Sanyo Katana reviewed

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 7th 2006 at 2:29PM

Some of us have had it up to here with RAZR variants, accessories, and knockoffs, but it appears slim flips are here to stay regardless of what a few grumbling Engadget editors have to say on the matter. Sprint customers looking to get in on the action without breaking the bank might look toward the Sanyo Katana, which has just been put through PC Magazine's tests and emerged with a 3.5 / 5. The reviewer digs the Katana's QVGA display, rated 4 hours of talk time, and strong reception, but takes a hit for serving up distorted sound at high volumes. Personally we'd be lost without 3G, but if the prospect of an EV-DOless Sprint phone doesn't send you running, the Katana can be yours now for a song on contract.

Filed under: Handsets, Sanyo, Sprint, CDMA

Tags: 6600, clamshell, flip, katana, razr, sanyo, sprint, vision

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

flamer's grill @ Jul 7th 2006 4:53PM

This phone is squarely aimed at the segment of Sprint's customers that were attracted to Sprint because of the famously low deposits. Poor credit? Bad credit? NO CREDIT? Sprint charges a lean $150 vs the $400/$1000 of other carriers.

So these folks want a decent phone but are still smarting from ponying up the deposit. Enter Sanyo, maker of low-end Sprint handsets for the past several years. Sanyo phones are ugly, basic, and PERFORM VERY WELL when it comes to sending and receiving calls.

JD Power's annual report proves it time and time again: people love their Sanyo phones. Now, they can get one that still works famously well and is a little stylish to boot. As a cell phone geek/technophile who loves all the complicated and expensive gadgets I see here on Engadget, this phone does not appeal to me (I sprung for the A900).

Neutral

Mary @ Jul 7th 2006 5:22PM

And who is productor? Sanyo? I didn' know it released any cell phone. Well, considering review the phone is nice one, but has just few features and is too old for our world. Maybe for third-party countries?

Neutral

-_- @ Jul 7th 2006 5:50PM

ah, yes, another razr knockoff.
this one, however, surpassess the quality of the razr, as sanyos often do surpass other phones.
the student is now teaching the master, no?

so you can spring for an a900, and maybe the feature set isn't the best, but c'mon: if you want a sidekick for your sidekick, this combo is pretty good. just because europeans consider vga cameras to be video-conferencing fodder doesn't mean they aren't print worthy. my v551 cranks out print quality pics with it's (supposedly) bad vga camera, so get over it, those of you expecting 1.3 and 2.1 mp cameras to appear overnight in phones. these AREN'T destined for the dustbin yet: one camera is better than none.

Neutral

solis @ Jul 9th 2006 8:34AM

when will they stop with the RAZR knockoffs? Why won't they give up? Even LG's new Black Label flip imitates it. THERE IS ONLY ONE RAZR!! THE MOTOROLA RAZR!! So please, Samsung, LG, Sanyo, and obscure Chinese companies, find your own designs!

Neutral

flamer's grill @ Jul 10th 2006 4:03PM

Gamble with a new design, or imitate to try to cash in on a proven design trend? An easy decision for most corporate executives....

Neutral

Cody McCloud @ Apr 16th 2007 5:01PM

I Just got my Katana This week and i must say that I am very pleased. I have had the chance to actually sit down and compare it with the Razr. Honestly I think the quality of the Katana is much better than the Razr. The Katana doesn't support mp3 files but it makes up for it in appearance. I'm am not saying that the Katans IS better than the Razr. I am saying that in MY OPINION it is. It fits my style and needs better that the Razr. Someone else may feel differently about it.

Neutral

Soniya @ Sep 6th 2007 12:35AM

Ahhh the Sanyo Katana the look alike of the razor. I�ve had the Katana for about over a year now. There are some advantages and some disadvantages. One of the pro's is that out of all the mobile phones I�ve had Katana has the longest talk time and you can also prolong the talking time by switching the mode to power safe mode: on and this will give you about half a hour to a hour more of battery life depending on what your doing. It is less if your actually speaking on the phone or using the internet or playing games but it should do you a while if you are just simply txt messaging. Another pro to it is that it is a really sturdy phone. I�m quite clumsy and have dropped my phone well over a hundred times to the point where the battery compartment has gone flying in one direction and the actually battery in another and after all that I�ve just gotten a few scratches on it. Another feature that is awesome is the alarm clock I�ve never used a real alarm clock since I got the Katana. I�ve woken up each and every time and exactly when I needed to you can adjust to daily or once. I also love the calendar feature which I use often to program in important dates to even a movie that is supposed to come on in the evening only downside to it is when you are speaking on the phone it will not notify you until you end the call (same goes for the alarm feature) only thing that will come up when you are on the call is a little symbol indicating calendar event but who really stares at there phone while on a call ? The camera works very well although a couple of day's later my zoom feature actually went missing so I cant zoom into take pictures they have fun frames and different color tones which you can edit the photo in you can take a picture either with the phone closed or open I prefer with the phone open because with it closed the pictures appears with you on the left hand side while your taking it but when the picture is taken and processed it appears with you on the opposite side! It also doesn�t blur if you are taking a picture of someone walking. The screen size for the most part is pretty good it display's internet pages fine at least for me. Now some of the con's to the Katana is when text messaging it only allows you to type up to 140 letters which is a pretty small amount often time�s I sound quite illiterate in my txt messages because I have to shorten each word in order for me to get it to fit all in one txt. Also if you reach 140 you have to create a new txt it doesn�t just continue on and go 01/02 etc. So that is a huge inconvenience
because I text a lot so I often times find my self just adding on the 01/02 or 02/03 depending on the length of the txt message so the recipient understands. One thing that is a drag is the amount of memory the Katana has. I have to constantly delete several pictures in order to a take a new one or it prompts me to delete downloads a.k.a ring tones, graphics, or games. Another Disadvantage actually the biggest disadvantage is the ringer volume I can not explain the amount of call�s I have missed because I could not hear the ringer. This is only the case for downloaded ring tones the ones that come with the phone are fine but there not really exactly what you would want ringing with you in public they draw a lot of attention for example they have The Hungarian Dance, The Asian Jingle, and The Military March you get the idea. So if you don�t want to miss any calls or txt messages and especially a alarm you are going to have to set it up for one of the preset ones as I have for my alarm. Another downside is there are no decent faceplates for this phone at least not down here where I live. I just recently purchased one at cellular baby a fuchsia hot pink one and it looks extremely plasticy and one of the corners has already broken off because I yet again dropped the phone and when I try to charge my phone the rubber covering for the charge port cant be turned around and out of the way of the charger but has to stick straight in the air because the rest of it is underneath the faceplate. Another con is the fact that it does not show you the total call time for each call like most phones do. The Bluetooth doesn�t work but that can just be a malfunction on my phone alone. Also you cant listen to any music because it has no capability for mp3�s only thing you can listen to is the ring tone you�ve downloaded of the internet which might I add is about 50 sec�s long or even less and again you need a hearing aid to even understand the words. So as you can see there quite a few pros and cons to the Sanyo�s knock of version of the razor. I do how ever prefer the Katana over the razor maybe just for the fact that the razor is way too over played also I like the keypad for the Katana VS the Razor. I would recommend this phone to anyone who is just looking for the basic thing�s txt messaging, web use and for the obvious mobile use but for anyone who wants more such as music and a lot of memory should opt for a better phone. Personally I would like to and am planning to upgrade to the new LG Chocolate in White

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