Sanyo M1 Cell Phone Review
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 15, 2007 Comment on this |
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The Sanyo M1 is a multimedia oriented phone with an impressive 1GB of internal storage for music and pictures. The M1 is a mid range phone that packs some impressive features into the small case; just 0.9 inches thick. However, the phone body is not as small or stylish as the Razr thin phones that are dominating this section of the cell phone market. But the feature set is most definitely not on the thin side: as well as the 1GB of memory, there's a a 2 megapixel autofocus camera on board. So the spec sheet is impressive; does it live up to it? Let’s see.We tested the Sanyo M1 on Sprint’s network. It is currently unavailable for any other major U.S. carrier.
[page title="Tour & Design"]Front Closed
The front of the Sanyo M1 is black with silver highlights. On the bottom you find a circular pad that allows you to control your music and access certain phone functions when the phone is closed. Above this you find the 1.3 inch TFT LCD with a resolution of 128 x 96 and displays 260K colors. Above the display are the Sprint and Sanyo logos, flanked by speakers. Above the logos you find a single LED which shows the battery and call status; green for charging, red for low battery.
Left
The left side of the Sanyo M1 has a couple of buttons and ports. On the top you will find a loop for a lanyard. Below this is a port for standard 2.5mm headsets/headphones. This is protected by a rubber cover that is connected to the phone. Below this is a hard plastic button with 3 pips on it to provide some tactile feedback. This button launches the voice recorder application, whether the phone is open or closed.
Below this button you find the volume rocker keys. The keys will only change phone volume when the phone is open, however it will allow you to change music volume when the phone is closed. On the bottom of the left side you will find a charging port, again protected by a plastic cover connected to the phone. All of these buttons and ports are located on the bottom half of the phone flip.
Top
On the top of the phone you see the hinge mechanism for the flip. There are no other major features here.
Bottom
The bottom of the phone has only one port used for data connections to your PC. It is protected by a plastic cover that is connected to the body of the phone. Unfortunately it is a proprietary port, but the phone does come with an icable with a standard USB plug on the other end.
Right
The right side of the phone has 2 buttons. The top button is assigned to voice command, and can be used whether the phone is closed or open. Below this button is a dedicated camera key. Again, you can use this key when the phone is closed, using the external LCD as a viewfinder.
Back
The back of the phone is dominated by the battery cover, taking up the bottom three fourths of the back. Just above the cover you will find from left to right: a port for an external antenna, flash for the camera, camera lens and release for the battery cover. At the top you will find two small feet that help protect the camera lens when you set the phone down. Finally, on the top right you will find the other side of the lanyard loop.
Front Open
When opened the top part of the flip is dominated by the 2” TFT LCD display with QVGA (240 x 320) resolution and capable of displaying 260K colors. Above the screen is a slot for the phone speaker, and below it is the Sprint logo.
The bottom part of the flip is split fairly evenly between the controls and keypad. The controls on the top part begin with a pair of soft keys. Below and centered between the soft keys is a 5 way D-Pad. 5 additional buttons are arranged in a crescent below the D-Pad. Starting on the left are a dedicated camera button, a talk button, a dedicated speaker phone button, the end key and a back button.
Below the controls is a standard keypad. The keys are silver and well spaced. At the very bottom you will find the microphone.
Battery Out
The 1000 mAh battery included with the Sanyo M1 is all one piece with the door casing. Getting the battery out is very easy, simply pull the release latch and it will pop up. Below there is nothing of interest. Sanyo also offers an extended 1650 mAh battery for those who want it.
In the Box (4.0)
The Sanyo M1 comes with a good selection of accessories. There's a standard wall charger, a USB cable, stereo headset and a microphone adaptor so that you can plug in your own 3.5mm headset and still make hands free calls. In a day when many manufactures are cheaping out on headphones and USB cables, we were pleased to see Sanyo include them.
Handling (5.0)
The Sanyo M1 is a rather blocky handset that bucks the slim handset trend. One side affect is that it is not overly large when opened. This is further accentuated by the hinge mechanism, which creates a large “hump” on the phone when opened. This can make the M1 a little awkward to hold against your head, as it is difficult to hold it along its entire length. We found that when texting with one hand the handset is very top heavy and can be difficult to hold for long periods. Also, because of the way the hinge works you have to hold the phone by the lower part, meaning that the camera lens ends up directly beneath a finger. The phone is made of somewhat slick plastic, but has so many buttons and ports that these provide some traction and make it easier to hold. Overall we found the Sanyo M1 to be slightly awkward in your hand, we found the Motorola Razr V3m and LG Chocolate more comfortable to hold.
Portability (7.0)
As we mentioned the Sanyo M1 is definitely thicker than many phones found today at .9”. Aside from that its height and width are actually slightly smaller than the Razr V3m for example at 3.6” x 1.9” versus the V3m’s 3.9” x 2.1”. The Sanyo M1 looks blocky but is fairly light coming in at 3.8 oz versus the Razr V3m’s 3.49 oz. The Sanyo M1 will slip easily into most pockets, unless you are wearing very tight pants. It will also fit nicely into the side pocket of most hand bags. Overall it is almost as portable as the Razr V3m or the LG Chocolate, falling just short as a result of its thickness.
Aesthetic (3.0)
The Sanyo M1 is not a pretty phone. It’s boxy, plastic and dotted with buttons and ports. There is an attempt to create a clean look with mostly black and silver highlights but the plethora of buttons/ports and the large and ungainly hinge mechanism pretty much ruin the effect. When opened the “hump” is noticeable and we prefer the smooth lines of phones like the Razr or Cingular 3125. Those looking for a fashion phone should look elsewhere.
Durability (5.0)
We have concerns about the Sanyo M1’s durability. The plastic construction is one of them, although we must admit that we got fewer creaks than we expected out of the M1. We always have concerns about phones with hinges and moving parts, and the M1 is no exception. The hinge mechanism is bigger and because of its unique setup locks into place better than most, but we didn’t like the creaks we heard when opening and closing the phone. The hinge is also spring assisted, and springs are much more likely to wear out sooner. Overall we felt that the M1 was middle of the road in terms of construction: the LG Chocolate and Motorola Razr V3m felt more solidly constructed, but we have seen worse than the M1.
[page title="Audio Quality"]We test the audio performance of cell phones using Listen Inc’s SoundCheck software. For more on how we test, see here. This professional audio analysis system uses complex analysis techniques to analyze the sound that the phone produces and captures, simulating the way that your ear and brain picks up and interprets sound. We use this with a Brüel & Kjær Head and Torso Simulator (H.A.T.S),which simulates the acoustics of the human head and ear. This means that our testing accurately mirrors the performance of the phones in real world use. We test the phones in use as a handset (to the ear), and, if included, with a headset. We’ll be adding more tests soon to examine the performance of the speakerphone and further analyze the phone’s performance.
To create a score for the performance of a phone in the frequency response tests, we look at how well the frequency response curve (which shows how well the phone captures or reproduces different frequencies) fits in with limits defined in the TIA-810B standard. This sets upper and lower limits for the frequency response, and a perfect phone would have a curve that runs straight between these limits. Our score is based on how far the phone strays from this line; the further it strays from the ideal, the lower the score.
Handset
Sound Receive Frequency Response (4.76)
Sanyo M1 On Sprint: Handset Receive Frequency Response
This test measures the ability of the M1 to reproduce sounds it receives (such as someone talking to you). The M1 scores somewhat poorly in this test; the frequency response of the phone (shown by the blue line, with the frequency going from low at the left to higher at the right) is significantly off from the ideal between the limits (the red lines). In particular, the phone has too high a response at the bass end of the curve, meaning that voices coming over the ether sound overly boomy and bassy.
Sound Send Frequency Response (8.4)
Sanyo M1 On Sprint: Handset Send Frequency Response
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The M1 did a much better job at sending sound than receiving it; the frequency curve for the sound it sends (such as you talking into the phone) was one of the best we’ve seen, speeding cleanly within the limits without any major bumps. This means that voices sound clear and natural, without the bass or treble ends of the curves being unnaturally exaggerated.
Handset Side Tone (5.38)
Sanyo M1 On Sprint: Handset Side Tone
Side Tone is the small amount of your own voice that phones feed back to you so you can judge the volume of your voice. If a phone provides too much side tone, you end up whispering. Too little, and you increase the volume of your voice to become one of those annoying people who yells into cell phones on buses. An ideal cell phone would provide about 18 decibels of side tone, but the M1 provided a little too much; we measured it at 22 decibels. That’s more than there should be, but the amount is relatively minor: you might find yourself lowering your voice slightly, but it’s unlikely to be enough to cause a problem with being heard.
