Drop, charge, and lose the cords
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 61 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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30 out of 32 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Katana - Solid Sanyo Performance Continues"
Pros: A solid performing dual band tri mode phone with adequate features and good solid performance
Cons: If you expect a cell phone for making and receiving phone calls, then no cons - if you expect everything including the kitchen sink, then you may care to look elsewhere
Summary: Let me set the demographics for those who are interested. I'm 52 yr with a 6 figure salary. I sort of took offense to a few reviews that stated the appeal of this phone was to those young hip-hop teenagers. Not so. Maybe that was the intent, but there's another appeal to a different audience. I've had my present phone for almost 3 years. I like to upgrade at about 18 to 24 months. I believe that you need to upgrade technology to get the best performance. And additionally, it's fun to get a new toy like a cell phone. The reason I've waited almost 3 years to buy this phone was because I've not seen anything worth buying. Also, I've had experience with Sanyo phones, Samsung phones, Nokia, etc. The best performing phone on the Sprint network is the Sanyo phone. Period. I define performance as it relates purely to reception, drop call rate, signal strength, etc. And they make a quality unit. They are one of the only companies that truly 'gets it' in terms of having the same charger connection type for the past 4 or 5 years. Congrats to Sanyo for understanding how it really ticks us off to have to buy new car chargers, etc. How handy to have left over additional chargers in the house when you buy a new Sanyo phone. I finally upgraded to this phone because I liked the professional reviews I read, and I liked the appearance of the phone. It's also pretty much an exact update of my present phone, the Sanyo 8100. Besides not seeing anything worth buying I was afraid of buying a phone that had all kinds of things in it - cameras, video, ipod-ish, fm transmitters, ability to cruise the internet, etc. I want a phone that performs well. Focus on one thing and do that one thing very well and I'm happy. So this dual band tri mode phone will get me a signal almost anywhere. - that's cool. I want to talk on the phone and have it sound and perform well. I want a calculator built in so that in restaurants I can add a tip and divvy up the bill easily. I found little value to the camera in the phone I had before - mostly used it to take pix of people and match it to their phone number in the contact list - a cool novelty that didn't do anything for phone performance. I occasionally, like 5 times a year, will connect to the internet to get a weather forecast somewhere. I think the Katana is a well built phone. It's typical Sanyo. Someone mentioned that the keys felt slippery - yeah, I suppose they do when compared to Razr but when compared to other Sanyo phones, Nokia phones, etc., they are the same type finish. I don't get the remark. Not everything is about the Razr. And let's talk a bit about the Razr. The last Motorola I had was the Startac which was a great phone. Since then, they do not and have not made good phones. The Razr is a marketing success but a performance failure - read the articles. I didn't buy this to get a Razr look alike - I was attracted to this phone because of it's low (slim) profile, comfort, cool look and Sanyo brand name. The Bluetooth works fine - I have it, but frankly I'm unimpressed with Bluetooth - a wired cord is less distracting and works fine. The speaker phone feature works well with good sound levels. Reception so far is good with both caller and receiver having no complaints. I plan to test it next week while traveling in the USA and then in 2 weeks while in a mostly digital roaming area. If I have anything interesting to report I'll update this posting. Generally speaking, most folks that buy electronics will tell you to stay clear of do everything units - combination vhs/dvd machines for example, etc., because something is usually sacrificed in terms of performance. I bet cell phones are like that too. If you want a cell phone to make and receive phone calls with decent performance expectations - then this is a good choice. At least I think so, so far.
- 4 replies to this review
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I am looking for a replacement for my 6100 that won't make or receive calls anymore. I didn't want to go out and buy all new accesories again. The reviews for this phone were up and down, until I found this one. Very neatly written highlighting that you don't need to have a nice digital camera or a TV watching capability on a cell phone.
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Finally someone who "gets it".If it ain't broke don't fix it, no need for bells and whistles if the reception stinks. I've been shopping for a replacement for my 8100(I dropped it one too many times) and I think i've found it.Sanyo make an excellent phone. Thank you very much.
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I too am no teenager (48 y/o female business owner) and I bought this phone for the same reasons you did. Only difference, I LOVE the bluetooth!
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I have been with Sprint for 5 yrs. I sold wireless of all carriers in the midwest at a reseller for 2 yrs. I can tell you that Sanyo phones are the best available on CDMA networks (Sprint / Verizon) in terms of performance and construction. Fortunately for Sprint, they are the only ones that carry Sanyo phones. I have owned Sanyo, Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Nokia phones, and Sanyos have clearly been the best. Also the fact that Sanyos are Dual-Band Tri-mode, along with Sprint's new no-roaming plans gives you the best coverage for a cell phone, with two types of digital, and analog roaming when you are far into the country. I have owned the Sanyo 5300, 8100, 8200, 4900 and vm4500. All have been great. For those of you who need the EV-DO and megapixel camera, hold off if you can, as it is rumored that Sanyo/Sprint will be introducing the 6700 which will be a clone of the Katana with faster internet and a megapixel camera.
Where to buy
Sanyo Katana 6600 - black (Sprint):
$19.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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RadioShack.com
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$19.99 | Yes |
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