Sony Ericsson S500i

from (4 offers) · Product Information

Sony Ericsson S500i

Quote-start

Sony Ericsson S500i - Fashion over practicality

Quote-end

4 Jun 1st, 2009 

2 Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful

Advantages:
Stylish, cool features, good quality camera

Disadvantages:
Not suitable for larger fingers, quite slow and sometimes crashes

Recommendable Yes:

Detailed rating:

Look & Feel

Durability & Robustness

Battery standby time

Value for money

Range of features

velvethour

velvethour

About me:

So in a nutshell - I'm clumsy, artistic and love a good laugh with my friends. :) Nothing like the s...

Member since:31.05.2009

Reviews:9

I have owned the floral version of this phone (http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enGB291GB321&ei=jKciSsT4G5KsjAe82O2wBg&resnum=0&q=s500i%20flower&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) for roughly half a year.

This phone comes in a variety of colours, such as black and green, white, yellow, purple and silver. However, I bought the limited edition Jemma Kid version, which is floral and aimed towards females. Apparently if you buy from the Carphone Warehouse, you receive Jemma Kid nail varnish and lip gloss, but I didn't receive this since I ordered mine online. This mobile still appears to be for sale on some websites, although it's not as widely available as the normal designs of this phone.

The keys on this mobile are very thin and small and it took me a while to get used to texting quickly with them, but it's not much of a problem if you have smaller fingers. Before I bought this phone, I read many reviews about the keypad breaking and the phone not being very robust. However, I decided to take a risk and overall, I'm pleased with the build of this phone. I use the keypad quite frequently and it has not cracked and neither does it feel like it could easily break. The screen doesn't even have a single mark or scratch on it and it's been through its fair share of falls and bumps. However, I don't like how the phone makes a 'creaky' noise when you slide it and handle it, because of the plastic build of the phone. Also, there are a lot of gaps and areas where dust can easily collect and it's not easy to clean out these parts.

In my opinion, the battery cover is one of the biggest annoyances of this phone. When I first received the phone, the battery and SIM card had to be inserted and I ended up asking somebody else to help me, because it was so difficult to remove the battery cover. Apparently, the trick to removing the battery cover is to push downwards in the centre, but it isn't as easy as it sounds. Even the 'man of the house', who can open every pickle jar and tin that nobody else can, couldn't remove this battery cover for a good 20 minutes. Although this is annoying, it's not too much of a major problem, unless you're needing to remove the battery cover regularly, which is unlikely.

The 'On' button for this phone is very small and sometimes difficult to press. However, the positions of the volume buttons, the memory card slot and the charger socket are, in my opinion, in a good place. Speaking of memory cards, I'd recommend purchasing one alongside this phone. This mobile holds very little, especially music. Although I have downloaded a few games, there's only room left for 1-2 songs OR about 10 pictures. Without the games, there's not much more of a significant difference.

The camera is 2MP (megapixels) and personally, I think it's very good quality for a camera phone. If you're not so worried about the quality and want more quantity, there's 1MP option and VGA (640 x 480) and you can switch the quality from Fine to Normal. You can shoot in Normal, Panorama, Frames or Burst mode. Panorama mode takes 3 pictures and merges them into a Panoramic view, which works quite effectively. Frames mode gives you a choice of 10 frames, such as a magazine cover, to add a bit of fun to your shots. Finally, Burst mode takes 4 pictures one after the other. There's an option to switch Night Mode on, along with changing the white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy etc) You can add special effects such as Sepia and Negative, as well as the use of a self timer. The phone also records video clips, which are of a decent quality for a camera phone.

In my experience, this phone doesn't have the best reception, but it's not terrible either. However, I have had problems with receiving texts late - sometimes even a day later - and texts taking a couple of attempts to send through. This is a problem for people who text a lot and need quick communication. I've also had problems with people ringing me and 1 second later, it cuts off so I don't even get a chance to pick up the phone. This doesn't happen all the time, but is quite often and isn't very reliable. However, I've never had any problems with not being able to hear people, because the volume goes up so loud if you want it to.

I like how easy it is to see your calls - All, Answered, Dialed and Missed. Also, when you look for contacts, you can choose to see your contacts in alphabetical order, or in order of who you contact the most. I find this a very useful tool.