Pickup Ability (7.0)
The M1 comes with a slightly unusual headset that is composed of two parts: a pair of cheap earbud microphones, and a microphone on a cable that fits between these and the phone. The microphone also has a 2.5-mm plug on the end that plugs into the headphone socket of the M1, located on the left side of the phone body. The M1 headset has a single button on the microphone cable that can be used to answer calls. The phone automatically pauses any music that is playing
To test the resolution of the images captured by the Sanyo M1’s camera we took several pictures of an industry standard resolution chart and then ran it through our Imatest software. This measures how many black and white lines the camera could discern before they started to blur together (a measure Imatest calls line widths per picture height, or lw/ph).
Click on the image above to view the full resolution image
The Sanyo M1 scored 859.9 LW/PH horizontally and 773.4 LW/PH vertically. This is a good score for a cell phone, and you are seeing the effects of the Sanyo’s 2 megapixel camera as compared to the 1 megapixel camera found on many other phones. For example the Motorola Q and its 1.3 megapixel camera scored 569 LW/PH horizontally and 515.2 LW/PH vertically.
Compared to a entry level digital camera though, and the Sanyo M1 reveals that it is still a camera phone. The Pentax Optio M20, for example, received scores of 1682 LW/PH horizontally and 1620 LW/PH vertically. We score resolution slightly differently to our sister site digticalcamerainfo.com, so the Sanyo M1 earned a resolution score of 3.3. If we were to score resolution the same as dgitialcamerainfo.com, the M1 would have earned a score of 1.0.
Color (5.66)
To test colors on the Sanyo M1 we took pictures of the industry standard GretagMacbeth color chart, which displays 24 different colors. We then ran the photos through the Imatest software, which compares the camera’s produced colors to the chart’s colors.
Imatest produces this chart that shows the original colors in the small vertical rectangle, the adjusted colors in the middle rectangle and the original captures colors in the outer square. Further analysis is provided by the color analysis chart that Imatest produces. On this chart, the circles represent the colors that the camera captured, while the squares represent where the images should be on this color gamut chart. The longer the lines between them, the more inaccurate the colors are.
As you can see from these charts the Sanyo M1 has some serious trouble reproducing yellow, as it came out significantly under saturated. It also had some trouble reproducing greens and to a lesser extent blues. Despite this the Sanyo M1 put together a respectable overall score, significantly better than phones like the Motorola Razr V3m and LG Chocolate. The Palm Treo 700p however did much better than the M1 with a score of 7.59.
Noise (0.67)
We test noise by shooting a variety of images in light conditions ranging from 3000 lux (a bright, sunny day) to 60 lux (about what you would get in a darkened room with a single light), then running the captured images through imatest, which analyzes areas of the image for noise.
The Sanyo M1 posted a poor noise score, especially compared to the 1 megapixel cameras found on many phones. This is not surprising as one of the costs of higher resolution is often higher noise. The M1 posted high noise scores at every lighting level, including the highest noise at 60 lux. At the other lighting levels the LG Chocolate posted similar noise levels. Overall we were not impressed by the noise levels found in the M1’s photos.
Live Preview (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 uses both of its screens for live preview, as you can take photos with the phone open or closed. As would be expected, the larger and higher resolution internal screen does a better job with live preview. The QVGA screen provides good detail, and color replication is very good as well. The external screen does a significantly worse job, with the largest difference being pixiellation caused by the lower resolution screen. The size of the screen also severely limits its utility as a viewfinder. That being said, we were happy that the option to take photos with the phone closed was there. Overall we decided to score the M1 on the high quality internal screen’s preview, and view the external screen preview as a nice, but low quality, extra.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (4.1)
To test unlocked standby to first shot we put the phone into standby and closed mode and then time the amount of time it takes to open the phone, launch the camera application and capture a photo. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 4.9 seconds to complete this procedure using both hands.
This is not a very good score for a camera phone, and is influenced by a couple of factors. First of all, hitting the camera key does not take you directly to the camera as on most phones, rather it takes you to a menu where you can choose to activate the camera amongst other actions. The second factor that contributes to the M1’s poor score is the auto focus lens, which adds almost a full second to the camera’s time.
The Motorola Razr V3m, a flip phone with a fixed focus lens, only took 3.5 seconds to go from unlocked standby to first shot. The M1 also does poorly against a stand-alone digital camera like the Pentax Optio M20 which took 3.42 seconds to complete a similar test. Based on our tests, you should not expect to take spontaneous shots with the M1.
Shot to Shot Time (6.0)
To test shot to shot time on the Sanyo M1 we used the multiple shot feature which allows the camera to take 6 shots in a row. It should be noted that these shots are taken at low resolution (320 x 240). When choosing to take multiple shots on the M1 you can choose between normal and fast speeds. On normal speed the M1 took 2 frames per second while on fast speed it took 3 frames per second. This is a very good score for a camera phone, for example the Treo 700p took only .3 frames per second.
However the fact that the resolution of these photos is so low makes it of limited utility. If you want to take a series of shots at the full 2 megapixel resolution you will find the M1’s score plummeting to .18 frames per seconds, a particularly poor score that is affected by the fact that you cannot turn off instant preview and you need to save photos manually after you take them.
We scored the faster of the Sanyo's times, however users should be award of the hit in resolution.
Shutter to Shot Time (2.5)
To measure shutter to shot time we take a photo of a stopwatch that we start running the moment we hit the capture key. The final picture shows how long it takes for the camera to capture the image. The Sanyo M1 took .8 seconds to take a shot. This is a poor score for a phone camera is affected severely by the auto focus lens. For example the Motorola Razr V3m, which has a fixed focus lens, took only .4 seconds to go from shutter to shot. As with active standby to shot, this is an example of a place where you give up some performance for the benefit of having an auto focus lens.
Interface (8.0)
The camera interface of the M1 is well thought out and provides a good selection of information and functionality. Shortcut keys allow you to access the zoom feature, turn the status bar on/off, control flash settings amongst others. This allows you to control almost all features of the camera without entering the menu structure. You also have the option to assign a feature of your choice to a key, something we were very happy to see.
The left soft key allows you to lock focus, while the right soft key gives you access to the camera menus. At the top of the screen is a status bar that gives you information about a variety of settings. Overall we were very impressed with the interface on the Sanyo M1, it is a step above that found on most camera phones. Although not a simple to use as that found on the Treo 700p, it provides far more functionality.
Photo Album Software Internal (4.0)
The Album software on the Sanyo M1 is easy to use and provides a good array of functionality. You have the choice of accessing 2 albums, either an online one that is provided via Sprint, or the one on your phone. When you go to your phones album you can view all of the photos you took. You can open them for viewing by using the left soft key, while the right soft key gives you access to the menu. Here you can send your photo, add it to a contact, edit it and upload it to the web. You can also view a simple slideshow, although there were no advanced options available for the slideshow. Compared to other phones the Sanyo M1 provides a good array of functionality without the annoyances found on phones like the Motorola Razr V3m or the LG Chocolate.
Manual Control (2.0)
As with most phones, the Sanyo M1 does not provide you with many options for manual control. There is an option for manual white balance, which is nice to see on a phone. There are no options for scene mode, aperture priority, shutter priority or full manual mode.
Zoom (1.0)
The Sanyo M1 has no optical zoom. According to the manual it provides up to 16x digital zoom, however we believe that this is a misprint. Rather it provides 16 zoom steps. Our estimate is that the digital zoom is actually 2x. Digital zoom is of limited utility as all it does is resize the image, which you can do on your computer later on anyways. The vast majority of phones only provide digital zoom, if you are looking for a phone with optical zoom the Nokia N93/N93i are your only choices as of the writing of this review.
Focus (5.0)
The Sanyo M1 is one of the newer generation of phones that are including auto focus lenses minstead of the more common fixed focus lenses. Although we are very happy to see an auto focus lens on a camera phone, it does have its draw backs as our standby to shot and shutter to shot tests indicated. The Auto Focus on the Sanyo M1 is fairly basic, with a limited number of focus stops and no manual mode. It is not comparable to the auto focus options you would see on mid range digital cameras, but gives you better quality photos than phones like the Motorola Razr V3m or LG Chocolate that use fixed focus lenses.
Flash (4.0)
The Sanyo M1 comes with an LED flash. Although the flash is of limited utility, really only good at a range of one to three feet, it is a feature that is missing from most cell phones. The flash on the M1 can be set to always on, single shot mode or can be set to automatic. These options are also nice features, and not often seen on cell phones.
