In a nutshell: Sony Ericsson's flagship Walkman phone offers
a best in class audio experience, with premium quality headphones,
8GB of built-in memory, FM radio with RDS and touch-sensitive music
controls. But it's let down by a poor camera, battery life and software
glitches.
Review:
October 2008. Updated May 2009.
The Sony Ericsson W980i is Sony Ericsson's latest
flagship Walkman phone, and is the upgrade to the W960i.
The guys at Sony obviously read our review of the W960i, because
they took our suggestions on board and added HSDPA and quadband!
The W980i looks completely different to its predecessor,
because its a clamshell phone - an unusual choice for a music phone,
perhaps - but SE have made the best of the design by placing touch-sensitive
controls on the front for accessing the music player when the phone
is closed. When you tap the touch-sensitive controls, orange lights
appear and the controls become active. The largest circle in the
centre works a little like an iPod's click wheel, and is used to
select artists, songs, etc. Very groovy, and it works fine. You
can also use the shake control to change tracks if you're really
hip. A slide control is used to lock the controls, for when you
put the phone in your pocket. Personally, we'd have preferred something
a little less cool, and more practical. Open up the flip, and you'll
find a large display and a retro-looking keypad with rather spaced-out
keys. Again, we wondered why SE were determined to do things differently
"just for the sake of it", but on balance the keypad is
a lot better than many that the company has inflicted on their users
recently. We did find the phone rather bulky when opened, and we
have to say that having to open the clamshell to use the camera
was a bit of a pain too. Overall, we feel that the clamshell design
isn't really working - it looks like the head honcho at SE's design
team walked into the office one morning and said, "Make it
a clamshell!" and then the rest of the team scurried around
trying to make the best of a bad job.
Alright, let's move onto the strengths of this
phone. It's SE's flagship music phone, so it's brilliant at music
right? Well, yeah, it's pretty damn good actually. Once you've got
used to the touch-sensitive controls, you'll find that it's as user-friendly
as a dedicated MP3 player, and the audio quality is simply outstanding.
Sony have brought together two new technologies called Clear Stereo
and Clear Bass, together with a premium quality headset to make
this the ultimate Walkman phone, at least in terms of audio quality.
You might complain that there's no 3.5mm audio jack, so you can't
use your own headset, but really the one that Sony provides is a
real beauty, and we're quite happy to live with it. In addition
to the music player, the phone also has an FM radio with RDS.
There's plenty of memory built into the W980i -
8GB to be exact, which is enough to store 2,000 songs. That's a
lot of memory, and is as much as most rival phones can offer even
with memory cards added.
Now, this phone is a Walkman phone, so we shouldn't
expect it to have the best camera. And it doesn't. In fact its pants.
And the clumsy way of accessing it doesn't help either. So don't
buy this phone if you really want a good camera. It does do video
calling though, but again you have to open the clamshell to do it.
Good features include HSDPA and quadband, plus
the large LCD display. The battery life figures that SE provide
look really impressive too, but don't believe them. In reality we
found the battery life to be rather poor. Also, like far too many
SE phones these days, the W980i is subject to software glitches
including random freezing and shutting down.
So, the W980i is a bit of a mixed bag. Brilliant
audio quality (phrases like "best in class" really are
appropriate here), but a cumbersome design, rubbish camera, sub-standard
battery life and occasional software errors. You pays your money,
you makes your choice ...
Features of the Sony Ericsson W980i include:
3.2 megapixel camera with 3.2x digital zoom
Video capture & video calling
Display: 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, WAV formats)
FM radio with RDS
PlayNow™, TrackID™
Polyphonic ringtones, MP3/AAC ringtones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
3D Java games
Picture wallpaper
Organiser functions: Alarm, Calculator, Calendar,
Contacts, Stopwatch, Notes, Tasks, Timer
Internet: Access NetFront web browser, RSS feeds
Memory: 8 Gbytes
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, Modem
Vibration alert
Flight mode
Quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) plus 3G HSDPA
Size: 92 x 46 x 17 mm
Weight: 100g
Talktime: 4.5 hours (3G) - 9 hours (2G)
Battery standby: 360 hours (2G) - 370 hours
(3G)
Video calling: 3.5 hours
Sony Ericsson
W980i Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 97 reviews:
Reviewed by asante akwasi wiafe from
Ghana on 12th Jan 2010
on my part i think it is the best among other ericsson phones becos
of its storage capacity and the walkman attached to it Rating:
Reviewed by Becky from England on
11th Jan 2010
I love this phone. I haven't loved a phone since my Pink Razr in
2005. I went to many shops asking for a flip phone with big buttons
(my nails are too long for the cramped up buttons you get) that
looked good. I was told there was no such thing these days, however
I found this at Carphone Warehouse. It was sold as soon as I looked
at it, I do not care what it can do as long as I can phone and text.
So if you are old school like me and resisting the touch screen
generation, liking flip phones but still want your moby to look
nice, this is for you. I have been assured by my other half that
I have an amazing MP3 player but I have never got round to downloading.
