Sanyo SCP-2700

Sanyo SCP-2700 has a very straightforward design, and looks a little like a lower end version of a BlackBerry, or a thicker version of the Pantech Slate. Measuring 4.3 inches long by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick, Sanyo SCP-2700 is encased in glossy plastic with a checkered texture design on the back. Sanyo SCP-2700 is also quite lightweight at 3.4 ounces. It feels good in the hand, but the glossy surface does make it prone to fingerprints.

On the front of Sanyo SCP-2700 is a decent 2.2 inch diagonal display with 65,536 colors and 320x240 pixel resolution. We would've liked 262.000 colors instead, but since the SCP-2700 isn't a very high end phone, we were fine with it. The screen looks nice and bright, and the text is legible and sharp. You can adjust the backlight time, the size of the input font, and the sleep mode timer.

Underneath the display is the navigation array, which consists of two soft keys, a square navigation toggle with middle confirmation key, a dedicated text messaging key, a back key, and the Send and End/Power keys. The aforementioned toggle is mapped to four user defined shortcuts, while the middle confirmation key leads to the main menu when on standby mode. All the keys are sufficiently raised above the surface, and are easy to use.

Below the navigation array is the QWERTY keyboard, which is what makes Sanyo SCP-2700 a messaging phone. The keyboard is a little small, like that on the Palm Centro, but we really liked how tactile the keys are. The keys are raised above the surface, plus they have a bubble like texture that makes it easy to type. There's also a dedicated emoticon key that brings up the different emoticons while you're typing out a text message.

The dedicated speakerphone key is on the bottom right of the keyboard. On the left spine are a charger jack, a dedicated camera key, and the volume rocker, while a 2.5mm headset jack sits on the right spine. On the back is the camera lens and an external speaker. There is no flash or self portrait mirror. Sanyo SCP-2700 doesn't have a lot of features going for it, but it does do messaging very well, which suits its primary purpose.

It has a basic 600 entry phone book, with room in each entry for six phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, a Web URL, a street address, and a memo. You can assign contacts with a photo for caller ID and to different caller groups as well. You can also assign one of 37 polyphonic ringtones for incoming calls, text messages, picture mails, and voice SMS. Other basic features include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a countdown timer, a stopwatch, a voice memo recorder, and a world clock.

There's also a wireless Web browser, Bluetooth, instant messaging (AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo), e-mail, and voice SMS. There's also GPS support for location based services like Sprint Navigator. Truly, the star feature of Sanyo SCP-2700 lies in its messaging applications. It doesn't just have the standard text message functionality it also supports threaded text messages, which are usually available on higher end smart phones only.

This means you get to view a text message within the context of a conversation, rather than as just a single message. Sanyo SCP-2700 also supports multiple e-mail accounts from an array of providers like Sprint's own PCS Mail, AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail, as well as your own POP or IMAP e-mail account. Only PCS Mail requires a Web browser to access.

Amazingly, Sanyo SCP-2700 can also receive your work e-mail. You can either use your employer's Outlook Web Access or use Sprint's own Mobile E-mail Personal Account. The latter requires a software download and a rather tedious Web interface that will link your work e-mail to the phone, so it's best if your company has OWA running.