mjtriplett's Full Review: Sanyo Katana II Cell Phone
Because my employer was kind enough to negotiate a discount with Sprint, I recently switched over from my Verizon service and replaced my well worn LG VX3200 phone for a sleek, shiny, and sexy Sanyo Katana. I’ve been using my Katana for about a month now, and I’m very pleased with its performance.
Background & Basics
The Sanyo Katana’s design inspiration is the Samurai Sword, and Sanyo declares the Katana to have been made with the same eye to quality craftsmanship as was found in those swords. The Katana is available in 4 colors: Blue Sapphire (my choice), Mystic Black, Cherry Blossom Pink and Polar White. It’s an incredibly slim flip-phone, being that it is less than a ½ inch thick. I love that it can slip into pockets and takes up a miniscule amount of room in my purse. It has a built-in VGA camera and antenna and is Bluetooth capable.
The Katana comes in a basic package consisting of the phone, an instruction booklet, a Li-Ion standard battery and an A/C charger. You can get back-up batteries, head sets, and other accessories as needed. The Katana’s retail price is $279.99, but with rebates, a service plan and discounts, I purchased mine for $29.99.
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Using the Katana
Instruction booklet & Phone Menu
Although the Katana comes with an extensive instruction booklet (over 250 pages), I found it completely unnecessary to read because the menu interface and keypad are both easily deciphered and user friendly.
The menu is located, per usual, in the upper-central portion of the keypad. When pressed, you will see either a text or a grid view (depending upon your settings) to your call history, messaging options, tools (alarm, clock, notepad, etc.), missed alerts, internet, contacts list, pictures, my content (downloaded games, rings, and screen savers), and settings. Each of these are self-explanatory if you’ve ever used a cell phone, and because they’re all located under “menu,” you don’t need to read the manual to figure out where to find things on the Katana, which is nice, because it is so sexy you’ll want to start using it right away!
You have the ability to set several things as your “favorites,” which you can then reach with just the click of one button. I use this for contacts, favorite websites, and some pictures, but you can put anything you’ve downloaded or any particular menu bookmark in this location for quick and easy access.
Keypad & screens
The keypad on the Katana is rather small, but pretty typical for a cell phone. I do like that the keys are actually separated as opposed to just strung in a line like some newer cells, because I can be sure I am pressing the contact for a specified number. The keys are black and there is a blue backlight (I suspect the backlight color corresponds to the color of the phone you choose) that enables me to see what I am pressing in a darkened car.
The LCD screen inside the flip phone is good-sized, but the one on the front is tiny and only allows you to view the battery life, time and signal over a bite-sized portion of whatever wallpaper you have chosen.
Contacts & Calls
The Katana has the capability to store 500 contacts or 700 phone numbers (1 contact could have 7 numbers). The phonebook and caller ID are customizable so that you can view a picture (or other identifiable graphic) when your contacts call you. The picture is viewable on both the outer and inner LCD screens. You may also customize the background of both screens with different images.
The Katana features voice-activated dialing for easier use when you don’t want to have the phone on your shoulder (i.e.: in the car or when working on speakerphone). It can store up to 30 commands and I’ve found it to be very easy to set up and have yet to discover a problem with any voice or word recognition when using this feature.
I have had no problems with reception on this phone. Previously with my LG VX3200, I had trouble hearing people when walking through the skyway system in Minneapolis (it wasn’t Verizon because my husband could hear just fine), but I have no such trouble with the Katana. I can hear people clear as a bell and even on the lowest volume setting. The phone does have an internal antenna, located at the bottom of the keypad, so if you hold the phone with fingers covering it, you will have poor reception. I didn’t even notice this until flipping through the manual for this review because I always hold my phone on the sides and haven’t had a problem.
The Katana has 8 voice and ring volume levels in addition to the option for a single beep or vibration upon ringing or a message. I love having all these options, but on the other hand, I hate that the phone comes with limited ring tones and boring melodies! You must download anything else you want, so if you don’t sign up for their $15/month internet service, you’ll be out of luck. The Katana has presented no downloading problems for me, and I’ve captured several ring tones, songs, and games (it includes only demos) on mine.
On the other hand, the speakerphone is barely audible on the lower volumes and so I have it up on a 6 or 7 when using it in the car. And if I’m speaking to a mumbler on speakerphone at all, I will only be able to catch every other word.
Camera
The Katana has a digital camera that will allow you to take pictures with the phone flipped open or closed and view the photo on either LCD screen. According to my Sprint salesperson, I can now take many headshots of myself with the phone closed (not my idea of a selling point!).
Anyway, the camera does not have a flash, but it does have several settings according to the environment in which you’re taking the picture (sunny, cloudy, beach, etc.) But it cannot capture even slightly moving objects without some blur, and it does not have a USB cable to connect to my PC. Sure, I can email the pictures to myself, but they aren’t of the best quality, so mostly I use the camera to capture images that I want to use in my phonebook or as a background on the LCD screens. This is fine with me, because I have my digital camera for picture-taking purposes. One final note is that the camera makes an extremely loud fake shutter noise when taking pictures that scared me the first time I used it.
Battery
When I first powered up the Katana, it indicated that a full charge should take 4 hours; mine usually take about 2.5 hours on average with a completely dead battery and upon initial use. The standard battery should be capable of up to 3.6 hours of talk time and 7 days of standby time.
In my estimation, I've had at least 2 hours of talk time and several of stand-by in between before getting a low battery signal. I definitely don't have to charge this everyday and I'm happy with the battery life.
Other Features
Other, less-used but nice-to-have items on the Katana include the world clock, alarm, calculator, and to-do list. It also comes with voice memo so that you can record messages to yourself for later use. And no, I do not record the location of my car in the parking lot, but I will admit to using this in Blockbuster one time to record the names of movies I must remember to add to my Netflix list (conflict of interest?)!
The Katana also has text message and speed dial capabilities, neither of which I have much use for (especially with the favorites key), but both of which are easy to set up. The text has 20 available pre-set messages (Call me, Where are you, and the like) and gives you the ability to add often used words or phrases of your own. In addition, you can use Bluetooth on the Katana, but I have not purchased this service.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.99 Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
The pink katana II is an ultra-slim, stylish phone with a digital camera with zoom, a large color display, bluetooth, and the complete range of unique...More at kajeet
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