The Sony Ericsson W580i is the second sporty Walkman phone sent to help you fight the flab. Armed with fitness apps and shake music controls, this slider is geared for soundtracking your workouts at the gym.
Unlike the last active Walkman, the W710i, this music maestro is more street than sporty.
It’s a compact little skater with a slightly spongy but sturdy slider action. Its design closely follows the more fashion-following S500i but we’re a bit concerned it lacks the robustness to withstand a date with the road should it accidentally slip from your grasp while jogging.
While we’re on the subject of pounding the pavement, the W580i is fitted with accelerometer sensors that allow you to skip tracks with just the flick of your wrist. It rarely missed a beat when we took on a test run and it lets you concentrate on the street ahead without the distraction of clamouring for your headphone remote when Phil Collins pops up on the earphones.
Further motion sensors are on board to monitor your fitness programme in the form of a pedometer. Your walking steps, running time and distance and calories burned are all recorded and you can observe your progress over the weeks and months via embedded Java-powered fitness apps. We unfortunately found out that Olympic-sized workouts burn fewer calories than we first thought – still, no pain, no gain.
Let’s not forget the W580i is a Walkman music phone and still uses the talented second generation player. As with all the W-stamped handset it sounds lively through the supplied earphones - a 3.5mm headphone jack adaptor is bundled if you prefer to hook up your own ’fones - and the famed Sony Mega Bass mode is ready to boost the low-end thud. Sony Ericsson also generously donates a 512MB Memory Stick Micro for storage and its intuitive and friendly Disc2phone software helps to transfer your songs from the PC.
Elsewhere you get an average two-megapixel snapper, unfortunately without autofocus and flash, and a built in FM radio. The W580i is another accomplished Walkman phone even without the fitness angle. But if you’re about to embark on a health trip then this handset will help to spur you on and provide the tunes.
Verdict
It’s like having your own personal trainer in your pocket. The W580i is another cool Walkman phone that will motivate you to a healthier lifestyle. Well, that and a wad of will power
Best features
Compact build
Shake music controls that work
Handy fitness monitor and apps
Great sounding music player
Not so good
Average camera
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