Sanyo SCP-8400
Average Ratings
Great phone. Price should be less though
Pros:
Great battery life
Nice screen, 240 x 320, Clear, Visible in daylight
MicroSD Slot: MP3s, Pictures, video
Bluetooth: Can send contacts and files from MicroSD
Excellent Reception
Face plates
Durable: I droped my phone several times
Cons:
Muffled Ear Piece
Bulky
Medeocre Bluetooth support: Must use antiquated voice tags and no voice dialing or voice command support
The Best Yet
All things considered, this is the best phone you can get on the Sprint Network!!
I'm not sure what Rob_in_IT was talking about when he knocks the battery life and Camera quality. If you tweak the settings and turn off ready link you can get 3-4 hours of Continuous Talk Time with the standard battery and 6-8 hours of CTT with the extended battery. Likewise with the camera, you can adjust resolution and quality. I take great pix with my 8400, save them to the memory card, and take the card to Costco to print out my pix. They come out looking great!!
I've had an 8300, a920, M1, and 8400. Of all the phones I've had and of all the phones (non pda - I also have an bb8830 for email) that Sprint offers the 8400 is by far the best!
Pros:
1.3 megapix
60 megs internal memory
micro SD slot
MP3 capability
Bluetooth
flash camera
wireless backup
GPS
loud speaker phone
ready link option
EVDO
unlimited video recording when saving to memory card
unlimited voice memo recording when saving to memory card
external antenna
excellent call quality
excellent battery life
standard and SANYO charging ports
Sanyo quality build (JD Power Quality Awards)
One of the few phones that can run Mobile Pandora!!
The list goes on!
Cons:
8100 looking keypad.
Ho Hum Green backlight
Camera positioning (it should be at the top of the phone like the 8300)
Ultimate Con:
The phone is already at end of life with less than 75,000 units sold :_(
It's sad to see this great phone be discontinued so soon when the 8100, 8200, and 8300 had such long lives.
I believe this phone was the victim of an inflated price and lack of advertisement (the story of Sprint's life).
If you can find an 8400 you should buy it, it will make your Sprint experience enjoyable!!
fantastic
The 8200 was excellent also but this has so much more technology in it. Faster Internet, micro card, blue tooth, more phone number slots per name and longer life battery. Pictures are excellent and camcorder is OK to send to friends for fun. I am a onion farmer in Ontario, Oregon so I use the weather on demand for instant weather report.
good solid addition to the 8000 line
this phone is great! check it out! had it for about two weeks...
pros
*screen quality/resoulution is great
*camera takes nice pictures
*transflash card slot
*3 colors to choose from
*unique face plates
*bluetooth functionality works good
*flashlight! i love that about sanyo
*durable as always
*and of course the familiar, standard features of all the 8000 series.
cons
*while sound was fantastic, it was a lil skimpy when compared to other sanyo phones. just a little
*the higher screen resoulution meant that a lot of the applications and content i had on my previous phone would not transfer.
*not supportive of stereo bluetooth
*where is advanced voice recognition? recording voice tags is so primitive.
all in all is way more than i expected as far as an upgrade from the 8300. and anybody comming from a 8300 or equal model will most likely be pleased with the direction sanyo has gone with this upgrade.
The best phone I have EVER used!
The pros of this phone goes as this: Sanyo phones are made in Japan. Which means they are a million times more dependable then some Chinese, mass produced for the lowest bidder garbage. I wish they were made in the USA, but Japan will do. The phone is a really nice size. Small enough to easily fit in your pocket, but still large enough to enjoy watching content on the screen. The 8400 also has a MicroSD card slot. I have 2, 1GB cards. One has movies and TV shows I want to watch.. And the other has all of my MP3's. This makes it so much easier to add and remove content. The phone also comes with 60MB's of memory, so you won't run out of memory while running applications. The screen runs at 240x320 pixels, which makes movies and TV look crisp. The GPS works perfectly. I run Telenav, Garmin, and Mapquest without any problems. Since this is a Sprint phone, you can use pretty much any Java application that you find. I use Gmail, Flurrymail, Opera Mini 3.0, Pod2Mod, among others free of charge. I also use Sprint's Mobile E-mail client and Sprint Power view for free as well. Both are free perks for Sprint customers. I have also read reviews that state there is no outside music controls, which is false. The 2 buttons on the left hand side, and the Readylink and camera button on the right side will control the music player while the phone is closed. As for the music functions of this phone, they are great. I stream Sprint radio and Sirius while I am working out. The phone will rebuffer here and there but it is not a big deal. I would recommend you buy a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone adapter. That way you can use a normal headset. I also love how the new Sprint phones have easy access to the (Roam-Only) option. It is nice being able to set my phone to roam, if I am at a place with no Sprint service. I have used Verizon's data network while roaming with Telenav on some of the back roads around me, and Sprint told me roaming is completely free.
GREAT PHONE, GREAT NETWORK!
Excellent Phone
I went from the Razr to the 8400, Razr was fine but the 8400 is far better as a phone and everything else
Best Sayno Phone Yet!
