The Sony Ericsson W580i mobile phone offers exceptional music options along with solid call quality. But before getting to the upsides, of which there are many, the device uses the EDGE network. Downloading songs or Internet pages is relatively swift, but not as quick as more recent competing models. Nonetheless, HTML pages can be viewed in full on the NetFront Browser and are richly displayed on a 262K-color 2-inch LCD. The rest of the phone has a superb construction, with a slider mechanism that can be easily operated with one hand. Buttons are intuitively placed, if slightly small, and the overall design is exceptionally stylish.

As makers of the Walkman, Sony doesn't skimp on the MP3 player, and thing that provides the biggest wow factor is the shake-to-shuffle feature. When listening to music, you can press a dedicated button and shake the phone, thereby triggering the shuffle feature. It's a bit silly, given that you have to press a button while shaking (why not use only the button?) but it's also rather addictive and fun. Additionally, it is this same motion sensor that lets you bring the Walkman running. As you jog, the W580i keeps track of your pace, your heart activity, and your calorie burn rate.

Another unique feature on the MP3 player is the music-recognition software. Whether you're in the car or at a favorite bar, you can record snippets of songs that are being played and then send the file to a TrackID service. Within moments, you'll receive the song's information (name, artist, album) on your phone. Music can be easily dragged and dropped onto the phone from your PC, and while internal memory is only 12MB, a 512MB Memory Stick is included. Yet another feature of the MP3 player is a radio with RDS, which means you'll receive track information from compatible radio stations.

The 2.0-megapixel camera takes relatively good photos that can be sent via e-mail, text messaging, or Bluetooth 2.0. The latter also allows you to convert your phone into a wireless modem for your laptop. Other features include a 1,000-contact telephone directory that can store numerous fields per entry, the ability to receive RSS feeds, video and picture ID, and visual ringers (via lights on the side of the phone).

Call clarity for the w580i is exceptional on both ends, and the lithium battery offers an impressive 20 hours of music-playback time. When used solely as a phone, the battery delivers up to nine hours of talk time and 370 hours of standby.

Pros: Shake-to-shuffle, TrackID service, stylish design, great call clarity, battery life
Cons: Small buttons

Warranty
1 year