Sanyo SCP-3810 – a basic entry level phone
For:
Good display, calls quality is good, voice can be heard clearly on both the sides.
Against:
Low on features, just 12 MB of internal memory, external display doesn’t display much information.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Sanyo SCP-3810 is a dual band CDMA phone (1900/800 MHz). It has a clamshell design. The display of the phone is 2.40 inches big and has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels or 65k colors. There is also an external OLED display on the lid.
PIM features on the phone include countdown timer, stopwatch, world clock, alarm, calculator and calendar. Email options include SMTP, IMAP and POP3 connectivity. The 1000 mAh lithium ion battery has a rated talk time of 5.8 hours.
On the right side of the phone, there is a camera shutter key, microUSB port and volume rocker buttons. The charger port can also be used for data transfer through the bundled USB cable. The other side of the SCP-3810 has the 2.5 mm headphone jack.
Razzle Dazzle:
Sanyo SCP-3810 is a simple phone with a simple look. You get two color options on the phone and there is nothing about the device that would make us call it sexy. The exterior is glossy and hence a fingerprint magnet. The handset is 0.7 inches thick, 2 inches wide, 2.8 inches tall and weighs about 3.9 ounces.
Inside Dope:
SCP-3810, the latest offering by Sanyo is an entry level handset with minimal features. All it can do is make calls and send text messages. Sanyo was bought by Kyocera in late September 2007 for about 50 billion yen ($435 million) because Sanyo couldn’t stand the stiff competition offered by other manufacturers. But Sanyo hasn’t lost its roots, the style and design has been the same in the phones. Being an entry level phone it can do only calling and it is pretty good at it with the great call quality. If you are a multimedia enthusiast or want data features in your handset you will have to look else where. The SCP-3810 costs $249 but if you buy it with the service, it is free after a $50 mail-in rebate. The features of the handset is pretty basic, it has a tiny display, few PIM features like countdown timer, stopwatch, world clock, alarm, calculator. It does have a camera but the quality is really bad. There is no music player and the phone has average battery life. It has GPS, which is perhaps the only advanced feature on the phone.
Display
Being a clamshell design phone, there are two displays. The OLED display on the lid is really awful, all it shows you is time. We would have liked a bigger display to show signal strength, battery life and date. The display disappears when the backlighting gets switched off. You will have to push the volume rocker buttons to see the time.
The internal display of the phone is 2.4 inches big, has a 320×240 pixel resolution with support for 65k colors. The graphics on the screen look sharp, the colors are bright and the display is vibrant. The menu interface is user friendly and you can adjust the backlight time and brightness.
Navigation array and keyboard
Below the display, there is the navigation array which consists of camera shutter key, back key, two soft keys, circular toggle with OK button in the middle. There is also a speakerphone key and the usual Talk/End keys. The keys are really flat on the surface of the phone but still easy to press. Being an entry level phone, the numeric keypad is only needed for punching phone numbers and composing text messages. As long as you don’t do web browsing or e-mail composing the keyboard will be easy to use.
Phone book and other features
The phone book is a bit small with a 300 entry limit. A single entry can take multiple phone numbers, notes, postal address and three e-mail IDs. The SCP-3810 supports video caller ID and you can make groups of your friends. There are 37 polyphonic ring tones to choose from.
Additional features on the phone include world clock, stopwatch, speakerphone, countdown timer, calculator, calendar, alarm clock and threaded text and multi media messaging. For advanced users, there are features like PC syncing, USB mass storage, speaker independent voice commands and dialing, instant messaging, voice recorder and Bluetooth.
Messaging
For messaging, the phone has IMAP4 and POP3 connectivity. But the numeric keypad make composing e-mails a miserable experience. A QWERTY keyboard is the best for writing e-mails but asking for a big keyboard on an entry level phone like this seems a bit crazy.
Camera
The SCP-3810 has a 1.3 MP camera which as expected, takes aw full photos. Sanyo should have put at least a 2 MP camera for photos with better resolution. The resolution limits on the camera is from 320X240 to 1280X960 pixels. You can adjust color tone, contrast, white balance, sharpness, brightness and image quality. The camera also includes a silent mode, three shutter sounds, self timer, multishot mode, 9 fun frames and digital zoom. The camera doesn’t have flash and cannot shoot video. For storing your photos, you get just 12 MB of internal memory space. Photo quality was below average, you really cannot expect much from a 1.3 MP camera.
Games and personalization
You can personalize your Sanyo SCP-3810 with wallpapers, screensavers, variety of clock styles and greetings. You can get more from the WAP 2.0 web browser. The handset doesn’t come preinstalled with any games but there is ScanLife, a bar code scanner which has support for 2 Sprint applications – Nascar Cup Mobile and Sprint NFL Mobile Live.
Call quality
Call quality was excellent on the Sanyo SCP-3810. We could hear our friends quite clearly. There was a bit of metallic tinge but the voice could be heard easily. The volume gets loud enough so that you can clearly talk even in noisy environments. The callers too said that they could hear our voice clearly but they could tell that we were on a cell phone. Speaker phone calls were not as good, the voice sounded tinny and the device had to be kept close to our mouth while talking. Bluetooth calls were good but that again depends on which wireless headset you are using.
Battery life
The rated battery life of the SCP-3810 is 5.8 hours for talk time. In our tests the battery lasted for about 7 hours and 15 minutes which is better than the rated talk time. Sanyo didn’t reveal the standby time of the battery.
Verdict:
Sanyo SCP-3810 is low on features; all it can do is call and send messages. If you are looking for such a phone then go ahead and get this. If you are going to do just calling, then you will love this phone because it has great call quality.
