Sanyo Katana Blue Cell Phone

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User rating 4.6   Read reviews - Add review The Katana from Sanyo is an ultra-thin clamshell phone.  With a VGA camera and QVGA main display, viewing your photos is crystal clear.  Other key attributes include speakerphone, Bluetooth, and Sanyo's large vibrant outer display. View full phone specs View image gallery View reviews Compare against other phones Compatible accessories

The Katana is an important addition to the Sprint family of phones, offering sleek style and solid performance in an affordable clamshell phone. With its availability in several trendy colors and features like a VGA camera, several Bluetooth profiles, and diverse messaging capabilities, this phone is designed for the fashion-forward consumer.

The Katana is Sanyo's answer to the Motorola RAZR – compact, stylish, and available in a vibrant color palette. With dimensions of 3.88" x 2.02" x 0.58" and a weight of 3.40 ounces, its specifications are almost identical to those of the RAZR, but somehow the phone feels more substantial. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand, and the crisp click I hear when I open or close the phone is oddly pleasing.

The Katana is a beautiful phone. It has a rectangular shape, with curving edges and sharp angles melded together to create a look of technology blended with high-fashion. The camera lense is discretely located on the front of the phone, above the crystal-clear external screen, and the antenna is internal, so it doesn't distract from the appearance of the phone. (However, since the internal antenna is located in the bottom edge of the phone, you could interfere with the quality of your service if you cover the antenna with your hand or cheek.)

You can really show your personal style with one of the four rich and gorgeous color choices: Blue Sapphire, Mystic Black, Cherry Blossom Pink, and Polar White (available only at RadioShack). The Cherry Blossom Pink and Polar White phones are accented in gray, the Blue Sapphire phone is accented in black, and the Mystic Black phone is all black. The interiors of the phones complement the exterior colors, using combinations of the primary color and the accent color. The background color shows through the transparent keys, which are illuminated with a pleasant blue backlighting.

The numeric keypad and associated operational keys fill most of the bottom half of the phone. A navigation panel is situated above the keypad. It includes a central, dual-purpose key (the Menu / OK key) and the navigation keys you use to move through the menus, which also function as shortcuts for quick and easy access to Send Quick Text (up), My Content (down), Voice Memo (right), and the Web (left). The navigation panel is flanked by four additional keys, three of which perform standard operations and one that is a camera shortcut.

The charger jack and volume control buttons are located on the left edge of the phone, and the headset jack and a camera shortcut button are located on the right edge of the phone. The design of the external features is a bit of a disappointment. When you open the phone, the buttons flank the interior screen on the top half of the phone rather than the keypad on the lower half of the phone. It just isn't comfortable or practical to use the keys in this position. This is not such a big deal for camera operations because the internal camera key is a more logical choice when the phone is open, but it is an unnecessary difficulty when it comes to volume control. If you are like me and have to adjust the volume of the phone depending on who's on the other end of the line, the location of the external keys is a real bummer.

The Katana's buttons are flush with the phone, which I typically dislike immensely, but these buttons are an exception. They depress with authority, and I have no problems using them with ease. Most importantly, the Menu / OK key is elevated slightly higher than the navigation keys that surround it, so I never accidentally hit an adjoining button. It is possible that the flat keys could still be a hinderance for people with large fingertips, but I don't encounter any difficulties associated with the design of the keys.

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Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Introduction & Design

Sanyo's new phone, the Katana, is named after the beautifully and brilliantly crafted swords used by Japan's legendary Samurai warriors. While comparing the design and workmanship of this phone to that of a Japanese master swordsmith might be a bit of a stretch, there are some areas of similarity. Katana swords are not about excessive detailing; they are about perfecting the general form to improve the function. In these areas, Sanyo's Katana is...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw -

1 comments

- all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Features

The Katana is a dual-band/tri-mode phone, which means that you get the combined coverage of dual-band and digital dual-band networks. For digital service, this phone operates on CDMA networks in the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands, so you can roam on other carriers' networks in addition to your Sprint PCS network coverage. For analog service, this phone operates in the 800 MHz band, which allows you the possibility of coverage in places without...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw - Add a comment - all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Camera

You can easily access the Katana's VGA camera using either the internal or external camera shortcut key. As a security measure to avoid accidentally turning on the camera, you have to hold down the external button for approximately 3 seconds to activate the camera. The external key allows you to shoot a photograph without opening the camera, which makes for painless self-portraits. Since the lense is flipped 180 degrees when the camera is open,...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw - Add a comment - all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Display & Audio

The Katana's displays are two of its best assets. The external screen is a full 1.0" (90 x 64 pixels) in size. It is a 65,000-color TFT LCD display that provides a crisp and clear picture and allows you to quickly view signal strength, battery strength, date and time, a screensaver (if selected), picture caller id, Bluetooth connectivity, and more. The interior screen is more or less a bigger version of the external screen at 2.2" (240 x 320...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw - Add a comment - all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Messaging, Internet, & Connectivity

