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Product summary
The good: The Sanyo Pro-200 is compatible with the Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk network, and it comes with Bluetooth, GPS, and excellent performance.
The bad: Sanyo Pro-200 has a utilitarian design and a lackluster display.
The bottom line: The Sanyo Pro-200 is a great solution for Sprint customers who want to use the Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk service.
Specifications: Band / mode: CDMA 850/1900; Talk time: Up to 294 min; Weight: 3.4 oz See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 06/06/2008
When Sprint merged with Nextel almost three years ago, there were concerns with how Sprint would integrate its CDMA network with Nextel's iDEN network, and how the two companies would coordinate their respective push-to-talk services. A new push-to-talk technology was developed by Qualcomm, called QChat, to help that process along. QChat is a CDMA upgrade to iDEN, and allows interoperability between CDMA phones and the iDEN network. Three years later and we finally see the first QChat phones to hit the market, in the form of the Sanyo Pro Series--the Pro-200 and the Pro-700. Even though both phones are CDMA handsets to be used via the Sprint network, they are compatible with Nextel Direct Connect.
The Pro-200 and the Pro-700 have essentially the same features, with different designs. The Pro-200 is the lighter of the two with a slightly more streamlined look. Aside from push-to-talk capabilities, the Pro-200 has Bluetooth, built-in GPS, a speakerphone, and EV-DO Rev. A. It doesn't have any multimedia capabilities, but the Pro-200 is meant for the workplace anyway. The Pro-200 is currently available for $49.99 with a new two-year service agreement.
Design
The look of the Pro-200 is all business. Measuring 4 inches long by 1.7 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick, the Pro-200 isn't meant to steal the fashion show with its simple silver-and-black color scheme. That said, the Pro-200 is fairly slim for a push-to-talk phone, and at 3.4 ounces, it's pretty lightweight too. It has a nice solid feel in the hand and fits comfortably in a pocket or bag.
Right on the front of the Pro-200 is a 1.5-inch monochrome external display. It displays date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID. You can adjust the backlight time and font size, but nothing else. The speaker grille sits at the bottom of the phone, while the microphone for the speakerphone is above the external display (The speakerphone microphone is only activated in speakerphone mode). The left spine is home to the volume rocker, the Direct Connect or push-to-talk key, and charging connector. On the right is a headset jack, a Side Call key that lets you make calls when the phone is closed (using voice dial or the recent calls list), and a Side End key that ends the call. The Side Call key also toggles the Direct Connect speaker on or off, and the Side End key also brings up recent call history on the external display.
Flip open the phone and you'll find a very staid 1.9-inch 65,000 color display. It displays images and graphics just fine, but they just don't look too rich or detailed. You can adjust the backlight time, the background, the animation for outgoing calls, the color for incoming calls, the contrast, and font size. The menu is easy enough to navigate through, using Sprint's standard interface.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- push-to-talk,
- Sanyo Electric Co.,
- CDMA,
- Nextel Communications Inc.,
- Sprint Nextel
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