Sony Ericsson Z500 User Reviews

This is by far the best phone I have ever owned. I used this phone for four years before it started to give out on me. Near the end the phone would only take a charge if you had it plugged in just right and wiggled the cord obnoxiously. This phone was amazing either way. I washed and dried it, ran it over, and it fell into the pool and it still worked. This phone was huge but the best phone imaginable.

i got this phone in 8th grade
when i got it i was s00per excited :]]
for a while..

then i realized how HUGE my phone was.. it looked like a remote
but i still liked it.
it wasnt that bad.. . .

When I first got the phone, it was great. It had a bunch of extra entertaining features which were fun, although i got sick of it after a few months. Then, the phone broke. It would barely show me no sign of charging and would freeze and randomly turn on or off. Luckily, i was able to get a new battery & phone because the warranty was not up. After two months, this battery broke as well. It showed no sign of charging after taking lpugging it in and out of the charger many times. I was able to get a THIRD battery, however. When i put it in the phone, it was half-charged and i knew it would be broken. I plugged it into the charger and it showed no sign of charging. So, the phone is broken. After 3 Batteries and 2 phones.

I am quite disappointed with this phone, and so is my friend with the same phone. The design and features are all fine, phonebook, camera, games... But the problem I have had is the phone freezing up. When I first got it, it would freeze for 1 or 2 seconds, no problem, but as time went on, and when my warranty was up, it freezes now about once or twice a day for 5-20 seconds, which is long when you are waiting to use the phone. Also, over time, the contacts for charging it get dirty and there is a bad connection. I have a Nokia 3100, it does not have many features, but it is trustworthy and always works without any problems.

I thought this phone looked cheap. The outside is plastic and reminded me of a toy phone from a dollar store. I bought it off the internet without actually seeing it. I was disapointed.

This is a good phone, here are my grades on certain features:


RECEPTION AND CALLS
Even with no external antenna, this phone has spectacular reception. (Cingular KC area) If you are ANYWHERE outside or in a car, then it will have 5 bars. Indoors, about 85 percent of the time it will have 4 or 5 bars. Even on the rare occasion where there is only 1 or 2 bars, the calls are CRYSTAL CLEAR. It sounds as clear as a land line.
The speakerphone is also a great addition and works flawlessly and is clear and very loud yet the person on the other line can't even tell your on it.
GRADE: A+

DESIGN
This phone is solidly built. VERY solid. The hinge feels nice and sturdy, but I must say that I don't like how it clicks when you open it. The way it clicks makes it very difficult to just “flick” it open. It just takes some getting used to.
Meanwhile, the phone itself is bigger than most I must admit, but it feels good in your hands and it doesn't seem large at all in your hands. Its almost exactly the same size as the Samsung VGA1000 (that very popular sprint phone with the camera on the back). Its not HUGE, just a little on the big side.
The keypad itself is fine to me, I don't see why people dislike it. The only thing I would change about it is make the backlight blue instead of orange. I have never seen an orange backlight and I don't know what Sony Ericsson was thinking.
The screen size is an average sized screen, but since there is more real estate on this phone than others, a bigger one would have been nice, not only on the main screen on especially on the outer display.
Other than the minor flaws, the design is pretty good
GRADE: B-

CAMERA
The camera pretty good for a VGA. It takes GREAT pictures with good lighting, pretty decent pictures with okay lighting, but terrible pictures with poor lighting, and the night mode is useless and makes the pictures incredibly grainy. The video quality is pretty good for a video phone, and THE VIDEOS ARE NOT CHOPPY. Finally, a phone under $200 without choppy video! Phones like the Motorola v551 and the Samsung A670 have such choppy videos! There are also four effects you can optionally add to the pictures/videos: black and white, negative, sepia, and solarize(sort of reminds me of heat sensitive vision). In addition to that, there are some pretty funny “fun frames” you can add to your photo. One drawback is, though, the pictures themselves are not very physically large on the screen. They take up about two thirds of the screen, while other phones' pictures take up about 5/6 of the screen. Still, there is not much to complain about the camera except for the fact it takes terrible pics in bad lighting.
GRADE: A-

FEATURES
Damn! How many features can possibly be on one phone? SE put a ton of features on this one. No limit to the amount a pics you can take. NO LIMIT TO THE LENGTH OF YOUR VIDEO! Photo Caller ID. Ringtone caller ID. Speakerphone. You can record the conversation you are having. HIGH SPEED INTERNET! 3-D capable Java games. AOL Instant Messenger. Music DJ (allows you to create and customize your own ringtone). Text and picture messaging. Above average phone book. Mp3 player. No limit to the length or amount of voice recordings and you can set them as your ringtones