ZEROpcs
03-17-2004, 11:31 PM
Borrowed this layout from another 7300 review, just so that one users opinion could be compaired to anothers.
1. Construction. Solid 10/10! The rubber bumpers are incredibly helpful in the "one handed open". Feels good in the hand. Phone is just as light as the 5500, if not lighter. The phone is a tad top heavy, but nothing that has caused me to drop it yet, and it took me all of 2 minutes to get use to the different feel of it.
2. Reception. Excellent 10/10. Had some dropped call issues with the 5500 and the 4500, the "connecting-redialling" issue has not been present at all so far in my one week of use. And no dropped calls yet. Signal display is excellent, and more truthfull. I have not had under 2 bars of signal, however I have not had the standard sanyo 4 bars even in the depths of hell.
3. Earpiece. Much improved! 9/10. Sanyo did fix the earpiece muddiness/muffled sound from the 4500. I can actually understand what people are saying 100% of the time now, this was a big factor in keeping the phone. The 7300 is clearly better to me than the 4500 and 5400, plus the volume of the ear peace blows the 4050 out of the water (remember phone first, cool gadget second! If it isnt functunal as a phone in all enviroments, what good is it).
4. Displays. Typical 65K Sanyo. 5/10 if you compair it to the 4050, but if you compair it to just about every other Sprint phone out there 9/10. My only complaint is: Why cant Sanyo fix the scrolling caller ID on the outside display?!?!?!
5. Speakerphone. I would say 9/10. I was surprised that people could hear me at all with the way the rubber edging overlaps the microphone. However people can hear me loud and clear, some even say it is better than when I had the 5500? The speaker is crisp also, still has the "at vol 3 it is too quiet and at 4 it is almost to loud" problem. But not quite as bad as it was on the 4500 and 5500. Ready Link while open or closed is still effective and acomplishes its purpose.
6. Ringers.
- Built in: Suck. 5/10
- Downloaded: Excellent. 9/10. Good and loud if done right.
7. Menus. Standard sanyo list menu (8/10), or Icon driven (9/10). Didnt like the icon driven at first but warmed up to it within a day or so. I hate to say it but I miss the Samsung menus.
8. Keypad. Is good and bad. Because the keypad is not the same color as the phone (silver on grey) it is easer to find a button in low light situations with the backlight off. Buttons are still flush, and that makes them hard to use sometimes, like when driving. However the two top buttons are easier to find by feel then the 5500 and 4500 because the center navigational pad is raised, so they are at the bottom of the raised plastic (kind of hard to explain).
9. Battery Life. Well to be honest there are two batter lifes with this phone. With ready link on (5/10) and with it off (8/10). With it off it is good, I get 3 days before it dies with moderate phone and Vision use. With it on I get one and a half with moderate phone, RL and web use.
In the last 4 months I have used the 5400, 5500, 4050 and now the 7300. The 7300 is the phone ill be keeping. I dont need a camera (not that I would look poorly upon a phone if it had it, as long as it was efficient as a phone), but I do need SMS (which is what gives this the edge over the 5400. My only issue with the 5500 was that I was seeing more and more people with it and it had lost the "oh cool phone appeal".
I tried to keep this review unbiast, it seemed to me that the other review by JimmyJames was biast twards the 4050. And he was deliberately compairing apples to oranges. Like he has a hard on for that phone or something. Becides the screen and the seemingly perfect camera (because of the screen), the 4050 definately doesnt have any edge over the sanyos at all. The reason I didnt choose the 4050 is because, in my opinion (and opinions are like @ssholes, everyone has one) suffers from low earpiece volume (however it is very clear), a horribly handicapped speakerphone (can't use it closed and it is on the back near the battery), and a mediocre build (creaky, loose battery door, and a hell of alot of wiggle in the hindge). However the next Toshiba could be the phone to have if those issues are addressed.
I am not loyal to one manufacturer, if a phone works for me than ill keep it till the next big thing that works for me comes out. I hope this review was/is helpful in your buying decision, and if you have any questions on this phone please feel free to PM me and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.
If you are looking for a phone with a Excellent reception, good speakerphone, color screen and SMS. Look no further. If you desire a camera or QVGA screen this is not the phone for you.