The camera is pretty poor (no flash) so you probably wouldn't buy
this if you like taking pics on your phone. I have had it for about
6 months now and it has started turning itself off occassionally,
but it always comes back on fine straight away. I would be most
disappointed if I can't get the exact same phone if it does ever
break down and if it doesn't I will keep this phone for as long
as possible. Rating:
Reviewed by stevie whitton from scotland
on 10th Jan 2010
ive been reading some of the reviews here and felt i had better
let everyone know of my experiance with this phone,ive had 3 replacements
so far and my latest one has just frozen and wont come back on whatever
i do.i loved the look of the phone but thats the only good thing
i can say about it,all my sonny w980 were in exellent condition,not
even a scratch on screen,i take good care of my phones but after
having 4 of these crashing in 6 months i think its time to get a
replacement,a diffrent phone or a refund which wont make up for
the music and time lost each time these models pack in,take my advice
stay away from this model it will end in tears Rating:
Reviewed by Julian from Sweden on
8th Jan 2010
It freezses all the time. Rubish!! Rating:
Reviewed by Luca from England on
26th Dec 2009
This phone is effortlessly goood. The display is extremely clear
and its vivid colours make it fenomenal. Great for music and video
and with an internal storage of 8GB its a great deal. I was lucky
to grab mine for £110 but even for £200 I would have bought it.
The internet surfing and general navigation on the phone is also
extremely clear and the motion sensitivity comes into play on a
few games and applications. Overall, an outstanding piece of technology!
would reccomend to anyone! Rating:
Reviewed by Sarah from UK on
22nd Dec 2009
I had this phone for a year contract and i am now due an upgrade
thank god! A week before my upgrade is due my front screen broke,
and now it's just white. However, i have never had one problem with
it in the year.It's a good phone for music of course, but not for
photos and such. Rating:
Reviewed by Emily from England on
11th Dec 2009
I adored this phone when i purchased it, however now i am slighly
regreting it! the glass top of the phone is completely scratched
it turns its self off all the time, i am on a 24 month contract,
still another year and 2 months to go! i would seriously advise
to anyone wanting this phone to get a short contract! the camera
isnt as good as i expected, i have the phone in red, which is the
only thing i like at the moment aout it. its a very unique phone.
The music player is very good, and has a very high memory. overall
ok phone. the features are what is making me give this phone 4 stars.
cannot wait to upgrade in 2011!!! :) Rating:
Reviewed by bob from japan on
8th Dec 2009
it's a really good phone, but it does not let it self (music and
video) with a mac :( ALso it is an mp4 player so you add movies
etc. Rating:
Reviewed by shuevo from england on
22nd Nov 2009
this is the best phone for music ever it has the clearest phone
speaker ever i will rate it 10/10 Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from England on
16th Nov 2009
DONT BUY THIS PHONE. had it 9 weeks buttons started to come off.
took it back to shop said it was wear and tear. dont buy going to
get a nokia xpress music fone now. built alot better Rating:
Reviewed by E Taylor from UK on
16th Nov 2009
Love everything about the W980i BUT after 9 months it has died!
The connection point for the charger and earphones will not work,
a battery change has resulted in it not recognising anything. The
only way it will charge is to clamp it with pliers but that is starting
to not work The supplier will only replace with an inferior non
walkman phone - NOT HAPPY my contract is 18 months so have another
miserable 9 to go! Rating:
Reviewed by Katie Smith from UK on
24th Oct 2009
Do not buy this phone!!!! I had it on contract and am now on my
3rd replacement, unfortunately my contractor will not give me another
handset, so I am having to deal with the constant shut down, freezing
and various other issues! DO NOT BUY!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by stevie from scotland uk
on 17th Oct 2009
battery life very poor ,camera poor, audio brilliant. i have had
no problems with glitches eg. shutting down.better than the nokia
n95 and the samsung tocco although the nokia had very good camera Rating:
Reviewed by muthu from india on
15th Oct 2009
fantasic Rating:
Reviewed by Ricky from Philippines on
14th Oct 2009
Pretty sleek phone. Don't argue with the camera because this IS
a walkman phone. But... Design, performance, audio quality... the
best! Rating:
Reviewed by Billy Boy from England on
9th Oct 2009
The features on this phone are good as is the design, however it
has broken 3 times every time it goes in for repair it breaks within
a few weeks, this is clearly not an isolated case reading the other
reviews. I have always bought sony ericsson phones in the past but
will reconsider next time Should you buy it? Probably not! Rating:
Reviewed by Jerri from USA on
1st Oct 2009
I got this phone just before the summer.. I love it!!!! yes, it
is not that flashy of a phone, however, it is user friendly and
works great on-line.. It does what I want it to... Camera is great
and video! Has not let me down!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Peter from Uk on
28th Sep 2009
Had this phone for 5 months and never had a problem with it, though
i admit its a pain if you recieve loads of texts (flipping it open
every 5 minutes). Average camera but very good music player, and,
as a phone it works well. Just seems a bit out of date for a music
phone. Rating:
Reviewed by chrissy from england on
26th Sep 2009
a thought it was a great phone at first then after 2 month it turned
itself and now when you turn it on the screen wont cum on......rubbish
phone dont buy it Rating:
Reviewed by AG from uk on 21st
Sep 2009
HATE IT. its ugly and has a rubbish camera Rating:
Reviewed by George from england on
15th Sep 2009
GOOD PHONE ITS SOME TIMES SWICTH IS SELF OFF. IT DOSE GET ANOYING
AFTER A WHILE I WOULD RECAMEND A DIFFRENT SONY ERRICTON Rating:
Reviewed by JohnMichael from UK on
13th Sep 2009
Great phone! Had it for 2 weeks now and cant put it down. I would
defiantly recommend this phone! Rating:
Reviewed by meena from Newzealand on
8th Sep 2009
i have had this phone for more than 3 months now and it is the best
phone i have ever had .i haven't had any of the freezing or turning
its self off and the phone is real good i had problems with my other
phone that was a Sony ericssion k800i that turned off by its self
and the screen was blurred when it was turned back on. Rating:
Reviewed by Dave from UK on 7th
Sep 2009
Had this phone just over a month when it crashed & wouldn't start
up again, so sent it in for repair only for it to happen again a
week later losing all music and data in the process. fairly good
phone aside from software problems which seem to be quite common Rating:
Reviewed by Tony from England on
2nd Sep 2009
1st one went back as it had awful signal reception on this one is'nt
much better. The battery life is appaling even with very light use.