I spent a lot of time researching the latest phone offerings from Sprint to find a replacement for my old clunky PPC-6700 PDA phone, and I'm glad I finally decided on the SCP-8400 (black) phone. I've had Sayno phones before, so I naturally had rather high expecations for quality and functionality. And I'm pleased to report that this phone has met and/or exceeded all my expectations. :)
Pros:
- Excellent Build Quality
- Loud Speakerphone
- Crystal clear reception (Central TX)
- Great menu systems (both Sanyo AND
Sprint's menu are included)
- Keypad/buttons easy to navigate
- Much easier to read green keypad backlight
- New downloadable "Themes" option which changes your entire menu system
- EV-DO very fast and responsive both for surfing the web on your phone or connected to your PC.
- Bluetooth works great (even supports DUN protocol)
- Very bright and clear LCD
- Compact, light weight, looks awesome
- And of course, just about the most reliable phone you could ever buy.
Cons:
- Green keypad backlight it somewhat dated - but still very legible.
- LCD only 16-bit instead of 18-bit
- No computerized voice dictation to announce the caller's name.
- Speakerphone doesn't appear to be full duplex so it can't send/receive at the same time. (ie. If the caller is talking, they won't hear anything you say until they stop talking first). It lost a .5 rating because of this "feature." :(
Basically these "cons" are very minor considering what an excellent phone you get. The green backlight isn't a big deal, the LCD still looks great, and the speaker phone is still nice and loud.
None of the other fashion trend phones (ie. Razr, Krzr, etc) are nearly as functional as the 8400. And that's not to say this phone doesn't look good, because it actually looks great.
If you want a good reliable and practical phone with every feature you could ever want, and aren't looking to make a fashion statement, look no further!
Pocket-sized Wonder
I've had several wireless phones, but none of them have ever come close to the SCP-8400. After I got the 2G aftermarket flash memory, I've thoroughly enjoyed using the media player and camera features. I take a lot of pictures for my web sites and since web photography does not (cannot) approach printed-photo quality, the SCP-8400 takes a perfectly acceptable photo for my purposes.
I've also discovered the joys of podcasts. The USB cable and Bluetooth capability make it very simple to keep updated whether I'm at home or work. I like that I can take a call in the middle of enjoying a podcast and when I'm done with the call, my program picks up exactly where it left off. Nice touch!
The SCP-8400 also has a FAR more sensitive signal pickup. I live in a very rural area where Sprint has no towers. The closest competitor's tower is still a fair distance. My previous phone couldn't get a reliable signal ever. This phone always has a strong set of bars so I can use it any time -- not just "when the wind is right". For folks who live out as far as I do, I highly recommend this phone for your Sprint service.
I agree with the poster who said "You NEED this phone". Well done!
Sanyo Pulled it off this time!!!
The SCP-8400 is the best phone that Sanyo has made to date!!! I was (still am) the owner of a Sanyo 8300, and was very happy with the features that the 8300 had to offer, accept for the very non existent memory (2Mb!!), and the Half Duplex speaker-phone. Sanyo fixed the problem with the 8400 and them some! This phone offers everything that a user needs, with the bells and whistles. GREAT JOB Sanyo!!
Pro's
-Large internal Memory 60Mb
-MicroSD Card (64Mb included)
-1.3Megapixle Camera
-Full Duplex Speaker-phone
-Large color displays, both inside and out
-Macro option on the camera
-Easy USB to PC connections for pictures and music (Cable included)
-Media (MP3) player (Stereo Headset included)
-Blue-tooth
-Changeable Face plates (if you like that kinda thing...)
Con's
None, at this point, and I Hope that it stays that way!
flawless in design
PROs: Price, Features, Durability, Usability
CONs: Screen Size
I bought this phone the same day Sprint made it available. I had owned many Sanyos, most recently the 8200, so I had very high expectations. The phone delivered on every one of them.
The camera/camcorder is VERY easy to operate and is VERY customizable. The picture quality is excellent and the "macro" setting is a bonus! The camera gives you the option of storing the pictures within the phone or on the removable card.
The signal is excellant, as should be expected since the antenna is external.
Battery life is about the same as the previous 8000 models. Extended battery recommended for heavy use. Also, an added bonus, all home and car chargers from previous 8000 models WILL work with the 8400. No need to buy accessories!
Internet is very fast and easy to use. this phone does justice to the powervision.
Messaging is very intuitive and is set up well for fast texting.
All menus and options are set up in a very organized manner and is very easy to navigate. Everything is clear and understandable and almost everything on this phone is customizable.
The phone is durable, and the decorative cover is an extra layer of plastic that you can break without having to damage the phone. The camera lens is inset just enough to avoid most scratches that would occur from having the phone in a pocket or purse. the speakerphone has a protective filter so dust and dirt wont get in.
The volume on the speakerphone as well as the earpiece can be very quiet and very loud. sound quality is excellent.
The screens (both inside and out) are a bit small for my taste, but the detail is excellent so it makes the screen size bearable.
The keys are all very easy to press, and they feel responsive.
All in all, I give this phone a 5 out of 5. It is able to do everything that it claims to do, and it does it all well!
