Mobiles Review

Technology can be so beautiful. An aura of pure luxury surrounds the elegant SL75 design mobile from Siemens Communications. Its harmoniously rounded shapes are immediately appealing to both the eye and the hand. Because of a slider mechanism that operates particularly smoothly, it enables telephone calls to be conducted with ease, even with only one hand free, while shopping or on the golf-course. A glimpse behind the beautiful surface of this design masterpiece reveals the best that modern multimedia technology has to offer ??“ a high-quality megapixel camera, a vibrant color display and a media player for music and video clips. The Headset Bluetooth ?® HHB-700, which is as comfortable as it is shapely, makes a fitting accessory to complement the SL75.

Anything but ordinary: heads turn towards after the Siemens SL75 wherever it appears. This unique design masterpiece embodies elegant luxury and stylish elegance. With its luxurious appearance and a number of both beautiful and practical details, it has brought a breath of fresh air into top-of-the-range mobile phones. Its compact, round shape, reminiscent of a pebble that has been polished by the water, flatters any hand that encloses it. The stylish use of metallic and sheen effects makes for clear contours and visual vitality.

Whether shopping or in the gym ??“ with the SL75, using a mobile phone is always a pleasure, even when user??™s hands are full. The mobile can be operated with extreme ease, even with one hand. When the phone rings, it is possible to simply chat with the caller without touching the smooth running slider mechanism which releases the keypad. The media player and the digital camera can also be used effortlessly when the mobile phone is closed.

Whether for making mobile phone calls worldwide, taking photos and videos, listening to music or sending multimedia messages ??“ the SL75 is extremely versatile. The SL75 has a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with LED photolight and 5x digital zoom, a video player, MP3, MMS, email, as well as Bluetooth and USB on board. The 52 MB internal memory provides sufficient space for storing your multimedia treasures safely. Of course, the built-in organizer with personal number storage as well as a fashionable 3D graphic is a must. Photos and films are shown to vibrant advantage on the large, colorful display. Moreover, the SL75 is a treat for the ears too. A wide variety of ringtones in MP3 and various AAC formats ensure the sound is right. In addition, entertaining video ringtones bring tempos and rythms of the music alive. It is even possible to listen to music while passing the time playing mobile phone games or writing a text message to friends.

Matching Siemens Original Accessories make the SL75 even more convenient. The comprehensive portfolio includes a large selection of headsets, like the wireless Headset Bluetooth?® HHB-700 that harmonizes perfectly with the SL75 in both design and functions, or the Headset Purestyle HHS-610 with removable holder and earpiece hinge for optimum wearing comfort. Various Bluetooth car kits make your mobile phone safe to use in the car. The Car Kit Bluetooth ?® Portable HKW-700 is a flexible handsfree solution with integrated display that provides the speech quality of a permanent fitting. The Mobile Music Set IMS-700 combines high-quality d esign with excellent sound quality. Together with the SL75, the folding active loudspeakers are transformed into a mobile stereo system. In addition, a number of charging and synchronization options are on offer for the SL75, while practical carrying cases ensure the mobile is always protected and ready to han.

Intro
Given the impressive line of attractive, strong-performing handsets the company has released, it’s hard to believe that Siemens isn’t a huge cell phone name in the United States. That said, the Siemens S66 is true to form and easily maintains the company’s reputation. In many ways, this offering exceeds its predecessors in terms of the range and implementation of its features. Although the cramped keypad will keep some people from taking full advantage of what this mobile has to offer, the S66 for Cingular Wireless is a multimedia powerhouse. With an asking price of $249, it will crimp your wallet, but you should be able to find it for a discount with service.

Design
As with just about every other phone in its line, Siemens’s S66 is quite attractive. Its black-and-silver casing will look equally stylish in a boardroom or a nightclub. At 4.3 by 1.9 by 0.7 inches and 3.5 ounces, this candy bar-style handset isn’t as small as some other models from the company, but it won’t be a burden for mobile professionals, either.

