Sony Ericsson W580i Cell Phone Review - Making/Receiving Calls
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Alfredo Padilla Published on September 24, 2007 Comment on this |
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Dialing Speed (5.46)
To test how easy it is to dial a phone number on the W580i we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have dialed each of five different test numbers. We take the average time of these tests for our score. The W580i took an average of 3.66 seconds to dial a number. This is a solid time, but not great. It was the slowest of our comparison phones, but not by a significant amount. We found the number keys a little small, and as they are recessed between two "lips" we found our fingers bumping up against them. Our hands are a little on the small side, and we can imagine those with larger fingers might find the keypad much harder to use.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Sony Ericsson W580i | 3.66 | 5.46 |
| Helio Fin | 3.64 | 5.49 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 3.58 | 5.59 |
| Samsung Upstage | 3.38 | 5.92 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 2.96 | 6.76 |
| Samsung Blast | 3.36 | 5.95 |
Talk and End Buttons (2.0)
Because Sony Ericsson doesn't have very many handsets in the U.S., many probably aren't familiar with one of Sony Ericsson's signature features; the lack of dedicated send and end buttons. Instead of having separate keys, these functions are fulfilled by the soft keys, which dynamically change their functions depending upon the situation. So, for example, when you dial a number the left soft key is assigned to the call function, and once you're in a call the same left soft key is assigned to the end function. This may be confusing to those who are used to dedicated buttons, and we didn't like that the soft keys are pretty far away from the keypad, but aside from these issues the system works just fine. That being said, we do think that there is value in having dedicated buttons for send and end, so we are not giving the W580i the full points we would normally give in this section.
Call Management (6.0)
When on the home screen the left soft key takes you to your call history. This is divided into tabs, with the first default tab showing all calls and the other tabs showing incoming, outgoing, and missed calls. Each tab shows a chronological list of calls, displaying the phone number dialed. The currently selected item also shows the date and time of the call. The left soft key is assigned to call the currently highlighted item, while the right soft key opens a menu that provides additional functions. Data counters can be found in the phone settings, as well as total call timers and a message counter.
Startup to Call (5.15)
To find out how quickly you can turn your phone on and make a call we time how long this process takes. We do five repetitions of this test and take the average for our score. The W580i took an average of 19.42 seconds to complete this process. As you can see below this is a fairly speedy time. It's even better when you consider that during the startup process you are prompted whether you want to start up in online or offline mode, an extra step most handsets don't require. We were pleased with how quickly the W580i started up.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Sony Ericsson W580i | 19.42 | 5.15 |
| Helio Fin | 28.18 | 3.55 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 37.90 | 2.64 |
| Samsung Upstage | 28.90 | 3.46 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 22.37 | 4.47 |
| Samsung Blast | 21.48 | 4.66 |
Ring Volume (8.55)
To test ring volume we set the phone volume to maximum and measure how loud the ringtone gets using a sound pressure meter from a few inches away. The W580i's ring volume measured 85.5 decibels in our test. This is fairly standard, with most phones falling within a decibel of this score. The exception is the Sprint Upstage, which scored significantly lower. The ring volume should be sufficient to hear in most situations, even loud ones; although we admit you may miss a call if you're at a Metallica concert.
| Cell Phone | Volume (decibels) | Score |
| Sony Ericsson W580i | 85.5 | 8.55 |
| Helio Fin | 85.6 | 8.56 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 84.7 | 8.47 |
| Samsung Upstage | 81.0 | 8.10 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 85.4 | 8.54 |
| Samsung Blast | 85.5 | 8.55 |
Ringtone Customizability (6.5)
We were very happy to see the W580i supports using your own music files as ringtones. This means any WMA, AAC, or MP3 song loaded to your device can be used as a ringtone, either for general calls or assigned to an individual. This is a great option, as most phones require you to pay the additional $2 to $3 for additional ringtones. In addition, you can also use videos as ringtones, either ones you have taken on the phone itself or those you create on your computer. You cannot edit music on the phone, but that's a minor issue, and we were very happy with the W580i's capabilities in this area.
Non Audio Alerts (3.0)
The W580i has several non audio alerts. First of all is the vibrate alert, which we must say isn't very impressive. We were barely able to feel it in our hand, much less in a pocket. In addition, the W580i has lots of blinking lights, which light up in a pattern when a call is incoming. Frankly, this is nothing more than a curiosity. The screen also lights up and shows you information about the incoming call, as is standard, but as always you must be looking at the screen when a call comes in for it to be of any use. Overall we didn't find the non audio alerts on the W580i to be very good.
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