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Sony Ericsson Spiro Overview

Expected UK Release Date: Available

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Key Features
Music Focused Slider Phone
Walkman® Music Player with TrackID™ Music Recognition
FM Radio RDS
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
Web Browser Obigo™ Q7
Facebook™ Application
Torch
2.2 Inch TFT 262k Colour Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)
Dual Band Technology (GSM 900 & GSM 1800)
2 Megapixel Camera with 2 x Digital Zoom & Video Record
Conversation Messaging
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)

Design

90%

Usability

Features

80%

The above ratings are average figures, which have been generated from submitted mobile phone reviews.

Our Sony Ericsson Spiro Review

Overview
This cool & fashionably designed mobile phone by Sony Ericsson comes with a Walkman® music player, & straightforward call & communication features to suit the music loving user on the move. The Sony Ericsson Spiro is a mid range mobile phone complete with stylish good looks & a range of fun features which are just waiting to enjoyed, whether the user wishes to chat to friends, share messages, listen to music or browse the Web, it is all possible on the Spiro. The Spiro is from the same Sony Ericsson range as the Sony Ericsson Zylo & both handset offer the user a stunning slide opening designed casing & high quality music playing feature, but the handsets specification do differ as well as the overall style of their casings. Using the Spiro is simple & easy, & it is a great little mobile phone to show off to others, plus it is available with exciting & brightly coloured casing combinations.

Appearance & Size
The colour of your handset speaks volumes, as your choice of colour says so much about your personality, so choose wisely with the Spiro. It comes in four colour options which include stealth black, sunset pink, spring green & contrast black. The stealth black coloured handset is entirely black in colour which gives a very sleek appearance, whereas the other colour options come with silver coloured sections for a contrast appearance. Its dimensions are 9.2cm in height by 4.8cm in width by 1.275cm in depth when in its slide closed state. The Spiro weighs only ninety grams including the rechargeable battery which is lightweight to carry. On the front of the handset is the 2.2 inch colour screen which has a 240 pixel by 320 pixel resolution & displays up to 262,000 colours. This screen is on the top slide section of the casing so therefore the user can view the screen when the handset is either open or closed. Situated below the screen there is a navigation control key complete with built in music controls. To access the keypad the user simply slides the top section of the handset upwards to reveal the lower section of the casing which has a neatly designed keypad. The Spiro is a cool, funky & fashionable looking mobile phone which is a mid range handset at an affordable price.

Sony Ericsson Spiro music phone front view

Sony Ericsson Spiro music phone open view

Sony Ericsson Spiro music phone angle view

Imaging, Media & Entertainment
Music entertainment on the Spiro is a fun, lively & is easy to operate, as this mobile phone has a built in Sony Ericsson Walkman® music player & a FM radio. There is a wide selection of music focused features which allows the user to easily control their music selection, add new music & simply enjoy a good quality mobile music experience. Its supports PlayNow™ which means the user can download new ringing tones within a few simple clicks of a key, plus the Spiro supports Bluetooth™ stereo A2DP for a wireless music listening experience. Its TrackID™ feature is a music recognition feature & this service will give the user the name of a song, name of the album the song is from & the name of the artist singing the song, & this is simply gained by the user recording a few second of a song they like the sound of. There is a built in torch which is a practical & useful feature of this phone plus the phone supports Java™ games & the user can download new games to suit their gaming preferences. Its digital camera has a two megapixel lens located on the rear of the casing, plus this camera supports a 2 x digital zoom with easy to use zoom & capture key. Record a fun video clip using the camera lens & share it with others via the MMS service or store it on the Spiro for viewing later with friends. Video recording & photo capturing allows the user to store memories & becomes a fun entertainment feature on the Sony Ericsson Spiro.