On standby, the battery lasts a long time, but if you're playing a game or making a call, the battery decreases very quickly. You can see how much battery you have in %, by pressing the - on the volume on the startup wallpaper. You can also see how much phone memory you have free and your mobile number, which is very useful if you don't know it off by heart.

The sound quality is pretty good, considering it's not even a Walkman. However, the headphones that come with it can't be used with anything else but the phone, because it only fits into the charger socket. The choice of ringtones were disappointing for me when I first heard them, because all of them are quite over the top and there aren't any 'simple' ringtones if you don't want a themed tune everytime your phone rings. There isn't much of a choice either, in comparison to other phones I have seen. You can use your own music though that you put onto your phone, either from the lead to a laptop or by bluetooth. You can also use video ringtones, which is quite a cool option, but I've only tried it out - never used it properly.

A bad point about this phone is that it is quite slow, sometimes it's not too noticeable and other times it's quite frustrating. It has crashed a few times also, which I never had with my old phone that I had for a few years.

The phone comes with VideoDJ, PhotoDJ and MusicDJ, which are quite fun little tools. VideoDJ lets you edit videos on your phone, such as by adding text, pictures and a soundtrack. PhotoDJ lets you edit the contrast and lightness of your photos, use red eye removal and add effects such as stickers. MusicDJ lets you create your own ringtones or tunes, with clips such as drums, trumpets, piano etc.

One of the main things this phone is known for, is its light effects when a person calls. There's different light effects such as Disco (multi colours), Ice (blues and whites) and more, which light up round the sides of the phone and in the keys. It is noticable in the daytime, but more useless than when it's night time, when you can really see it light up.

Overall, this is a very pretty phone, with a nature theme about it and lots of effects, such as the lights and animated background and menu. If you're looking for a phone that people will look at and think 'wow' and with cool but novelty features, then this is for you. However, if you're looking for a phone that is practical and more comfortable to use, then I recommend that this probably isn't the best phone to buy.
 

How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines

exceptional

very helpful

helpful

somewhat helpful

not helpful

off topic

Products you might be interested in »

Sony Ericsson Satio Apple iPhone
Sony Ericsson T715 Nokia N97

Nokia N97

Slate - Lithium Ion - Quad Band - 150

User reviews (22)

Buy Now

Sony Ericsson W580i

Sony Ericsson W580i

Slider - Digital Camera; Digital Player; FM Radio - Quad Band - 94 g

User reviews (180)

Buy now for only £ 2.49

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Smartphone - Classic - HSDPA, WCDMA, EDGE, GPRS, WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM - MP3 player, FM radio, 3.2 MP digital camera - Quad Band - 109

User reviews (86)

Buy Now

Comments about this review »

x_dani_x 01.06.2009 15:12

Great review. x

Compare prices for Sony Ericsson S500i »

1 to 2 out of 2 offers for "Sony Ericsson S500i" > Without Contract Sorted by: Price
Sony Ericsson S500i W580i Slide

Sony Ericsson S500i W580i Slide

Original Sony Ericsson S500i W580i Slide numeric UI board and flex cable included.

Mytrendyphone.com
Postage & Packaging: £2.40
Availability: on stock
 Visit Shop  >
Mytrendyphone.com
Sony Ericsson S500i Sim Free Mobile Phone - Green

Sony Ericsson S500i Sim Free Mobile Phone - Green

amazon electronics
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
 Visit Shop  >
amazon electronics


More reviews »

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by dariocrosier

Advantages: Seems ok.
Disadvantages: Might be complete and utter failure

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by dariocrosier dariocrosier 17.02.2009 (17.02.2009) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by whosdexter92

Advantages: Great Features
Disadvantages: Memory Space

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by whosdexter92 whosdexter92 16.06.2008 (16.06.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by Julia95x

Advantages: See Review
Disadvantages: See Review

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by Julia95x Julia95x 15.08.2008 (15.08.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by grdnblak

Advantages: Sleek, lightweight, large high resolution screen
Disadvantages: Needs regular wiping to remove finger marks

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by grdnblak grdnblak 06.08.2007 (06.08.2007) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by flo90

Advantages: Very stylish with quirky features
Disadvantages: Small memory

Sony Ericsson S500i - review by flo90 flo90 17.08.2007 (03.04.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Sony Ericsson S500i



Are you the manufacturer / provider of Sony Ericsson S500i? Click here