release date: August 2007

CONTENTS

1. Review
2. Features
3. Prices
4. Similar Phones
5. Useful Links
6. Sony Ericsson Phones

RATING

SUMMARY

Music phone with accelerometer (built-in pedometer) and pretty colour effects. The design is a real shocker - fragile keys and daft back cover design. Cheap plastic feel - Room 101 contender.

Phones with free gifts >>

Review

The Sony Ericsson W580i has - like all the other Sony Ericsson Walkman mobile phones - a good feature set. Our W580i was the 'Style White' colour. It's not white - it's a light silver colour, but heck let's call it white.

Design

The W580i does have some annoyances. The memory card slot cover and back cover are not good.

The Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot is at the top of the phone. We couldn't get the top open with my fingers, so we had to use a pin.

Be very sure you put the back cover on properly - slide into position then snap it in - exert pressure centrally over the Sony Ericsson logo. To remove the cover, put your thumbs either side of the logo and press upwards (place thumbs either side of the letter 'nn' in 'ericsson'. There's a knack to it - but on a couple of occasions we were unable to remove the back cover using our hands. We had to use another method. The Sony Ericsson usability team must have been AWOL for this one.

Many people have resorted to posting on forums, Yahoo Answers and other sites - "How do I remove the W580i back cover?" There are also people asking "How do you insert the cover on the W580i". That's not always easy either.

We spent ages trying to get the cover open again on one occasion. Exerting lots of pressure, we thought we might end up snapping the phone in half.

How to remove the W580i cover when you can't do so with your hands? We inserted a safety pin into each of the 2 middle gaps at (the top-end near the 'W' Walkman logo). Lever it to open up the gap and you can lift the cover off.

Does the instruction manual tell you how to remove the back cover? Nope, just "slide the battery cover into place".

Keypads cracking: Many people have experienced keys cracking. We don't know if this problem has been fixed in later batches.

Instruction manual: Not very good. Most features don't require much explanation. Some do however. Shake control is one of those features. The manual states 'with the Walkman turned on, hold the phone normally and shake'. Wrong. You have to press and hold the Walkman key, then shake.

Features

Pedometer: A lot of people likely don't know how a pedometer works - the instruction manual fails to state where you have to place the phone for the pedometer to work.

Putting the W580i in your trouser pocket can work - depends on how tight your pocket is. This vital information is missing from the instruction manual.

Pedometers need to be positioned properly to give reasonably accurate measurements - anything less and you might as well not bother.

Where to place the pedometer - (see useful links)

"Place the pedometer on the waist band in the line with the midpoint of the thigh and kneecap... or try moving the pedometer toward the outside of the body so it is positioned slightly in front of or over the hip."

"Pedometers must remain in an upright plane (with the pedometer display perpendicular to the floor and parallel to the body) in order to accurately register step counts. Another factor that confounds accuracy is loose fitting clothing because it absorbs the slight vertical force that occurs with teach step. In these cases, placement at waist level behind the hip and on the back is often accurate."

For accuracy you're going to need to attach the W580i somehow to your waistline. Velcro? You can try putting the phone in your trouser pocket - the tighter the pocket the better. You could also try putting the W580i in a shirt pocket (wasn't very accurate when we tried it) or on a lanyard around your neck (again it wasn't accurate at all when we tried it).

Fitness Applications: If you want all the calorie and to get / stay fit, you could buy a running watch - not only are they lightweight, they are far superior to the fitness applications in the W580i.

A dedicated pedometer is a better option - it's lighter, is easier to attach and you can buy a good enough one very cheaply - for under £5. You won't also have to worry about the phone falling off onto the ground, and you'll also save battery power.

W580i Pedometer Accuracy: Even when we did keep the phone at the hip (tuck the W580i underneath your jeans at the hip), the accuracy was hit and miss. Anywhere between 8 and 15% inaccuracy when walking. Pedometers are less accurate when people move slowly or walk with an uneven gait - you may not create enough movement for the pedometer to measure.

"Pedometers also overestimate distance covered at slower speeds and underestimate actual distance at higher speeds. Caloric expenditure is usually overestimated."

Shake control: You have to press and hold the Walkman key, then shake the phone to change music track. Why bother shaking? Why not just hold the Walkman key to change track? It's less effort.

Testing the Fitness Apps: Don't go shaking the phone to shuffle tracks - the phone will think you are taking steps. After a 1-minute frenzy of phone shaking, the 'Walking' application said "120 steps". Beep - wrong answer.

Music player: As with other Walkman phones, the music player performs well. Press and hold the Walkman key and shake the phone to change music tracks. The loudspeaker is behind the navigation key. Volume is loud at maximum volume.

Earphones: They're fine. A 3.5 mm adapter is included.

Camera: Slide the phone up - the camera is positioned at the top on the back of the phone. Take shots in portrait mode. Shoot mode, picture size, night mode, self-timer, effects, white balance...

The W580i camera is OK. There's no auto focus and no flash. Image quality and video quality are OK for a 2 MP camera on a phone.

Keypad - fragile: Each key is like a see-saw. Only the middle part of each key has solidness behind hit. Press the left side of the key and the right side raises up (and vice versa). The material between each row of keys is soft - the keypad seems fragile. The see-saw effect could explain key cracking issues many people having reported.

Light effects: There are 2 lights - one on each side of the W580i. The light shines through the translucent select, back and cancel key, as well the side of the phone. Navigate to menu > settings > sound and alerts > light effects > call light, to change the colour of the light effects.

16 colour options: apricot, disco, fire, glimmering pulse, green, ice, lantern, love, orange, pink, purple, red, sony ericsson, turquoise, tutti frutti and yellow. Select 'play' to see each light effect in action. You can assign a different light effect to each contact in the address book.

Summary

The music player, FM radio and other features are good - much like the other Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. The camera is likely OK for many people - how satisfied you are with the camera depends on your expectations. In good light, images look fine.

The W580i has several design flaws - the back cover and memory card slot are rubbish and the keypad is fragile. Lots of people have complained on mobile phone forums about keys cracking - from 1 to many keys.

Sony Ericsson Phones

  =   coming soon

• c702
• c902
• c905  
• k530i
• k610i
• k750i
• k770i
• k810i
• k850i
• m600i
• p1i
• s500i
• t280i
• t303  
• t650i
• v640i
• w200i
• w350i
• w580i
• w660i
• w850i
• w880i
• w890i
• w910i
• w950i
• w960i
• w980  
• xperia x1  

Prices

Prices coming soon.

Cheap phone contracts >>

TAGS: music, slider phones

Useful Links

Official Site:	Sony Ericsson W580i
Pedometer:	Pedometer Tips
YouTube Videos:	Sony Ericsson W580i Videos
Images:	Sony Ericsson W580i Images

Nokia phones, Samsung phones, LG phones, Sony Ericsson Phones, Motorola Phones, HTC Phones, Blackberry Phones, O2 Phones, Apple Phones, Mobile Phones

Fashion Phones, Music Phones, Camera Phones, Smart Phones, Touchscreen Phones, 3G Phones, HSDPA Phones, GPS Phones, Wi-Fi Phones, Slider Phones, Bar Phones, Flip Phones, Coming Soon Phones, Lightest Phones, Slimmest Phones, Thinnest Phones, Best Camera Phones, Top Phones, Big screens, Best Talk Time