Music through built in speaker is very quiet. I wished i'd stuck
with W300 although the keys are better spaced out. Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from Wales on
1st Sep 2009
Ive had mine about 6 weeks now. Its nice looking and Im quite pleased
with it though I would have to say in wouldnt recommend it or any
Sony Ericsson phones as it does switch itself off. This seems to
be quite common. Its not as if it crashes when your doing something,
you just look at it and realise its not on! I'll persavere with
it but i am a bit dissapointed with it. I just dont understand why
they cant make a phone that doesnt switch itself off! Rating:
Reviewed by Sufina from Uk on
29th Aug 2009
This phone is allright if you like what of looks like the camera
is rubbish it's a scratch nightmare the rubber back dents very easily
it crashes alot which is very bad if you have no patience it has
a motion sencore which is good for games the front part is really
cool just a cool when you play a song and you see the w press the
down button many times and just bubbles of colour it looks really
fun every time you get a different colour well it's a really cool
device and you should consider buying it Rating:
Reviewed by Chris from England on
24th Aug 2009
Great for music and very simple to use. Looks great, love the orange
light that beats to the bass. 8GB memory is extremly good. Camera
not bad unless you plan on taking good quality pictures alot (which
i dont). only let down is that after about a month it looks like
my cat has clawed the hell out of the front, even though 90% of
the time its sitting in a empty pocket!!!!! Apart from that its
worth the money and im glad i have it. Rating:
Reviewed by hayley from england on
16th Aug 2009
i have had this phone for more than 3 months now and it is the best
phone i have ever had .i havent had any of the freezing or turning
its self off. but there is one tiny thing that happens sometimes
when i am listening to my music through the head phones ,sometimes
the music goes quite then loud again but this might be because i
hadnt plugged them in properly but nothing else has gone wrong.
i find the camera good quality even though it is a music phone .
overall really impressed with this phone, battery life is also very
good . anyone who is looking for a music phone should go for this
one . Rating:
Reviewed by Mike Dusitalai from BKK,Thailand
on 16th Aug 2009
Good phone!!! Rating:
Reviewed by SAM from England on
13th Aug 2009
I think this phone is good but i would recommed it to teenagers
beacuse oof the accersory and that. Rating:
Reviewed by Luke Littler from England
on 13th Aug 2009
I have had the phone for 3 week and the front of it has scratced
to pieces!! just by being in my pocket! it turns it self off all
of the time on its own this phone is the worst phone available !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DO NOT BUY !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by daniel from united kingdom
on 12th Aug 2009
this phone is rubbish!!! camera is shocking, music player is useless
and the screen is too small. plus mine turns itself off all the
time. Rating:
Reviewed by Klass from u.k on
8th Aug 2009
The phone is a very good phone and therfore i would reccomend it.
It has good music and a good camera with nice handy touch feautures
which have been included in the device. it however has got less
battery and is quite big when opened. The design of the phone is
exxccellent and has got a large memory for songs etc. At such a
good price you cannnot really go wrong for this because it is competing
against such higher priced phones. Overall a superb phone Rating:
Reviewed by robbie the pict from scotland
on 8th Aug 2009
was going to buy one of these butas soon as i saw it ,changed my
mind looked cheap and nasty. Rating:
Reviewed by Deepak from India on
30th Jul 2009
Fantastic phone! My 2nd walkman and 3rd Sony Ericsson phone. I had
the w550 earlier and this is way much better. I was waiting for
a stylish clamshell walkman and this was perfect. Sound quality
is awesome. The speakers are not as loud as w550, but quality is
much better. looks very stylish and i like the look of the keypad
as well. I don't multitask with it, so has crashed only once so
far. charge lasts for 3/4 days with 2-3 hours of music and an hour
talk time daily. Camera is good for use in day light. I liked the
fm transmitter and it works beautifully with my car stereo. Will
get some screen protector for it. At 200$ this is outstanding!! Rating:
Reviewed by m from inglang on
24th Jul 2009
poor Rating:
Reviewed by Dan from UK on 9th
Jul 2009
I have the black blob as well (actually 3 of them but 2 are quite
small) at first i thought it was dead pixels and worryingly it was
getting bigger. then 3 weeks ago, just before it fully engulfed
the last pixel of the text message symbol, it moved! i got my phone
out of my pocket and the blob had moved across to the left and now
blocks my 3G symbol, which is much less of an issue. other than
my blob, i've not had any other issues and it's definately my best
SE phone yet. Rating:
Reviewed by Risha Aneja from India on
6th Jul 2009
Beautiful, sleek, 8GB memory, sound quality is amazing, much better
than overrated iPod's. That's all I need! I truly love this phone... Rating:
Reviewed by Ken from SG on 4th
Jul 2009
I got the black bob thingy too! and the earpiece, i dont' know how
to fix the black bob, its growing in size 0.o. But It doesn't take
much time to transfer files into it?, well when i transferred a
6 gig file into it it took 1 hour but yea... a 200 mb file took
a few minutes? My phone doesn't freeze at all though, and if i use
it wisely, i can go up to 3-4 days, 2 days if i keep listening to
music. I've even tried plugging it and playing warcraftIII it worked
pretty okay to me.( I found out i'm killing its ram though) Mabi
it doesn't crash for me cause i keep it off for a while, and 8 gig
of internal memory can be pretty killer for the ram if you stuff
it. Just be careful what you do with it i think this phone isn't
half bad, first thing you do when you buy the phone is buy a protector
=P. Then it'll look super stylish for the rest of the time you have
it. This phone is only for those people who keep their things in
tip top shape.(not me) Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from UK on
3rd Jul 2009
The first thing I'll say is that I personally rate the clamshell
form, seems to me to be the logical design for a mobile. It allows
a fairly compact design when closed, but with a nice big screen
and keypad when open. Used a 980 for two months now and overall
I'm fairly pleased with it. Realy nice big bright screen, very spaced
out keypad (which does take some getting used to) and pretty lightweight
overall and nicely balanced when open. Very plastic build quality
though, with high gloss surfaces that look ace for about four days.....!
