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Author Z520i user reviews
Macco
K700
Joined: Sep 15, 2004
Posts: 109
From: Italy, Rome
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Posted: 2005-10-17 14:53
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Two days ago my wife got a Z520i.

Here follows my opinions as far as I could play with it an all day long (most of the comparison will be with the K700 that I own, or the K750 my father has).

In Italy the phone comes just "TIM operator" branded. The personalization puts a couple of different icons on the menu, a customized turn-off screen, a set of WAP/MMS settings, a change in the yamigo MyFriends name and.. a TIM sticker instead of the Quickshare (inside the clamshell); that's all.

The phone looks very classy and well built: the keyboard looks very very well done: instead of the small/shaky K700 buttons, here you can find a real large spaced keyboard! And finally not a joystick but a pad (IMHO is the part less durable of recent phones)

The screen (internal) has a bit smaller resolution than the K700 one; but icons, menus, etc. have been well redesigned: for example all horizontal tabs have been partially overlapped and that allows all enters the screen!

The external screen is small and really ugly: you can hardly see a battery and level signal in there! You can personalize it with a picture or a smaller version of the internal theme. CallerID available, of course. Becomes a viewfinder to photograph yourself!

The battery is Li-Pol 900 mAh, and it proved to be far better than the K700 one.

The white papers states the phone is Bluetooth 2.0. I had no cavils with it and a brand new Parrot drive system (CK3100): all went flawlessy and the Z520i proves to offer a robust BT implementation, as like as my R2AE003 K700. The Z520i fw should be something like R3A or R3B... can't remember.. keep you updated..

The moving lightning effects are very effective: there are a few that you can choose from and set to a specific contact (as like as for music/callerID pix).

The phone goes easily connected with MyPhoneExplorer (via Bluetooth dongle). Unfortuantely I couldn't sync my K700 contacts, neither via PC nor via cell-cell: The K700 -> Z520 "all contacts" sending was way too slow (both via IrDA and BT).

The phone comes with no frills: no headsets (it doesn't integrate a radio, so from a standpoint they are not needed), no USB cable; just a battery, two colour covers and a recharger fast-port type.

The software reminds me the K750 generation: there is an activity menu (that can be opened w/ UP keypad just in the standby screen -> far less useful), there is PhotoDJ/VideoDJ, Bluetooth 2.0, Java MIDP 2.0 with BT/FSystem addon, birthday in contacts, MID/MP3 as SMS tone, etc.), you can find a file in a folder with first letter search (as with contacts).

Then the sw appears to be as a castrated K750 w/o 2Mpixel camera (just the K700 one), w/o radio, w/o photo led, w/o M.stick, with a smaller screen (apparently not very much), and 16 Mb total RAM.

I believe that for 164€ it's a bargain (and it's the real first price in Italy, not locked, just branded a bit).

The loop antenna reception seemed to me a bit inferior than the excellent K700 one. Maybe you can get some reception gain by leaving the phone on a table put on a side, with the antenna set vertical...

Below you can find some pictures just after some hours of use..

Bye,
Macco

[ This Message was edited by: Macco on 2005-10-18 08:56 ]

[ This Message was edited by: laffen on 2005-11-29 02:00 ]
Mrb 18
P1
Joined: Feb 19, 2002
Posts: 299
From:
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Posted: 2005-10-17 15:02
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Thanks for your review, nice reading!
My Girlfriend likes it maybe i'll buy her one
so i can get my K750 back from her, she didn't
like the Z800i i bought her so we swaped
phones, so know i'am sitting with a phone
that is worse than my previous one..
But the Z520 looks nice
haynesycop
Z800
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
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Posted: 2005-10-17 15:11
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fab look forward to pictures
PeterKay
W995 Silver
Joined: Jul 08, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: The Ummah
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Posted: 2005-10-17 15:30
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me too.
haynesycop
Z800
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
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Posted: 2005-10-17 15:40
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Your wife will be pleased then peter kay you bought her one yet?
PeterKay
W995 Silver
Joined: Jul 08, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: The Ummah
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Posted: 2005-10-17 16:03
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not yet, soooooooooooooooooooooooon.
Macco
K700
Joined: Sep 15, 2004
Posts: 109
From: Italy, Rome
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Posted: 2005-10-18 09:38
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Here are some photos (taken with a Canon camera):

Note that photos to the internal screen were made with the temporary screen protector still put.

Open (excellent keyboard / pad):


Closed (note the sandy texture the cover has; the other one - pale metallic orange - has not):


Idle screen (animated theme):


Light effect (there are some preset):


Menu (sorry for the blurry pic):


Activity Menu-Shortcuts (available with UP on the pad in Idle mode):


In the future I'll check the fw and maybe post some photos taken with the cell (I believe they are as like as the K700).

Bye,
Macco


[ This Message was edited by: Macco on 2005-10-18 15:47 ]
gelfen
Z600
Joined: Nov 22, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: 2005-10-18 09:51
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thanks for that. my wife wants one of these
Whomsoever you see in distress, recognize in him a fellow man

Gelfen's special place where nobody talks to him anymore
PeterKay
W995 Silver
Joined: Jul 08, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: The Ummah
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Posted: 2005-10-18 17:22
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Quality pics mate, thanks.
masseur
P910
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Sydney, London
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Posted: 2005-10-18 23:26
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mobileburn review "Sony Ericsson's Z520 is Rock Solid"
xj9
T68 gold
Joined: Dec 02, 2004
Posts: 17
From: philippines
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Posted: 2006-09-26 15:47
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i just got my z520i last week and i must say i am very pleased. i really like clameshell phones and se just did it. the only thing that bothers me is the camera, it says it has the same resolution as that of my old k508i, but it seems the k508i is crispier or is it because k508i comes with a 65536 number of colors and my new z520i only have 65k? any ideas?

all in all... i just love it!
tele_xpert
T68 gold
Joined: Oct 31, 2006
Posts: 5
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Posted: 2006-11-01 16:37
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http://www.exoticphone.com/
offer this set cheapest rate..
its true noboby beats their price !!!


Product Description

If a cool clamshell with every possible customizing option is what you want, Z520 is your phone. You can change the front and back covers, have any combination of ringtones, images, and light effects play when a call comes in. And you can have a combination for favorite friends in your phone book. Z520 is all about sharing. It has an easy-to-use VGA camera with video recording to capture fun moments and Bluetooth™ and MMS to share them. A speakerphone loudspeaker gives your original artist Music tones the sound they deserve. Z520 is all about expressing yourself. Do it.


for details Specifications :

u can visit :

http://www.exoticphone.com/website/displayprod.php?itemid=10384
-:- montazer -:-
..Think Better..Think Bigger..
cammerv8
W810 white
Joined: Apr 04, 2007
Posts: 73
From: Sto Domingo Orienta, Rep Dom
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Posted: 2007-07-15 23:42
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i missed mine, i had one and after 4-5 years the FLEX just died!!!!!
i was the firt and las owner of the phone, but think 4years is long time for a cell phone !!!!!
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