The 2-inch-diagonal screen is large and vibrant, although the 65,536-color display is a bit chintzy for a phone of this caliber. The screen occupies most of the mobile’s real estate, so there’s a slight trade-off in terms of the controls. Though the five-way toggle and navigation keys are well sized, little room is left for the dial-pad keys. The buttons are small even for the daintiest of fingers, though they are sufficiently raised from the unit to simplify touch dialing. Conversely, the five-way joystick, the two soft keys, the Talk and End buttons, and the dedicated camera key that sit just below the display are quite easy to use. Navigating through the animated menus is a breeze, and shortcuts are allowed to user-defined functions. Or, to back out of a submenu, simply press the joystick to the left. The menus themselves are logical, so you shouldn’t spend a lot of time figuring out where everything is. Even AOL IM gets its own menu option, rather than being buried under Connectivity.

Other exterior controls are few. The infrared port is on the left spine, while a multifunction control for changing the volume, scrolling thorough menus, activating the sound recorder, and using the camera is on the right spine. The back of the handset holds the camera lens??“there’s no mirror or flash??“and you’ll find a MultiMediaCard slot in the bottom of the device. Take care not to accidentally remove the card without using the Eject Card function from the MyMedia options menu, or else you will probably wipe out all of your stored data. The only other serious complaint is that it’s difficult to remove the SIM card. Instead of a sliding lock to hold the card in place, the card simply snaps into the slot. When it comes time to remove it, it helps to have fairly long fingernails to get underneath the card and slide it out with your opposite thumb.

Features
Not only is the Siemens S66’s feature list extensive, but everything is well implemented. The phone book can hold 1,000 entries, each of which includes room for street addresses, birthdays, and pictures (the SIM card holds an additional 250 names). Contacts can be organized into caller groups or be paired with a picture or any of the 12 polyphonic (40-chord) ring tones. Additionally, whereas some phones require you to save the basic information first, then add details later, with the Siemens, you can instead enter all of this information at once. Other features include a vibrate mode, a calendar, text and multimedia messaging, a voice recorder, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, an alarm clock, a calculator, a currency converter, a task list, and a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Business users will appreciate the S66’s Bluetooth, speakerphone, infrared port, e-mail support (POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP), and USB connectivity. Also, you can use the handset as a modem, and with a free download of the Mobile Phone Manager from Siemens’s Web site, you get the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes.

The S66 is very much a multimedia phone. Pressing and holding the key on the right spine of the handset brings you to the 1.3-megapixel (1,280?—960-pixel) camera, which takes pictures in five resolutions with decent color balance. It’s worth adjusting the white-balance setting for indoor or outdoor use, as colors tend to be slightly richer than with the automatic setting. You can make basic adjustments without entering the menu; simply move the joystick left or right to adjust the brightness and up or down to adjust the 4X digital zoom. You can also record as much as 30 seconds of video at a time in 3GP format at 15fps. Don’t worry about where you’ll store all these files; the S66 comes with a 32MB MultiMediaCard, and you can always purchase a higher-capacity card.

For serious mobile shutterbugs, the S66 includes a photo editor that allows you to rotate, crop, copy, and paint, as well as add frames and effects to your snapshots. With the editor, you can save pictures as bitmap files and copy photos that are saved on the camera to the MMC, or vice versa. The editor is rather sluggish, however, so your best bet is to save pictures to the MMC and edit them on your computer. Siemens MediaNet is standard with the phone, which includes links to CNN, Yahoo News, AP, and MobiTV for a $9.99-per-month subscription fee. The S66 is also AOL IM-compatible, although typing messages on the cramped keypad will quickly grow tiresome. About the only feature this phone doesn’t include is MP3 support.

You can personalize the phone with a variety of screensavers, wallpaper, colors, and sounds. You also get three Java (J2ME) games: Ocean Battle, Worms, and 3D Rally. For a broader selection of all of the above, you can download more options from Cingular.

Performance
We tested the triband (GSM 850/1800/1900; GPRS) Siemens S66 in the Chicago area. Call quality was generally good, especially outdoors. A word of caution about using this phone indoors: It interferes with TV and radio broadcast signals. We sat about 10 feet away from our television and could hear a distinct hum in the background that disappeared as soon as we moved the phone a few feet further away. We also sometimes got a buzzing sound from our PC when the phone was too close. And the speakerphone isn’t the loudest, so while it’s sufficient for use in an office, it probably won’t be loud enough to use in a car.