1. Construction. Solid 10/10! The rubber bumpers are incredibly helpful in the "one handed open". Feels good in the hand. Phone is just as light as the 5500, if not lighter. The phone is a tad top heavy, but nothing that has caused me to drop it yet, and it took me all of 2 minutes to get use to the different feel of it.
2. Reception. Excellent 10/10. Had some dropped call issues with the 5500 and the 4500, the "connecting-redialling" issue has not been present at all so far in my one week of use. And no dropped calls yet. Signal display is excellent, and more truthfull. I have not had under 2 bars of signal, however I have not had the standard sanyo 4 bars even in the depths of hell.
3. Earpiece. Much improved! 9/10. Sanyo did fix the earpiece muddiness/muffled sound from the 4500. I can actually understand what people are saying 100% of the time now, this was a big factor in keeping the phone. The 7300 is clearly better to me than the 4500 and 5400, plus the volume of the ear peace blows the 4050 out of the water (remember phone first, cool gadget second! If it isnt functunal as a phone in all enviroments, what good is it).
4. Displays. Typical 65K Sanyo. 5/10 if you compair it to the 4050, but if you compair it to just about every other Sprint phone out there 9/10. My only complaint is: Why cant Sanyo fix the scrolling caller ID on the outside display?!?!?!
5. Speakerphone. I would say 9/10. I was surprised that people could hear me at all with the way the rubber edging overlaps the microphone. However people can hear me loud and clear, some even say it is better than when I had the 5500? The speaker is crisp also, still has the "at vol 3 it is too quiet and at 4 it is almost to loud" problem. But not quite as bad as it was on the 4500 and 5500. Ready Link while open or closed is still effective and acomplishes its purpose.
6. Ringers.
- Built in: Suck. 5/10
- Downloaded: Excellent. 9/10. Good and loud if done right.
7. Menus. Standard sanyo list menu (8/10), or Icon driven (9/10). Didnt like the icon driven at first but warmed up to it within a day or so. I hate to say it but I miss the Samsung menus.
8. Keypad. Is good and bad. Because the keypad is not the same color as the phone (silver on grey) it is easer to find a button in low light situations with the backlight off. Buttons are still flush, and that makes them hard to use sometimes, like when driving. However the two top buttons are easier to find by feel then the 5500 and 4500 because the center navigational pad is raised, so they are at the bottom of the raised plastic (kind of hard to explain).
9. Battery Life. Well to be honest there are two batter lifes with this phone. With ready link on (5/10) and with it off (8/10). With it off it is good, I get 3 days before it dies with moderate phone and Vision use. With it on I get one and a half with moderate phone, RL and web use.
In the last 4 months I have used the 5400, 5500, 4050 and now the 7300. The 7300 is the phone ill be keeping. I dont need a camera (not that I would look poorly upon a phone if it had it, as long as it was efficient as a phone), but I do need SMS (which is what gives this the edge over the 5400. My only issue with the 5500 was that I was seeing more and more people with it and it had lost the "oh cool phone appeal".
I tried to keep this review unbiast, it seemed to me that the other review by JimmyJames was biast twards the 4050. And he was deliberately compairing apples to oranges. Like he has a hard on for that phone or something. Becides the screen and the seemingly perfect camera (because of the screen), the 4050 definately doesnt have any edge over the sanyos at all. The reason I didnt choose the 4050 is because, in my opinion (and opinions are like @ssholes, everyone has one) suffers from low earpiece volume (however it is very clear), a horribly handicapped speakerphone (can't use it closed and it is on the back near the battery), and a mediocre build (creaky, loose battery door, and a hell of alot of wiggle in the hindge). However the next Toshiba could be the phone to have if those issues are addressed.
I am not loyal to one manufacturer, if a phone works for me than ill keep it till the next big thing that works for me comes out. I hope this review was/is helpful in your buying decision, and if you have any questions on this phone please feel free to PM me and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.
If you are looking for a phone with a Excellent reception, good speakerphone, color screen and SMS. Look no further. If you desire a camera or QVGA screen this is not the phone for you.