Metering (2.0)
The Sanyo M1 provides few metering options. Manual brightness controls are present, which is a nice feature, but other metering controls are not present. Metering allows the camera to gauge the amount of light in the scene and give you a proper exposure. Advanced metering controls allow you to decide from which point or points the light is measured. Such controls are not found on the vast majority of cell phones.
White Balance (4.0)
The Sanyo M1 provides a good range of white balance options, with 5 presets and a manual mode. Most phones, such as the LG Chocolate, provide 5 or fewer preset options for white balance, however few offer manual mode as well. The M1 does not have evaluative white balance mode. This is not surprising as the vast majority of camera phones lack this feature. We were pleased to see manual white balance as well as a good selection of preset options on the Sanyo M1.
Image Handling (2.0)
Image handling options on the Sanyo M1 are limited, as you see on most cell phones. You can resize your images and rotate them. There are no options for red eye reduction, auto color correction or other advanced features.
Video
Overall Video Score (4.0)
The Sanyo M1 is able to take video at either QCIF (176 x 144) or QVGA (320 x 240) resolution. We were pleased to see QVGA resolution available in addition to the QCIF resolution, which is used for MMS video. Video capture on the Sanyo M1 at QVGA resolution is good but not great. We saw a significant increase in quality over the QCIF resolution video captured by the Motorola Razr V3m or the LG Chocolate, however video is still very grainy and does not look good full screen on a computer monitor. Compared to the quality of video you would get from even a low-end camcorder, the Sanyo M1’s video capture is much worse.
Video Resolution (7.37)
To measure the video resolution of the Sanyo M1, we shoot the standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and run stills from that video through Imatest imaging software. The M1 scored 247.5 lines of horizontal resolution, and 297.7 lines of vertical resolution. Compare this to the low end Canon ZR700 camcorder, which scored 363.7 and 257.8 lines respectively and you can see that the M1 won’t be replacing your standalone camcorder any time soon. That being said the M1 definitely does a better job than the Motorola Q (57.17 x 122.4) or the Motorola Krazr K1m (77.1 x 103.8). In this the M1 is most likely helped by the fact that it can shoot at QVGA resolution, while those other phones are stuck on QCIF.
Video Compression (2.0)
The Sanyo M1 captures video in mobile standard 3GP format. Some higher end smart phones like the XV6700 from Verizon offer choices of 3GP, MPEG-4 or Motion Jpeg AVI. Most phones however only offer the 3GP standard.
Interface (8.0)
The interface of the Sanyo M1’s camcorder is similar to that of the still camera. There is an indicator bar at the top of the screen that provides information about your current settings. You can change settings using the keypad as shortcut keys for a wide variety of things, like 1 for flash and 2 for focus. Overall we were very pleased with the interface on the Sanyo M1, it provides access to a wide range of features without creating too much clutter.
Manual Control (2.0)
As with still images the only manual controls available on the M1 in camcorder mode is manual white balance. We are pleased to see this as even some phones that offer manual white balance for stills will fail to offer it for video, for example the LG Chocolate does this. More advanced manual controls are not present.
Zoom (1.0)
As with the stills camera the camcorder on the Sanyo M1 offers digital zoom, this time with 9 stops. Again the manual indicates that it goes up to 9x, but our experience is that it is 9 stops up to 2x digital zoom. As with still images, digital zoom is of limited utility as all it does is resize the image.
Editing (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not provide you with any options to edit your videos on the phone. This is unfortunate, but not surprising as most cell phones lack these features. Some higher end camera phones such as the Nokia N93/93i provide some video editing features, but even these are limited.
Modes (2.0)
The Sanyo M1 allows you to choose from a few scene modes, including beach/snow, scenery and night/dark. If you want to take video for MMS you will need to change the resolution to 176 x 144. There is no specific preset for MMS video, so you will need to careful not to go over 512kb in file size. Many phones offer a specific preset for MMS video, or automatically resize it for you. We were disappointed to see these options missing from the M1. The presence of scene modes however was a nice bonus, as many phones lack them.
[page title="Making/Receiving Calls"]
Dialing Speed (4.67)
To test dialing speed we make 5 phone calls to 5 different numbers and take the average time to get from phone closed to send key. Dialing on the Sanyo M1 was average for a flip phone where you need to open the phone up before you can begin dialing, taking an average of 4.28 seconds to dial a number. This is better than the Motorola Razr V3m, another flip phone, which took an average of 4.9 seconds to dial a number. However it is significantly worse than the LG Chocolate, a slider phone, which took an average of 3.61 seconds to make a call.
Talk and End Button (5.0)
The call and end buttons on the Sanyo M1 are located slightly below and flanking the directional pad. They are placed in a comfortable spot, not too far from the D-Pad or the keypad. Like many of other control keys, the buttons are silver, with an enamel coating. This makes them slick, and although they are separated from the other buttons, they can be hard to find by feel. When pressed they provide minimal tactile feedback, with a barely audible physical click, but a louder tone provided by the phone. Overall we felt that the call and end buttons on the M1 were middle of the road, neither overly impressive, nor functionally useless.
Call Management (4.0)
The Sanyo M1’s call history seems at first glance to be very basic. The one you access by hitting the call key on the home screen is simply a list of all incoming and outgoing calls without the ability to filter the calls. However, if you go into the menu you can open the call history application that allows you to view them by outgoing, incoming and missed calls. You can also erase call histories from here. Items in your call history have phone number (or contact name if it is in your phone book), time and date of the call. There is no information about call duration.
While on a call your options are fairly limited. The left soft key allows you to mute the call while the right soft key menu gives you option to useful programs like contacts and messaging as well the ability to turn on the speaker phone or create a three-way call. There are no advanced features like putting a call on hold or recording a phone call. Overall we did not find the call management features on the Sanyo M1 very impressive. The call history feature is unnecessarily divided, while the range of in call features are very basic.
Startup to Call (4.11)
To test how long it takes to go from phone off to a new phone call we time the process using five different phone numbers and take the average. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 24.36 seconds to start up and make a phone call. This is a good time for a phone, the Motorola Razr V3m took 35.7 seconds while the Treo 700p took 31.6 seconds. We were pleased with the M1’s startup to call time.
Ring Volume (8.52)
To test ringer volume we find the loudest ring tone on the phone and set ringer volume to maximum. We then use a sound pressure meter to measure how loud the ring volume is in decibels. The Sanyo M1 measured an impressive 85.2 decibels. This is not quite as loud as the Motorola Razr V3m’s 88 decibels, but significantly louder than the Motorola Q’s 66 decibels. We were quite pleased with the maximum volume available from the Sanyo M1.
Ringtone Customizability (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not allow you to use your own music files are ring tones, an unfortunate omission for a phone that allows you to store quite a bit of music on its 1GB of storage. You do however have a range of options in terms of ringtones, including the ability to set your own videos as ringtones. You are not able to record or edit your own ringtones on the phone.
Non Audio Alerts (10.0)
The Sanyo M1 has a quite significant vibrate alert, we found it easy to feel in a pants pocket. If you have trouble with the standard vibrate the M1 also gives you the option to choose one of four different vibration patterns. In addition to the vibration feature the exterior display indicates the incoming phone number and along with the state that it originates from on a very noticeable bright red background. A similar background is seen when you open the phone up. We found the non audio alerts on the Sanyo M1 to be very useful and a cut above most other phones that depend on an LED or a weak vibration feature.
[page title="Messaging"]Supported Email Services (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not have a built in email client, instead using web based services through Sprint. Although this provides access to popular email clients such as MSN, Yahoo and AOL, it does not provide the functionality that a built in client would. For example you cannot read and write emails when you do not have network access. For this reason Wirelessinfo does not award points for purely web based email clients, thus the Sanyo M1 will not score any points in many of these sections.
Push Email (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support push email, such as Blackberry Connect or Good.
Multiple Email Accounts (0.0)
No Email Client
HTML and Attachments (0.0)
No Email Client
Messaging Customization (0.0)
No Email Client
Time to a New Email Message (0.0)
No Email Client
Email Usability (0.0)
No Email Client
Supported IM Services (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 supports AOL, MSN and Yahoo instant messaging services via Sprint’s Instant Messaging software. Unfortunately each service will cost you $2.99 a month to access. We would have liked to see an instant messaging client that doesn’t cost you money to use, and don't award points for such services, but it's there if you wan't to pay for it.
MMS Support (7.0)
MMS on the Sanyo M1 is provided through their picture mail service. Unfortunately this means that the SMS and MMS client are separate, for example you cannot begin writing an SMS and then decide to throw in a media file. You can also send an MMS message from the album software on the phone, by choosing the send to contact function from the menu. Overall we felt the MMS support on the Sanyo M1 was average, on par with the support found on another Sprint flip phone, the Motorola Razr V3m.
SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (0.0)
To test smiley face interpretation we sent the Sanyo M1 a test SMS with four common smiley faces. We were disappointed that the M1 did not convert any of these into pictographs, leaving them in their text format. The M1 does not better when sending smiley faces, not allowing you to insert them automatically but rather forcing you to type them out using text. For a phone that aspires to be a higher end device expected more from the M1.
SMS/MMS Ease of Use (5.0)
The SMS and MMS programs on the Sanyo M1 are divided into two separate sections under the messaging menu. Within each there are folders for inbox, sent saved and pending. Entering one of the folders you find a simple list of messages. You can lock messages so they are not deleted, move them to another folder or sort them by name, unread/read, locked/unlocked or date. We were also pleased to see that you can print a message to a compatible bluetooth printer. You can send a message to single person or a contacts group. Overall we found the SMS and MMS applications straightforward but slightly clunky to use. We prefer messaging programs that group both types of messages together such as that found on the Treo 700p.
Time to New SMS Message (3.75)
To test how easy it is to send an SMS message we time how long it takes to go from standby to a new message dialogue. We repeat this test 5 times and take the average. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 2.67 seconds to complete this test. This is a very good score, outstripping the Motorola Razr V3m’s 4.58 seconds but coming in behind the Treo 700p’s excellent score of 1.4 seconds. We were pleased with the M1’s speedy time to a new SMS message, and note that this was possible even though the option was buried two menus deep.
[page title="Organizer"]
Synchronization Ease of Use (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not synchronize personal information such as contacts and calendars with your PC.
Alerts (7.0)
Alerts on the Sanyo M1 are very flexible. You can set them for any time period before the event that you want. You can set any of the sounds available for ringers to also work for alerts. When an alert goes off you get a visual on the exterior screen with the name of the alert, along with the ringer you set. Hitting any button will snooze the event. You can open the phone and dismiss the event, or you can cancel the snooze by pressing and holding the camera button on the right side of the phone.
If you miss your alert it will automatically go into snooze mode. The snooze is a preset time, 10 minutes by default, but can also be set to 5, 15 or 20 minutes via the calendar settings. Overall we were pleased with the variety of settings available for alerts with the Sanyo M1. They were a step above other phones like the Motorola Razr V3m, which don’t give you as much flexibility about when to set alerts and doesn’t allow you to set the snooze interval.
Over the Air PIM Sync (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support any over the air personal information management services like Blackberry or Exchange. If you wish to simply backup your contacts there is a service available from Sprint, and other free services available.
Address Book
Adding Contacts (4.9)
To test how difficult it is to add contacts on a phone we time how long it takes to enter each of 5 different contacts with diverse names. We enter a full name and number for each contact. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 20.6 seconds to enter each contact. This is an average time for a regular phone; for example the LG Chocolate posted a similar 21.7 seconds. Smartphones are significantly faster at this, as many of them come equipped with QWERTY keyboard. For example the Treo 700p posted an average time of 17.7 seconds.
Sorting & Searching (2.5)
The Sanyo sortrs your contacts by first name or group. You can search through your contacts by typing out a first or last name using multi tap. We would have liked to see some sort options on the Sanyo M1, and would have especially like to see predictive text search of your contacts. Compared to other phones the Sanyo M1 does not offer you many sorting and searching options.
Fields (3.0)
The Sanyo M1 provides 15 fields for your contacts. This includes 7 phone numbers, 2 email addresses, a photo, ringer and a memo field where you can enter any information you like. The M1 provides an average selection of fields, for example the Motorola Razr V3m had 13 fields available. We were especially pleased to see a memo field, as this provide a great deal of flexibility.
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (8.0)
The speed dial, voice tag and voice command features on the Sanyo M1 are excellent. You can assign a speed dial to any contact by opening the contact and choosing set speed dial from the options menu. Voice command is present on the phone and can be accessed by hitting the assigned key on the right hand side of the phone. It will work in either closed or open mode; simply speak your command after the beep. In our tests the voice command software recognized all 5 of our diverse contact names. If you do happen to run into a name that is not recognized automatically you can set a voice tag for it as well. We were happy to see this option available as even the best voice recognition software runs into problems from time to time.
Calendar
Adding Calendar Items (6.3)
To test how difficult it is to add a calendar item we time how long it takes to go from phone closed to setting a lunch appointment for the following day. We repeat this test 5 times and take an average. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 16 seconds to add our test appointment. This is very quick for a regular phone; the Motorola Razr V3m took 22.6 seconds, while the LG Chocolate took 29.4 seconds. It also compares well to smart phones, for example the Motorola Q took 19.1 seconds. The Sanyo M1 was helped by the fact that you can use predictive text entry when entering the name of the appointment, and the phone remembers this setting after exiting the application. We wish more manufacturers allowed this, as many limit you to multi-tap or require you to reset it every time you enter an application or text field.
Calendar Views (4.3)
The Sanyo M1 has 3 views available: monthly, weekly and agenda. The Monthly view shows one or two months at a time with space at the bottom that displays a list of the appointments and tasks that are due that day. Days that have an appointment or task due on that day are indicated with a small arrow. The weekly view shows a 7-day week with the days split up into half hour segments. Appointments and tasks are shown in blue. As with the calendar, information about an appointment or task is shown on the bottom when you select it.
The agenda view lists all of the appointments and tasks scheduled for that day in chronological order. The Sanyo M1 also allows you to schedule phone calls, and provides custom agenda views that list all of your calendar appointments, tasks or scheduled phone calls in chronological order. These lists however are separate from the calendar views, where you are unable to filter by type or group.
Overall we were satisfied with the calendar views on the Sanyo M1. We felt that the presence of indicators on the monthly and weekly view that showed details made them much more useful than such views on other phones such as the Motorola Razr V3m. We were also pleased with the various agenda view options, although we wish they were better integrated.
Fields (8.0)
When creating a calendar appointment on the Sanyo M1 you can fill in nine different fields. In addition to standard fields like title, start/end and reminder we were pleased to see more advanced options such as location, recurrence and priority. We were disappointed that there was no option for an all day event or the ability to add a note to an appointment. Overall we felt that the options on the Sanyo M1 were good, particularly the more advanced options such as fully customizable alarms.
To Do/Tasks
Adding ToDo/Task (5.6)
Unlike many phones the Sanyo M1 include ssoftware to create and manage to dos/task lists. To test how easy it is to add a to do we timed how long it took to add a simple to do from phone closed. We repeated this five times and then took the average. The Sanyo M1 took an average of 18 seconds to add a to do. This is fairly quick for a regular phone, and again the M1 is helped by the fact that you are able to use predictive text to enter the title of the to do.
ToDo/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (7.0)
When viewing a list of your to dos on the Sanyo M1 you can filter your views by category. However you cannot do this when the to dos are listed in the calendar views. Furthermore this sort is difficult to get to as it is buried in the menu and not obvious. You can prioritize your to dos (none, high or low), however you cannot sort by priority. Overall we were pleased with the ability to set priorities, but found the sorting options not as useful as they could have been.
Fields (5.0)
The Sanyo M1 provides only the most basic fields for to dos. You can add a title, due date, category, priority and status. We would have liked to see more options, recurrence in particular would have been nice. However, even having the ability to create to dos is a luxury so we won’t complain too much.
Notes
Adding Notes (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support text notes. This is a disappointment and tempers our enthusiasm over the ability to add to dos.
Note Interface (0.0)
See Above
Note Formatting (0.0)
See Above
Voice Memo (5.0)
Despite lacking text notes, the Sanyo M1 does allow you to add voice notes, which has become a standard feature on phones. Adding a voice note to the Sanyo M1 is simple as there is a dedicated key on the left side of the phone. This gives you access to the menu where you can record or play your voice notes. There might be some confusion about what the difference between Record and Record:Speaker. The simple explanation is that the first records and plays back on the phone microphone and speaker, while the second uses the speakerphone. You can also activate a recording guard, which prevents incoming phone calls from interrupting your voice note. Overall we were not overly impressed with the functionality provided by the Sanyo M1’s voice note application. We felt that it can be confusing, and it did not provide more advanced features like sending a voice note via MMS or categories.
To test how easy it is to access the music software on the Sanyo M1 we time how long it takes to go from phone closed to playing a song. We do this 5 times and take the average score. Because the Sanyo M1 has 2 music players, the Sprint music player and the built in media player we ran the test once for each player. We found that the built in media player was faster, taking an average of 5.5 seconds to get music playing. The Sprint music player took slightly longer at an average of 6.3 seconds.
