Incredible style meets powerful substance in this clamshell from Sony-Ericsson. With dual screens, a VGA camera with video capabilities and support for high-speed EDGE data networks, the z500a is a serious next-generation phone. It's the perfect handset for folks who want to get all the latest wireless goodies in one chic package.
Click the image to get a closer look at the z500a's features. |
Design Sony-Ericsson's reputation for cutting edge design has been brought into the clamshell arena with the z500a. There's a 128 x 160 display housed under the cover while the outside sports a supplementary 96 x 32 color display that can display time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. The VGA (640 x 480) camera is housed on the front cover as well. The z500a uses an internal antenna-- nothing to snag or break off-- and a five-way button just above the dial pad is used to control most of the phone's menus and features. Up/down buttons on the left side of the phone can be used for quick volume control and menu navigation. USB data and charging ports, as well as a headset port, are located on the phone's bottom edge. And because the z500a's front and rear faceplates are changeable with Sony-Ericsson Style-Up covers, you can dress it up to suit your style.
Use the z500a's built-in ringtone composer to craft your own stylin' ringers. |
Get great shots and video with the VGA camera. Video capture is only limited by the amount of available memory. |
Calling Features The z500a's phone book can hold up to 510 contacts with multiple entries per contact. A call list remembers your most recent missed, received and dialed calls. The z500a's voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family and associates as easy as saying their names. The phone also features a speakerphone for easy, hands-free talking. In addition to a vibrating alert, the phone supports polyphonic ringtones as well as MP3 ringers, allowing you to use portions of your favorite songs to alert you to incoming calls. There's even a bundled application that lets you mix your own ringtones with up to 16 tracks. Meanwhile, more ringtones can be downloaded from Cingular's MEdia wireless web service. Picture caller ID lets you assign a photo to specific callers. Similarly, a ringer ID lets you assign ringtones to callers. Lastly, the phone supports Cingular's "Fast Forward" call forwarding device, which enables you to effortlessly forward your wireless calls to your land line phone.
Messaging, Internet and Tools
The z500a has all the bases covered when it comes to messaging. Support is built in for sending and receiving text, video, graphics and sound via messages. When used in combination with the phone's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. AOL Instant Messenger is also included and the phone ships with a built-in email client (Cingular messaging charges apply). The email client is preconfigured for accounts from some of the most popular ISPs, including Bellsouth.net, SBC Yahoo, and Earthlink.
Getting on the Internet is easy with the z500a. It supports the GPRS protocol, as well as the new, high speed EDGE data protocol. When used with a Cingular data plan and the phone's USB data capability, the phone can be used as a wireless modem for laptops and PDAs. There's also a built-in web browser for MEdia downloads and mobile web browsing. Cingular's MEdia service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. T9 text entry, a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
A number of handy software tools are bundled with the z500a including a voice memo recorder, a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock with a timer and stopwatch. Sony Ericsson Sync Station software lets you synchronize your Microsoft Outlook calendar, contacts, notes and tasks with your z500a.
Imaging and Entertainment
The z500a was designed for serious fun. The built-in VGA camera captures stills and video to the phone's 6MB of internal memory. Video capture length is only limited by the amount of available storage memory and the phone supports playback of both MP3 audio and MPEG4 video files. Picture effects and custom screensavers, backgrounds, and themes can be set up to fit your personality.
Java support is built into the z500a, making it a powerful gaming companion for both online and offline games. Games are downloadable via the MEdia service or you can use the handset's USB data connection to load more games and files onto the phone.
Vital Statistics
The Sony-Ericsson z500a weighs 3.88 ounces and measures 3.66 x 1.93 x 0.94 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 10 hours of digital talk time, and up to 10 days of digital standby time. It runs on the GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box
Sony-Ericsson z500a handset, lithium-ion battery, travel charger, user's manual, application software.
1 ill, not quite what i expected.
I bought this phone online so there was no way to know what it actually looked like. When it arrived i was excited but upon opening it i immediately wanted to return it. It was ugly! Well not super ugly but i just didnt think it looked good. For one thing, it seemed big for some reason. It's weird, I mean its only slightly longer than my super old motorola t720 but it just looked like a big box. There is no antenna which is cool but because the phone has absolutely no curves except for its irregular shape, everything extends all the way to the edge like a box making it much larger. I was totally disappointed, having always bought Sony products because of their sleek designs. Sony should be ashamed for bring out something like this. Also someone mentioned that it looked to a big maxipad which i thought was hilarious but after I got it i just couldn't keep that thought out of my mind. I didn't want people lookin at me holding something that look like that. Then after charging the phone for 24 hours i tested the screen. It was horrible, the screen was blurry as everyone has told. I like the menus but the screen just kills it. The screen also looks very washed out because they don't seem to use black or something. It's all gray. Also when the screen light goes off, the screen is completely black, you can't see a thing. The keypads also look very cheaply designed, no red and green call buttons, it just doesnt look nice. Then there's the rings tones, they'r a total joke. There's like 5 or so rings tones that i'd be embarassed to have go off. You're gonna scare off all the girls with those stupid star wars sound effects. Then having not used the phone for 2 days after the full charge, I turned it on and it gave me a low battery warning and died. I was like "what the hell", this phone is suppose to standyby for 10 days or whatever and i've barely touched it. I'm not sure if it was the battery or charger because when you stick the charger in, the screen lights up and then disappears completely. There is no charging indicator at all to let you know its charging. Another annoyance. I have not tested how it calls and stuff because i did not want to activate the phone yet. I'm returning it for the motorola v551, dunno why i didn't get that in the first place. Well its only fair to say that, maybe the z500 may take time to get use to, since i only checked it out a little, but i'm not gonna waste that time. (wow, i just got the v551 and what a difference!!!)
