Sony Ericsson W580i Carbon Grey Review - Introduction and Design

But the T809 broke a few months ago and she'd been using one of my extras until the Sony Ericsson w580i arrived at our place.  Lots and lots of handsets pass through our home office, and this is the first one that actually made her say, "Hey, lemme see that!" when I unboxed it and showed it to her.  It's a slider, it's sleek, and it's got this very hip grey with blue trim thing going on.

Lucky for us Sony Ericsson makes an unlocked version of the w580i as well as the locked AT&T version.  We tracked down an unlocked model for her to use, and I got to play with the AT&T model for this review.  And we're both happy.  The w580i combines SE’s latest Walkman music player with full HTML Web browsing, Email, and an RSS feed reader into a very slim, light slider phone.  If you can live with EDGE-only data speeds, Sony Ericsson’s latest Walkman slider packs a lot of punch into its sleek little body.

Measuring just 99 x 47 x 14mm and weighing only 94 grams, the w580i is sleek and lightweight.  Sony Ericsson sent me the Urban Grey color scheme w580i, which is finished in dark grey matte plastic with silver and blue accents and black side panels.  I really like the handset’s look - it’s slick and fun in a semi-understated way.  A white/orange 580i is also available.

A slider phone, the w580i features an angled bottom edge that makes for easy one-handed operation - you can grip the backside of the “curled” edge with one or two fingers for leverage while sliding the front panel open/shut with your thumb.  It’s a funky look that’s actually inspired by functionality.

The front of the handset shows a 2” TFT display above a control layout built around a circular array of media player buttons that’s become quite popular on musicphones as of late.  The shiny silver circle of buttons on the w580i is actually a five-way directional pad comprised by a play-pause button at the center surrounded by a ring-shaped four-way rocker switch labeled with track forward/back and camera icons.  Flanking this iPod-esque array on the left is a round Walkman button topped by a circular two-button array providing Return and soft key functionality.  This arrangement is mirrored on the right edge of the front panel with a programmable shortcut key below a Clear/soft key duo.

Sliding the front panel open reveals a standard 12-button dialing layout.  The keys are black plastic with blue labeling and two columns of silver plastic dots separate the three columns of buttons for easier navigation.  Rounded left and right edges on the dialing buttons echo the rounded edges found all over the handset, and the buttons are also slightly domed in shape, which assists in blind dialing. 

The left edge of the phone features a lone rocker switch, finished in chromed silver plastic, which controls volume.  On the right side is the charger/accessory port, which is a change from older SE handsets that place the port on the bottom edge of the device.  Along the top edge of the w580i is a plastic-capped slot for the M2 Memory Stick micro card and a power on/off button.  The back of the handset is blank save for SE and Walkman logos, but when the phone is slid open, the camera sensor is revealed along the rear of the front panel .  The design allows for lens-cover functionality when the slider is shut, and SE finished the area around the camera sensor in a reflective blue plastic with a grey pattern printed on it.

All in all I really like the design of the w580i, with a few small exceptions.  The handset is exceptionally light and sporty but still has a solid build and feel.  And while the slider mechanism and dialing keypad are solid and comfortable to use, the front panel controls are a bit on the small side.  The center-mounted control ring for the media player is particularly tricky, as the outer ring is both narrow and mounted against a raised plastic ridge that looks cool but can be a little harsh on the thumb during repeated button mashing.