers available). This is why most people prefer Ericsson. Since the IrDa and BT are not available, the only connection z500a has is the DCU-11 (USB; slow). Another is through WAP/E-MAIL, i have no idea how to do this but i bet is more of a hassle.

EDGE technology-
Ok, downloads and streaming are pretty quick, but this does not effect DSU-11 data capable. even if it had IrDa, it will still take no effect. Edge is more like for the internet usage and other downloading services. Not a big deal, almost a useless feature if you get the DSU-11.



Overall-
This is a great phone, it is an enhancement to my ericsson t610. I only bought this phone because of the video and MP3 capabilities. everything else is pretty much what all ericsson phone has. I choosed Ericsson phones because they do have more features than other cell phone companies. I trust Ericsson and plus this is a good phone for its price!