Sanyo Katana LX

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The Razr has seen some unique competitors in its reign in the mobile market. One of its competitors that is giving it a run for its money is the Sanyo Katana phones. Sanyo has even released a newer version of their Katana, the Sanyo Katan LX which looks very different from the other Katanas. The LX is complete with a reflective surface and translucent OLED display. Its primary features include a VGA camera, Bluetooth, GPS location services, and not much else. This is probably meant to be an entry-level camera phone. It comes in Pacific Blue, Elegant Pink, and Liquid Graphite.

As mentioned, the LX’s design is very different from the previous Katanas. Previous Katanas opted for the slim and wide Razr look. However, the LX has a beauty on its own. It measures 3.7 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick, the Katana LX is thicker, curvier, with rounded edges and a smooth reflective front surface. The surface is so reflective you could use it as a mirror. It’s not too heavy at 3.4 ounces and has a nice heft in the hand.

What is most attractive on the Katana LX is its reflective screen. At first, you can’t see its external display screen, but when you’d be surprised when you press any button, a cool translucent OLED display is shown. It is in the middle of the phone and displays the most common information: date, time, battery, and signal strength information.

Because of the translucent display, the letters and numbers appear to be floating in the middle of the phone, resulting in a modern space-age sort of look. Since it is OLED, however, you can’t view photo caller ID. It also won’t act as a camera viewfinder, but the surface of the phone is reflective enough to be used as a self-portrait mirror. Above the display is the speaker grille, and above that is the camera lens. A dedicated camera button, volume rocker, and charger jack sit on the left spine.

Once you flip open the phone, you’ll see a 65,000-color internal display. This is one of the flaws of the LX. It has a lackluster screen, and its menu interfaced lacked color. However, you can adjust the display’s backlight time, font size, and contrast. You can also change the foreground with a clock/calendar or greeting.

The navigation array is located below the external display.

Let’s go straight to the phone’s features. It comes with a 600-entry contacts list and each entry can hold up to seven numbers, two e-mail addresses, a URL address, and a memo. You can organize contacts in caller groups, pair them with a photo for caller ID, or any of 32 polyphonic ringtones.

Other essentials include vibrate mode, speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, an alarm clock, a countdown clock, a stop watch, a world clock, and a calculator. More advanced users will appreciate e-mail, instant messaging, Bluetooth, voice dialing, voice recording, a wireless Web browser, and GPS functionality.

As an entry-level camera phone, the Katana LX doesn’t really impress much. The Katana LX only comes with a VGA camera, which is understandable for a phone at this price range. You can take pictures in three resolutions (640×480, 320×240, and 160×120), three quality settings, and five picture modes.

Other settings include brightness, white balance, a self-timer, multishot, fun frames, color tone, zoom, and shutter sounds. Photo quality is pretty disappointing, as to be expected. Images looked blurry and overcast. There’s no built-in camcorder.

Sources:
http://www.mycellphoneblog.com
http://www.letstalk.com
http://www.technologyowl.com