Sanyo Katana DLX Cell Phone Review - Conclusion
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Alfredo Padilla Published on August 06, 2007 Comment on this |
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Who's It For
Business Users
The presence of a real e-mail client on the Katana DLX makes it more attractive for business users than most regular phones, and its organizer functions are decent for a regular phone. However the inability to synchronize organizer information with a PC or work with corporate mail servers will likely turn most business users off, as will the lack of integration with corporate exchange servers. If you're looking for a budget business handset you're better off getting an older BlackBerry than the Katana DLX.
Budget Callers
The Katana DLX is priced competitively and may be attractive to budget users looking for a solid handset. You mut also consider the price of accessories like a headset and larger Micro SD card if you want to use the phone for music, however, which will add to the cost and may push it out of some budget callers' price range.
Chatty Teenager
The Katana DLX is shiny, has decent talk time and has solid text and multimedia messaging functionality, all of which should be attractive to the chatty teenager crowd. The less-than-impressive camera may turn them off, but the price is reasonable enough that you should be able to convince Mom and/or Dad to buy you one.
Media Maven
The Katana DLX provides decent music functionality, but the limited video playback features and poor camera will probably turn off most multimedia mavens. You're better off with a multimedia-focused smart phone like the Nokia N75 over the Katana here.
Conclusion
The Katana DLX is one of two successors to Sanyo's original Katana handset. The Katana DLX is differentiated from the Katana II by its support for music playback and the ability to expand storage space via Micro SD cards. We found the Katana DLX to be a rather unremarkable handset in most ways. The 1.3-megapixal camera is unimpressive and the music functionality provided by Sprint's music software is similar to a host of other Sprint handsets. The gold design will be attractive to those looking for a phone that has some style, and the real e-mail client will be appreciated by those who want to have e-mail access without carrying around a BlackBerry or other smart phone. At $129.99 with a two-year contract, the Katana DLX is a good value for its feature set, and those who liked the previous Katana but want some more functionality may be attracted to the DLX. Otherwise, it will be one of several mid-range handsets you can consider, including phones like the new Chocolate VX8550 from Verizon or the Upstage from Sprint.
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