2 Don't buy this phone w/o the plan unless you use Cingular
I bought this phone from Amazon a couple of weeks ago without the plan, and found out it wasn't unlocked. I thought since it was a GSM phone being sold without a plan, it would be ok, but I was wrong. It wasn't too big a deal, because its not that hard to get a phone unlocked - Most cell phone kiosks in your local mall will have someone who can do it.
Then I found out the problem was even worse. Apparently, Cingular got greedy and doesn't want anyone to use their phones with other plans, so they have started making phones with different sim card slots. The standard sim card slot that GSM phones use is 32k. This phone (and others that Cingular is now producing) has a 64k sim card slot that will not recognize sim cards that are 32k. So even after unlocking, you can only use this phone with Cingular, until another cell phone company starts making 64k sim cards.
I dislike Cingular very much (terrible customer service, bad service in my area and now this sim card slot nonsense) so I am returning this phone now. In summary, don't buy this phone unless you will be using it with Cingular.
3 All you need in a dependable phone!!!!
I got this phone as an upgrade for my T237. This is such great phone. Has large buttons for my big fingers, camera is easy to use and it takes great picures. This is a fon that you can navigate without having to look at the manual. I love the way it looks and it is very sturdy. The screens are also a plus as the picture id shows up on the outside screen. You can not go wrong with this phone!!!!
4 Ups and Downs
When i first looked up this phone i was crazy about it,it was hard making the decision to get it,bcos the negative review was whip lashing....but when u gotta have sumthin you just gotta have it.it didnt cost me anything i got it for free from cingular since i was migrating from att wireless,the cingular CS is deplorable,i was so dissappointed why the hell did att sell?huh can someone tell me.....anyways im not here to talk about cingular,but to review my phone,ive had for for a month now and i absolutely love it,im actually editing my review from when i just had it for a week,wasnt so crazy about it then but now i just cant do without it:
MY ISSUES WITH IT:
at first i had a big issue with the battery life,thot you cant really use all the functions without the battery going dead in about 2hrs,but now i figured you have to charge the phone consistently till it gains its full limit,now i've had it for a month,the battery life is okay for me,than when i 1st got it.
i still stick with the ringtones being a joke,thats very selfish of cingular they use that as an avenue to get people to download songs while charging $2 dolls for it,well ive got news for them.....u dont have to do that people,the phone has a recorder so usually i just play songs from my computer on my mp3 list and hold the phone against my pc speakers,its records the songs exactly and then i can listen to them on my phone and also use as my ringtones,so stop throwing money to cingular,they already charge us enuff.
The mp3 player on this phone is utterly meaningless,i mean how many songs can u possibly get on it,besides it runs ths battery too,so forget it.
I hate that the phone automatically picks a call when u open it,i dont like been restricted to looking at that outer screen when someones calling,i mean i can barely make out the no#
GREATSSSSSSSSSS....................
Apart from those i like the phone i mean c'monnnnnnnnnnnn its a phone not some gizmo 3rd generation invention,i think the camera is very okay fair enuff,i like it,still its usuable,it gives u a lot to play with as well,like picture effects,frames u know all that.
i love the speaker,the volume is just right,the buttons are not as bad as they say it is,its actually okay,honestly!!
assigning of pics is cool,i see my husbands face pop up when he calls me ........,the dj stuff is another fun thing to do,when reading the reviews,the negative ones 4get to mention the cool things the phone has.
the outer body is not exactly flattering but you can order stylish covers fron sony ericcsson and dats exactly what i did now i change my covers to suit my mood,it gives the phone a whole new look,its refreshing.
the picture and video are okay for a phone,and the screen is really okay,how big do u want it...puhleezzzeee,i think its aight.
the sunlight thingy is true though,you cant really see the screen,but if u choose a darker theme and shade the screen,it shouldnt be so bad,IMPROVISE PEOPLE.
In all i just love a phone i can have fun with and my Z500a,is one i most certainly do have fun with,the size is okay it fits my palm good,and it doesnt look cheap,so if you get that from anyone tell them to wait till the get inside!!!!
In all its very durable and i know its something u'll enjoy
ciao!!!!!!!!!!
5 Almost all you could want in an entry level phone.
I wavered between giving this phone four or five stars, and settled on five when I considered its target market - the entry level. It's clearly better than any other phone in this segment if you ask me. Does it stack up to more expensive phones? No, not completely. But it has a lot of features usually reserved for higher-priced models, it's pretty good looking and it gets really good reception, which is still the most important thing to look for in a phone.