This phone supports the SMS messaging protocol for sending basic text messages. It has the predictive (T9) text input option, as well as a personalized dictionary where you can save unique words (like names, places, or slang) you regularly use in text messages. I am thrilled by the time-saving, editable preset messages that come installed on the phone. Some of them I use as is, while others I edit to suit my messaging habits. With twenty preset...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw - Add a comment - all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

Sanyo Katana Blue in-depth review - Conclusion

The Sanyo Katana is a smashing phone for those who want a lot of style but don't need a lot of excess features. All the basic functionality is there, and it's wrapped up in a pretty package at that. With its expansive messaging and Bluetooth capabilities and its crystal-clear voice quality, this phone does a great job of keeping you connected. This phone is not designed for technophiles or people who organize their entire lives through their...

Sep 14, 06, by Julia-Crenshaw - Add a comment - all about: Sanyo,  Sanyo Katana Blue

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Write your own Sanyo Katana Blue review

cool phone

Overall Rating:
4.5 out of 5

By: jesus vega on Tuesday, September 08, 2009
From: compton, CA (United States)
Experience: 1 Years

Pros: the phone is cheap, and it gives a lot. MP3, videos etc.

Cons: the micro sd covers are made of rubber so the stretch when you open them a lot and become hard to close.

Summary: i really like this phone i sometimes go on you tube and watch videos or rush hour 2 straight from the memory card

The katana 2 is a good phone. (for a while)

Overall Rating:
3.5 out of 5

By: kaitlyn towler on Thursday, July 30, 2009
From: ann arbor, MI (United States)
Experience: 2 Years

Pros: it has a great camera!texting is nice too,the calls are very clear and so is the voice memos pluse the wallpapers are good:}and the setup or display.

Cons: the baterry runs out fast,
the keys break of or just dont work the center button falls of the web is very slow!and the vibrate isint very well.

Summary: I have had this phone for atleast 2 years i love the camera phone and texting is great but my center (ok) button broke off the keys dont work they probably work for ten minutes twice a day the vibrate doesent work at all:[

i do love the features of this phones diplays but it has tons of cons!
i do not recomend this phone unless you only want it for a year.

A++ Phone

Overall Rating:
4.7 out of 5

By: Rich King on Wednesday, February 18, 2009
From: Belleville, IL (United States)
Experience: 2 Years

Pros: Display, Screen is vivid and amazing,
T9 Texting is very nice,
Call quality and reception is superb,
Opera Mobile works flawlessly,
Very sturdy/rigid phone,

Cons: No EVDO, Wifi,
Bluetooth doesn't transfer files etc,
VGA Camera, lol

Summary: Phone can take a beating. 2 Years of it having sudden stops on the ground, wall, table...my son even chews on it and throws it around (he is now 9 months old). With it closed the flip part can slide a little bit..maybe 1/20th of an inch back and forth. However once opened up for use the phone is as rigid and solid as the first time I used it. It stays open, it takes a very aggressive flip to close it from the open position.

If your just looking for a phone, to use as a phone. Maybe some texting(T9 works well for the most part). This is an excellent phone to get. Reception and call quality are astounding compared to my buddies iPhone or sisters Centro.

Katana Blue

Overall Rating:
4.5 out of 5

By: Darin Brunet on Tuesday, October 10, 2006
From: Arcadia, FL (United States)
Experience: 45 Days

Pros: Bluetooth enabled, good quality speaker phone, sturdy, nice big buttons

Cons: Battery life

Summary: While this phone is not so great on battery life, the pros of it seem to outweigh this one con. There is good voice quality and excellent antennae reception. The buttons are nice and big for the less delicate dialers, and the phone is sturdy and not easily broken if dropped. If considering this phone, factor in a car charger as well.

30 out of 76 people found this review helpful

awesome

Overall Rating:
3 out of 5

By: pranav patel on Friday, September 22, 2006
From: ozone park, NY (United States)
Experience: 12 Months

Pros: I love it

Cons: battery is hard to take out i mean difficult to take it out

Summary: I was using the sanyo brand from last 1 yr, recently I changed to its new model katana which is too kool n nice n light n it provides me all facilites which i required rght now so gr8 for me

37 out of 96 people found this review helpful

All Sanyo Katana Blue user reviews

Sanyo Katana Expert Review with images

IntroductionSanyo's new phone, the Katana, is named after the beautifully and brilliantly crafted swords used by Japan's legendary Samurai warriors. While comparing the design and workmanship of this phone to that of a Japanese master swordsmith might be a bit of a stretch, there are some areas of similarity. Katana swords are not about excessive detailing; they are about perfecting the general form to improve the function. In these areas,...

Dec 16, 06, by luv2fly007 -

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