Communication & Messaging
When the user wishes to communicate with their compatible messaging contacts then a conversation style messaging display can be viewed allowing the user to view their contacts replies to messages in a conversation style layout. The Sony Ericsson Spiro supports a predictive text input option so therefore the can input text when creating messages at higher speed as each word is predicted as the user begins to type it. When the user wishes to share pictures & video clips the MMS service can be used allowing the user to share their experiences with others in an instant. A Facebook™ application provides a user friendly communication application where the user can access their friends to share text, pictures, videos & status updates. There is a built in speaker system which means the user can talk to their contacts over the speakers leaving the user hands free to continue with other tasks, as the conversation can be enjoyed out loud without the user holding the phone to their ear whilst on a call.

Technology & Internet
The Spiro comes with five megabytes of integrated memory & the phones memory be expanded via the memory card slot. It can hold up to sixteen gigabytes of memory using a compatible MicroSD™ memory card. Its dual band network coverage covers GSM 900 & 1800 & the handset will automatically switch between the two network bands. Its fully charged battery will provide up to 4.5 hours of talk time or 476 hours of battery standby time, but this may vary depending on other features being used during this time. The Sony Ericsson Spiro has an integrated Obigo™ Q7 Internet browser which is accessed via the main menu & the user can use bookmarks to locate their favourite websites. Connecting to other devices is a simple task as the Sony Ericsson Spiro comes with two connectivity options including a Bluetooth® wireless connection & a micro USB cabled connection option.

Sony Ericsson Spiro Specifications & Features

Screen
2.2 Inch TFT 262k Colour Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)

Imaging
2 Megapixel Camera
2 x Digital Zoom
Video Record
Video Player
Picture Wallpaper
Wallpaper Animation

Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Conversation Messaging
Predictive Text Input
Sound Recorder

Sound
Walkman® Music Player
FM Radio RDS
TrackID™
PlayNow™
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
MP3 & Polyphonic Tones

Entertainment
Java™ Games

Organiser
Phone Book
Calendar
Calculator
Tasks
Alarm Clock
Stopwatch
Timer
Notes
Torch
Flight Mode
Speaker Phone
Vibrating Alert
Facebook™ Application

Connectivity
Bluetooth® A2DP
Micro USB
EDGE
GPRS

Network
Dual Band Technology (GSM 900 & GSM 1800)

Internet
Web Browser Obigo™ Q7
Bookmarks

Memory & Talk Time
5 Mbytes Memory plus MicroSD™ Memory Support up to 16 Gbytes
4.5 Hours Talk Time
476 Hours Standby

Weight & Size
90 g
92 x 48 x 16.75 mm

Your Sony Ericsson Spiro Reviews

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Reviewer: Kay - Nuneaton, UK
Date: 18th Jul 2011

After using Sony Ericsson phones for a few years now, I brought the Spiro thinking it would be reliable. How wrong. Within a couple of weeks, the phone started playing up. I would try to send text messages & would be informed the phone was out of memory so would have to remove the battery & restart it which takes ages, if it wasn't out of memory, it would frequently freeze. Again resulting in having to remove the battery. 4 months on, the phone has completely crashed & won't even switch on. Now hoping Carphone Warehouse will at least give me an exchange of some sort although pray it's not another Spiro. Worst phone I have ever had.

Design

85%

Usability

Features

90%

Reviewer: Marian - UK
Date: 31st Mar 2011

Mine is more a rant at Vodafone then at the phone itself. I bought it some weeks ago from my local branch & told them I needed a tri-band phone as I was going on holiday to the US. He assured me, several times, that it was a tri-band. I went to the US & it didn't work. The Vodafone customer services who I emailed told me it was dual band. Also, it switches itself on in my bag & goes on the Internet using my money up. Getting another phone when the pre-paid money runs out on this one. I won't be going to Vodafone.

Design

Usability

Features

Reviewer: Bianca - Mirfield, UK
Date: 12th Mar 2011

I bought this phone 12 days ago & after day 5 I couldn't send most texts & now the phone has crashed completely. I am going to the Orange shop today for an exchange for a different phone. WISH ME LUCK!

Design

80%

Usability

Features

80%

Reviewer: Adam - Lincoln, UK
Date: 23rd Jan 2011

I have owned this phone for just shy of a month so far, & have only just sorted it out, bar the odd problem, from being a pain in the backside. It crashed twice on day one.