The features that sold me on this model vs. the competition in its price bracket were the external color screen (with photo caller ID!) and the EDGE support. These are not common features in lower-end phones. The camera, to me, was almost a bonus - although it obviously comes in handy with the photo caller ID (it is not required, though - you can upload photos from your PC and use them too). Photo quality is what you'd expect from a VGA camera phone - not bad, but it's pretty obvious what sort of device you used to take pictures with. Honestly, if you want to take serious pictures, buy a real camera. The screen quality was a pleasant surprise - I'd read some complaints about the brightness and readability, but I think both screens are perfectly fine, and I find them useable in any sort of light.
If you read a lot of reviews, some people say this phone is built like a tank, while others say it feels "cheap". I think this contradiction can be explained by the quality of the plastic used in the phone's construction vs. the feel of the hinge assembly. Honestly, the plastic cover of the phone is matte plastic and feels a bit brittle (the phone's covers are replaceable, so maybe you can find something better), but the hinge really bears special mention because it lends the phone an especially solid overall feel in use. It is a Japanese-style hinge with a positive and quite forceful "snap" or "click" in either direction - both when you open and when you close it. It is not simply spring-loaded or magnetic like most hinges on American or European phones. I wish more phones used Japanese-style hinges here, because it really does give the phone a quality feel. I have had a lot of problems with hinges going loosey-goosey over time on other flip phones here and I really doubt that will ever be a problem with the Z500a.
Call quality is probably as good as it gets in this country, despite the internal antenna (which was apparently stowed for cosmetic appeal, but I kinda think the phone looks like it's missing something without the stub). Talking mobile to mobile while in motion, there can still be an occasional dropout and there is an obvious delay (my wife and I each have this phone, which is how we've tested this), but talking land-line to the Z500a it's almost difficult to tell the Z500a user is on a cell phone at all. A definite improvement over our old Siemens phones.
In regular daily usage, this phone is really a pleasure. Some people complain about the recessed buttons, but I don't find them difficult to press and this sort of design helps me avoid pressing buttons by mistake. The phone's interface is clean and never gets in the way, the menus are responsive and quick, and the phone book seems to store quite a lot of information for each contact. Combined with the good call quality, the EDGE high-speed internet support, the dual color screens, the camera, and the high-quality hinge assembly, I think this phone's a real winner in its price bracket.
6 i dig this phone
though i went thru hell,trying to get this phone free from cingular which i eventually did at the cost of my very suitable att contract,the cingular customer service is horrible.....they need to recruit a whole bunch of them,anyways asides from that i think the phone is great,i mean c'mon guys its a phone,not some gizmo,i used to use the z600 back in the uk,its pretty much same xept for the video,my only pitfall is the lack of infared and gprs,i love this phone i can actually feel it,and if you dont like your cover get another colour,the phone is not as bad as they portray it to be,it keeps me busy loads to do on it when i have the time,i recommend it to anyone,its awesome.
7 GREAT PHONE!
let me start by saying that this is an awesome phone! i absolutely love it, i just got it on wednesday. thew screen is vibrant, the camera is very good and the video recording is awesome! this baby can also record sound and can be used as a speaker phone. i love how the buttons are places, its easier to text message with this kind of buttong setup especialy if you have big hadns like me. the z500 also supports edge technology, fast internet fast transfering! and the button lights are wonderful, its a beautiful amber/orange color. looks so cool in the dark. did i mention this phone got a external color screen that you can use to take self portrait on.i know people say that this phone lacks the bluetooth.... personaly i dont even know what that is, ill never use it :) anyways, you want a fun and cool phone that makes all ur friends envy you, get the sony ericsson z500. oh yea, also, i dont feel like the cover of the phone is cheap plastic-like at all, it seems really solid my phone is also totaly gray, not blue.
8 Phone is solid, while Cingular not
I got this phone from Brandsmart USA, not from Amazon. $30 after tax for the phone with $30 rebate, plus it's only 1 year contract. Even better deal than Amazon (vs. -$80 but 2 year contract)
Pros:
1) Phone is solid, though feel plastic on everything.
2) Reception and sound quality are nice. Speaker voice is loud and clear.
3) EDGE Internet speed is faster than T-mobile's GPRS.
4) Battery life, shorter than T610, but is decent.
5) As part of the Sony Ericsson phone feature, it supports long numbers and calling card calls, while Motorola's don't (ie. V551 etc)
Cons:
1) No unlock. Cingular does not unlock their GSM phones, no matter how you talk to them, i.e. travelling overseas. It's their policy that they do not allow other SIM card on the Cingular phones. They also use 64K sim card instead of 32K from T-Mo. In order to unlock the phone, you have to buy accessory and code from Ebay to unlock the phone, which cost $25 including shipping. I finally decide to stick to my T-mobile plan, as they had unlocked my old T-610 a few months ago for me. To get a better phone, I have to pay for upgrade though.
2) No bluetooth. You have to purchase either USB or serial data cable for synchronizing and downloading MP3 ring tone, etc. This can cost you another $20-$30.
3) Camera quality is fair, not good.
4) Plan sucks. For $39.99 range national plan, T-mobile gives 600 anytime. I got mine with a promotion, so I pay $39.99 for 1000 any time, free night & weekend. As a new customer, you will get 450 roller. Everything is more expensive with Cingular.
