UK mobile phone reviews - Sony Ericsson Z520i Review

Your Sony Ericsson Z520i Reviews

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Reviewer: M Wahdan - Cairo, Egypt
Date: 19th Jul 2008

DON'T BUY THIS PHONE!

Positive points.
- Looks cool.
- Loud speaker.
- Easy to use.
- Connectivity, Bluetooth & infra-red port.

Negative points.
- Terrible flat cable, I had to change it 4 times within one year, & now I will not change it anymore, will get ride off it!
- Very limited memory with respect to its features, MP3 player, video recorder. Tec & no slot for external memory card!
- Low battery life, have to recharge every 2 or 3 days, it is not heavy duty at all, even less than normal.

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Reviewer: Kate - UK
Date: 15th Jul 2008

OK, the memory is not great I admit but it's so easy to use! Can't say much more than I love the keypad & the phone in general. So yeah. Love it! Xx

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Reviewer: Ex Owner Of Z520i - UK
Date: 11th May 2008

Please! Where do I start, this phone is TERRIBLE. Thought this small clamshell was the end to all my problems I had looking for the perfect phone to suit my lifestyle. I was WRONG. Low battery life, side camera button has no lock so pictures with a high shutter noise that I can't turn on to silent goes off in my pocket! Very slow can shut off without noticing in my bag & FINALY, MEMORY how can I fit all my songs in a 16MB phone. Not proud of this phone at all. Shame on Sony Ericsson if you ask me for making a phone like this. Get the k610im it's a million times better than this white piece of junk.

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Reviewer: Mat - Telford, UK
Date: 6th Mar 2008

I think this phone is great. I like the features it has especially the music folders feature.

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Reviewer: Dawn - UK
Date: 5th Mar 2008

Very user friendly phone, memory is too small though & camera button is poorly placed. Mine kept switching itself off though & I would often find it in my handbag dead after someone rang my house phone or my Husbands mobile to find out why I wasn't answering my mobile.

I loved the size of the phone & the fact that it fit nicely into any handbag or pocket.

The Bluetooth worked brilliantly & I was able to use a hands-free with no trouble. I only changed it as I wanted something with more memory & I was fed up with it switching itself off or freezing. The phone has been passed onto a relative who will use it infrequently, so the switching off won't matter to them anyway.

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Reviewer: Outhhitus - Bucharest, Romania
Date: 24th Dec 2007

This phone is very good. No sound, bad on this phone. Camera is OK. I'll recommend!

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Reviewer: Emily - Frome, UK
Date: 8th Dec 2007

I am not someone who is extremely fussy with mobile phones, & I find the Z520i an altogether good phone with some good points & bad ones.

The camera is only something like 0.3 megapixels so it's not exactly print quality, but you can still take a picture that is easy to see. Bluetooth, infra-red, MP3 player, voice recorder etc it has it all, the basic features that makes a good phone. The design is very good, a sleek flip phone with changeable covers. I have dropped it quite a few times & the worst that has happened is a slight scratch on the external screen & the battery fell out. It is quite easy to use but it's only really a basic model, it has a lot of things that annoy me slightly & that definitely could be improved.

One of the things that have got on my nerves a lot is the fact that it is VERY hard to change covers. The front cover just WON'T come off unless you tug & tug & tug until you're afraid it's going to snap. I thought it would get easier with use but it hasn't. Something else that I am confused about is that the predictive text feature won't work. I turned it on once, then after a while turned it off again, & since then it has never let me turn it back on, unless I reset the whole phone (which deletes all pictures & contacts).

The most annoying thing about the whole phone is the fact that there doesn't seem to be a way to lock the buttons on the side of the phone & turn the annoying camera shutter noise off. The noise is very loud & still goes off if the phone is in silent mode. If the phone is in your pocket, as you're walking your leg hits the camera button on the side & it will take endless pictures of blackness. If you're in a noisy place & you can't hear the camera shutter go off, you'll flip the phone open later that night to find about 90 pictures of absolute nothingness which you have to then delete one at a time which takes ages.

Also, there doesn't seem to be any way to connect the phone to the computer to easily transport pictures from your phone to the computer, unless you have a Bluetooth stick. There is no USB cable or anything. The voice recorder is really bad quality, all fuzzy, & so is the video.

So in conclusion it's a nice phone for someone who wants a basic phone just to call people & receive calls, but for a phone freak that likes the latest designs & technology it's not a good choice.

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Reviewer: Kerry Goodman - Reading, UK
Date: 13th Nov 2007

ABSOLUTELY BAD! ONLY HOLDS ONE SONG ON A GOOD DAY. CANNOT GET TRACKS FROM MY COMPUTER ONTO the PHONE. CAMERA ISN'T the BEST I have SEEN. SCREEN DAMAGED AFTER A SMALL ACCIDENT. CAMERA HAS GONE PINK AS IF IT WAS A HEAT SENSORED CAMERA. CHARGER IS USELESS, I HAVE TO HOLD the PHONE IN the AIR FOR ROUGHLY THREE HOURS FOR IT TO CHARGE. I CAN ONLY TEXT SOMEONE IF THEY HAVE TEXT ME FIRST.

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Reviewer: Doris - Glasgow, UK
Date: 9th Nov 2007

Great phone but it turns itself off, it must be some design fault if it happens to others too.

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Reviewer: Rachel - Ukraine
Date: 1st Nov 2007

Love this phone! Except the memory's not very good but apart from that it has survived being dropped in the floor about a thousand times :) so it is very good.

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Reviewer: Sally - Oxford, UK
Date: 4th Sep 2007

This phone has good points. It also has some very bad ones. I've had this phone for around a year & it has absolutely NO durability! OK, I've dropped it & all the other things that happen to phones, but I've done that to others & they still perform just as well.

Usually I would plug the phone in to charge overnight, & this would be plenty long enough for the battery to fill, but not with this one. It flashes incessantly where it decides that it's going to start & stop charging randomly, even though it never moves from exactly the same position. This makes it impossible to use the phone when you need to charge it.
The charging socket is INCREDIBLY temperamental. It doesn't connect to my computer anymore which is annoying because this is one feature I really liked about it & set it above others.

The predictive text function has gone. & it decides to switch off when you need it the most. There are too many inconveniently bad points to this phone for them to be overridden by other features. Not recommended.

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Reviewer: Clare - Rutland, UK
Date: 22nd Aug 2007

Really good phone! Was easy to use & had most of the features I wanted, could find loads of covers for it so I managed to keep it looking fairly new. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a fashionable easy to use phone.

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Reviewer: Miriam - Cairo, Egypt
Date: 19th Aug 2007

I don't actually own this phone, but my mother does, so I use it plenty. I have got to say that it's a really good & very attractive phone. It's in white, so the blue lights look really good. Plus its mega user friendly & I love the ringtones. I don't agree with any of the other reviewers that say that they don't like the outer camera button because it works by itself, that's not true- just delete the pictures! :D I do have one thing to say, though. Besides the small memory (which is rubbish by the way, but then again we're talking about my mother here so she doesn't really care about that) the phone just started turning itself off last week for no reason, which is really annoying. We were at the beach, so I think all that humidity & sand & water might've had something to do with it, but does anyone have a solution to this problem? Other than that, perfect phone.

In fact, I like it so much I almost thought about buying the z530i, because they're almost the same, except that this one has a memory stick. But now I am thinking of w810i. If anyone knows a solution to the shutting off problem, please let me know! (I use my mother's phone too, you know! ) Otherwise, totally love this phone!

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Reviewer: Naomi - UK
Date: 3rd Jul 2007

All in all, it's a good little phone. Mine has been thrown around my handbag & survived my youngster playing with it! It's very easy to use. My only grumble is the camera button on the side. I have had lots of pictures of the inside of my bag! The camera isn't the best but that's what I have a separate camera for. I have not had any problems with the phone at all & I have had it 10 months now. The battery life is really, really good.

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Reviewer: Rachii - Newcastle, UK
Date: 31st May 2007

I Have This Phone. It is Easy To Use, Good Stuff, Design A Little Big but Whatever You are Looking For, A Good Phone. I have had this For Ages & I am Getting A New One Next Week Coz This Hasn't Got Enough Memory For Me.

For Most People Memory Will Be Fine But I am One Who Need A Lot of Song On My phone so my next shall Be One with a Memory Stick.

But I do recommend this phone As It is Easy To Use & Many Will Love the Built in Game, 'New York Nights' Where You Get a Character & you Get 40 Day to Get a Successful New York Life. Young People Will Enjoy Playing This Game.

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Reviewer: Sian - UK
Date: 14th May 2007

Had a lot of problems with this phone:

- Camera button on the side meant it took pictures in my pocket.
- Low battery life.
- Low memory.
- Kept turning itself off until it eventually stopped turning back on all together.

Maybe I had a bad one, but I don't recommend this phone.

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Reviewer: Zeljko511 - Odzaci, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Date: 22nd Feb 2007

This phone is very, very GOOD!

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Reviewer: Megan - UK
Date: 16th Feb 2007

I got this phone last year & only had 1 problem- it kept turning it self off- but I phoned up Sony Ericsson & they told me what to do - overall a very good phone.

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Reviewer: I Thomson - Scotland, UK
Date: 7th Jan 2007

I bought this phone about 1 year ago. Quite frankly, the reason I bought it was down to the fact I love customising my phone! This has to be one of the most 'customisable' phones out there on the market. However, when you get down to the nitty gritty, the z5210i is not robust in any shape or form. My phone has sustained a few light knocks over the last 12 months & it shows. Not only that, the covers are beginning to look very tired & grubby. My main complaint is the stupid camera button placed on the outside-I am so sick of hearing my phone take pictures of my inside pocket! It has been a total nuisance. I dropped my phone inside a glass of wine at Christmas (not on purpose! ) & I can honestly say I was celebrating that my phone is now defunct!

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Reviewer: Karen - Newcastle, UK
Date: 5th Jan 2007

I think this is a super little phone; compact, lightweight & so easy to use. I have the pretty pale blue version, my daughter has the pink. We both have optional white covers (came with phone) & if interchangeable covers is your thing, then there are plenty of options to be had with this model.

Whilst how a phone looks is the thing that usually grabs attention for most of us, it has to be said that looks are superficial. From a practical point of view this phone is good in use. The flip design makes it compact & lightweight enough for a gent's pocket or a ladies' clutch bag, whilst at the same time offering a good size screen & spacious keypad that even large hands will be able to handle!

The keypad & navigation keys are easy, positive & comfortable to use (unlike most Sony Ericsson's in my view). The phonebook has plenty of storage capability for the average user & is quick & simple to access.

Have never used the MP3 player on mine, (only because I can't) but my daughter is fine with hers, It may not hold a lot but then one must bear in mind that it is essentially a phone.

Same with the camera. However, I'll not knock it as have actually managed some half decent prints off of mine once transferred to the PC via Bluetooth. Had no problems connecting a Bluetooth headset with this phone either. Couldn't say the same for one of my previous phones!

Have found the battery life to be pretty good too, which is just as well as send & receive more texts & voice calls than is good for me! Voice calls give good quality. From nothing the battery charges up pretty quick.

The only thing I can say as a negative is that like another reviewer, my phone started switching itself off, though it also immediately restarted itself. Spooky! It hasn't done it again for some months. My daughter has had no problems with hers & perhaps if I bothered to get it looked at the problem might be discovered & able to be resolved.

It has come down an awful lot in price since I bought mine last March but even then I consider it to have been money well spent. Given today's' price for it, I would suggest it's a lot of phone for very little outlay. A bargain!

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Reviewer: Ali - Isle of Wight, UK
Date: 30th Nov 2006

This is a great little phone. Its tidy, light weight & smooth shell. It has always been reliable, & I have found that the camera & video quality are great. The volumes & sound quality are good. I think that the only snag is that when the phone is in my bag, it hits the external camera button & I find I have photos of the inside of my bag! But apart from that. I would recommend this phone!

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Reviewer: Zoe - UK
Date: 28th Nov 2006

I think this is the worst phone I have ever had! I thought id try a Sony Ericsson, what a mistake I made, pictures are rubbish, hardly any room on it for anything! Loudspeaker may as well be none existent! Really unimpressed!

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Reviewer: Carolyn - Abingdon, UK
Date: 12th Nov 2006

I love this phone. I love the bright blue lights on the side that let you know you have a text or a call, as I can be deaf at times. Its user friendly, but it does have a small memory so it can be easily filled quickly. After one year, the loudspeaker is starting to crackle, but it would be fair to say, I have put this phone through its paces!

The biggest feature on this phone is its durability. My phone has been bounced about, dropped, left for ages in the bottom of my handbag & there isn't a scratch on it. I was hoping that Sony would incorporate the same durability in the 610i, but it doesn't appear so. I do like this phone!

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Reviewer: Tiffany - Ga, US
Date: 12th Nov 2006

Now don't get me wrong I LOVE my phone. I really do. But this is the second time I will be replacing it for pooping out on me. The first time the phone would power off while I was in the middle of a call or the volume got messy & I couldn't hear anything. Now the phone tells me almost every other time I power it on that I need to insert the SmartChip, which is ridiculous because it's already in the phone.

But those are my problems with the phone, well & the camera quality is a 7 on its best days.

The good parts are amazing though. The phone is user friendly & really easy to get a handle of even without reading the manual. The phone is fun & playing games on it is more than manageable, the ringtones are loud & clear.

Like I said I love my phone, but I am tired of replacing due to the model. I have heard from other owners that it might be a Sony Ericsson issue, their quality has depreciated overall.

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Reviewer: Karen - Hampshire, UK
Date: 25th May 2006

I love this phone, even though the memory is small & can only fit about 3 songs, its good enough for me as I have an MP3 player anyhow. It is a sturdy, good looking, user friendly phone, & the video & camera are good enough for what I want it for, as it is only a phone & not a camera! I am glad I made the right choice buying this phone it is just what I wanted.

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Reviewer: Troy - Maidenhead, UK
Date: 11th Apr 2006

Very good phone & would recommend it to all. I have only had it 3 weeks but feel it has been part of my life for years. Reliable & very easy to use. I would recommend this phone to all phone users as it has features to suit such a large range of users. Very good camera, great video & music player, good music quality & good connectivity, good Internet access & the menus are outstanding. The only downside is the position of the camera button as I keep pressing it by mistake but that could my fault not the phones. Get one today.

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Reviewer: Diana Frost - UK
Date: 23rd Mar 2006

Sony Ericsson Z520i has amasing looks, is easy to use & has a great range of features. Bluetooth is very easy to connect & I have been connecting to my PC with the USB cable. Easy messaging, multimedia is amasing. Camera is quick, easy & gives a beautiful finish to my photo. This phone has so many pros & no cons at all. The price is good & I have it in the grey colour which is a great look. I may treat myself to a style up cover to give my phone a makeover as I will not change the phone itself for a long time. 100% all the way for this phone.

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Reviewer: Desmond - Hastings, UK
Date: 15th Mar 2006

I thought the Z520i would of come with a 1.3 mega pixel camera & was disappointed that it only came with a VGA. Wont be getting this phone as I have had a VGA camera before & it was not worth having. Warning the phone has a VGA CAMERA.



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