Sony Ericsson W580i

December 26th, 2007 · 1 Comment

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. CNET-Blogs

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.

The W580i is a slider with most of the action on an unusual button array.

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 having to push it 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 huge. I’ve gotten 7 hours, though it claims 9 hours talk time. Speaker is clear, volume 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 real businesslike (you can flick your wrist to hear a new song; the sides light up in one of 16 color selections when you get a call) 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) with most all other controls are accessed via a menu and the highly unconventional array of buttons that are media-centric when the phone is closed. When slid open, you expose the more typical T9 phone keypad.

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.

Up periscope! 2 megapixels, but no flash or self-portrait mirror.

(Credit: CNET Networks, Inc.)

If there’s a weakness, it’s storage space: 12 megabytes internal won’t get you far and expansion is via Memory Stick, which is statistically less likely to be found laying around in 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.