Sanyo PRO-200
I
I have had the PRO-200 for several weeks now with no problems. I use it for basic voice calls and texts only. I do not use Direct Connect and in fact disabled DC to save battery life.
Build Quality is very good. Quality matte plastics are used and the rubberized back is great. The phone doesn't show fingerprints like so many of today's "sleek" phones. It has a tight, snappy hinge with no side-to-side play in the front flip. The keypad and side buttons feel well-made too. I love the easy-to-read monochrome external display.
Volume goes very loud for everything. This includes the earpiece, the speakerphone, and ringers. Thankfully, the earpiece does go reasonably low on its lowest setting, so you can also comfortably use the phone in quiet environments.
Call quality is pretty good, but not great. Reception is good so voice transmission is consistent and free from any drop out or choppyness. People on the other end get good transmission as well. However, one of the professional reviews for this phone said that volume fluctuates at times, which I have noticed a few times with certain callers.
To be very picky, I think Sanyos do lack a certain refinement in their call quality. I had a Moto VE20 before this that I thought had awesome call quality. The Sanyo is like a cheap boombox compared to the Moto being a quality sound system. Overall, you can still hear the music fine on the boombox, but it just lacks a certain quality.
Reception is in the average to good range. I tested it in a fringy corner of my basement and it did as good, but no much better, than some other Sprint phones I have laying around.
I'm using an aftermarket 850 maH battery and get good battery life. Battery life with the factory 1050 maH battery should be very good.
If you don't use DC or the web and have the MSL, you can turn off EVDO by going into the ##DATA# menu and switching it from Hybrid Mode to 1x Only mode so it is not constantly looking for the EVDO signal for direct connect.
Strongly Dislike
Me and my fiance both have the same phones, we have had them for about 3 months or so and this is what we have came across:
PROS:
The phone is quite compact, which is nice. It is very durable. My baby cousin would chew on it and drop it and it was fine.
The Direct Connect on it is good, most of the time.
CONS:
I just replaced th phone, then the same day I replaced it and it did the exact same thing! It would randomly black out. It happened several times when I was on the phone with someone. Then when it would come back on, after you hit the power button, it would search for signal and not have a signal for about 5 minutes or so.
Direct Connect, I've seen better. Both of my phones had the most impossible time accepting the Direct Connect. My fiance's however, worked.
The signal on this phone is horrible.
