Sony Ericsson W580i on AT&T
By Mark Brezinski
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
October 08, 2007
The W580i is one of the few Sony Ericsson Walkman-branded phones carried by a U.S. network. Although they are popular in Europe, they haven't made much impact over here. But that might change with the W580i, a media-focused handset that offers excellent music capabilities for the price. It’s $79.99 with a two-year contract from AT&T, after factoring in the $50 mail-in rebate. That's a good price, but the phone looks plasticky and creaks like a cheap toy. Add in the multicolored LEDs and bright orange keypad backlight and you've got something that wouldn't feel out of place in a Christmas cracker.
Making phone calls on the W580i is fairly easy, though the keypad buttons are a bit small. But we found it was quick to call; we could dial our test numbers in about 3.6 seconds. That's a bit slower than some, but is very acceptable. It performed well on our second timing test, where we measure how long it takes to turn on the phone and make a call; we could do that in 19.4 seconds. In regards to managing contacts, the W580i provided adequate, but not outstanding features. There are a few options for sorting, and creating a contact was relatively easy to do. The phone also lets you assign a speed dial or a voice tag to a contact. The rest of the organizational software is thin, but this is expected from a media-oriented device. The features it provides are adequate for most users.
The W580i has decent audio quality, but was inconsistent at times during our tests. The biggest problem was with incoming calls. Our tests showed the phone tends to suppress mid-range frequencies but overemphasize higher ones. This means voices will sound tinny. The phone was much more consistent with handling the quality of your own voice, but the high frequencies were slightly muted, so your voice might sound a little clipped.
Multimedia is the W580i's strong suit. Its camera is capable of great quality pictures for a mobile phone, with excellent resolution and above average color representation. Video capture is poor, which is typical for cell phones, but the W580i is on the lower end of an already low spectrum. The 2-inch screen is too small to watch videos on, and the video management software is also quite bad. It also lacks organizational features; if you're looking for a phone to watch videos and listen to music on, an iPhone would be a better pick. But the music playback features are much better; the phone was one of the quickest we've tested at starting up and playing music, thanks to the dedicated Walkman button. The music software is also good, providing simple, easy-to-use controls and the ability to organize music.
The W580i isn't the best messaging phone, but it does have a few pleasant surprises. It uses AT&T's Java-based e-mail client, which doesn't allow you to access your e-mail without a network connection. This is a pain if you want to write a message on your commute; you can't do it if there is no network coverage. The SMS client is pretty straightfoward, and allows you to switch between sending SMS (text only) and MMS (images and video) messages. The browser is also easy to use and includes a number of nice features, such as the ability to subscribe to RSS feeds.
Battery life was a bit disappointing on the W580i, especially in regards to music playback. Most phones last between seven and nine hours of constant playback. The W580i, a music device, only lasted about five and a half hours. Its call time of four and a half hours was average, as was its four hours and 11 minutes of Web browsing. All of these aren't a huge problem; the phone would be fine for daily use. But it does mean the phone will need daily charging; miss a day and you could run out of juice.
Overall, the W580i is a good value. It's not a super sleek, powerful phone, but it isn't priced like one. If you're looking for a business device, look elsewhere – a Blackberry Curve or 8800 would be a better pick. The same is true if you're looking for a high-end music device or video player – get an iPhone. But the W580i is a relatively cheap phone with good music software at a decent price.
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