Sanyo Katana Eclipse
Average Ratings
Awesome Phone
I highly recommend this phone to all Sprint customers. I'm very impressed by the clarity of the speaker and ear piece on this phone. It is a lot better than the Katana 6600.
There are only two very minor cons:
1) No camera flash
2) No Data Cable
You WON'T be making a mistake when you purchase this phone.
Katana Eclipse Cons
I love this phone but I know all the Cons about it so i decided to let everyone know.
I used to have the Sanyo 8400 so I am really listing what i noticed as a con after switching. oh there is allot of pros but I'm just list the cons going from the 8400 to the katana.
1. the camera does not have a flash and cannot take pictures at a restaurant or club. defiantly i do not enjoy the camera
as much as the 8400.
2. yes the phone can use an 8 GB memory chip.
but the more music you put on the chip the slower the Music player is. In fact, since i have about 7gb of music on my chip I cannot use the music player at all unless i wait 3 minutes for it to load up and get an error.
this seems to be sprints music player in general though. Fortunately you can use the file manager perfectly but it has no artwork or randomize. this issue was also on the 8400
3. all sprint phones now have free NFL network. however on this phone you cannot put the NFL network on speaker phone, it plays very low. TV sounds good but for some
reason you cannot her the NFL games form the NFL mobile live. i could here the NFL mobile live on the 8400.
4. this is for most new sprint phones but the "forced roam" or roaming only feature has been removed. i could do a forced roam on the 8400.
OK so ill quickly list the pros going from sanyo 8400 to the katana eclipse.
pros. 8gb vs 2 GB storage
although i could get hotmail on my 8400
i had to check. now my phone alerts me.
much thinner, illumination feature is nice.
live search is a new application not on the 8400. external music controls can pree pause during palyback
It's All That!
I like the DLX, but the Eclipse is a definite step up. I haven't gotten around to the GPS service. Camera is OK, but I don't use my phone as a camera much. I haven't found web browsing that practical on a cell phone (even with my old Treo), but it's nice to use Music store, TV and check weather.
I like a one hand operation of a phone for dialing. I like to touch dial without looking. I don't want the next person to see who's calling me before I know. I don't have to worry about unintentionally pressing or tapping the wrong option.
Sanyo is known for phones that work well and hold up well. This is a definite winner for Sanyo.
PRO:
Outstanding Sound Quality on Calls
Improved User Interface
Nicer Email Interface than DLX
Illumination Effects
Lighter in weight than DLX
Music Store Interface improved
Music sounds good
More responsive keys
Better screen resolution
Numerous speed dial options
Voice recognition
Texting is more responsive
Price
CON
It could come with a data cable
Fingerprint magnet (but I use a case)
best katana yet...
i love this phone.i got it to replace my lg lotus(it broke;horrible phone).and it is a big improvement.
pros:
-probably the fastest phone ive texted on(with t9 of course)
-the illumination lights are pretty cool.
-the mp3 player on the outside is a nice touch
-pretty color(mine is pink)
-very good service in places i didnt have service before
-pretty good battery life
-fast internet
-very loud voice calls.
-fairly good freedom to change stuff around.
cons:
-the camera is pretty horrible compared to the katana DLX
-i'm not a fan of the sprint one touch menu
-hate the constant grey/yellow theme(why aren't we allowed options anymore?!)
but thats pretty much it that i don't like about it.
overall its a pretty good flip phone.i liked my katana DLX,but it got rather boring.and wasn't as fast as this one.
Sanyo Katana is So-So
Well I received the Katana Eclipse the other day and have been pleased but not excited. First of all the phone feels nice and light in the hand. The material of the phone unfortunately feel cheap like weak plastic. The mirrored finish on the outside looks good but can get smudged quite easily. Call quality is superb and reception is so and so, not great but not bad. The camera is pretty sucktastic and a bit grainy. Phone is very responsive and with texts. The screen size may bother some as it does bother me a bit being only 2inches when it can easily fit a 3inch on there so you end up having a lot of space under the display and looks a little awkward. The colors are bright on the display but the resolution is "ok" and could be better considering today's free phones that have a higher res. Key pad is very nice, not too big and not too small. The pad is well illuminated making it easy to see the keys at night. The Led strips on the outside of the phone are cool and have different modes you can choose from and a plethora of other features like using them to signal you to a sms received and etc. I have the SERO plan and if you plan on watching sprint TV then do not get this phone! Sprint TV on it is bad, just like on the instinct except with a smaller screen and lower res. The charge port and headjack port are hard to utilize when the plastic caps covering them can barely swivel out of way.
Pros:
-call quality
-clam shell factor and size
-led strip lights
-keypad
-voice mail feature is awesome
-UI
Cons:
-screen
-sprint TV
-camera
-access to charge port and audio-jack port
All in all it's an "ok" phone a bit lackluster for me and I think I may exchange for a Treo 800w. The redeeming features of the phone are its led strips, looks, and call quality. If that's all you seek in a phone then this will be a great phone for you.
Sanyo Eclipse X
I ordered this phone from the Sprint website January 2nd. There was a web only free with instant rebate special for the X so I ordered it in black. I received the phone Monday night via UPS. I had changed my mind about the color and wanted the pink but decided to play around with the phone for a while to make sure that I was going to keep this model.
Pros:
Sleek and stylish
Awesome battery life(compared to my Helio Fin)
Nice interface(One Click)
Love the email setup(comparible to Helio all in box)
Love the illumination lights on the front
Love that I change the font size for text messaging
Web browser is pretty fast
Call quality is awesome even if I only have 2 signal bars in some areas.
Cons:
No screen call feature??? (that is what made Sanyo special)
No flash for the camera
Screen is a tad smaller than what I'm use to
I like this phone a lot and I did go to the Sprint store today and exchange it for the pink one which is really cute.
Ok, but could be better.
I got this phone because my Sanyo M1 died prematurely. I choose the Eclipse because of my experience with Sanyo's voice quality, user interface, and battery life. I'm not entirely happy with this phone, (it died after two weeks) but learning to live with it.
Some things I noticed:
Call history cannot be viewed in the usual lists of incoming, outgoing and missed. It's bunched all together in one list, which I find inconvenient. However, if you click on one of the contacts you get the full history with that person, including text messages.
The Sanyo voice ringer (rings and then says name of caller or number) is a great and unique Sanyo feature. Unfortunately the voice quality and clarify of the feature in the Eclipse is so much worse in than in my Sanyo M1. It sounds like the very first text-to-speech invented over 10 years ago.
The led lights are a nice gimmick. They get old very quickly....
The charger slot is in the awkward top left of the phone. Not a big deal, but a deviation from other Sanyo's, and for what?
The phone stopped working after 2 weeks, and I replaced it for another one. There are apparently serious known problems for which there are no fixes yet. Unacceptable if you ask me, coming from a company that has made phones in over 10 years. I can understand that if a completely new product like Iphone first launches and has serious bugs in the beginning, but Sanyo should have all the kinks out of their cookie-cutter flips by now.
Pros:
Good call quality and battery life.
size, weight
SD slot
price
Ringers (minus voice call), and different vibrate patterns
good speakerphone
led lights
Cons:
lousy camera
no flash
not the friendliest interface.
no data cable included
music player takes you to the store first.