Then it's micro scratch and fingerprint hell! Operating system is
Sonys finely honed best, BUT it does run slow, especially in the
music player and typing a text message slows to a crawl if the internet
is open in the background and music is playing. Not a good multi
tasker.... I've also experienced about five random shut downs/re-starts,
which is not good. But it does sort itself out pretty quickly and
even saves the text you were in the middle of writing. Music player
is great (8Gb built in memory), and sounds brilliant but again,
runs a tad slow and 'sticky'. Camera is not great for a phone, ok
for occasional use though. Battery life is rubbish, same as 98%
of modern multi media phones. To sum up: Very plastic, creaky build.
Great music player. Very good volume on ear piece and speaker. Op
system runs slow with some random re-starts. Not brilliant Mr Sony. Rating:
Reviewed by Rachel from UK on
22nd Jun 2009
I think basically what dngn_rdr from Australia thinks :) Some crashing
but if nothing comes off it, just that happening an odd time, it
has good quality sound, grand camera, great screen size, handy little
organiser and looks good too!! Rating:
Reviewed by dngn_rdr from Australia
on 27th May 2009
I love this phone and the only reason I don't give it 5 stars is
the periodic crashing (just had one moments ago but it's been over
a month since last one) or turning itself off - paper or thin card
against the battery does help, not a great fit. Otherwise it's a
sensational phone. Rating:
Reviewed by fireguy from uk on
22nd May 2009
Had this phone for a couple of weeks absolutely love it.Yes the
camera is not the best but.. its a walkman that is why, if you want
a camera buy a nikon! no problem charging no probs with battery
life ,no freezing. Yes its a fingerprint magnet but it looks sooo
good.I am 52 this is the first phone I have really enjoyed to text
with, the keypad being more spaced out,well done S/Ericsson.I love
the menu system so easy to use have not needed the manual up to
now. I agree with Dr Smith turning off your mobile once a day does
help.The camera lens is in a stupid place but with time you can
adapt to the way to hold the phone when taking pictures.For me the
walkman is fantastic great sound and bags of memory,what more do
you need. Rating:
Reviewed by Scooper from UK on
10th May 2009
I have died and gone to heaven! Having been in a mobile phone mid-life
crisis for the last 6 months, I have finally found the phone of
my dreams! The thing that sold this phone to me - IT HAS AN FM TRANSMITTER!!!!!
Not much is made of this in any of the adverts / reviews but it
is the thing that makes it stand out from all the other phones for
me. Not only does it have 8GB's of built in memory, but I can actually
play my music in the car by transmitting it to my car stereo. I
have all of my large CD collection stored on it and it's only just
over half full - room for lots more! Yes - it sometimes doesn't
acknowledge it's being charged, so I simply take out the charger
and then put it back in, and all is fine. Yes, I'm often filming
my fingers coz the camera lens is in an awkward place and I have
to hold the phone in a weird way to clear the lens. But not much
of a price to pay, considering it has an FM TRANSMITTER!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Dr.smith from England on
5th May 2009
For those people who say that their phone freezes then you should
turn your phone off for about an hour a day to reset the ram like
in computers otherwise your phone will crash also to the people
who find that their phone turns off by itself then place a small
bit of paper hn next to the battery so that fits nice and snug in
the back Rating:
Reviewed by Valentino from indonesia
on 4th May 2009
i'm sill using it for 8 months until now. i love this phone because
it is the best clamshell walkman phone and has touch control also
has a great music player(if using headphone), but same like provious
comment it's often switching itself, the battery is not good( i
always charge it minimum every 2days), has slow respond if i opened
application or playing games or when transfer data to pc, some times
it breeze itself, the headset some time is not recognise when i
connect to phone, camera also is'nt good in 3.2m class. it just
has better resolution than other walkman phone but the quality is
suck Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel from UK on
3rd May 2009
Like many other people on here, it's around the nine month mark
of be having the phone (so mid-way through my 18 month contract),
and not only does my phone freeze, fail to recognise when head-sets/chargers
have been plugged in (to the point that it is no longer a walkman
phone because I can't listen to music on it), and also The front
screen has developed some kind of black blob on the display, without
me ever having dropped the phone or anything! When it works, this
phone is pretty good, but unfortunately it's let down by the fact
that it has so many design flaws that let down what COULD be a pretty
solid phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Sharon Queen from Scotland
on 29th Apr 2009
I am used to sliders and previously had w850i and moved onto this.