We were able to access content on either media player from the exterior media controls. Both players were hurt by the fact that it took quite awhile to unlock the exterior controls by holding down the play/pause key. The Sprint music player was further hurt by the fact that it connects to the network before it launches. Both players were slower than the LG Chocolate which only took 4.7 seconds to launch, but were also much faster than the Motorola Razr V3m at 12.1 seconds.
It should be noted that music purchased from Sprint’s music store can only be played on the Sprint music player. Because most people load their own music onto the phone and can choose between the two we awarded points for the faster of the two music players, the built in media player.
Dedicated Music Controls (14.0)
The Sanyo M1 has a good selection of dedicated music controls. As with many music oriented flip phones the music controls are located on the outer part of the phone, allowing you to control your music while it is closed. There is an entire D-Pad on the exterior of the phone, which allows you to navigate the music interface and doubles as play/pause, next/previous, stop and playlist buttons. The volume buttons also control music volume when it is playing while the voice memo button acts as a second play/pause key. Overall we were pleased with the selection of dedicated music controls on the M1, it was significantly better than the LG Chocolate, another music oriented phone that had few dedicated music keys.
Music Software Functionality and Organization (4.6)
The Sanyo M1 has two music programs, the Sprint music player and the built in media player. Sprint’s music software supports playlists, including the creation of playlists on the phone. It recognized the tags from both our test AAC and Mp3 files. You can sort your music by title, artist and genre. You can access the Sprint music program easily using the exterior music controls. If the phone is open you will need to go into the menu to access the software. Advanced features like visualizations, ratings and background play when in another program are not supported. Album art works from music downloaded from Sprint’s music store, but was not supported with our test Mp3 album. There is no equalizer available.
The media player software has slightly different functionality than Sprint’s music software. It also supports playlists and you can create them on the phone. It did not easily recognize the playlists included with our test album. To get the playlist to work correctly you will need to drop the playlist file into the playlist folder, and then drop your music into the root media folder. We wish it were as easy as dropping the album folder into them media folder.
Music organization is not as good as Sprint’s music software. When you open your media you see a listing of all the media and folders in that are present in the phone’s media folder. In order to access the songs on our test album we needed to go into the album folder on the media software. This can be good or bad, depending on how you like to organize your music. Video and music are all listed as one, although you can filter them out. There are no options to sort by title, artist etc. instead you simply see the file names listed.
Music tags were a mixed bag, with some of the mp3 file tags recognized, but others not. The tags on our test aac file was not recognized. Album art was not displayed, but there was a visualization that plays in the media player, although there is only one. We were very pleased to see background play. The left soft key minimizes the media player, allowing you to listen to your music while you access other functions on the phone. Of course you can also access the music software from the exterior music controls. We were also pleased to see an equalizer with 9 presets. Unfortunately you are not able to set it manually or save your own presets.
Sprint’s music player scored a 4.6 while the built in media player scored only 2.4 points. The media player did so badly primarily because it did not recognize our test playlists, had trouble with music information tags and had not options to sort/search through your music. We awarded points in this section for the better of the two players, in this case the Sprint music player.
Online Song Downloading (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 supports Sprint’s music store, allowing you to purchase and download music directly to your handset over Sprint’s high speed EVDO network. To access the music store you will need to launch Sprint’s music application found in the main menu. There you can choose to use the store or play your music.
Once in the store you are presented with a list of featured music, and below that can browse through music based on category. At the bottom you have the option to search for a specific song by artist, title or both. Once you find the song you are looking for you are presented with the song information, including title, length and album art. You can preview the song, buy it, or choose to buy 3 songs for $5 (normal pricing is $2.50 per song).
Once a download begins it is fairly quick, but users should note that the songs you download over the air are lower quality than the ones you can download to your computer at home (home downloads are included in your purchase). Most songs cost $2.50, which is significantly more expensive than the 99 cent per song standard that you tend to find online. Once a song is downloaded you can choose to play it, add it to a playlist, continue shopping or learn how to access your PC download.
Overall we found the Sprint music store easy to navigate if you know what you are looking for. It’s much less inviting for those who simply want to browse through music as you are faced with long lists to scroll through, and key functions are often found at the bottom of the list.
Streaming (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support streaming music from the internet using any standard formats. This is not surprising as few regular phones do, this being a feature that is normally reserved for smart phones like the Treo 700p.
Podcast Support (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not include any software that allows you to download and organize podcasts on your phone.
Music Sync with PC (7.0)
The Sanyo M1 can be connected to your PC using a standard USB cable and is recognized as a mass storage device. Because of this you can easily use Windows Media Player to synchronize your music with the M1. There is no support for iTunes synchronization, and in fact if you are using a Mac you will have trouble connecting the device to your computer. We were pleased to see support for synchronization, and those who use Windows Media Player to organize their music will find the Sanyo M1 to be very easy to work with.
Music Formats and DRM (2.5)
The Sanyo M1 supports Mp3 and AAC files, including the newer AAC+ format. The M1 supports Sprint’s proprietary DRM, but does not support any other standards such as Microsoft’s PlaysForSure or Real’s Rhapsody DNA. We were disappointed to see the lack of support for any of these standards as it confines you to Sprint’s music store which is significantly more expensive than other options.
Music Interruption (8.0)
When you are listening to music on the Sanyo M1 and you receive a phone call the phone automatically pauses your music. When you are done with the call the music resumes automatically from the point it was paused. This occurs whether you use Sprint’s music player or the built in media player to listen to your music. This is the same as other phones that use Sprint’s music software such as the Razr v3m. We did find though that the Sanyo M1 resumes music playback a little faster than the V3m, probably due to a better processor.
Video
Video Software Access (5.4)
As with music the Sanyo M1 gives you some choices for watching videos. You can view the videos you take yourself using the album software. This will also play 3GP and MP4 files that you drop into the correct folder. However because this software was meant to complement the camera we decided to review the more robust media player, which also plays 3GP and MP4 videos.
To test how easy it is to access music software we time how long it takes to go from the phone closed position to playing music. We set the phone up with our test album and make sure the music software has it loaded. In the case of the Sanyo M1 you can get video playing by using the exterior music controls, and can even watch video on the small exterior screen. However, because we believe that most users will want to watch video on the larger interior screen, we choose to time how long it takes to open the phone and access your videos.
In our tests the M1 was able to get a video playing in a relatively quick 3.7 seconds. This is faster than the LG Chocolate, which took an average of 4.7 seconds. The M1’s speedy access is helped by the fact that left on the D-Pad is assigned to media player by default.
Video Controls (5.0)
Although you can view and control videos when the phone is closed, we feel that most people will use the larger screen, as such we are scoring this section on the video controls you get when the phone is open. With a video playing in that situation the directional pad gives you access to play/pause, previous/next track, and allows you to bring up a list of all the items in your current folder and move between them. The left soft key also functions as a play/pause button, while the volume keys control the video’s sound. We were rather disappointed by the controls on the Sanyo M1, we felt that more could have been done, for example why replicate the play/pause function both on the directional pad and on a soft key?
Video Software & Organization (3.5)
The video software on the Sanyo is very basic. When new files are dropped into the appropriate folder the library is automatically updated. You can also view video in full screen and in landscape mode, to take full advantage of the screen real estate. Advanced features such as ratings are not available.
The Sanyo M1 supports the creation of playlists in its media player. However, just as we discussed in the music section, there is no support for organizing your media by title, artist etc. nor can you search through your media. Also, unlike music playback, background play is not supported for videos.
Video Sync with PC (7.0)
As with music Windows PCs will see the Sanyo M1 as a mass storage device, allowing you to sync content using Windows Media Player. We were pleased to see this option as it allows you to quickly and easily move content between you PC and your device. Unfortunately there was no support for other platforms such as iTunes.
Video Formats (2.0)
The Sanyo M1 recognized all of our test 3GP files and our test MP4 file, but was unable to play back either the MP4 file or the 3GP file encoded with MPEG-4. It was able to play back both of the H263 encoded 3GP files. The M1 did not recognize windows media, flash, Quicktime,real or other test video files. We were happy to see support for H263 encoded 3GP, as this is a mobile standard, but were disappointed that no other formats were supported.
Video DRM (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support any time of digital rights management for video.
Video Playback Smoothness (10.0)
To test video playback smoothness we view a series of 3GP or MP4 encoded video clips, starting at 48 kbps and ending at 768 kbps. We were extremely pleased that the Sanyo M1 was able to play back all of our test clips without pause or lag all the way up to 768 kbps. This is excellent performance for a mobile phone, for example the LG Chocolate was only able to play back the lowest bitrate file without pause or lag.
Online Video Downloading (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support any online video download services.