As for battery life, we reached just more than 4.5 hours of talk time, a bit short of the maximum rating of 5 hours, but certainly better than acceptable. Siemens claims a maximum standby time of 250 hours, or a little more than 10 days. Our unit lasted a week before the battery ran out of juice. According to the FCC, the S66 has a digital SAR rating of 0.76 watts per kilogram.

Simply put, the Siemens SX66 does it all. A full color display slides down to reveal an integrated QWERTY keypad, while integrated “wi-fi” and Bluetooth keep you on the cutting edge of connectivity. Powered by the Windows Mobile 2003 operating system and with support for corporate email accounts, this device is designed for maximum efficiency, wherever you are. It’s the ultimate power tool for mobile professionals.

Design
The Siemens SX66 follows the standard form factor of the latest Pocket PC devices, with one major addition; as mentioned, a sliding QWERTY keyboard is hidden below the screen. A generous, 240 x 320 full-color touchscreen display dominates the face of the unit. Just below the display is a five-way selection button that allows you to navigate and control the Windows Mobile interface. Meanwhile, shortcut buttons positioned both above and below the screen offer quick access to your Outlook calendar, contacts, messaging, Internet Explorer and more. Alternatively, the device can be directly controlled with an included stylus that slides out of the rear of the SX66’s case.

Under the hood, the Siemens-SX66 sports a 400 Mhz Intel PXA263 CPU with 128 MB of RAM and 64 MB of embedded flash memory storage. The unit’s SD IO memory slot supports additional flash-based memory so you can expand available storage. The Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC operating system is completely touchscreen-enabled and features advanced handwriting recognition that is compatible with all of the device’s applications. There’s a standard stereo 2.5mm headset jack, while USB data and charging is handled by the SX66’s docking ports on the bottom of the device.

Calling Features
Many of the SX66’s calling features are integrated with the Windows Mobile operating system. For instance, the included Pocket Outlook software features a contacts list that is cleverly integrated with the phone’s dialing functions. Meanwhile, the phone’s handwriting recognition software can be used to dial numbers and enter contact information. The SX66’s built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear. Polyphonic ringtones are available, as is a vibrating alert. Caller ID and call waiting are also supported. Lastly, the SX66’s Bluetooth connectivity makes it easy to sync the unit with a wide range of handsfree, wireless headsets and car kits.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
The Siemens SX66 is designed as a complete mobile office solution, so Internet and messaging capabilities are robust. The unit comes packed with pocket versions of Outlook, Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger. In addition to keeping track of contacts, Pocket Outlook features integrated calendar and email functions. Microsoft’s ActiveSync software keeps the device synced with all of your PC’s Outlook information (via USB, IR, wi-fi, or Bluetooth connection). Users who want Internet connectivity on the road with their laptop or PDA can tap the Siemen SX66’s wireless modem capabilities.

A generous toolset ships with the SX 66’s Windows Mobile 2003 software. Pocket Outlook includes to-do lists while pocket versions of Word and Excel are included so you can review and edit documents on the go. A calculator, alarm clock and voice memo recorder round out the tools package.

Entertainment
The Siemens SX66 delivers the ultimate music experience. You can store MP3 files and easily exchange them with your PC or stream them from the internet. The included Windows Media Player application can also play videos for even more mobile entertainment.

The SX66’s wallpapers and screensavers can be customized to suit your tastes. Windows Mobile and Java-based games are also supported.

Vital Statistics
The Siemens SX66 weighs 7.41 ounces and measures 4.92 x 2.83 x .75 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of digital talk time, and up to 168 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the GSM 800/GSM 900/GSM 1800/GSM 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What’s in the Box / Accessories
Siemens SX66 handset, USB Sync Station, li-ion Battery, headset, spare stylus, travel charger, 22-pin DC jack converter, carry case, user manual, quick start guide, companion CD.