We purchased two Sony Ericsson Z520a phones as part of a Cingular family plan, and they have failed three times in three months, for an average lifetime of 2 months under average usage conditions. Here is a brief review of the problems we had using this modern but low-quality bluetooth GSM camera-phone on the Cingular wireless network:
- The antenna on my girlfriend's phone failed within two weeks of purchase. Extremely frustrating exchanges with Cingular and Sony Ericsson followed as we tried to fix it or figure out what we had to do to replace the phone, since she was in Illinois but I bought the phones in California. Eventually I brought it back to the Cingular store here.
- The screen on the other phone broke a month later. We applied for an RMA, never received the RMA number, had to send email to get the it so we could send in the phone, and they finally returned it to the wrong address (mine instead of hers). So the phone was basically broken for a month.
- The replacement phone from step 1 broke, probably due to a bit of sweat on a hot day. Again, had trouble getting the RMA number. Eveutally, RMA was returned with message saying that it was my fault and the warranty was void.
The phones have a lifespan of two months under normal conditions, and then they void the warranty because the damage was my fault? From browsing reviews on the web, other people have had similar problems. On the other hand, we have backup phones from Motorola and Siemens, both of which have been working perfectly with no problems for more than a year. I think there must be some serious design problems with the Sony Ericsson phones, and I strongly advise everyone to NOT buy any more of their products, unless you don't care if they break after a month!
Additionally, I should mention that the Z520a crashes once every couple of days, suddenly dropping me into completely black screen. And 10 to 50% of calls (incoming and outgoing) result in some kind of feedback where I hear my own voice instead of the person I am supposed to be talking to. I thought that the latter was a problem with the Cingular service, until I switched back to my Siemens phone.
Update: I fixed the broken Z520a with a little water and alcohol, scraping the salt off of the circuit bord with a knife. It helped that the warranty people had identified the exact problem for me, so that I could attempt the fix, and it was quite funny how they kept telling me that water damage is irreversible and that they wouldn't even touch it after seeing the damage. The phone has worked perfectly for several months since. However, wires within the charger cable broke after being kicked a few times in the night, and I had to cut open the connector to fix it. Turns out the engineers didn't put any strain relief in the cable, but had the two flimsy wires running straight into their solder junctions. My heat-shrink-and-silicone-glue fix for that is much more secure, but it sure won't look impressive to anyone considering buying the phone.
Any one else having problems with Sony Ericsson? Please send me email, and I'll post your messages below.
Subject: Sony Ericsson Z520a
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006
Hi
I purchased this cell phone in March thinking about the nice camera flip phone available at that time. I have exchanged it three times already and called for an exchange for the fourth time today. I purchased from Wirefly website thinking that I will get my rebate from them. But, "those companies" as usual denied my rebate becuase my bill showed an outstanding bill. I called them and spoke to the manager, she argues about it, so I told her to keep it as a christmas gift for her children. Anyways, about the phone, my phone has to be turned off and turned on everyday. My phone freeze if I get another call while I am on the phone. This is all the problems I can think of. Just last week, I got my third exchange phone for my wife, and today while I was talking to her it suddenly stopped. I can't hear her. Have you seen that Cingular commercial...just like that. But, with me my phone is now in "Mute" status for its life. Bottom line, I deeply from the bottom of my heart hate this phone. Please don't buy this.