Video Streaming (unscored)
Because of the varying standards in streaming video we do not score this section. The Sanyo M1 was able to stream a music video encoded in 3GP off of www.zoovision.com. We were unable to view windows media content, unsurprising as the M1 does not support windows media. You can also stream video from Sprint’s through their portal. Simply select entertainment from the browser home page and browse to the content you want to access. Overall we were pleased with the video streaming options on the M1.
[page title="Software"]OS (3.0)
The Sanyo M1 uses a proprietary operating system. The interface is straightforward, with a standard menu organized into 12 different icons with submenus organized into lists. Lag was minimal when moving through standard programs like contacts, calendar, etc. We did notice significant lag when launching Sprint’s music player, but this is likely as much about the program as it is about the operating system. We liked that both the main menu and sub menus are mapped to the number keys, so you can jump to the item you want. Unfortunately the menus found under the soft keys are not mapped to number keys. Overall we found the interface to be more responsive and better organized than that found on the Motorola Razr V3m, and on par with that found on the LG Chocolate. Proprietary operating systems are scored between one and five points, we reserve higher scores for the much more flexible and powerful operating systems found on smart phones like Palm OS or Windows Mobile.
Home Screen Score (4.0)
The Sanyo M1’s home screen is very basic. Indicators are found at the top, including battery, signal, network, time and date. You will also find indicators for things like data services and Bluetooth. Most of the screen is taken up by the animation or picture that you have assigned. At the bottom of the screen are the indicators for your two soft keys. Although there is no on screen indication, you also have access to four shortcuts using the directional pad. By default these applications are media player, on demand, send text to and my content. These can be changed under the settings.
Overall we found the home screen on the Sanyo M1 to be fairly standard, similar to the one found on many phones like the LG Chocolate or the Motorola Razr V3m. We would have liked to see some indicator for the functions of the directional pad like that found on the Razr, but other than that the functionality is very similar.
Extensibility (3.0)
The Sanyo M1 has limited opportunities for adding third party software. You can add java applications, which you can purchase from Sprint’s store or download from the internet. Compared to advanced operating systems like Windows Mobile or Palm OS, the M1’s operating system is very limited. That being said, there are some nice java applications available, such as Google Maps and the Opera Mini web browser.
Customizability (4.0)
The Sanyo M1 has average options to customize your interface. The background on either screen can be set to any photo you take. Alternatively you can choose from built in or downloadable animations. The M1 ships with two themes, the standard Sanyo theme and a Tropical Paradise theme. The Tropical Paradise theme significantly changes the interface on the home screen, and adds tropical vistas as backgrounds to all of your menus. You can also download new themes. There were no options to change fonts or colors on the phone beyond the automatic changes that come with different themes. You can also customize your experience using the favorites menu. On the home screen the left soft key is mapped to a list of favorate applications and actions. This list can be easily customized to meet your needs. Overall we found customization on the Sanyo M1 to be very standard, similar to that found on the LG Chocolate or the Motorola Razr V3m.
OS Responsivness (5.0)
The Sanyo M1 responds well to key presses and commands, but occasionally displays some pauses. It is almost as responsive as the operating system on the LG Chocolate, and significantly faster than that found on the Motorola Razr V3m. We rarely found ourselves frustrated when moving through menus and accessing applications.
Gaming (1.7)
We were disappointed with the game options available on the Sanyo M1. There were demonstrations versions of several games, but not a single full version available. I guess its better to have some demonstration versions rather than none (like the LG Chocolate), but frankly we think its rather cheap to ship a phone without even a single full game to provide some entertainment.
The M1 is capable of playing most Java games, and all of the demo versions found on the phone are java based. You can purchase these directly from Sprint. The controls on the M1 are not very well designed for game play. We found the directional pad to be a little too small, and the raised center menu key resulted in lots of mistaken key presses.
Browser Features (6.0)
The Browser on the Sanyo M1 supports a fairly standard range of features including WAP and HTML pages. Javascript, images, cookies and encryption are also on board. More advanced features like RSS feeds, the ability to save items from a web page and password management are not available. The Browser on the M1 is similar to many other phone browsers, such as those found on the LG Chocolate and the Motorola Razr V3m. The basic features are present, but advanced features are not.
Browsing Interface (4.0)
The interface on the Sanyo M1’s browser reformats screens to fit on a smaller page in a single column view. There are no other view options available. You can use the directional pad to move around the page link by link, but cannot scroll up/down by full pages. There are no shortcut keys available apart from the left soft key that takes you back to the previous page. The right soft key gives you access to the menus.
The history on the M1’s browser is a simple list of previously visited pages. You can save an item from this history to your bookmarks. We were also pleased to see that the history is saved between sessions. You can also view a history of previously entered urls under the “Go To URL” feature in the menu. Bookmarks are organized in a simple list with no folder support. You can edit existing bookmarks and reorganize them to fit your needs.
The menu on the M1’s browser give you access to the basic features you would expect; bookmark this page, go to a url, etc. In addition you can go directly to a search page from the menu or choose to send a page via SMS, a nice feature that is not always found on phone browsers. The preferences allow you to adjust items like font size, your home page and whether images are shown. You can also delete your cookies from this page, but we saw no option to clear your cache.
No advanced features like full screen viewing or full page rendering with zoom were available on the M1’s browser. Compared to other basic phone browsers like that found on the Motorola Razr V3m the M1’s browser offers similar functionality with a few minor extras. We particularly liked the ability to send a link via SMS and the fact that your history is saved between sessions. The Sanyo M1 browser however lacks the advanced features you will find on the iPhone or the excellent Series 60 browser.
Browser Access Speed (5.0)
To test how easy it is to access the browser we count the number of steps it takes to go from standby to our own website. We count steps instead of doing a timed test in this situation to control variance in network conditions. Entering the web address is counted as single step. The Sanyo M1 took 8 steps to navigate to our website. This score is significantly better than the Razr V3m’s 13 steps, but not as good as more advanced phones like the Treo 700p, which took only 5 steps. The M1 is hurt by the fact that there is no shortcut to the browser on the home screen an that there is an extra dialogue in the browser menu that you have to go through before you are able to enter a url.
Calculator (5.0)
The calculator on the Sanyo M1 is basic and very easy to use. The directional pad is assigned to plus, minus, multiple, divide and equals, while the soft keys allow you to clear the screen or insert a decimal point. We were able to do our simple calculations, but of course weren’t able to do more advanced calculations like taking a square root. Although we were not impressed by the functionality available, we were very pleased with the ease of use.
Alarm (6.0)
The Sanyo M1 allows you to set up to 5 different alarms. Each one can be set to go off once, every day, every given day or on weekdays/weekends. You cannot set an alarm for a single date, for example January 10. Each alarm can be set and the easily turned on or off. We were pleased to see multiple alarms, and the flexibility provided in the repeating alarms, but were disappointed that you could not set an alarm for a specific date/time.
Document Software (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not include software to view or edit office documents, such as word or excel files.
Additional Software (3.0)
In addition to the software covered below we felt it necessary to mention the fact that the Sanyo M1 includes a file browser. Most phones, even advanced ones like the Treo 700p, do not include a file browser, requiring you to manipulate files either within applications or when connected to a computer. Having a file browser on the Sanyo M1 lets you easily rename, move or delete files on your device, and this flexibility is worthy of points.
Call Time (5.1)
To test call time we make a phone call to the device using Skype. We then play back an audio book to simulate a conversation and time how long it takes for the phone to hang up when the battery runs out. The Sanyo M1 lasted 4 hours and 15 minutes in our talk time test. This is better than Sprint's stated talk time of 3.8 hours. 4 hours and 15 minutes is significantly better than the Motorola Razr V3m or the LG Chocolate, both of which lasted under 3 hours.
Music Playback (5.9)
To test battery performance when playing back music we load a test album and set it to play looped until the battery dies. We leave all settings to default and close the phone if it is a slider or clamshell. The Sanyo M1 lasted 8 hours and 12 minutes in our music test. This is a good score for a cell phone, significantly better than the Motorola Razr V3m's 4 hours and 23 minutes and slightly better than the LG Chocolate's 7 hours and 37 minutes. 8 hours is enough time that you can use the M1 as your music player on a cross country flight or for a workout at the gym.
Web Browsing (5.8)
We test the battery life for Web browsing by pointing the browser on the phone to a web page that constantly refreshes, loading a new page every 10 seconds. We also use a device that presses a button on the keypad once every minute to simulate someone pressing a button while browsing. In this tough test, the M1 lasted for an impressive 4 hours and 54 minutes; significantly longer than the average time, and one of the longest times that we've seen. Of course, it is worth remembering that the battery life depends on what you are doing, the signal strength of the network and many other factors, but the M1 had an impressive battery life.