At first I missed the previous one but soon liked the flip function
and especially love the keypad. The main reason I bought this is
for the music feature which is great, could be better when played
on loudspeaker but still better than most. Had it 9 months now and
have had to send it back for repair/replacement as it is switching
itself off and now does not recognise when charger/headphones/speakers/usb
are connected. I don't think battery life is too bad - I use it
frequently for the music and charge it every 3 days or so which
I think is fair considering how much I use it. All in all I love
this phone except for the fact it is now faulty after 9 months -
not like Sony Ericsson! Rating:
Reviewed by Anna from warrington on
22nd Apr 2009
As with all Sony Ericsson phones this is very useable and has a
great quality walkman. However it is prone to screen freezes and
often doesnt recognise its charging, I have had this phone for 7
months now and the problems are still existing Rating:
Reviewed by Vince from Canada on
20th Apr 2009
I'm never listening to the reviews on this site again; they're biased
as hell. So despite ignoring certain reviews down here and only
reading the main review up there, I figured "meh, need a new phone,
lets go buy". In the half year I've had it this phone has frozen
many times. During data transfers it freezes. Load speed is MUCH
slower than my old w850i. As of right now, 350MB file transfering
to it is taking 24 minutes+ and is probably going to freeze. I've
updated firmware, gotten a new one, done about everything except
take it apart. Oh, and battery life? I'm sure we all know about
that. BAD PHONE. STAY AWAY. [Editor's reply: Thanks for taking the
time to write a review, Vince, especially considering your low opinion
of us. Hey, we're sooo not biased we even printed your review :)
We did mention the poor battery life in our review, plus some other
bad stuff that you haven't complained about.] Rating:
Reviewed by shuevo from england on
6th Apr 2009
this phone is the worst it broke down lots of times and its camra
is rubbish but lovley sound . batttry life poor Rating:
Reviewed by danielPx from Portugal on
26th Mar 2009
Very nice phone! Very stylish and slim, nice to use, great value
for your money and excellent build and sound quality! Love the walkman
function. Hae mine for 3 days and allready love it, just one thing,
When will sonyericsson move the space key to zero and no in the
#? Don't like that... evreything eles, excellente as allways with
SE phones. Rating:
Reviewed by Daf from UK on 19th
Mar 2009
Had the phone for a year,its great for texting as i have large hands,
music sounds good camera is fine so is video,never had dropped calls
battery is good too, BUT of late i have had it turning itself off
now and again and a slight delay/freeze? but all in all a good all
round phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Sha from UK on 7th
Mar 2009
Great phone but the sound quality on calls lets the phone down.
Rating:
Reviewed by balu from India bangalore
on 16th Feb 2009
Nice phone but no walkmate... No landscape mode for pictures in
file manager and no speaker quality compared to c902.. . I have
used almost all the sony ericsson phones but w980i is the best for
music lovers and it is class in design but gu wants to be slim.
:). Superb display clarity.... And so 9/10 Rating:
Reviewed by Magby from Singapore on
15th Feb 2009
THIS PHONE IS RUBBISH. I JUST FINISHED CHARGING IT FOR 8 HOURS AFTER
I BOUGHT AND CONNECTED IT TO MY COMPUTER USING THE NEW USB PROVIDED
AND BOOM! IT GOES OFF AND CAN'T BE ON [Editor's reply: So, magby,
yours seems to be broken. Why not get it fixed, then review it again?] Rating:
Reviewed by raynolds a gusbuch from
ghana on 12th Feb 2009
I LOVE USING IT.(RYNGUSS@YAHOO.COM) Rating:
Reviewed by Colin@Rush from Wales UK
on 7th Feb 2009
I agree with most of the review except i find the camera pretty
good... I bought it for music and it is a superb music phone so
for me 10/10 Rating:
Reviewed by Daniel from Hull on
27th Jan 2009
just got this phone an d love it Rating:
Reviewed by louise from nottingham on
16th Jan 2009
had this phone from santa very nice man indeed.the phone is THE
BEST had the w910i which woz pants.i can now talk text &lisnen to
good quality sounds with out freezing and going blank on me.even
my husband has the same phone and he loves the 8gig memory. Rating:
Reviewed by zohair from u.k on
26th Dec 2008
This is a very good designed phone and the sound quality is very
very good,& the cam,era is excellent Rating:
Reviewed by gargoyleprotected from UK
on 16th Dec 2008
I couldn't wait to get my hands on the W980i. I love music phones
& especially flip phones. I got my W980i on contract in Sept. Well
I have to say the W980i is very disappointing. It is very slow &
freezes often. I even updated the software but the slowness has
not improved. When ever you close the phone after a call or reading/sending
texts it automatically reverts back to the music controls. So unless
you keep the phone lock on you are constantly starting the music
player by accident, which is pretty annoying esp when you are at
work. The polished finish looks good until you touch it coz it constantly
looks dirty & scratches far too easily. The camera is pooh!! Not
only are the pictures not as good as you would expect from a 3.2
mp camera. But also the lens is in such a silly place that it is
almost impossible to keep your fingers off it when trying to take
a pic. Although it sounds promising this phone just does not live
up to expectations. Rating:
Reviewed by angst from uk on
8th Dec 2008
i love sony ericsson phones but unfortunately the negative reviews
in regards to this are correct, the phone constantly freezes, and
shuts itself down for no reason at all. better luck next time sony Rating:
Reviewed by Mabs from UK on 14th
Nov 2008
Recently upgraded to this phone, and had the usual excited rush
to open the box, but once I had put the battery in and set the phone
up it took me very little time at all to begin to hate it!! I am
afraid that the only good aspect to the phone is the sound quality
and volume, and the storage! Other than that I was incredibly disappointed
with the phone! The UI was sooooo slow and buggy it was unbelievable,
the keypad seems to have been designed for people with deformed
hands, and the web browser was absolutely terrible! Perhaps inevitably,
the phone is now back in the very incapable hands of vodafone... Rating:
Reviewed by mia from United Kingdom
on 3rd Nov 2008
i have this phone, and its amazing...... i dont know what these
people are saying, it has NO flaws at all. i think the clamshell
design works really well, but i have to agree that the camera is
quite annoying. ROCK ON, W980i!!!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Phuong from Viet Nam on
27th Oct 2008
I love my phone so much,the sound quality is amzing,and camera phone
is good if shot in the day,ang ok in the night.Sometims lag.The
touch screen led is cool.So many app can do with it's shake control Rating:
Reviewed by Mirza from Macedonia on
20th Oct 2008
I have the phone for a month and it is pretty good i am surprised
by the sound quality a satisfying camera and an easy to use interface
but i defiantly recommend the new iphone 3g it's simple the best.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jax from UK on 11th
Oct 2008
Ok I am another one who never writes reviews on these sites but
i felt compelled to this time round. I have to say I fell in love
with the phone when I saw it and wanted it right away.... Even paid
extra to have it early.... days after its release. I had it all
of a month and it died.... fully charged would not turn on and I
had done nothing to it. All I had done was the same thing I have
done with my other sony which still works perfectly fine. That was
number one.... I am now on my third in a month because the phone
is terrible.... Now, the phone is meant to be an MP3 phone and you
should be able to fill it up with all your music via your PC....