5) Customer service. In addition to not providing unlocking, Cingular's CS closes at 9 pm, while T-mobile is 24x7. The penalty for early termination is $240 in FL, while T-Mobile is $150. MP3 ringtone costs you over $2 from Cingular, plus you have to pay the data transfer time. A Cingular CSR (I believe it's a black lady) hung up on me when I asked why they can not provide unlocking service. She said she didn't know what unlock code I am talking about. "Hold on, I will get you a manager..." My roommate told me Cingular is a rip-off company.
Conclusion: Within 3 days, I returned this Sony Ericsson Z500a and canceled the contract.
9 A Teen's Phone
Let me tell you, as a teen, this phone is awesome! It has everything a typicall teen needs in a phone: media messaging, yahoo and aim, mp3 ringers, and a digital camera. I have had it for a couple of months myself.
Lets start with the appearance: all the girls that have seen it said it was ugly. All the guys look at it in awe and go "that is AWESOME," then they all envy me. Dunno whats going on there. The Interior is OK. The oversizes keys are nice, because i usually hit the wrong numbers on other phones and end up dialing the police department when i wanna call bob or something like that. The screen is pretty good, 65k colors, as is the outside display, and it seems as if Sony is favoring this screen size.
Durability: hey, real nice. I have dropped this phone ALOT, the worst that happened was that it froze and i had to turn it on and off again.
other stuff: cingular charges alot for ringers, but there are alot of free site sout there. it plays mp3s really nice. when i bought the phone, sony gave me a free download.... Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow =). People hate me even more. I have also gotton other games like monopoly.
this phone transfers data insanely fast. I have heard people say the camera sucks, but it dosn't. the smaller the picture, the better quality, and it is most noticeable on your computer. The small pictures are perfect once they reacch your computer. I dont really like the video though. The phone isn't big... other phone are just small. It fits my hand perfectly, as welll as my pocket.
One thing i dont like is that AIm is on the menu, while yahoo isn''t... you have to acually go iinto the browser to open it up, but thats ok, i don't use yahooo alot. this phone has been very helpfull to me with it's internet access. I have used mobile mapquest and yeloow pages countless times.... parents always seem to get lost these days.
very nice phone.
10 More ups than downs
So overall I think this is a pretty decent phone. Ive had it a week now, so I cant comment on long term performance but this is what I have noticed so far
DESIGN: I've heard some poeple say it's ugly, but I think it looks interesting. I've also heard that it looks cheap, I can say that it seems durable.
NAVIGATION: At first it was a bit odd, sony does things differently than the Nokia's and motorolla's I had been trying. But I got used to it very quickly, and while I wont say its a better navigational system, its not worse! The best feature is the "calls" menu, it has a tabbed system for a)all calls b) missed calls c)outgoing calls d) recieved calls
Check out sony ericsson's website, you can play with the phone in a java applet!
BATTERY LIFE: It seems like they said this could go 12 days on standby and like 6 hours of talk time? No, but it's not bad. It needs to be charged once every 3 or 4 days with normal use. The speaker phone seems to be heavy on the battery!
CONNECTION QUALITY: Well its not Nokia quality, but its good. It has an internal antenna which I find to be very nice. It updates its signal quality like every 2 seconds which I find almost annoying. Its not the best reception you will find, but I find it acceptable. Also when you lose reception, some phones seem to be able to reconnect, the z500a will just drop the connection.
KEYPAD/FEEL: the number pad is nice and big, the phone is on the large side, but not too big. I quickly got used to it in my pocket. The 4 directional might be tricky if you have big fingers.
GENERAL COMMENTS:
-The screen isnt very vibrant, in sunlight its difficult to see
-It has an excellent speakerphone!
-I hear the camera quality is superb but the screen resolution makes it looks BAD, I have yet to transfer an image to PC and view it.
-NO BLUETOOTH (Im kicking myself about that)
-Sony uses its own conection for headsets, so your options are limited
-It's a media phone so it can stream video and play mp3's and such but it only has 6 megs of memory! Seems kind of dumb to me
-When you close the phone the inside lcd doesnt turn off, same with the outside lcd when you open it! Seems like a waste of battery life, but it does ok even with that flaw.
-Not many ringtones, but it has a neat DJ program where you can make your own ringtones using a 4 track sample mixer
-Voice recognition works well!
-The side "volume" buttons only control volume in call, otherwise they just display the phones "status". I find this absurd.
-The phone vibrates well haha, seriously...it works well.
-It's an EDGE phone which means its rediculously fast at data transfer.
Overall I would say this is a 3.5, but I think its more deserving of a 4 than a 3 because when you take it for what it's meant to do (make phone calls) it does that quite well!
11 Sony's first attempt at a flip-phone didn't go over so well
Well my dad has this phone, I play with it all the time. Sony ericsson is famous for being the quality, reliable phone brand. Their famous for their cute little candy-bar style phones, and they decided to go for something different on this one. Unfortunately sony bombed with this one. It's definitely not the best ericsson out there. Let me tell you what I noticed:
It looks to me like they tried to incorporate a multimedia twist into this phone, but didn't pull it off. Let's start with the exterior. It's not a very attractive phone at all. It's rather large for a flip phone, I'd say that their candybar phones are smaller. It's thick and wide, but not insanely big, it's just a cm or two over the norm. Anyway, the outer cover is rather cheap looking to me. It's plastic, cheap, flimsy looking plastic. Like a toy phone. I'm usually not picky about the material but come on. It's dull, light blue, matte plastic, like you would find on, say, Tupperware. The outside screen is okay, it has limited colors, kind of grainy, and it's very small. But eh, it's okay. You can take a self portrait with it.