Idle Time (not scored)
In order to get handset reviews out in a timely fashion we do not do idle time reviews. Unfortunately neither Sanyo nor Sprint report estimated standby time for the Sanyo M1.
[page title="Connectivity"]Cellular Bands (4.0)
As a CDMA phone running on the Sprint network, the Sanyo M1 supports the CDMA 800 and 1900 bands. CDMA technology functioning on these bands is pretty much restricted to the United States and Canada. World travelers who want to take their phone with them should either consider a GSM provider or look into Sprint’s international roaming service, which allows you to lease a compatible GSM phone and keep your phone number, for a cost. Our score in this section is standardized based on the total number of cellular bands supported by a handset.
Data Support Score (6.0)
The Sanyo M1 supports both 1xRTT and EVDO data standards on the Spint network. Average download speeds on the high speed EVDO network are between 400 to 700 kbps, with burst speeds up to 2 Mbps. The M1 does not support Sprint’s newer EVDO Rev A network. For users in North America, EVDO provides very good data transfer speeds, although it should be noted that significant data use can drain your battery fairly quickly.
Bluetooth (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 supports Bluetooth 1.2 with eleven different profiles. These include dial up networking, headset and hands free. We were also pleased to see support for A2DP, which allow you to listen to stereo music using Bluetooth headphones. AVRCP allows you to control the music on your device using that same headset.
The Bluetooth software is fairly straightforward, allowing you to create partnerships and manage things like visibility and device name. We were also please to see sending of files via Bluetooth built into the album software. Partnering our phone with a Bluetooth headset was a very straightforward affair..
Overall we found that the Sanyo M1 had more profiles available than many other phones, while ease of use was fairly average.
WiFi (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support Wi-Fi.
Infrared (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not support Infrared.
Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (7.3)
Using the Sanyo M1’s predictive text system we entered a sample piece of text in 5 times using 2 hands. The average time to write out the piece of text was 26.4 seconds, which works out to 36.4 words per minute. This is an excellent score for a regular phone and comes close to rivaling the speed you can get on phones with a QWERTY keyboard. For example the Motorola Razr V3m was only able to write 29.4 words per minute, while the Motorola Q was able to do only a little better at 39.5 words per minute. One factor that came into play is that the predictive text system learned our usage patterns, meaning we didn’t have to select the word we wanted after using it a few uses. Overall we were extremely pleased at how quickly we were able to type on the Sanyo M1’s keypad.
T9 and Auto Complete (10.0)
The Sanyo M1 has both T9 predictive text entry and limited auto completion. The Sanyo does not offer to complete all words, but will occasionally suggest something, for example when typing out groceries, you will see it the word pop up after only entering groc. Although predictive text entry is a standard feature on phones, predictive text is not, and we were pleased to see it on the M1.
One Handed Usability (6.4)
We also run our words per minute test with one hand to give you an idea of how difficult it is to type things out single handedly. In our tests the Sanyo M1 took an average of 29.8 seconds to complete enter our sample text. This works out to 32.2 words per minute. Although not as good as our two handed score, this is still an impressive score for a regular phone. It is still faster than the Motorola Razr V3m’s two handed score. We should not however that we found the Sanyo M1 to be very top heavy and difficult to hold while texting with a single hand.
Keypad Backlighting (4.0)
The Sanyo M1’s keypad is backlit in blue. The backlighting is very bright towards the center of the keypad, but get dimmer towards the edges, especially near the bottom of the phone. There is no light sensor to automatically adjust keypad backlighting, however you can adjust the length of time it stays on in the settings. Overall we were not very impressed with the backlighting on the Sanyo M1, it was not very even. We preferred the backlighting on the Motorola Razr V3m.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (2.0)
The Sanyo M1’s directional pad is a rounded square placed on the upper part of the lower flip. Like many of the controls on the M1 it is covered by enamel, which makes it rather slick. We found the directional pad very difficult to use, mostly because the center button is raised up above the rest of the D-Pad. This means that it is very easy to accidentally hit the center select button when you don’t want to. We would have liked to see the edges of the directional pad raised, like on the Treo 700p, to make using the directions easier.
Touch Screen (0.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (1.0)
The Sanyo M1 does not have a jog dial, however the volume rocker keys can be used to move up and down menus in either open or closed mode. The keys are not well placed to use as a jog dial on a regular basis, but its nice to see the functionality available.
Soft Buttons (5.0)
The soft buttons on the Sanyo M1 lie slightly above and on either side of the D-Pad. These are the only control keys that are not enameled, with a brushed metal look instead. Despite this they keys are almost as slick as the rest of the control keys. Because they are so slick it can be difficult to find them by feel. When pressed they provide only slight tactile feedback. Overall we found the soft keys on the Sanyo M1 to slightly below average, we would have liked more tactile feedback, both in finding the keys and when they are pressed.
Volume Control (4.5)
The volume control on the Sanyo M1 is located on the left side of the phone, towards the bottom of the bottom flip. The keys themselves are a single piece on a rocker switch, with either end raised up slightly. We found this arrangement very easy to use, it was easy to identify by feel where we should press. Like many keys on the M1 the volume rocker is enameled and slick. We would have liked to see more tactile feedback when the key is pressed. These are minor issues however. The biggest issue we faced with the M1’s volume keys is there placement. Whether the phone is open or closed they are not convenient to use, requiring you to readjust your hold on the phone in order to access them. We would have preferred to see the keys located higher on the phone to make them more convenient to use.
Power and Standby (6.0)
The power key on the Sanyo M1 is a secondary function of the end key. As we discussed before they key is placed sightly below and to the right of the directional pad. It is enameled and slick, with very little tactile feedback. To turn the phone off using this key you simply need to press and hold it. We found that the amount of time you have to hold the key down is much less than other phones like the Motorola Razr V3m. The key has the traditional on/off symbol on it, and using the end key as your off button has become standardized enough that most users should be able to find the functionality quickly and easily. We were pleased to see that it only took a single tap on the key to start the phone back up once it was off. Overall we found the power key easy to use aside from the issues with tactile feedback.
Other Buttons (5.5)
The Sanyo M1 has an array of buttons, both on the inside and outside of the phone. In addition to those we spoke about above, the M1 has a dedicated camera key, back button and dedicated speaker button surrounding the directional pad. A single press on the camera key takes you to the pictures menu, while a long press takes you directly to the camera. When on a call the speaker button will activate the speaker phone. When not in a call a short press will take you to the call history, while a long press takes you to the voice tag menu. The back key simply takes you back to the previous screen. All of these buttons are enameled and suffer from the same drawbacks seen on the other control keys.
The left side of the phone has dedicated voice recorder button. This key is plastic and has three pips on it that make it very easy to find by feel. We wish that Sanyo had made the other buttons on the device as easy to find. A short press on the key opens the voice recorder menu, while a long press takes you directly to voice recording.
The right side of the device has two buttons. The top one is a dedicated voice command button, while below it is a second camera key. These buttons are again enameled, and don’t provide very good tactile feedback. A short press on the voice command button takes you to the main voice command menu where you are prompted to speak any command. A short press will take you directly to the calls section of the voice command program. A short press on the camera key takes you to a short menu where you can choose to open the camera, camcorder or voice recorder. A long press will take you directly to the camera.
On the front of the device when closed you will find a second directional pad below the exterior screen. This directional pad allows you to navigate through the media menus. In addition the different directions and the select key double as media control keys when music/video is playing. Unfortunately the exterior directional pad suffers from the same issue as the one on the inside of the phone. Specifically the select key is more prominent than the surrounding directions, meaning that it is too easy to hit by accident. This is made even worse by the fact that this directional pad is smaller than the interior one.
A lot of buttons can be good or bad, depending on how useful and operable they are. We feel that the Sanyo M1 has a few too many buttons as can be seen by the functions that are repeated on many of them. We also found many of the buttons difficult to use with little tactile feedback and awkward positioning. Our standard for scoring additional buttons is to award a single point for each additional button that fulfills a useful function. With the Sanyo M1 we found the extra buttons sufficiently redundant and difficult to use that we only awarded half points for this section.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 has a QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) display. QVGA is becoming a standard for mid to high end cell phones, and we are glad to see it on the M1. This screen resolution is the same as that found on the LG Chocolate or the Cingular 3125, and is a step above the 176 x 220 pixel display found on the Motorola Razr V3m.
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (10.3)
The Sanyo M1 has an impressive pixel density of 205 pixels per in (PPI). Higher pixel density means richer colors and sharper renderings on the display. The Sanyo M1’s pixel density is about the same as the LG Chocolate and significantly better than the Treo 700p’s 160 PPI.