Fat chance of that happening. I plugged it in via my PC and I put
some music on it and then it started restarting itself all the time
and is still doing it now. And has been for hours and it is the
second one I have had do it... They either die completely or they
keep restarting for no reason at all. I loved sony after my W880i
now I am going back to Nokia... Its safer. Rating:
Reviewed by Richard from England on
8th Oct 2008
I thought this phone was great for the first week, even though i
was advised on forums and from friends to avoid getting it do to
issues regarding the build 'quality' and the battery life. The camera
isn't as good as the K800i, although i wasn't expecting it to be.
The sound quality is great through the supplied headphones, but
quite poor when you attach a 3.5mm and used my own headphones. Some
reviews have suggested that the audio quality is excellent, but
what they don't point out is that the excellent headphones serve
a compensatory purpose to make up for the poor audio signal quality.
In other words, there is STILL no improvement in the poor audio
quality of the walkman range. Battery life lasts me about 1.5 days
with light usage. The only good thing i've found about this phone
is the UI (when it isn't freezing and rebooting all the the time)
and the headphones provided. Other than that, this phone is rubbish. Rating:
Reviewed by Pete from UK on 3rd
Oct 2008
This phone looks the part and is nice to text on etc. But the earpiece
quality on calls is dreadful - very muffled and when you put the
volume up it is very distorted, so that you cannot hear what the
other person is saying. It is all but useless when used outdoors
or in any kind of semi-noisy environment. It was not that my model
was faulty, as I took the first one back and tried another handset.
Why none of the professional reviews bother mentioning this is beyond
me. Avoid at all costs. [Editor's reply: Well, Pete, we didn't bother
mentioning it, because in fact we found the audio quality to be
exceptionally good. I think that both the handsets you tried must
be faulty.] Rating:
Reviewed by Leeza from Uk on
2nd Oct 2008
Absolutely love this phone. Have had it now for about a month and
wanted one from the first day I saw it and it has not disappointed.
I love the sound quality of this phone. I love bass, the deeper
the better and this phone delivers bass in droves. Its like listening
to my music through a sub woofer! OK not quite but you get my drift.
Awesome bass! The phone has other neat features which just adds
to its appeal for me but too numerous to mention here. On the con
side it has frozen on me twice when playing music but easily fixed
by removing the battery. If I could add one feature it would have
to be a sleep function for the music player as I often listen to
my music when going to bed. Overall I think this is a fantastic
phone and highly recommend it. Rating:
Reviewed by Sean Rowley from Wales on
23rd Sep 2008
excellent music player, not much new features, back cover always
comes off, mines been a bit tempremental..likes to go blank on me
sometimes wether its just mine im not to sure, other than that great
phone, 8gb internal memory, to be honest i only bought it because
of the walkman feature it's brilliant Rating:
Reviewed by XxAdelexX from uk on
22nd Sep 2008
Buttons are easy to use and music is easy to install the touch screen
ist easy to use and the screen occasionly rotates battery life is
very poor but the phone stores a lot of music i am pleased i brought
it Rating:
Reviewed by Miguel from Australia on
22nd Sep 2008
This phone is great, have had it for nearly 2 weeks now, I won't
go into the positives cause we already know them but just a few
negative issues.. One is I've found whilst listening to music it
just freezes and shuts down for no reason, this usually happens
about once every day! Secondly I've found in the Walkman app when
having 2 or more albums with the same name (e.g. Greates Hits) but
from a different artists, it uses the album cover image of the first
Greatest Hits album you copied across, in other words it thinks
they're all the same album (though this only affects album cover
art and not the songs.. and thirdly the battery doesn't last too
long, I only use it for about 2-3 hrs a day listening to music on
the train + 2 or 3 short calls and a few txt msg's (not much) yet
still have to recharge it every second night if I'm lucky Other
than that the music sound quality is great and I'd say even better
than the iPod.. Rating:
Reviewed by Jack from UK on 20th
Sep 2008
Got this phone and after 3 days sent it in for repair.. the screen
broke after being knocked around in my pocket whilst walking, not
easy to take pictures with. good speaker but not reliable Rating:
Reviewed by Beamy from UK on
18th Sep 2008
I like this mobile phone, camera is Ok but as Ben said it is difficult
to take a picture you have to open the phone, but better than nothing.