Now when you open the phone up, you'll be disappointed. You'd think that a big ol' phone should be hiding a massive screen inside, right? wrong. For shame. They had all this space to work with and they made the screen tiny. They definately didn't take advantage of all the free space. And the screen isn't all that great either... it's just okay, looks sorta washed out, etc. And forget being able to see it in sunlight.
The menus are pretty much the same as the other ericssons, pretty simple and easy to use. The backgrounds of the screen are pretty neato though, they have some cool animated ones. But if you're one of those people who like the a big digital clock, sorry. It's tiny. The buttons are okay, they're a yellowish orangish, which is kind of weird. A light-blue cover with orange keys. Weird. but anyway, now to the features:
-Speakerphone could be louder. It's not that loud. And I'm not so sure that the other person can hear me very well either. I'd just stick to talking on the headset.. sony isn't known for their speakerphone quality. Reception is decently clear for me. I can't complain.
-Ahh.. the camera. The selling point. Let me tell you, it's not that great. The pictures come out mediocre quality, and when you send them they loose quality. And the video. Iccchh. don't plan on recording anything moving rapidly. the video quality is very very fuzzy. not so much choppy, as it is fuzzy. It's okay for like, recording a person talk up close, but not for anything moving really fast because it'll just slur the video into mulch. And when you play the video back, the volume is very low you have to put your ear up to the earpiece to hear talking. Oh and also, you can use photos for caller ID, which is a nice feature.
The ringtones are nice SOUNDING, but the preloaded selection sucks. If you're a middle-aged business man, I'd put this on vibrate all the time. The ringtones are like, made for 4 year olds and queers. There's one that sounds like a baby, anotehr that has a chicken clucking, one that sounds Asian, racecars (vroom.. possibly the gayest ringtone ever) and the only remotely normal sounding one is the cingular ring.. and it's pretty gay sounding too. Ringtone volume is okay... sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's not so loud. weird. and you can choose selected ringers to go with selected people.
Other features include AIM, MEdia mall, the games (which suck, there's only 2, golf and blockbreaker or whatever) organizer, etc.
I'd say this phone has most of the high end features, but they skipped a little on the quality. It's not sony's best phone, clearly. But if you want the mediocre features at a mediocre price, then go ahead. But I wouldn't buy this phone.. there's better.
12 Wondering.....
Wow this phone is awesome but could anyone please tell me if this phone being sold here is UNLOCKED?!?! Just email me at swimchick12@ameritehch.net. Thanks!
13 Customization?
Let me start off by saying I would probably rate this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Thumbs up:
-It's not bulky as others stated. Fits nicely in my pocket, and is easily handled.
-Sturdy construction
-Light compared to others
-External picture caller ID.
-Pictures can be taken with the phone closed
-Themes for the phone
-Loud ring
-MP3 ring tones available
-Speaker phone
-Nice backlight for the buttons.
-Very long talk-time for a flip phone with a color external screen (anywhere from 6-8 hours, depends on how much you play around)
-Customizable keys with a few one on the outside
-Program to make your own ring tones (MusicDJ)
-Power-saving mode
Thumbs down:
-Extremely short battery life when playing around with different programs (i.e. the camera or MusicDJ)
-When the phone is opened, it automatically answers the call and this cannot be changed
-The buttons on the inside were made as if they were depressed into the phone, so it is quite hard to write text-messages.
-External screen is not customizable
-Internal antenna is very sensitive to how its handled
-Camera and video are very poor quality for a camera phone
-Screen is a bit blurry and is impossible to see without the backlight
-Sounds like you're on a cell phone
-The only preloaded games are demos
-The preloaded ring tones are terrible
-The interface takes a little getting used to
-No red and green hang-up and call buttons, which I miss dearly
-To use a 2.5 mm earpiece jack, you must buy an adapter or buy their earpiece
-The phone's manual is a joke
Overall, the pro's do outweigh the con's. However, if you are not interested in using the internet on a phone, you might want to look around before making a decision. The phone is very nice, but if I had the choice, I might've gone with a different phone. The long battery life and the external caller ID is what made me choose this phone over others, but just to be sure its good for you, look around first.
--Just a few side notes: Cingular's customer service is quite pitiful, considering the 6 people I talked to didn't know anything about my account information. They were nice but lacking knowledge. One reason I did go with them was because of a discount. If you go to basically any college or work at any store r business, ask them what discounts you can get. I am currently getting 10% off a month from PSU.
Cingular charges $2.50 per ring tone, plus the cost of having to connect to the internet through the phone and downloading the tone. To me, this seems as if they are gypping people out of money.
Cingular did not configure my phone. When I received it, I wasn't able to connect to the internet or send picture messages. I didn't realize this until I took it to the store and they told me what was wrong. However, they couldn't fix it in the store and I had to go home and call the customer service number.
I would give Cingular a rating of 2 out of 5 stars. The people were nice.. maybe it's because they had to deal with a number of irate customers?