Screen Physical Size (5.0)
The Sanyo M1’s screen is 2” diagonal. This is a standard size for cell phone screens, and is the same as that found on the LG Chocolate. The Motorola Razr V3m has a slightly larger screen at 2.1”, while some newer high end phones are starting to be seen with 2.4” screens. We found the M1’s screen large enough for most phone functions, but you start to notice how small it is when you try to use the phone to display visual media like photos and videos.
Screen Brightness (4.0)
To test screen brightness we set the phone’s brightness to maximum and navigate to a blank white web page. We then measure the brightness in lumens from two inches away. The Sanyo M1 came in at 50 lumens. This is an average score for a handset. Unfortunately the Sanyo M1 does not give you the option to adjust your screen brightness, nor does it adjust brightness automatically.
Screen Bright Light Performance (6.0)
To test bright light performance we shine a light on the screen at 3000 lux, which is comparable to bright sunlight. We then judge how legible the screen is. The Sanyo M1 does well under bright light conditions, although there is significant glare the screen is still legible. The Sanyo M1 did better in our bright light test than the Blackberry 8703e where the glare made the screen almost unreadable.
Color Depth (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 displays an impressive 260,000 colors. This amount of color depth is usually only found on higher end phones, with most phones settling on the much lower 65,000 colors. Phones with more color depth are able to better reproduce real colors on your screen.
Secondary Screen (7.0)
The Sanyo M1’s exterior screen has a resolution of 128 x 96 pixels that supports an impressive 260,000 colors. We were pleased to see high color depth and, for a secondary screen, good resolution as the exterior display on the M1 will see a lot of use as you navigate your music and perhaps even watch videos on it. The M1’s exterior display is a step above that found on most phones.
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (3.0)
The Sanyo M1 has two separate ports for data and power. Both of these are proprietary and have plastic covers to protect them. The power port is found on the bottom right of the hand set, while the data port is centered on the bottom of the handset. We were pleased to discover that the M1 supports USB charging but we would have preferred to see a standard USB port as found on the Motorola Razr V3m.
Headphone Jack and Compatibility (8.0)
The Sanyo M1 has a standard 2.5mm headphone/headset jack. In addition the phone ships with a microphone that plugs into the 2.5mm jack and has an adaptor for 3.5mm headphones. This is a nice feature that allows you to use any standard pair of headphones while still being able to use the microphone on the adaptor as a hands free headset. In addition to these wired options the M1 supports Bluetooth stereo headsets using the A2DP Bluetooth profiles. Overall we were pleased with the headphone jack options on the M1. They provide flexibility and conform to standards, something that can’t be said about phones like the Motorola Razr V3m or the LG Chocolate.
Internal Storage (5.0)
One of the Sanyo M1’s selling points is the 1 gigabyte of built in storage. Most phones come only with a few megabytes of storage to use for contacts, photos and other content. Many modern phones come with expansion slots to use with memory cards that allow you to expand your storage, but these are an added expense and can often be fiddly to work with. We applaud Sanyo for making a phone with a generous amount of storage available for photos and music. We hope that other manufacturers take a hint from Sanyo and begin to provide generous amounts of built in storage for users.
Expansion Slot and Format (0.0)
The drawback of having generous built in storage is that Sanyo declined to include an expansion slot. This is an understandable decision as the addition of an expansion slot would have added cost and perhaps been confusing to end-users. Still, this means that users will be stuck with the storage built into the Sanyo.
Tethered Modem (0.0)
Although the Sanyo M1 should be able to act as a modem for your computer both over USB and Bluetooth we were unable to get our Windows XP machine to connect using either. On the USB side the our computer did not have the appropriate drivers for modem support, and on the Bluetooth side we were simply unable to conect despite the fact that our laptop recognized the M1 as a Bluetooth modem. We were dissapointed by the fact that we were unable to get the Sanyo M1 to function as a modem.
[page title="Value & Comparisons"]Value (5.0)
As of this writing the Sanyo M1 was available from Sprint with a 2-year contract for $199.99. You can purchase it without a contract for $349.99. The Sanyo M1 is priced as a mid to high-end handset, and delivers much of the functionality you would expect from a handset in this range. The addition of 1GB of internal storage means that you won’t have to spend an extra $50-$75 on an expansion card. It also comes with a nice selection of accessories, so no need to spend extra for a USB cable or a headset.
We must admit though that the M1’s aesthetics are not as nice as the KRZR K1m from Motorola or the M610 from Samsung, two similarly priced phones. Overall we judge the Sanyo M1’s pricing to be slightly higher than what we would like to pay for a phone with this functionality and appeal. The LG Chocolate from Verizon, with a music essentials pack and a 1gb memory card still comes in lower than the Sanyo M1 and provides almost as much functionality. Give it a few months however and we are sure that the M1’s price will come down to a much more attractive figure.
Comparisons
LG Chocolate - The LG Chocolate is a music device that lacks the Sanyo M1's 1GB of storage, depending upon memory cards to store your media instead. There are pluses and minuses to this, on the one hand memory cards go above 1GB, but on the other its an additional investment. the M1 also provides greater functionality than the Chocolate and comes with a better set of accessories. The Chocolate however has a much nicer look and feel than the M1.
Motorola Razr V3m - The Razr is the device that started the "slim" craze that the M1 bucks with its more blocky looks. We must say that we prefer the Razr from an ascetic perspective, but the M1 is head and shoulders above it in terms of functionality and hardware. If you just want something to look pretty the Razr might be for you, but if you want a phone that will do more go with the M1.
Motorola Q - The Motorola Q offers even more functionality than the Sanyo M1 at a lower price. It does give something up in terms of portability, but it does have a slim form factor. The M1 also does much better in terms of battery life, and some people may be intimidated by the Q's more advanced Windows Mobile interface.
[page title="Conclusions"]
Who’s It For
Business user – The Sanyo M1 is not a good choice for business users. The web based email client is not a good choice for those who always need access to their email messages. Business users would also notice the lack of PIM synchronization with a computer.
Budget callers – At $199.99 with contract or $349.99 without the Sanyo M1 is not a good choice for budget callers. You can find a basic phone for free, and if you are looking for more functionality or better aesthetics budget callers should be able to find something for well under $100.
Chatty teenager – The Sanyo M1 provides good calling functionality, a nice camera for a phone and plenty of built in storage for media, which might be a good combination for a chatty teenager who can get over the less than appealing aesthetics.
Media maven – The Sanyo M1 is a good choice for a media maven. With 1GB of built in storage, easy synchronization of media with a PC and an above average 2 megapixel camera the M1 hits the spot. We would have liked to see more storage, or perhaps the option to expand the ample built in storage, but 1GB will do for most users. The only place where the M1 falls down as a media device is in video play back.
Conclusion
The Sanyo is a solid mid range handset with a few features that help it stand out from the pack. The first is the 1GB of built in storage. In an age where most multimedia phones require that you purchase additional storage in the form of a memory card having that much storage available out of the box is a definite plus. That being said media maven’s may find that 1GB is not sufficient for their needs, and the lack of an expansion slot could hurt the M1 here. We also like the fact that the M1 makes it easy to get music and other media onto your phone appearing as a mass storage device to your computer. We also liked the microphone with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use your own high quality headphones. Another welcome feature is the 2 megapixel auto focus camera. The M1 scored well on our tests compared to run of the mill camera phones with 1.3 megapixel fixed focus cameras.
Other than these features we found the M1 to be a fairly run of the mill mid range phone. It’s also not much to look at, especially compared to the range of than handsets that have become so popular since the release of the original Razr. Our conclusion? The M1 is a herald of things to come as handset makers begin to build more storage and better cameras into phones, look for 2007 to spawn a range of phones that will compete with M1 on multimedia features.
[page title="Ratings & Specs"]
| Dimension | |
| Height | 3.60 |
| Carrier | Sprint |
| Type | Flip |
| Low Price | 0.00 |
| Width | 1.90 |
| Depth | 0.90 |
| Weight (including battery) | 3.80 |
| Physical | |
| Number of Screens | 2 |
| Main Screen Dimensions | 2.0” |
| Main Screen Resolution | 240 (W) x 320 (H) pixels |
| Main Screen Colors | 260000 |
| Main Screen Type | TFT LCD |
| Secondary Screen Dimensions | 1.3” |
| Secondary Screen Resolution | 128 (W) x 96 (H) pixels |
| Secondary Screen Colors | 260000 |
| Secondary Screen Type | TFT LCD |
| Keys | |
| Number Keys Type | |
| QWERTY |  |
| QWERTY Keyboard Type | |
| Other Control Keys | five-button navigation | <