Sanyo - Katana Cell Phone Review

I'll start off with the few things that I find detrimental to my enjoyment of the phone.  Firstly, as you may have heard, its maximum volume is insufficient in certain settings.  The vibration isn't altogether noticeable either, so you may miss a lot of calls depending on where you hang out.  Secondly, I was a bit unhappy upon, after upgrading from my ancient Nokia, that I wouldn't be able to download my own hosted MIDI files using the phone's internet capabilitiies.  This was a feature I exploited on my older phone to avoid having to pay exorbitant rates for silly soundbytes.  Sprint hosts their own "online albums," however, where you are able to upload pictures (only JPEG) to and from your phone, so if you don't want to pay for backgrounds (like me) you'll be able to pull that off.  The last sucky part of the Katana is the utter lack of support for video.  None at all.

In terms of the good, the Katana is a very attractive phone, borrowing style tips from the RAZR and making them its own.  It's thin, sleek, and can slide into your "skinny jeans" pocket if so desired.  The buttons are imbedded in the pad--no big deal if you're used to newer phones--which adds to the "sleek" factor.  The camera is decent, though the lack of flash can get on my nerves.  There are many free applications available for download if you have Sprint's data plan, the ones I ues most frequently are Google Maps, Opera Minibrowser, and Sprint's IM/Email program.  These run with tolerable speed--closer to dial-up than broadband.  The battery life is--to me--slightly short, but this is because my previous phone was super-efficient.  The screen is super-bright, so it's easy to understand where the power goes.

There are a few features built into the phone:  a standard calendar, alarm clock, countdown feature, stop watch, calculator, and time-zone program.  I've never had any problems with any of these, and in fact use the phone's alarm clock to wake me every day.

This phone is a great choice for those who don't exactly want the RAZR or its cronies, but who love the design, the price, and are willing to spare a few extra capabilities.