14 Get a NOKIA cell phone instead...
I've been using my Sony Ericcson Z500a for 12 hours now, and it will be RETURNED very shortly. Here's just some of the problems I've encountered in the first hours of use:
1. GARBLED PHONE CALLS: Shoot, why get a cell phone if you can't have a conversation? I would call someone, and at first the sound quality was SUPERB. But as we would talk for a minute or two, all of sudden the conversation became so garbled that I couldn't make out a thing. Then all of a sudden, the line would clear up for a few seconds, then it would get garbled again...it was totally frustrating. Then I made a phone call to Cingular Customer service from the phone, and that phone call was so garbled from the first second that I couldn't even make out their phone menu options. The call quality on every call was absolutely terrible. This literally NEVER happened with the old Nokia phone I had previously to this one.
2. I took the phone and showed it to my wife, and noticed that the little display screens had turned a beautiful shade of blue! All the phone functions, including the ON/OFF switch were useless. All I got was a lovely "Blue Screen of Death." The only way to "unfreeze" the phone was to remove the battery!
3. I purchased a musical ringtone from the Cingular Media site, just to see if the phone could download and install a ringtone. It couldn't. The ringtone was 148kb in size, but the download FROZE at 145 kb, and then terminated. Never got the ringtone to the phone. Attempted to redownload, but now I get the error message that I didn't purchase one!
4. Before I could even attempt to download the ringtone, I spent several minutes on the phone with a Cingular customer service rep just trying to get the phone to connect to the Internet...(the ringtone is actually downloaded from the Cingular web site...) Eventually the phone did connect, after several attempts...
5. If you like to talk A LOT on your cell phone, then look elsewhere. After 12 hours of use, the battery indicator is already at the halfway point. Plan on charging this little guy EVERYNIGHT if you are a moderate to heavy user of cell phones. Shoot, if you are a heavy user of a cell phone, you might have to charge it everytime you're not talking...
So, if you don't mind garbled transmissions, incomplete downloads, and your phone freezing up for no apparent reason, the Sony Z500a is the phone for you.
But if you want a phone where you can actually have a conversation without going "WHAT?" every few seconds, and would like your battery to last longer than a few hours, get a Nokia...you won't be sorry.
15 Sony Ericsson Z500a
The following review is for the Sony Ericsson Z500a, and has been composed by one or more person(s):
The Sony Ericsson is only a good phone for those who do not plan to spend very much time on their cell phone. This particular phone by Sony Ericsson, is definitely not their best! The maximum time this phone will hold the charge is approx. one hour. Therefore, if you intend to purchase this phone you might want to invest in a car charger also.
If you are buying this phone because of the camera feature, it is highly advised you try a different phone. As they say you get what you pay for and this is a very cheap phone with little value to wireless communicators.
This phone has, on more than one occasion and with more than one person, shut off and/or malfunctioned for no apparent reason. The overall rate for this phone is a stunning 61.3%*!
*This percentage was obtained from an online source.
16 Picture Quality is REAL BAD !!!
I bought this cell phone because I am from JAPAN and expected the same quality as Japanese advanced technologies in this cell phone.
The picture quality is real bad. You can't choose or edit the photo much. If you are sensitive for visual, I don't recommend this phone at all.
17 Great phone features
I switched to the Z500a from the Motorola MPx220, a phone that retails for $400, but had several problems. The main one being the voice quality - it sucked! I sounded like I was in a cave. Also, since it was full of bells and whistles, it took about a minute to 'boot up'. And I had to manually set the time and date on it. What was I thinking when I bought it!?!?!
The Sony is a much better cell phone (as opposed to being a better PDA, web browser or gameboy) with excellent voice quality. I don't mind its size (and it weighs a little less than the Moto phone), but the slightly recessed keys do take some getting used to. If you're concerned about that, go to a local Cingular store and try it out first. Doesn't bother me at all.
It was a breeze to get up and running with it, and I was able to load the phonebook from my SIM card. It's very easy to navigate around the features on the phone.
I do wish that current cell phones (including this one) had the standard ring on them. Maybe this one does, but I haven't found it yet. The current ring I use is the least cartoony one I could find in the standard list.
The Sony doesn't use a standard 2.5mm jack for hands-free headsets, so you'll either have to get an adaptor, or a headset specially made for the connection on the phone. There are several compatible brands to choose from.
18 Happy with the phone!
I just bought this phone a few weeks ago and I am very happy with it! I LOVE the fact that you can use REAL SONGS for ringtones, and that you can assign a different picture (even of the person) and ringtone to everyone. I think the camera is good hey it's a phone...sooo as camera phones go, it's good! I had the Motorola V220 and the pics weren't as good (I returned it) I do agree that the phone is a little large, I had a Motorola V180 and the size was great, the color was too, black and silver with blue lights. I do miss that!!!!!! I gave it to my daughter. The screen colors are bright not like some SE, the T237 was HORRIBLE! It holds ALOT of pictures for wallpaper and screensavers and alot of ringtones, I'm addicted to getting 'em!
On the con the battery life is not good, but most flips suck 'em dry! My test of true phone clarity was my once a week night out....could I use it in the bar or would I have to go outside? To my surprise (and DELIGHT!) I could use it in the bar and actually HEAR with no cut offs a RARITY as cells go! I was worried I'd wasted my $$$$$$ and would have to live with it, then take back my Motorola :) But again I'm for the most part happy with it....(but I do miss the COOL blue backlighting and black/silver of my V180!)
