My crush on the Sony Ericsson W580i
Confession: This is obviously a cell phone designed for people age 30 and younger. Yet I've carried this Walkman phone for three days, and I'm in love.
First and foremost, the W580i is light. Very light. It doesn't even seem as heavy as the slight 3.3 ounces claimed. Yet, it feels solid.
Sliders being my weakness, this one has just the right spring action. If there's a glitch, it's that I wish it had a little thumb bar (like the Motorola z3 or z6), instead of needing to be pushed open from below the keypad. But closing it from the top is easy and makes that hefty sound that people notice and like.
Call reception is outstanding and battery life is huge. I've gotten 7 hours, though it claims 9 hours talk time. Speaker is clear and volume is just fine.
But let's remember, this is a Walkman phone. That means music and song quality need to be great, and I think they are. It's got gimmicks that aren't very businesslike. (You can flick your wrist to hear a new song and the sides light up in 1 of 16 color selections when you get a cal.l) But then nothing about this phone is supposed to be businesslike! It's fun.
The buttons on the side of the phone are for volume (or brightness, in photo mode) while most all other controls are accessed via a menu and the highly unconventional array of buttons that are mediacentric when the phone is closed. When opened, a more typical T9 phone keypad is exposed.
Also exposed by sliding is the unusually mounted 2.0 megapixel camera, which I find takes quite good images. It peeks up like a periscope when you use the slider--and that's the only way to use it, so you'll find yourself opening and closing this phone a lot.
If there's a weakness, it's storage space: 12 megabytes won't get you far, and expansion is via Memory Stick, which is statistically less likely to be found laying around the average user's desk drawer.
By the way, there's an unwritten rule: If you're an adult, get the W580i in gray, not the white that makes it look like a little Imperial Stormtrooper.
Overall, I shouldn't love this phone. But I do. There. I've said it.
(This blog entry was revised on 12/21/07 to sort out inconsistencies in photos and detail references.)
Ronn Owens is the host of a popular morning talk show on KGO-AM in Northern California. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. 
Before anything, a good love attempt should be ornamented by a very good first impression and lets just say that this wasn't one. w580i? wrong picture maybe, but the phone as shown in the pictures withing the review are of a w850i that I happen to have; along with my p1.
Another quick bug in this review is the flick action that he talks about. This is found in none other than the w910i which is the successor of the w810i, meaning this last one does not have that ability. Last but least important is the rule he points out for the "gray" for old people . As far as my knowledge goes and as far as SONY, this phone only comes in Black as shown and white chrome. All in all very good thoughts about this phone. I have it and its great as it is. Very slick, this phone feels pretty, sporty and comfortable. I would suggest anybody to get this phone, music is fun, internet is alright and call is very good. Let me mention something interesting about this phone that no one mentions. You could get the name of the track of a song on your phone and in the outside too. If a song is playing in speakers let say on any other radio, you could use the walkman phone "track id" application to use the phone to get the name of the track. The phone would go to the internet and find the name for you. Also when you hear music in the fm, it shows the track name and the station name and frequency. This is all in all little nifty things that make this phone a worth piece of hardware all around.
Before anything, a good love attempt should be ornamented by a very good first impression and lets just say that this wasn't one. w580i? wrong picture maybe, but the phone as shown in the pictures withing the review are of a w850i that I happen to have; along with my p1.
Another quick bug in this review is the flick action that he talks about. This is found in none other than the w910i which is the successor of the w810i, meaning this last one does not have that ability. Last but least important is the rule he points out for the "gray" for old people . As far as my knowledge goes and as far as SONY, this phone only comes in Black as shown and white chrome. All in all very good thoughts about this phone. I have it and its great as it is. Very slick, this phone feels pretty, sporty and comfortable. I would suggest anybody to get this phone, music is fun, internet is alright and call is very good. Let me mention something interesting about this phone that no one mentions. You could get the name of the track of a song on your phone and in the outside too. If a song is playing in speakers let say on any other radio, you could use the walkman phone "track id" application to use the phone to get the name of the track. The phone would go to the internet and find the name for you. Also when you hear music in the fm, it shows the track name and the station name and frequency. This is all in all little nifty things that make this phone a worth piece of hardware all around.
@lil-yankee: Shake control does exist in the W580, hold down the Walkman button while listening to a playlist and give it a quick flick. Also, the company is called Sony Ericsson, not Sony. The readout for the FM radio is called RDS and is completely controlled by the radio station you are currently listening to, it's not the phone showing what is playing at that time.
if you read my post at all, you would understand that I
had the 850 and was reffering to it when I said that it
didn't have the wrist action. Seccond, the rds. Wow! It
doest take a genious to get that; it says it on the screen
when you are listening to it. Besides, i just said that it
showed it, regardless of how it does it the point is you
get to see it. And one other thing, your point was?
Is there any reason at all to upgrade to the new models? Is there anything better? i.e. is the music quality better? Better bass? Photo/video quality better?
Does it still use the horrible proprietary dongle for headphone connectivity? That was my only grouse with the w810i - that it doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack and needed a conversion dongle.
--Great GUI
-Gmail via gmail's app
-Google Calendar sync via goosync.com (over the air, no less)
-FM Radio
-Walkman sounds great, shake control is surprisingly handy
-Expanded memory to 4GB memory stick
-Download youtube videos via vixy.net then upload to the 580i
-Portrait/Landscape display
-A2DP support
-Stream music via BT to any stereo system using the Sony MBR-100
-BT remote control of my computer/media player/PowerPoint presentations
-6 alarms
-Robust address book
-Pedometer - should come in handy in the summer
-Thin (9mm) & Light (shade over 3oz)
-Thousands of downloadable themes
-Darn nice camera for a phone (what phone doesn't stink in poor light)
-Surfing isn't too bad, ask yourself, what's more important, the way something looks or the information you're looking to get? God bless google moblie.
All in all, it's a fantastic phone, I upgraded from the W600i and the W580i is it's thinner, sleeker, more capable cousin. For the fraction of the cost, you can have the capabilities of "higher end" (read: $$$) phones with this bad boy.
- by rickytatvt January 8, 2008 6:35 AM PST
- I ordered this phone about a month and a half ago and I LOVE IT! This is by far my favorite cell phone I've ever owned. I ordered it from AT&T's website in gray with my corporate discount for $25 to upgrade an older Nokia candy bar phone.
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(12 Comments)This is my second SE with the first having been the T610 which I liked as well until it was stolen. I bought the Nokia after the theft and was sorry when I received it. After you own a SE phone, you will never want anything else.
I received the 4GB Memory Stick Micro card for this phone as a reasonable X-mas present (I think approx. $40). This is just like owning a 4GB iPod that has an additional Fitness application that tracks your daily steps, calories burnt, distance, etc. The fitness program awards you medals based on different things such as total distance in a day, calories burnt, total distance walked... This phone is great for people who like to track their exercise vs. diet per day! The music player works very well and the phone functionality is excellent.
The only negative thing I can think of concerning this phone is that it doesn't have a single camera mode button that I know. It may even have one, but I'm not sure what it is if so. The camera is accessed easily enough through the menu so it doesn't bother me.