Introduction & Design
4.5
Sanyo debuted their media-centric M1 mobile phone for Sprint at CES in January 2007. The clamshell handset features 1GB of onboard memory, an integrated music player with included stereo headphones, and compatibility with Sprint's Power Vision EV-DO data network and entertainment offerings. A two megapixel camera rounds out the M1's spec sheet, putting it at the upper end of Sprint's multimedia phone lineup.
Sanyo's not one of the larger players in the American mobile phone market, but they have made something of a name for themselves with solidly built and easy to use, if sometimes less than stylish, phones. The M1 is no exception - it's myriad features are easy to use and navigate, and its physical controls are well designed and labeled. About the only thing to fault with the M1, in fact, is its somewhat "unorthodox" styling. While this clamshell is compact, it's also rather thick and boxy-looking. While beauty is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, it's hard to make a case for the M1's looks. In fact, nobody I showed the review sample to found it particularly appealing. Still, there's a lot under the hood of the M1. But is there enough to get people to look past its odd looks?
On the one hand the M1 is shorter and narrower than most clamshell handsets out there. On the other hand it's quite a bit thicker and noticeably heavier than most of them, too. At 91.5 x 48 x 23 mm and 108g, the M1 is a tiny brick of a phone with a small - but heavy - footprint.
Finished in black with silver trimmed plastic, the M1 packs alot into a small package. The front panel features an external display flanked by stereo speakers and an LED status light above it and a wheel-shaped set of music controls below. The phone's flip hinge is actually located at the top of the front panel, and not on the rear edge like most clamshells. As such, the rear edge actually is on a slant - the bottom of the phone is somewhat longer than the top. While that's not really noticeable in itself, the overall effect is that the hinge is quite large and chunky looking - particularly when the handset is open.
Flipping the phone open reveals a 1.9" color display on the upper portion of the flip and a keypad on the lower half. The display is framed by silver plastic strips running vertically along the left and right sides of the screen and a Sprint logo beneath it. A Sanyo logo adorns the very top of the lower portion of the housing, just above a five-way directional pad flanked by two softkeys and dedicated buttons for Camera, Back, and Speaker. Though it's a small detail, I really appreciated Sanyo's decision to label the "Back" key as such - most phones use a "C" or left-facing arrow instead, and Back is much more obvious in its meaning when you're deep into online service or entertainment menus.
The rest of the keypad is laid out in a standard 12-button dialing configuration with dedicated Talk and End buttons added to the top edge. Buttons are large, clearly labeled and easy to see - they're finished in silver plastic with black labels, which contrasts nicely against the black panel of the phone's housing. The M1's buttons are also easy to price and provide good tactile feedback. The somewhat "robotic" look of the numerals adds to the M1's overall blocky industrial design, but it'd also be pretty hard to misread a 6 for a 9 on this phone.
The left side of the handset houses buttons for voice recording and volume and rubber-capped 2.5mm headphone and AC charger ports. A sole accessory port is mounted on the bottom edge of the handset, and dedicated camera and voice command keys are found on the right side.
Flipping the handset over, the back side is largely taken up by the battery. A spring latch edge locks and releases the battery, and to the left of that is the camera housing. A 2.0 megapixel sensor is framed by a silver plastic circle, and a small circular LED flash assist light sits to its left.
The M1 isn't going to win the "Sleekest Handset" award anytime soon, but it's chunky, industrial look has something of a practical aesthetic to it. Don't get me wrong - at roughly twice the thickness of your standard "slim phone," this handset bulges noticeably in the pocket of all but the baggiest pants. But one could make the case that the M1 is appealing in a utilitarian sort of way with its big buttons, and big solid hinge. Unfortunately, nobody I encountered while testing the M1 wanted to make that argument - by and large he consensus was that the M1 is not a particularly good looking mobile phone.