19 difficult to use
The screen and the sound are very good compared to my T68 and T616. You can now have animated wall paper. The phone is loud and pretty clear. But the ear plug is not loud at all. I use the same ear plug in my T616; and it is very loud.
I think this phone is designed to be used for the Internet. Whereas the T68 and T616 are designed for calling. When you display the main manual, 1/3 of the items is Internet related. And they design the 5-way button really big. It is very easy to push around with this button.
The worst thing about this phone is that the buttons are very difficult to push. The buttons are placed too far apart. They are very hard to reach with only the thumb. Beside this, all the buttons are flat. Although they are pretty big but because they are all flat and far apart, the buttons are very difficult to press. One good thing is that the buttons on the side of the phone and all the shortcut buttons can now be customized. By comparasion, the buttons on the T616 is small but they are raised and place close together. So, when you are holding the T616 in your hand, it is much easier to push the buttons with your thumb.
This phone does not support bluetooth or infared anymore. The phone have a big phone book and can play MP3 and has a very good display with theme and stuff like that. BUT you can't get all these files from your computer easily and cheaply becasue there is no easy way to connect the phone to your computer. You can sync with other phone via MMS and get the ringtones and pictures from the mobile web; BUT! it is gonna cost you.
The speaker phone is pretty good. But the phone only let you use the speaker phone after you have made the connection and you have to flip the phone open. And you have to push the button twice to enable the speaker phone. And you have to tell your friend to hold his hoses while you are trying to switch to the speaker phone. This is just too much.
It has voice dialing but you cannot catagorize the phone numbers anymore. No more voice command for Home, Mobile, or Work. So, you will have to record 3 different voice for every single person in your phone book if they all have 3 different phone numbers.
Style wise, the Z500a looks cheap with the cheap plastic look. The T68 and the T616, on the other hand, look very classy.
I am not a big fan of flip phone. The only good flip phone is the Motorola V60i. (yes. I have a V60) The new models from Motorola are not that easy to use though.
Bottom line. If you can push the buttons with ease, then the Z500 is a pretty good phone.
20 PHONE IS LOCKED
If you are not in the USA and not subscribed to CINGULAR WIRELESS don't even waste your time on buying this phone. It's LOCKED and it's almost impossible to get it unlocked. I BOUGHT THE PHONE ONLY without a SERVICE PLAN, waited over 3 weeks for it to arrive just to be disappointed when i inserted my sim card (not of CINGULAR WIRELESS) and read on the display screen INSERT CORRECT SIM CARD.
I am so disappointed. Now i have to check with CINGULAR WIRELESS to see if they can give me the unlock code for this phone.
I guessed i assumed wrong and thought that by choosing PHONE ONLY NO SERVICE PLAN the phone would be unlocked.
INTERNATIONAL SHOPPERS BEWARE....BE VERY AWARE.
But from what i can see of the phone, it's a nice one, haven't had the chance to play with it as i can't get into the menu, but the screen is really nice, and the phone overall is a nice one.
21 An enhancement to most ERICSSON's
first off my previous phone was the T610 and love the phone!
second, The Z500a has the same features and layout like all ericcsons. few minus and plus
As for other things
Memory-
I am not too dissapointed that the memory is 7mb (if you delete everything that can be deleted on the phone it will expand to 7mb), because if you compare to the new Motorola RAZR, A630, and Nokia 6230, this is just standard. But i really do wish the z500a supports Memory stick (it doesnt).
Sound-
It has a media player software which you can play music just like how you play it on your PC. This isnt a great feature cause of the 7mb memory, it is pointless to have it. If play music while the phone is open, the sound is automatically set to minimum volume (not loud). If you play the music through media player and close your phone, the music will continue to play (all songs repeatedly) and will play at maximum volume (you can change music on the side buttons). This phone is loud enough, Ringtone and speaker phone is great. also with 40 channel polyphonic tone, sounds more fresher then 32 channels.
Display/Screen
I would say the screen is alot prettier than most phones. The color is quite the same as t610, just a bit sharper. Whats very neat is that you can have a screensaver (gif) but at the same time when you click to the front cover, the background can also play as a screensaver (gif). ok ok most phones has this feature but its smoother the most phones. oh yea, and the buttons are caved in, meaning you will have to put alittle more effort to button pressing. <-- very annoying and faustrating sometimes, im use to the quick press and go.
Camera/Video
This is a dissapointment, the camera is almost the same quality as the ERICSSON T610! its not better, but with the brightness adjustment atleast you can see everything. Whats really strange is that the Video Camera has better picture quality then the Picture Camera, very weird. Video camera is acceptable, it captures mostly every movement and not as much frame skipping.
Connectivity-
this is the BIGGEST dissapointment, the elimination of Infrared (IrDa) and Blue Tooth (BT) (both fastest data transfers available). This is why most people prefer Ericsson. Since the IrDa and BT are not available, the only connection z500a has is the DCU-11 (USB; slow). Another is through WAP/E-MAIL, i have no idea how to do this but i bet is more of a hassle.
