Sanyo M1 Cell Phone Review - Multimedia
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 15, 2007 Comment on this |
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Accessing Music Software (3.6)
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.
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