Sony Ericsson W380

User reviews and rating

Poor Quality Will Shine Through

10 Nov 2009 Faehl

4.7 out of 10

I chose this phone because overall it had nice looks and some simple all around features that would do for me. After having this phone (including a replacement) for over a year I've had several problems that I think are worth considering if you were interested in this model. It's a bit long but worthwhile so that you know what poor qualities you could be in for, as well as poor service if you try to get it fixed.

- The light up display feature on the outside of the phone started glitching, showing a snow pixelated effect or many white bars like a barcode until it finally died. I had been told by one person at a cellphone store that this had been a common problem from this phone and had to do with some wiring issue.
- I found that it is a bit of a hassle and can become a bit tiring to try and text on such a flat number panel. The buttons require a bit more pressure than on other phones.
- I found that the responsiveness of the left side of the phone panel wore down after a few month's time.
- I've had issues where the battery would stop vibrating for a time, randomly, then work fine again for long periods of time.
- Recently my phone just turned off, and when I tried to turn it back on again would only begin to vibrate nonstop until I took the battery out. After a couple of days it's fine again and works perfectly (Going to be looking into this).
- Through regular use of open and closing the phone with my right hand I noticed cracks gradually developed on the right and center portions of the grey plastic casing of the phone on the lower inside half. The screen and number panel were fine, just the hard plastic was cracking. I hadn't dropped the phone. I was told this was rare.

 I sent my phone in for repairs which ended up being a 3 month nightmare with Sony Ericsson. Their Customer Service folk are nice enough but their communication between departments, whatever notes they write or information they enter is terrible and led to a lot of broken promises on their end, failed escalations and three attempts of mailing my phone to them. Bad training and perhaps some language barriers were involved.

The first time they did fix the display issue and the panel responsiveness issue, but when they glued the silver plastic panels on the upper and lower halves back in place (the screws are hidden behind them) they did a terrible job. The upper one around the screen was loose and slid around easily and the lower number panel would actually flop off the phone when I used my thumb to open the thing. My thumb would slide under a thin gap between the panel and the phone as it would cling a bit to the screen.

After that nightmare I was given a new phone, finally, however I am finding the same problem with the lower panel being a bit loose on one side and my thumb is catching in it. Poorly glued.  Sigh.  It's not worth the trouble again, just better off not getting any more phones from this company and avoid future hassle.

Pros

- Looks pretty nice, inside and out
- Takes okay to good photos in bright lighting
- The outside features are interesting and fun to use
- Takes memory sticks
- Plays music
- Audio is clear
- Long battery life if you use it primarily for talking

Cons

- Takes poor photos in almost any other lighting
- Number panel requires some added pressure
- Speaker quality is rather poor
- Various features (number panel, outer display, casing, vibration, call settings) broke over time.
- Poorly Assembled

Spam report

Here, you can report this due to offensive language, spam or advertisements.

 

Was this review helpful? YesNo

10 Jul 2009 Anonymous

6.7 out of 10

I have had this phone for about 14months. Everything has been fine until it shut off by itself and won't turn on again. This has happened a few times but i could always turn the phone back on. Now I in the midst of trying to fix it. In general it's a very cute phone but can cause fustration when it turns off.

Pros

Cool design.

Cons

Hard to lock

Spam report

Here, you can report this due to offensive language, spam or advertisements.

 

Was this review helpful? YesNo

w380a SUCKS

31 May 2009 Terri

1 out of 10

THIS PHONE IS TERRIBLE  DO NOT BUY

 

I've had 3 different ones since August (10 months) and they all crap out.  THe first one stopped working in the speaker on the top, so I had to use speaker phone to talk to anyone.  The second they sent me as a replacement wouldn't see the SIN card, and thus wouldn't work.

 

This last one I had to fight with Fido to give me (only 6 months into warranty), they wanted me to send it to sony and have it repaired on my dime! NoNoNonO!   When I finally got a new one (by pretending I wanted to buy one, then demanding an exchange once they had it in front of me, this one lasted 4 months before the ringer speaker stopped,.  So any noise, the ringer, speaker phone, the tone button, DOES NOT WORK. 

 

My old LG that is 4 years old STILL works, but not this hunk of junk.  It is not worth the time unless you want to pay for repairs to it every 3-5 months,.

Pros

Nothing

Cons

Cheap, too quiet, it requires a phone reset every 2 months or so. Likes to shut off, and ignore calls.

has broken 3 times for me, in 10 months

Spam report

Here, you can report this due to offensive language, spam or advertisements.

 

Was this review helpful? YesNo