EDGE technology-
Ok, downloads and streaming are pretty quick, but this does not effect DSU-11 data capable. even if it had IrDa, it will still take no effect. Edge is more like for the internet usage and other downloading services. Not a big deal, almost a useless feature if you get the DSU-11.
Overall-
This is a great phone, it is an enhancement to my ericsson t610. I only bought this phone because of the video and MP3 capabilities. everything else is pretty much what all ericsson phone has. I choosed Ericsson phones because they do have more features than other cell phone companies. I trust Ericsson and plus this is a good phone for its price!
22 Ignore the harsh critics
This is a great phone.
Especially since I got two of them for $50 total.
The screen is great. Yeah, the camera isn't all that great, but the pictures I sent to my computer looked fine. I didn't pay to get a camera that happens to be a cell phone, I paid to have a cell phone that happens to have a camera. I am happy.
I got the data cable from overseas from a site in the UK and if anyone is looking for a camera to hook to their laptops, guess what. . .this is it. The new Edge 3G data technology that this phone has is disgusting. I am getting broadband speeds in my car with my laptop.
I think that the screen is beautiful myself. 85,000 colors and a pretty sharp resolution is all I see. I have downloaded some pictures online to use as the wallpaper in my phone and they look pretty sharp to me.
The only con I can find is that because the faceplate can be changed, some dust can get into the little screen on the outside and that is kinda annoying to me. Personally, I like the size of the phone since it feels like a phone. I hate it when phones are so small that you are holding them with your fingertips. That's how they fall. LOL But for its size, how can you really complain? it weighs just over three ounces!
Get this phone. It has all the features of many $500 an up phones but without the $500 and up part.
23 Need more improvements in some basic features
Pros :
Packed with lot of features.
Cons:
1. The screen is unreadable in sunlight.
2. Even though it is weighs just over 3 ounces but looks bulky.
3. Cheap look like dollar shop toy.
4. No data cable provided to sync with Outlook.
5. Very limited themes and ring tones.
24 WAY too critical of this very plush, feature-full phone
The camera is not the best on the market, in that I agree with the other reviewer, but this is an entry level camera phone which is sold at both Cingular and AT&T for $100 (nice job on eBay). It has a great video camera, mp3 player (although 2-3 songs is the max it's a great feature), EDGE high speed internet, external picture caller ID's, etc. The list goes on for how well this SE phone does in out performing anything in its pricerange.
GREAT BUY, definetly a great, solid phone.
25 i wanted so much to like this phone...
i bought this phone on ebay for a staggering $270 (included shipping and all that). why you may ask? well, don't ask. i thought it was cool. i wanted the phone, but didn't want to switch to cingular (i am an at&t customer). so, i bought this phone, slipped my SIM card in and i am good to go. here's the pros and cons so far:
pros:
* excellent call clarity, but that would depend on your area, plan, coverage, etc. people can hear me fine, and i can hear them fine, and isn't that really
what it's all about?
* speakerphone is nice. very nice. no complaints from friends to take them off it.
* menus are pretty intuitive. that is, if you've worked with a sony ericsson phone before.
* address book is very thorough and you can store a lot of information for each contact.
* themes are a neat concept.
* the options (zoom, brightness, special effects) for the digital camera are cool, but see below.
* phone has a nice solid feel when opening and closing the flip.
* option to record a sound and then use it as a ringtone is cool!
cons:
* VGA camera is horrible! i know, i know, it's a camera PHONE, not a phone CAMERA. however, the images are some of the worst i've seen. don't know if the camera is really that bad, or the display is just not that good, but yeah, don't count on taking nice, clear photos on this phone, or anything remotely close to good.
* inside screen display is "fuzzy". this is just a sony ericsson thing, i've heard. the colors and clarity of the screen are soft. i think SE does this to conserve battery life. kinda hard to see things on the screen in direct sunlight, or if you're not looking at it just right.
* screen does not make use of space available. poor design on SE's part.
* available games through sony ericsson's site are lacking in number and interest. maybe 'cause this phone is new. only seven games available to download and none of them interested me.
* phone only comes with 7 or 8 ringtones. HUH?! 7 or 8? that's just unheard of. not too many you can download from SE's site, either.
* no bluetooth or infrared.
* battery life is NOWHERE NEAR the 10 hrs/250 hrs (talk/standby) it says on SE's website. not even close. talk time might be 3-4 at best.
the "eh, it could go either way":
* phone is kind of bulky. the thing reminds me of a giant, silver maxi-pad when it's open. you may or may not like this.
* plastic parts on the phone feel cheap. someone commented that my phone "felt like a toy". it kinda does, really. the finish on the plastic doesn't look sleek at all, but rather matte and really makes it look like a low-budget phone. it almost seems like this was a prototype phone and what i got isn't the final model! just a "draft". it's not very stylish or refined.
this phone seems like it's packed with really cool stuff, and in some ways, it is. the specs on this phone are pretty impressive when you look at them. but, you have to ask yourself if you're the kind of person that's going to use all these features. are you going to send videos through MMS? are you going to listen to streaming audio through your phone? are you interested in ringtones and themes and games (if so, this really isn't the phone for you).
in summary, this phone isn't worth the money. it IS a good phone with some cool bells and whistles, but it's not worth anything over $175, period.
