Sanyo SCP-7000 budget clamshell

The entry-level flip phone boasts a rugged (albeit bulky) design and calling features including a speakerphone, push-to-talk and voice tagging. But does the USD30 price tag make the extra girth worth it?

Design

The Sanyo SCP-7000 features a rugged, sporty design with two interchangeable faceplates in black and blue and a fingertip-friendly rubber trim. The phone is fairly bulky at an inch thick and 3.7 ounces, but it seems durable enough (although we wouldn't recommend hurling it across a room, la the ''military-grade'' rugged phones that are all the rage). The SCP-7000 also features a stubby pull-out antenna that makes the entry-level handset look a bit dated, although its red backit external display looks pretty cool. The flip phone opens with a nice snap, revealing a disappointingly small display that suffers from a noticeable screen-door effect.

Calling - Good

The clamshell's call quality was heavily dependent on its reception, which proved to be spotty in our tests in New York and the suburbs of northern New Jersey. We got solid reception on the streets of the city, where our calls were nice and clear. However, on our commute back to Jersey, static grew as we only got about two bars of reception in certain areas. The SCP-7000's calling features are also a mixed bag; it lacks Bluetooth, but includes push-to-talk via Sprint's Ready Link service, along with parental controls that limit talk time. In addition, the phone has voice tagging, a speakerphone and three-way calling; however, the phone's blocky, confusing menus made it difficult to establish a conference call. Back on the plus side, the 7000's phonebook supports while-you-type searching and plenty of entry fields.

Messaging - Good

Since the SCP-7000 is just a basic handset, it's no surprise that messaging was simply average. The interface was bland and blocky but the clamshell's screen could fit a respectable 123 characters on outgoing messages and 126 characters on incoming texts, still short of our preferred 160. The SCP-7000's keypad was a little tight, but comfortable and convenient with dedicated buttons for the speakerphone and the Web. The keypad also features a dimpled background that reflects its rugged styling. As the flip phone lacks camera, you can't send messages via MMS, but the phone does receive them (although you'll have to view messages on the WAP browser), and can send and receive voice SMS. The SCP-7000 doesn't include e-mail (not unusual for an entry-level phone), but supports instant messaging for AIM, Yahoo and MSN.
12/28/2006 9:41:24 AM
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