I find the battery run out so quick, I have to re-charge everyday…otherwise
it is good mobile Rating:
Reviewed by Clayre Campbell from Scotland
on 15th Sep 2008
My first Sony Ericsson phone... and I will never EVER go back! I
love it so much and the music quality is above anything you've ever
heard before. I love how the clear plastic bit lights up to the
beat of the music! Brilliant! really easy to text aswel as thats
what i use it for the most. ONLY PROBLEM. I see other reviews have
said you can sync it to your itunes and i was just wondering how
you did that. I LOVE THIS MOBILE!! Rating:
Reviewed by Ry from Manchester , UK
on 14th Sep 2008
Ben i have got the phone i have had it over 4 weeks now i have the
krusell rotate clip with it and its perfect , it does not need a
Jack Jack Jack like you say for 3.5mm the earphones provided are
different to all the other Walkman series phones as they have been
produced to the highest standard and provide optimum music experience.
Yes the camera aint the best and it needs to be opened to use but
the camera is added to give it more desiraiblity not as a major
selling feature , its there for music not for sitting in your back
garden taking pictures of daisies and telling your friends about
ISO levels and Xenon flashes. PLUG it in mate TURN it up and ENJOY
it does excellently whats its SOLD AS ! And also the voice dialling
feature is even more improved cutting out any background noise and
being able to assign a personal SMS alert to all your friends makes
it a notch above what else it out there. [Editor's comment: Thanks
Ry and Ben, let's leave this debate now and hear from some other
folk :)] Rating:
Reviewed by Dave from UK on 13th
Sep 2008
I coveted this phone from the moment I first saw it! I just had
to have it. Now i have been living with it a few weeks I think I
can write a balanced review. As a walkman the sound quality and
software is excellent. I have had Sony MP3 players before that were
ruined by Sony's insistence on "sonic stage" but you can use 'drag
n drop' and Media Player here as well, so full marks. The only downside
is you can't plug your own 3.5mm headphones directly into phone,
it uses a Sony connector. The headphones supplied with this phone
are very high quality though. Using it as an Mp3 player doesn’t
feel compromised in any way. I don't bother using camera features
on a phone, as I have an actual camera which I prefer. However the
camera on this phone is merely "adequate" and if this is the main
feature you would use, I would look elsewhere. Styling wise it looks
VERY nice when closed and being used as an MP3 player. Can't help
thinking it looks a bit 'boring' when open though? I used to have
a KRZR which I loved the look of. Size wise the phone is fine, much
easier to live with than brick phones. Battery life is fine but
not outstanding. To sum up buy this phone if you want an MP3 player/phone
that doesn’t compromise. Rating:
Reviewed by Ben from Staffs Uk on
11th Sep 2008
Ry, Thanks for pointing that out its all clear to me now!! But answer
this, if it's such a good walkman walkman walkman, where is the
3.5mm jack???(jack jack) Ohh and does yr Xbox have a cup holder
on it? NO, it does one thing and it does it well!!! I bet you haven't
even got the phone?? Rating:
Reviewed by Ry from Manchester , UK
on 11th Sep 2008
Ben jeez man "Why put the 980i on the W range if its camera quality
aint much use"...... W = Walkman , it is a Walkman phone WALKMAN
WALKMAN WALKMAN thats what the W stands for if it had a xenon flash
and easy to use camera it would be in the C range called a C980i
, C = Camera W = Walkman !!!!!! Take it you dont like XBOX cos it
dont play PS3 games too..... The w980i is an outstanding WALKMAN
phone if u want a Camera look at the c902. Rating:
Reviewed by de2 from e3re32 on
9th Sep 2008
ttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeee best Rating:
Reviewed by mark from staines on
8th Sep 2008
had the phone 5 days and found it very hard to use and download
.easty to scratch and mark Rating:
Reviewed by Ben from England - Staffs
on 8th Sep 2008
I had this as an upgrade, but in the end i sent it back. WHY, you
ask? Well there's no doubt about it, its stunning to look at, and
don't worry about the front screen you can lock it. As flip phones
go its a pretty good one and an excellent ipod. BUT.. The camera
is a total waste of time, unlike the W850i you have to press the
button on the key pad to take pic, so its very fiddly to take pics
and that is not helped buy the fact that you have to have the phone
open to take pics!!! If you could shut it and take pics using the
(otherwise useless)Front srceen, then it would be much MUCH better.
Also no Light or flash!! Why put the camera on the W range?? its
just a waste of time. Rating:
Reviewed by Sue from Scotland on
5th Sep 2008
Had this phone a week now and was considering sending it back as
the first few days the battery just kept draining away within 24
hours. But, I then locked the outside/front touch sensitive keys
using the little slider on the side of the phone and it has made
a huge difference and the battery life is now what I would expect
-plus the phone doesn't start making musical noises when in my pocket
or bag! Other than that, I like the look and feel of the phone -
it doesn't look or feel cheap or plasticky but feels well built.
I like the buttons spaced out and have no problems with texting.
The phone moves quickly enough round the menu. A couple of times
when I have opened the phone the menu optioon hasn't been there
but has always reappeared when I close and reopen it. Sound is very
good, pictures are crisp and clear-better than the Samsung G600
I have just upgraded from. Signal is very good too, I work in a
basement office and in the past with mobile phones I often haven't
been able to hear the person on the other end as they break up a
lot - not with this phone. The big plus for me is the phone has
a loud ring tone -it is seriously loud and I can't imagine missing
a call or text! All in all, I think this is a great phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Card from UK on 4th
Sep 2008
Seriously I wish people would actually find out how their phone
works before reviewing on this site. To Rod from Aberdeen, of course
the music will start if you put the phone in your pocket...it has
touch sensitive buttons! Check the side of the phone and you'll
see a small button that locks the phone that is designed precisely
for when you have it in your pocket! Seriously, don't review something
if you can't be bothered to find out how it works. For my part I'm
very pleased with this phone, the camera could be better but it
doesn't bother me particularly as I buy the W range for music. Phone's
nice and sleek, not quite as nice when you open it but still classy.
