Beam me up Scotty
Written: Mar 01 '04 (Updated Mar 01 '04)
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Pros: Size, ease of use, features to please most anyone
Cons: delicate casing, few bugs (volume), still Sprint
The Bottom Line: Though I don't use this phone to its full potential (email and messaging not really used), the basic function of this phone for talking if flawless.
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| mickeyk9's Full Review: Sanyo SCP 5300 Cell Phone |
Ok, cycle through my reviews and you'll see more or less a review for every phone I've owned. They all offer insights and experiences from someone who literally kills phones for a living. So a little a background is in order (as usual). My company uses Sprint, a company which I vowed never to again use for my personal plans. I despise their service and customer service. But I'm forced to deal with it for work so why not make the most of it. Prior to this phone I used the Nokia 3585 which served me very well. I never had a problem with this phone, but sadly it ended life recently when I was fielding a call while riding on a Paladin tank, we hit a nasty rut, phone flew out of my hands.. onto the ground and could not survive under the treads of the 55,000 pound tank. I was sad. I may have even cried. I made the dreaded call to our Sprint rep to report the loss and find out if I could (praying) get another Nokia 3585. I could not, there was not one available but he assured me that I would much enjoy the rugged durability of the Sanyo SCP-5300. After much hesitation I agreed, flip phones don't usually last more than a month under my ownership. Time to put the 5300 to the test.
First impressions-
Well, military folks and government folks take note.. Camera phones are banned at some installations. Thankfully I'm able to get mine into where I work, but not a great way to start out a cell phone relationship.
The casing reminds me of a Star Trek gadget and while it is very nice and appealing to the eye, the darn thing was scratched to hell before I even took it out while testing military equipment. I did end up buying a leather case for it, which you may want to consider if you're like me and have a tendency to throw it in your pocket along with your keys or put it anywhere conducive to scratches. It has long been my opinion that mobile phones should be able to withstand the harsh environments we subject them to and never really understood why these companies make phones that so easily get beat up.
User interface is absolute simplicity. Ok I admit, I take a phone out of the box I power it up and I go. User manual?? huh.. what's that? I powered this thing up, had my phone book loaded in no time, had pictures taken and saved to screensaver in seconds, got my calendar for the month set and even managed to download Sweet Home Alabama as my main ringer. Voila. By far the easiest phone to use I've ever owned.
The Good-
I have more storage in this phone per contact then I have ever had. I can save addresses, emails, phone #'s, and mug shots now for each person in my phone book. This has become very handy and made my PDA virtually useless.
The main color screen is big, bright, and clear. Very nice job Sanyo.
One handed operation all the way. Very useful and big plus to me. I can do anything that can be done with this phone all the options with one hand. Convenience at its finest.
Reception: No dropped calls in 2 months of ownership. Is this possible? Now I have yet to take this on long distance travel with me, though a trip to Austin is in the making so we'll see. But I applaud Sprint/Sanyo here, I have no dropped calls and geographically, my work area is pretty remote. I have been in areas where the signal was nil but wasn't on a call. So unsure of how it would perform there while talking to someone. But so far so good.
The bad-
Volume: ok.. not all of us are deaf. Even at the lowest talk volume, I have to hold the phone away from my ear the vast majority of the time. The volume is just too loud. I could be riding open air on a piece of machinery with unrestricted diesel power plant grumbling away and still have to hold the phone away from my ear. I don't get it. I have yet to turn the volume up above the first bar. I'm scared to think how loud it is at the highest lvl.
Juice: I have to carry a spare battery with me, one just doesn’t cut it for me. I talk about 3-4 hours a day on my phone and I'm usually out of juice before I even head home for the day. This is something I'm accustomed to so I really don't mind, but to some it may be a pain. Advertised battery life can be found at the Sprint website, so I won't bother. But heavy talkers should keep a spare battery handy.
Small keys: very nitpicky of me, I know, but the number keys are tiny. If I have to dial a number not already saved in my phone book, I misdial 9 times out of 10. I guess the relatively small size of this phone calls for these small keys but it is a pain for me.
The undecided-
Camera- ok, the camera function is a novelty. It is easy to use, point and push, if you don't like the picture discard it and take a new one. Save the ones you like to wallet and then off you go. I have not been able to share them or send to anyone else despite calling Sprint several times about this problem. Now I've learned that dealing with problems when it comes to Sprint is hit or miss, so never look a gift horse in the mouth. My phone works great for talking so I let it be. I don't always have a camera on me to catch something I want, but have found that almost half the pictures I take with the camera on this phone have to be retaken anyway due to poor quality. So yes, you have a camera at your disposal anytime you want it, but it may or may not take a picture worth keeping.
The verdict-
Well, it has been dropped, it has been out in the dusty test track, it's been in water, and it still works. So this to me is a success. Despite the rather worn look of the casing and the volume issues, I'm hoping this phone stands the test of time as I've grown rather fond of its usefulness.
I use this phone to talk, not for email or messaging. So I can't give insight into those features, what I can say is that I've gotten a few spam text messages which I've called Sprint to complain about. Spam mail is bad enough on my yahoo email account, the last thing I need is spam on my cell phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 129.99
Recommended for: Adventurous Technophiles - Tough and Durable
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Epinions.com ID:
mickeyk9
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Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
squeezy, jeezy, funky-feezy
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