The design is quite nice, however if you have larger fingers, you may find it hard to use the front half keypad, I have accidentally cancelled many a text with this.

The slider feels a bit cheap, but hasn't failed me yet.

The phone nearly every day fails to go on key lock when I close the phone, & unlock when I open it, this only seems to be the case when I have had it plugged into the data cable.

On the subject of the data cable, the phone as far as I know doesn't come with one supplied, I ordered mine from eBay.

The alarm has only failed me once, but has woke me up every day prior & after this happened.

The Walkman player requires updating manually whenever any new media is added, or it just will not function properly, I wish it was automatic like my old w760i, which I wish still worked : (.

It is very slow to start up, & the chat feature in texting is also very slow.

Whenever the phone crashes & the battery needs to be removed & put back in, it forgets the time & date instantly, & if you receive a text in this time, it can just disappear & never be found.

Apart from this lot of problems the rest of the phone works OK. So I hope this review helps.

Design

80%

Usability

60%

Features

70%

Reviewer: Chorse - UK
Date: 19th Jan 2011

I cannot believe what a letdown this phone is to Sony Ericsson. The phone has no particular way of ordering text messages or phone calls. You can arrange texts by date but they then go into folders. The time & date is constantly going wrong, yesterday (18th Jan 2011) it told me the date was 20th Nov 2010, this meant that when messages were ordered by date the folders read 'next month' & 'next week', so I am getting texts from the future am I?

The phone is very slow to the extent that the pre installed screensavers do not run smoothly.

Also when charging it's as if it 'forgets' its charging. The charger has to be turned off & back on again to get it to continue charging. Sometimes the battery stays charged for 3 or 4 days & sometimes less than 12 hours with the same usage.

I am looking to replace as soon as possible!

Design

50%

Usability

Features

25%

Reviewer: Graham - UK
Date: 6th Jan 2011

Beware there is no torch on the one I bought today!

Design

75%

Usability

Features

Reviewer: Angela - UK
Date: 27th Oct 2010

I have only had the handset for two months & I have had the same problem as the other writers whereby my texts are coming through blank & I can't send texts. The screen often freezes & it does not charge properly unless you fiddle with the charger. It is the worst phone I have ever had.

Design

90%

Usability

Features

85%

Reviewer: Ana Rielieche - Manchester, UK
Date: 23rd Oct 2010

I bought this phone 10 days ago & on the first day I got problems, it switches itself off. Takes a long time to come back on. Don't like the text message view. Don't like the fact that it doesn't have a text message reminder. Bought an USB cable, memory card & Bluetooth adaptor all separately & still can't get music onto the phone. I went to the shop today & they told me there was a fault with the phone & they will swap it straight away. No wonder it was cheap (£29.99) to be precise. I'll take it back, but let's see how the next one goes. Good job I haven't got rid of my old phone.

Design

80%

Usability

35%

Features

80%

Reviewer: Karen - UK
Date: 18th Oct 2010

Having the same problem as the guy from Ireland. My son bought this phone & exactly a week later it stopped sending texts, was receiving blank texts & no chance of using it for calls. Took it back to the shop & got another, thinking the first one was a duff. Then hey presto, a week later this phone did exactly the same. Thing is he got it from Carphone Warehouse & they won't give him a refund. So now he's on his 3rd Spiro in 3 weeks. Sure to be back next week.

Design

90%

Usability

Features

85%

Reviewer: Anon - Ireland
Date: 20th Sep 2010

You may have heard some reviews on phones where people say that the phone does something funny after a month or 2, I am here to tell you that this is the third time I've had to get the phone replaced because after a week the phone just stops working or there's a problem with the texting beside the very obvious fault the phone is one of the best phones there is but just remember it doesn't work after a week so I don't care if you don't even notice this comment I don't care if you even buy the phone I am just letting you its breaks after a week! : (.

Design

90%

Usability

Features

80%

Click here to add your own review for the Sony Ericsson Spiro