If you're coming off a candybar like a W890 it will feel strange
at first, but you'll get used to it in no time. I can't get enough
of this phone personally. Rating:
Reviewed by AW from Rotherham on
2nd Sep 2008
Its the most beautiful toy I've ever had and the FM transmitter
is a cracking idea. BUT .... standby time of 300 hours, I think
not. I managed to get about 30 hours over the last weekend and during
that time I barely used the phone at all. I left home with it 7
hours ago, fully charged, have sent/read approx 10 text messages
and the battery is already at 67%. Has anyone else had this problem? Rating:
Reviewed by Rod from Aberdeen on
2nd Sep 2008
There's no doubt about it, this a very good phone. If your into
music that is. No use, if like me you keep it in your pockets. It
starts playing the music as the touch sensitive buttons on the front
cover activate very easily. Agree with earlier review, not very
private with the front cover screen showing who is sending text
and first line of text. Its a well made phone and the keypad is
well laid out but duplicate buttons meant I kept opening Internet
which was a pest. The camera is excellent. Battery life not good
but overall a very good phone its just not for me. Rating:
Reviewed by Clive from Oxford on
31st Aug 2008
Great phone but the back cover fell off and was lost after a week.
No idea where to get a new one! Also am I the only one who can't
get their entire Itunes library to sync? Rating:
Reviewed by hikaru from japan on
27th Aug 2008
@ Paul: Menu > Settings > New events > change from activity menu
to popup. Rating:
Reviewed by paul from aberdeen on
25th Aug 2008
i totally LOVE this phone - except for one thing... when i get a
text, its shows who its from and the first line of message on the
main screen..not good for privacy! does anyone know if this feature
can be turned off? ive gone through all the settings and cant seem
to find out how, or if it can be done...HELP ! Rating:
Reviewed by Rob from UK on 25th
Aug 2008
What can I add that those here have not already said? This phone
is amazing. I've always steered clear of hybrid phones, but after
looking at a friends W980, I was hooked. Starting with the looks,
it is sleek. It feels perfectly weighted in the hand and the clam
shell feels like it can take some abuse. The buttons are spaced
apart with at first seems odd, but soon you become used to it, and
it actually makes more sense that way. The fact that it comes with
8gig memory to start with really was a selling factor for me. I've
put 3 gigs of music across already (the transfer rate is very quick).
Might try and put some movies on there for the way to work. It syncs
easily with both my Mac and PC, and like the reviewer said before,
it also works with Itunes :) I have to say, there is so much more
to explore from this phone that I've just started to see, but I
am very impressed with it, from the way it looks to the way it sounds.
Call clarity is spot on and I know I'll be happy with this phone
for the next year. Again, big 5/5 Rating:
Reviewed by kez from england on
25th Aug 2008
i think the phone is very nice but when u flip it up its just ugly
and quit diffacult to work Rating:
Reviewed by parthkumar from india on
21st Aug 2008
this is a lovely mobile Rating:
Reviewed by Ryan from Manchester , UK
on 20th Aug 2008
Ladies n Gentlemen Sony Ericsson have just released the Phone of
the Year 2008 , i have had many phones in the last 12 months LG
Viewty , Nokia N81 , SE w760i and my favourite of all time w910i........until
now !!!! This phone by far and away is the best mobile i have ever
had , its screen is a great size and the flip side screen when the
phone is closed is smaller but gives you all the info you need in
a cool silver on black background (although the closed screen cannot
have a wallpaper) , this phone rings VERY loud and SMS is very LOUD
too thanks to the dual speakers. Its has the 8gb memory so you can
easily store as many tracks as you like but of course you know this
as this is the main selling point so ill crack on with stuff i would
like to know when buying a phone eh , the clamshell design feels
well made , smooth , opens and shuts simply and the touchscreen
buttons respond so easily and there is even a keylock to prevent
accidentally touching the pads. The buttons for texting dialling
etc a little further apart than you are probably used to but fast
texters like myself soon adapt. The phone looks the biz the menus
react very quickly , the alarms dont have the faults the c902 has
with missing wake up calls and best of all you can set personal
text mp3s for every phonebook contact if you wish , HOW COOL IS
THAT !!! All in all 5/5 oh and yes THE SOUND QUALITY THRU THE EARPIECES
IS AMAZING such an improvement and so clear and crisp. Rating:
Reviewed by Illya from UK on
19th Aug 2008
I NEVER write reviews or feel compelled to spend time airing my
opinions on line - particularly about a mobile phone!! However,
I have had a mobile for years now, going all the way back to the
Nokia 5110, through various other phones, the only one that I ever
regretted updrading was a Sharp GX30, which was way ahead of the
competition at the time. Since they I have had may disappointing
phones. Until I got the; SONY ERRICSSON W980. What a throughly brilliant
phone, first of all it works with my car faultlessly. My car is
a 2005 BMW (E46) convertable. My daughter works for a mobile phone
shop, we tried EVERYTHING, including the latest 3G iphone, none
of them worked with the car, this one? - no problem. The big plus
is I dont have to wear a "I'm a pillock" bluetooth headset! The
walkman will sync with both windows media AND itunes. Now why cant
anything else!! You little geniuses Sony E! The screen(s) are clear,
the buttons well laid out, and proper buttons. The headphones are
brilliant, the phone COMES WITH 8gig of memory and connects to the
internet easily. This phone is easy to get used to and a real smart
piece of kit. The phone is a flip phone with a proper hinge - so
chance of it falling to bits after a few months. Overall - A really,
really good phone, brilliant connectivity, smart, clever and loads
of memory for your music, FIVE BIG STARS!! Rating:
