Sony Ericsson W760i user reviews (black, unlocked)

Pros Sony-Ericsson makes tethering easy.

Cons Dedicated Call and End keys, Equalizer not available for bluetooth headphones, Poorly designed SIM slot, Slow UI, Buggy Firmware.

Summary The Good:

Sony-Ericsson's PC Suite will set up a dial up networking profile on your computer that makes tethering to a laptop ridiculously easy. Even better: Since the software makes the network think it's just your phone using data you won't need to pay for a pricier laptop data plan. During the limited experimentation I did with this feature most web sites I visited with the phone in 3G mode actually loaded faster than when using wifi to connect to my DSL line at home.

The Bad:

The dedicated Call and End keys that cnet editors like so much are a nuisance to long-term Sony-Ericsson users. We long ago learned that the functions of those keys are performed just fine by soft keys, eliminating the needless expense of adding two keys that serve no other purpose than making less room on your keypad for more usefull functions. Sony-Ericsson has mitigated their uselessness somewhat by providing other undocumented functions for them -- bringing to mind another issue: an owners manual whose sole purpose seem to be taking up space and displacing air, without really providing much information about the phone.

cnet editors take note: the poor 3G reception you experienced is easily fixed. poor GSM reception, worse 3G reception, and insane battery drain in 3G mode prompted me to assign a shortcut key for the sole purpose of disabling and enabling 3G mode. The same problems caused the phone to freeze frequently, requiring the removal and replacement of the battery to restore function. A firmware update seemed to fix the freezing by causing the phone to spontaneously reboot two or three times an hour instead. Similar problems experienced by Sony-Ericsson W580 users suggested that the issue was poor contact between the SIM card and the phone. The solution: two layers of transparent tape applied to the back of the sim card made it thick enough to fit snugly in the poorly designed SIM slot, eliminated all reception and rebooting problems, and reduced 3G battery drain to a more normal level.

Sony-Ericsson's "Disc2Phone" software has been replaced by "Sony-Ericsson Media Manager" -- probably to achieve uniform branding with the PSP's "PSP Media Manager." Unfortunately "Sony Ericsson Media Manager" shares "PSP Media Manager's" biggest flaw; after paying hundreds of dollars for the device, Sony wants still more money for software that should come with it free. Granted the software's basic functionality is free, but Sony still wants you to pay around nine dollars to enable the remaining features.

Other thoughts:

Bluetooth stereo so I can finally use my bluetooth headphones. Except the phone's graphic equalizer only works with wired headphones, not with the internal speakers or bluetooth headphones. Why?

Display freezes frequently. This can be disconcerting when inputing text or browsing the web because all user input is still recorded, it just isn't displayed until the phone manages to catch up. Unless you want to retype text messages or hunt for the place you left off on the web page you were reading you'll quickly learn to stop everything your doing and wait for the phone to catch when the freeze occurs.

Pros Has many good features about it,it is a solid well built phone that works great.

Cons For a mid level phone there are none really.

Summary I sold my 16 gb iphone and purchased this,I purchased a unlocked and unbranded W760i not the W760a that AT&T sells,this phone has great response and good call quality,as for the person that said No stereo Bluetooth well maybe he really does not know what he is talking about because I am listening to music from the phone with my Motorola S9 headset as I write this.
The Camera takes good pictures without a flash,and the walkman is great.My unlocked comes with six full games and two of them use the accelerometer on the phone,it has the 850/1900 3G bands for AT&T on it,and a great GPS that works as good as my old N95 did,google maps are loaded on the phone and work just fine.If I want good pictures I will carry my K850i that has a Xenon flash and a 5Mp camera on it.
If you are thinking about this phone I would say get it you will not be sorry because it is a great little phone that can be had for a good price,and it will not let you down.

Pros This is not iPhone, nor Balckberry, but you make make good quality phone call and listen better sounding music than iPod, check your email and never get lost with its GPS wherever you go in the world, EU, US, even Japan & Korea

Cons Cannot watch youtube, cannot access AT&T CV(well, mine is unlocked).

Summary This one has almost every function we can get on cell phones. I wish I could watch Youtube and other streaming media with firmware update.

Pros I really like the call quality, as well as the music capabilities. I browsed around the ATT store this weekend, but kept coming back to this phone. It's light, handy, and a great transition to me from clamshell to slider. (I previously had an LG500.

Cons Nothing yet, but I just got home from the store. I will say that my husband got a different phone today, and he's already having buyer's remorse that HE didn't get my phone.

Summary I like the idea of listening to baseball games or music through my phone. The quality is really crisp and clear. The calls are the same. After all, the main reason I have a phone is to stay in touch. If my family/friends can't hear or understand me, what's the point of the other bells and whistles on the phone?